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What you need out there depends on where you’re going and what you’re doing – a day trip out of Brooks Lodge asks less of you than five days at Bear Camp. This is everything I’ve packed across 3 trips to Alaska, what I’d pack again, and what I wish someone had told me before the first trip.

Stability & camera support

A solid tripod or monopod matters most if you’re filming – handheld video gets shaky fast when you’re also trying to track a moving bear. If you’re shooting low to the ground for eye-level shots, especially near water, a skimmer ground pod is worth having too: it’s a base plate that keeps your camera off wet sand or mud, and some screw straight onto a tripod head so you can still get stable video with a telephoto lens attached.

Wading & footwear

A lot of operators either provide waders and wading boots or require you to bring your own – check before you book, because it changes what you need to pack. For Bear Camp (more on that trip in the bear viewing guide), I bought a pair of Simms waders and Simms wading boots, and that turned out to be a good call – I used them every single day at Alaska Homestead Lodge too, on the second trip. They kept me dry in the field both times.

If you’re doing a day trip, the operator will usually provide waders. Even then, a solid pair of waterproof hiking boots is worth packing regardless – a lot of the areas bears like to hang out in are wet and muddy, and you want something with real traction that actually stays dry.

Sun & bug protection

Alaska is far enough north that people underestimate the sun, but if you’re out all day, it gets to you. Hat, sunscreen, sunglasses – non-negotiable. I usually wear a sun hoodie underneath my waders too: it adds another layer of sun protection without adding much heat, which matters because waders get hot fast on their own.

For my hands, I bring fingerless gloves, for three reasons: sun protection, mosquito protection midday, and warmth at night on the walk back to the lodge or camp. I use a pair of Simms fingerless gloves made for fly fishing – they have bug repellent built in, and extra grip on two fingers, which happen to land exactly where I grip my camera body. Not what they were designed for, but it works.

Layers

Dress in layers. Between the waders and the sun hoodie, I always keep a rain jacket nearby too – the weather up there is unpredictable, and you never know when a rainstorm is going to roll through.

Camera bag

Make sure whatever you’re carrying your gear in is actually waterproof. A lot of places you’ll need to set your bag down out there are wet, and you need to know it can sit in the damp without ruining what’s inside.

I travel with a Shimoda Action X40 Women’s Backpack, but any of the Shimoda Action series backpacks are built for keeping gear safe and dry. If you’re looking at other brands, the F-Stop Travel and Adventure series and Atlas camera packs are both worth a look.

Camera bodies, lenses & cards

In the field, I usually shoot with a Sony A7R V and the 200–600mm f/5.6 lens. That covers most of it, but there were a few encounters where bears came in close enough that 200mm was too much lens – so I keep a second body, a Canon R5 with a 70–200mm, for wider shots of the animal and the environment around it.

A few times, even the 70–200mm was too tight. When that happens – always in a supervised setting, with a guide reading the situation – I just grab my phone. Those are some of the best encounters, and the phone footage is worth having even if it’s not the “real” camera.

Fast SD cards matter too, especially for video. I shoot on Sony and Lexar cards and make sure the write speed matches whatever file size I’m shooting. For 4K video, I’d treat V60 (60MB/s sustained write) as the floor, and go V90 if you’re also shooting high-speed burst stills alongside video – cameras like the A1 and A7R VI generate big files fast, and a slower card will bottleneck your buffer.

What’s next

This is the companion to my Alaska bear viewing guide, which breaks down the four ways to actually see bears up there – day trips, Brooks Lodge, remote fly-in lodges, and Bear Camp. Start there if you haven’t already, since what you pack depends a lot on which one you pick.

If you’re planning a trip and want the quick-reference version of this list, grab the printable checklist — same gear, laid out to pack from.

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Sent from somewhere wild.

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