Prepping Gear for 2011 DINO MISSION 18-HR AR

It’s spring, the flowers are blooming, the trees are sprouting lovely green leaves and the warmth of summer is returning. It also means it is time for adventure racing to return and time for me to get busy. There have already been a few AR’s taking place around the country but the first one for me to photograph is coming up this weekend.

The DINO MISSION 18-HR AR is a nice opener for the season. The beauty of this race is that it is actually 2 races in one. Beside the longer 18 hour race they also hold a shorter 4 hour race for those who have never raced an AR to get out there and give it a try.

Tonight I have been busy getting my gear together, charging batteries, running out to the store to buy extra batteries, formatting memory cards and organizing technical gear.

Being a photographer it is obvious that I would have a bunch of camera gear to organize and get ready but being an adventure photographer it also means getting technical gear ready, just as if I was racing myself to some extent. I need to have proper clothing, foot gear, camping gear, compass and other necessary out-of-doors gear. One never knows what will happen so it is always best to be prepared.

So tonight I have been busy laying out my gear and thought I would share some of that with you. What am I taking along with me for this awesome adventure.

In the photo above you can see some of my gear and most of the camera gear I’ll take along. Here’s the list broken down.

• Nikon D700
• Nikon D7000 (Great little backup)
• Nikon 70-200mm 2.8 VRII lens (This is my goto lens)
• Nikon 50mm 1.8 lens (Makes a great artistic lens)
• Nikon 18-105mm 3.5-5.6
• Tokina 12-24mm lens (Nice wide angle)
• Mamiya 645 (For some fun shots)
• Mamiya 80mm 2.8 lens
• Mamiya 45mm 2.8 lens
• Various filters, polarizer for every lens, graduated neutral density
• Nikon SB800 flash
• Big Agnes tent
• REI sleeping bag
• Therm-a-rest sleeping mat
• Leki Super Makalu trekking poles (just in case)
• First Ascent technical gear (I talked about this more in-depth in this post)
• compass
• Black Diamond Spot headlamp
• First Aid kit

That is a majority of the gear. Now I will not pack all of this into the woods but with this particular race I’ll drive from location to location in my car so will have it handy but will only carry a few camera gear items with me. If I do get away from my car I will put some necessary gear into my backpack and head off into the wilderness.

I will also bring along my Mac Book Pro with external drive so I can dump images as backups.

Don’t know if I will have any internet access while at the race but if I do I will work to do some updates from the race.

With that I am off to catch some Z’s.

~ Will

** UPDATE **

Photos have been posted from the race, follow this link.

Enjoy!