Much of my gear has been stolen.
Hello everyone,
I regret to inform you that sometime yesterday afternoon (Friday Dec. 18th) while I was in town charging batteries and gathering water and supplies, a very large portion of my camping equipment as well as vital paddling gear was stolen from the bank where I was planning to set up camp that evening. I still have my boat, paddles, and electronics (which I took into town to charge) but most of the rest is gone.
Right now I’m being aided by two amazing residents of New Madrid Missouri, David and Cheryl White while the better half of the local police force is working hard to recover my belongings. David and Cheryl have set me up with a place to stay for a few days while my old replacement gear is being sent in from home. I’ve already made calls to two some of my sponsors and North Face and Kokatat are working on sending in what they can.
The fact remains that a large amount of gear is going to need to be purchased outright. A list of most of what was taken can be found below but I’m sure my memory is missing a few small items.
I guess my trip is on hold indefinitely while replacement gear can be found. In the mean time please pray that the lead the police are pursuing might lead them to my gear. Also if you know anybody (or know anybody who knows anybody) that lives in the Southeast corner of Missouri in or around the New Madrid area please tell them to be on the lookout for high-tech camping and paddling gear that you wouldn’t normally find in a local duck hunter’s blind or fisherman’s truck.
I need your help in spreading the word about this in hopes of finding that gear.
Instead of focusing on the couple of bad people who may have done this, instead I’d like to make note of the many good residents of this town that have already stepped up to help me through this situation.
Thank you everybody for all your support.
Jake
Please stay tuned.
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From what I can remember this is what was taken.
1) Kokatat - Dry Suit Blue
2) Kokatat - MS Fit PFD Orange
- (with knife in clip on font)
3) Kokatat - Knee length boots Black
- (neoprene bottoms and grey vinyl “legs”)
4) Snap Dragon - Spray Skirt
- Neoprene deck and grey vinyl tunnel
5) North Face - Minibus 32 Tent
- Green rain fly grey main body
6) North Face - Sleeping bag green/grey
7) North Face - Synthetic fill jacket Blue/grey - - Size Medium
8) North Face - Wind stopper hat Black fleece
- size XL
9) MSR - Whisperlite cook stove
- Folding wire legs in black stuff sack
10) MSR - Cook kettles
- Alloy Teflon coated
11) MSR - Fuel bottle Red
- aluminum bottle (small)
12) MSR - spoon
- Alloy aluminum - grey
13) Expend - Sleeping mat
- Orange/grey w/ built in pump
14) Brunton - battery lantern
- Small backpacker size lantern runs on AA
15) Stanley - Mug/Bowl nesting combo
16) Sea to Summit
- Various sizes of compression dry sacks
and regular dry sacks "big river version"
17) Misc - Red/metallic tarp
18) Misc - Small bag of toilet items
19) Misc - Off brand MP3 player
20) Misc - Knit wool full gloves and fingerless
glove/mitten combo
21) Misc - Leather wide brimmed hat
22) Misc - Sunglasses with Chums floating retainer
23) Misc - Knit hat made by a friend -
grey with red stripe
Start: 6:37 AM - Just south of the Mississippi - Ohio River confluence
Finish: 1:51 PM - New Madrid, MO
Time: 7:13:20
Daily dist: 55 miles
Total dist: 373 miles
Weather: Start in around 30 with a high in the mid-40s. Cloudy and calm.