It’s no secret that rafting trips involve lots of active participation, this is especially true when it comes to setting up and taking down camp! But we try to do this in the most efficient way possible so that you can go back to enjoying your camp time. One of the ways we do this is to create what’s called a duffel line. Let’s talk about what that is, why we use it, and how to create one.

What is a Duffel Line? 

Some people may be more familiar with its other name, a fire line, but we like to call it a duffel line. A duffel line is a technique where everyone lines up to pass gear up to camp. It’s quick and easy, but it does require everyone’s participation. 

Why do we use a duffel line?

There’s one big reason why we use a duffel line, it’s efficient. Lining everyone up and just passing the bag is faster and less energy consuming than having everyone run back and forth from the boat to camp carrying gear and it’s definitely more organized than that! It is very much enacting the saying “many hands make light work” 

What gear is passed in a duffel line? 

All night bags, cots, and chairs are passed up through the duffel line. Heavier gear like kitchen tables, and cooking equipment are carried up to camp by just one or two people, to avoid passing heavy things around to others and having them be dropped. This leads us to another note, we require that your gear weigh less than 25 pounds because passing more than that down the line is not fun and gets tiring for everyone after a while of doing that for multiple bags. 

How do we create a duffel line?

To set up a duffel line everyon forms two lines facing each other. Lines will be staggered so that each person will be  facing a gap in front of them in the other line. Then the duffel will be passed back and from each line until it reaches camp. The duffel ends up being passed in kind of a zig zag line up to camp. 

What if I am unable to help with the duffel line? 

If you have physical limitations that prevent you from helping with the duffel, we can work around that. But we do appreciate and need lots of help from preferably all guests on the trip. But if one person sits out a duffel line once in a while it will still function. We just don’t want everyone to not help out. Again it leads back to many hands making light work. The more people help the smoother and quicker setting up and taking down camp is. 

River trips are active adventures and this is just one of the many things that is involved in that adventure to make it run smoothly.  

  Check out some of our other blogs to see what a else happens on a river trip:

What is rafting with Hatch like?

What does a typical day on a river trip with Hatch look like?