Equipment Outfitters

Pre-trip checks

The first step is to take pen and paper and make a list of each and every item you intend to take, including food and water. Put in quantities and weights.

When I buy any new item I enquire about the weight. When I get home I weigh it again, both as a check, and to get a filled weight for such items as petrol stoves and water bottles. The new item and its weight are added to a list I keep pinned behind the equipment cupboard door. This list has proved extremely useful over the years and I suggest you prepare one.

Having compiled the list for the trip, criticize it. Is there anything you can leave out? Add up the weights. It concentrates the mind wonderfully to realize you may be planning to do 20 miles a day over mountains carrying 5o lb. of gear. Should you reduce the load, shorten the stages, change the route, or abandon the trip? Take only what you need, for it soon becomes clear that something must be changed. Having reduced your load to a reasonable, but not dangerous level, check every item carefully. Read the rest of this entry »

By this stage, half way through the book, the sensible person should have assembled a suitable range of clothing and equipment, learned to find their way about, in good weather, and have a grasp of what to do if something unforeseen happens. It is now time to go out into the wild and consolidate your knowledge by putting it into practice. Common sense plus experience is the basis of good technique and there is no substitute for experience.

Let us look at outdoor living from the moment we form the intention to make a trip, right through to our return home. Read the rest of this entry »