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Equipment

When you are out in the open, often miles from anywhere there is one thing that you really don't need to be worrying about; is my equipment and experience going to be enough to ride out a huge change in weather.

Equipment is in the outdoors is as important as being able to read a map. On several occasions I can say my equipment has made a very bad night out in the open, into one which was very comfortably ridden out.

As a trained mountain leader I have a responsibly to anyone I take out to keep them safe, any therefore I carry lots of extra equipment that I can use to buy some time to others and myself in the case of a long rescue mission being required. 

I'm not suggesting you are going to need all of the gear I am going to refer to in this section but some gear is going to be vital to keep you safe 

A good example of what I am trying to say happened to me in July 2002 while walking the 10 peaks challenge in the Lake District. On the first day my Dad and Myself encountered some bad weather while on Skiddaw; visibility was down to under 10meters, and a huge Northerly cold wind was blowing across the mountain, making the wind chill temperature at around -5. Add to this driving rain, occasionally hail, and you may start to get close to understanding what it was like. 

We were both Waterproofed up to the maximum to stay dry

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Copyright 1997 - 2005 Ian Steel
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Last updated on 24 November 2005 23:43