Recommended Kit
Below we have tried to identify different kit that we use and rate here at Lupine Adventure Co-op. Some of the kit is personal kit and some is stuff that we use for our DofE groups. If you are a DofE Leader maybe also take a look at our Tips, tricks and hacks blog post. Most of it is linked to Amazon and if you buy it via these links we get a few pennies, we've earned £11 in the first 5 years!!. Some of it isn't available on Amazon so I've linked that separately.
Contents
Personal kit
1. Perry whistle
An absolutely essential and cheap piece of kit. Lots of rucksacks have whistles on the chest strap clip. But if it doesn't then get one of these Perry whistles
2. Compasses
It is recommended that you buy a compass with a long base plate (for taking bearings). The Expedition 4 is still the gold standard of compass in the UK and has been for decades. It has 3 Roma Scales for the 3 main map types used in the UK. OS have brought out a compass too which I have recently purchased as it has a larger magnifying glass and my poor old eyes are going.
3. Pacing Beads
Put 5 pacing beads on your compass string (not so close to upset the needle) to count off each 100 metres as you pace it out.
4. Maps
If you want cut price OS maps then head over to Dash 4 it.
5. Dry bags
Everything in your bag should be in a dry bag (unless you don't mind it getting wet). Even if your bag does claim to be waterproof. I recommend Exped Dry bags, I'm on my second set. The first set lasted about 15 years of heavy use. the different colours are handy as you get in a pattern so you know what is in which bag (for me it is green = first aid kit, Yellow= Spare hats and gloves, Brown= Duvet jacket, etc).
6. Emergency shelters / Bothy bags
I use Summit bothy bags. they are the cheapest bothy bags I have found. I can't bring myself to spend a fortune on something so simple. They aren't quite as small and light as some other brands but I like them (though I notice they now have a superlite range).
7. Stoves
Jet boils and Brukit from Alpkit are ideal for fast cooking if all you are doing is boiling water. For more involved cooking we give our groups Gas Trangia's. The one linked is the '25' There is a smaller version called the 27
8. Tick removal
These days it is best to have some sort of tick removal device on your person. See Lyme Disease Action for more information. I have a Tick card in my wallet and some Tick tweezers in my first aid kit. All our group first aid kits have tick cards in them
9. Oasis water purification
On the basis of taste alone I think that Oasis produce the best water purification tablets. You pop one in a litre of water and it will have done its magic in 20 minutes. Again we issue these in all our first aid kits
10. Red Staedtler lumocolor Pens
If you write on laminated maps, write on them with Red Staedtler Lumocolor Pens (get the superfine point). We issue hundreds of laminated maps a year they come back in and generally get thrown in a box marked 'to clean'. When my brain is mush I spend an hour or so cleaning maps that have sometimes been there for a month or two. We try and hand all our instructors one of these pens for each job but quite often maps come back with 'other ink' on them. In 10 years I haven't found another pen (or another colour of this brand) that cleans off so easily with just a bit of meths or alcohol hand gel even when it has been on there for months. The superfine point means that the quantity of ink is low and red is a great, little used colour on OS maps.
11. Avalanche Probe
This is a little longer and updated version of the Black Diamond probe I have. For some reason most avalanche probes are 240-260 cm long. I'm reliably informed that you really want to go for 3m or more.
Great Books
Skills
Hill walking - The official handbook of the Mountain Training walking schemes.
Winter skills - The official handbook of Mountain Trainining's winter schemes
Rock Climbing - The official handbook of Mountain Training's Rock climbing schemes
Rock Climbing Technique - By John Kettle. If you want to get good at rock climbing buy this book and do the drills. It is fantastic.
Other
