Iceland Equipment List

sarahhj said:
I think we've pretty much crossed this location (DC3) off our list for October now. It's a shame but there are plenty of other places to visit in the area.
Click to expand...

It would still be worth a visit if the gate is open to cars...or if you enjoy a boring hike! There's a chance it may be open again in October, as the summer rush will have died down, so pull over and have a look. It's obvious as there's a chain and no entry sign across the cattle grid.
 
I was always planning on hiking it (weather permitting), even before they closed the track - but am just concerned about my lack of direction as ill be by myself. got a few months to think about it....
 
dan_yell said:
I was always planning on hiking it (weather permitting), even before they closed the track - but am just concerned about my lack of direction as ill be by myself. got a few months to think about it....
Click to expand...

It's very easy to find: just go directly ahead, straight down the gravel road. The road ends at a round parking area marked with yellow posts. The DC3 is a couple of hundred yards to the left (East).
 
dan_yell said:
I was always planning on hiking it (weather permitting), even before they closed the track - but am just concerned about my lack of direction as ill be by myself. got a few months to think about it....
Click to expand...

Also, even if you fancy a hike, I would recommend driving if it's open. It's an incredibly monotonous walk over a flat, featureless plain. There's absolutely nothing to look at on the way. And as a bonus, when the wind gets up you end up with a sand-blasted face!
 
@FujiLove í won't have a suitable car and not brave enough to risk it in an unsuitable car by myself. Would rather walk and burn off the calories I will consume in kleinur whilst there :)
 
@dan_yell I think I posted this earlier in the thread but I'll repeat it just in case anyone missed it. If you walk make sure you follow the road/track don't just walk directly towards the site or you could end up on the wrong side of the stream when you get there. It can be anything from a 6" trickle to a raging torrent depending on the ice melt on the glaciers.
 
dan_yell said:
@FujiLove í won't have a suitable car and not brave enough to risk it in an unsuitable car by myself. Would rather walk and burn off the calories I will consume in kleinur whilst there :)
Click to expand...

Ah, good point. You would probably be fine as it's quite a solid track (and obviously completely flat) but definitely best not to risk it. Don't want to end up with another wreck out there!

We are both also suffering from Iceland over-indulgence, in our case way too much dessert and toasted porter. I've put weight on despite all the hiking up outrageously steep hillsides. And whilst I'm on the subject...don't be fooled by paths which are marked 'easy' in Iceland. They have a completely different idea of the word than us soft Brits. In the UK that phrase seems to mean, "A 300 yard stroll on flat boardwalk", whereas in Iceland I reckon it's, "You won't need an ice axe" ;)
 
@FujiLove i've only just got into drinking beers and turns out porters and stouts are the ones i like (the most calorific!!) and i tried the einstock toasted porter last month - very nice!

yeah i know plenty of people have done it in unsuitable cars but i've no experience of driving on surfaces like that and i dont want to get an icelandic car rental insurance bill, which i've heard can be massive, and i don't want to become another story about 'death wish stupid tourist gets stuck in place they shouldnt be'!. I'll never forget driving the road to Dettifoss in a Vitara and my friend thinking we should turn back (glad i was driving) and wondering what it was like to experience that cattle grid road in a Yaris! The hike to the 'inside the volcano' they said was easy and i'd be inclined to agree for most of it, but i've read reviews where people think it's really hard. I suppose us tourists are all a bit flabby and unfit :)
 
I PMed a member here a tale of a golfing pal of mine who managed to break the gearbox casing of a rental car over there. NO insurance covers the underside of the vehicle there so they got stuck with a mahooosive bill for every bit of underbody damage the rental firm found on the car, including things they're sure they weren't responsible for. If anyone's planning anything serious, it's probably worth getting the rental firm to stick your car up on a lift and take photos of every scrape, just in case!

Personally, I wouldn't go anywhere in Iceland (off the well beaten track like main roads) on my own. At the very least let someone know where you'll be going and an expected time of return, maybe even checking in with the responsible party every couple of hours. The weather can change faster than a catwalk model and you really DON'T want to be caught out in a blizzard when you set off in blazing sunshine.
 
Yep i will be checking the forecast before i attempt it. I'm going to have a chat with my air b'n'b host nearer the time to see if i can work something out with her in terms of knowing i'm going - i'm secretly hoping she knows the farm owner and i'll get my own guided tour :)

re: insurance - i thought I was going to be totally screwed on my last trip as i managed to drive over wet tarmac (there were no signs or things indicating not to drive on that bit of the road) so the car was covered in wet tar mac, as well as the tyres, which are also NOT covered by any insurance. Boy did i feel sick when i got out and looked at the car! I was advised by their recovery service to buy a spray from car garage (there was a name for it but i don't know the icelandic), spray it on the tyres and it would just come off as i drove. I did however spent an hour at the garage with the spray & their car washing hoses and brushes trying to get off as much as possible (what a great use of time!). After my day out, i then went back again to the garage to do more cleaning to try and get it off the body work. The two guides from my photo tour the day before actually lived in the area (Hafnarfjour) were really great and came to the garage to help (i don't spent this long cleaning my own car i said!) - they reckoned it would be ok and if i had any problems with the rental company they would sort them out for me! (so nice) One of them reckoned a coat of tarmac on the underside of the car was actually doing them a favour to protect from corrosion ;-) ha. I asked why such a spray exists and is so common - he said the roads get so mashed up in the winter with all the salt that peoples cars get covered in tarmac so after the winter everyone uses it to spruce up their cars from the winter's asphalt attack! Anyway, my car got signed back in as ok so PHEW! I used 2/3 of the bottle of the spray but didnt want to leave it in the car as evidence so i gave it to another gas station person when i did my last fill up before i dropped the car back and to 'pay it forward' to another tourist who might need it! :)

And before you think i was just being a stupid girl by driving on it - there were no warning signs about the lane being closed (only one lane either way after all) and i had just driven on the road an hour earlier (was going to Krýsuvík) and there was no word of construction then either!

i find gas stations a bit weird as you always seem to have to put in a set amount to fill up and how would you know if its a rental car how much you can put in? (or am i just stupid) had a bad experience at an unmanned station in 2007, we had just driven up north and it was the first station for a long time and we obviously pressed the wrong thing and it had no auto shut off when the tank was full so gas went everywhere! looked like a right idiot (I was with my male friend then so can't chalk that up to stupid girl syndrome!)
 
When you put your cards in the petrol pumps, the amount you select is the maximum authorised. I.e. It's the limit, but you can always put in less.
 
I was under the impression that they don't use salt on the roads in Iceland. Maybe they do in the town centres?
 
@FujiLove it was some kind of automated pump. i can't remember properly now as it was so long ago. i just remember the panic :-D

and maybe the treating of the roads is only in town, whatever it is, thats why this spray exists he said
 
Got back last Friday. Amazing place, amazing landscapes, 24 daylight was very weird.

You are going to have a great time.

Hope to get back there in the snow and will be looking to spend the bulk of the time on the south and east coast.

Cheers.
 
It's certainly a well beaten track! Possibly harder to see clearly when covered in fresh snow.
 
Hi folks. We are going in mid April for a holiday with photos rather than on a photographic tour. Any advice re kit for April most welcome. We will be driving areas of the south of the island, I have a Canon FF system and some Oly kit too. I was thinking 16-35, 70-200 for the Canon with Lee filters and a 3LT Brian tripod - unless I see something at the photo show - advice would be welcome on that. Weather wise, any advice on what to expect? Ave temp tables don't really tell the tale. Thanks
 
I think the 6 previous pages of this thread should cover pretty much all you need! It's been going a while and covers a lot - grab a coffee and enjoy!

You can never predict the weather, the ave temp tables don't really tell the tale as it's so unpredictable. The Icelandic saying of 'you don't like the weather? just wait 5 minutes' is a saying for a reason! :D
 
Chipper said:
Hi folks. We are going in mid April for a holiday with photos rather than on a photographic tour. Any advice re kit for April most welcome. We will be driving areas of the south of the island, I have a Canon FF system and some Oly kit too. I was thinking 16-35, 70-200 for the Canon with Lee filters and a 3LT Brian tripod - unless I see something at the photo show - advice would be welcome on that. Weather wise, any advice on what to expect? Ave temp tables don't really tell the tale. Thanks
Click to expand...

April will be a bit mixed, firstly Iceland isn't as cold as people expect. By April things like Ice Caves will not be safe to go into as the snow and ice will be thawing. If you get to a place and think the weather is bad, don't move on and wait, the weather changes constantly!

It can be a bit windy so a good tripod will be handy. Other than that take whatever you would take on a landscape shoot, I'd put a 24-70 into the bag if you have one, comes in handy for some of the smaller waterfalls etc. Also Reykjavík is a great place for some street photography so don't forget about that.
 
Expect wind, rain, sleet, and snow but hope for sunshine and you will probably see all of them. Temps could well drop to below zero even in the day but should be above most of the time but there can be very strong winds to be aware of especially when driving on exposed roads.
 
Ok thanks. Icelandair allow 10kg hand luggage so I might fit the 24-70 in. Will take my Oly as a back for the hand held possibilities. We haven’t driven in snow much so won’t mind if that doesn’t happen.
 
Just wondering if there are any of the Icelandic ponies in the south?
 
Chipper said:
Ok thanks. Icelandair allow 10kg hand luggage so I might fit the 24-70 in. Will take my Oly as a back for the hand held possibilities. We haven’t driven in snow much so won’t mind if that doesn’t happen.
Click to expand...


Even if it does snow it won't take them long to get the roads open again they're kitted out and ready for it. Plus all cars over there in April will have winter tyres which makes a big difference, and you may get studded winter tyres which are even better.
 
Last edited:
Chipper said:
Just wondering if there are any of the Icelandic ponies in the south?
Click to expand...


No but yes! They're horses rather than ponies and there are loads of them in the South. And reindeer, although they might be moved up by April.
 
Good waterproof foot wear and come to think of it waterproof every thing. Microfibre cloth for drying the camera and lenses, you can get these in hand towel size from out door shops quite cheap. Wind proof outer layer clothing is also useful to cut out wind chill. Do you know which areas you are going to be visiting yet?.
 
We are sticking to the south - going to the ice lagoon, coming back to the middle bit and then going just beyond the capital to enable a look at the mountain. Don't have access to the itinerary at the moment can provide proper names a bit later.
 
And the fish soup in the café there is amazing!

On the ice beach, keep your eyes open for rainbows in the ice - happens in the smaller bits more than the bigguns.

Clothes? GOOD waterproofs and thermals. Carry a full change of clothes in case you do get soaked (leave the spares in the car.)
 
Just been to M&S to get some more thermals; I also discovered that I could wear two pairs of trousers underneath my waterproofs...
 
i got my base layers from Sports Direct, campri or something. im wearing one at work today!! (not the long johns)
 
Hi folks, well, I have been unwell and made it to the photo show but had no energy and coughed my way through the day. We almost went home at lunchtime but the Art Wolfe talk enabled a long midday sit down. Anyway, I didn’t have the steam for tripod hunting so I will probably take a manfrotto 190rather than my 3LT travel tripod. We go next month; hopefully this poxy bug will have left me alone by then. I’ve reread the thread so if any of you happy snappers have been recently and have anything new to add, it would be much appreciated.
 
Well, we came back yesterday after four seasons in one week or rather 10 days. The tip about taking a sheet of nylon to sit on and put your bag on worked really well for me so thanks for that. We had atrocious weather at the ice lagoon; High winds and driving rain that got through four of the six layers on my top half.

The think tank hydrophobia worked well in keeping the camera dry although I did find it impossible to review the images until we were back in the car. The two cheaper covers from Optech came in handy near waterfalls although not sure I ever really managed to keep filters dry - I’ll see when I upload later today.

We hadn’t realised you couldn’t pay for fuel with cash so took too much but a friend is going later in the year and is going to have it from us.

Everything was eyewateringly expensive; sandwiches were at least £15 in the tourist centres and not a great deal cheaper in supermarkets so we made a lot of picnics and ate out 3 times. Gobsmacking cost of the day was 200kr to use the loo unless you went to the cafe and paid for food.

So, we liked Iceland; the light wasn’t often very good but a fantastic place to visit.
 
I havnt had used any cash in any visits in the past few years. altho not sure how you'd pay the 200kr when they talk about they are a virtually cashless society. I'd be happy paying 200kr for the toilets as long as the money was being used to help infrastructure and things to help reduce the impact of the tourism boom on the environment there. Where was this charge @Chipper ? I used a loo at Seljalandsfoss but dont remember being charged but that was a few years ago now, i know there is a parking charge now. I bought a fair few sandwiches in supermarkets and don't remember them being that expensive and the exchange rate was worse than it is now - what supermarkets were you going to? There was one with roast beef, mustard and crispy onions that was so good :) which tourists centres did you visit with the £15? (just interested where these prices are, so i can avoid!!)
 
FujiLove said:
Ah, good point. You would probably be fine as it's quite a solid track (and obviously completely flat) but definitely best not to risk it. Don't want to end up with another wreck out there!

We are both also suffering from Iceland over-indulgence, in our case way too much dessert and toasted porter. I've put weight on despite all the hiking up outrageously steep hillsides. And whilst I'm on the subject...don't be fooled by paths which are marked 'easy' in Iceland. They have a completely different idea of the word than us soft Brits. In the UK that phrase seems to mean, "A 300 yard stroll on flat boardwalk", whereas in Iceland I reckon it's, "You won't need an ice axe" ;)
Click to expand...


ahaa i was just reading back in this thread and was amused by your 'dont be fooled by easy walk' - at Svartifoss, i decided which path to take and went ahh 1.8km easy walk, ill take that thanks, and then envisaged strolling up with my tasty sandwich... when in fact nearly choked on sandwich and coughed up a lung (i'm reasonably fit!) so much up hill and climbing steps!
 
dan_yell said:
ahaa i was just reading back in this thread and was amused by your 'dont be fooled by easy walk' - at Svartifoss, i decided which path to take and went ahh 1.8km easy walk, ill take that thanks, and then envisaged strolling up with my tasty sandwich... when in fact nearly choked on sandwich and coughed up a lung (i'm reasonably fit!) so much up hill and climbing steps!
Click to expand...

We're back out there in two weeks. After the exhaustion of last time, this year we made plans to do lots of serious walking and generally get fitter in preparation, starting in early January.

Didn't happen :LOL:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top