Ideal Equipment For The Outdoors

I don’t know if you’ve seen Danny Boyle’s last feature film, 127 Hours, but if you haven’t I will not ruin it for you as it is worth seeing without knowing the final outcome. But basically, the main character’s pain and suffering could have been very diminished if he would have had a certain good tool on him. So to avoid such impossibly stupid situations you will learn what ideal equipment for the outdoors you should take with you on a long journey.

This will apply for family journeys and mountain expeditions, less for the relaxing trips to the beach and the sun because except sunscreen, a bathing suit and some flip flops you don’t actually need that much. But on the mountain, having the right equipment can make the whole difference in the world and it can even save your life. So here are the bare necessities that you need to have.

1. A proper tent. Starting to gather up your ideal equipment for the outdoors, you should really set apart what is truly essential and important and what is merely a whim or a luxury. If you are planning on traveling more days at a time only with your backpack on you, make sure you take your own tent. You shouldn’t rely on other people for taking a tent, but you should pick one for yourself. A triangle tent is very stable, but an igloo shaped tent is more convenient for standing up in it. Which ever model you choose, make sure it comes with a warrantee and that you practice putting it up before actually going in the mountains and being caught by surprise by nightfall.

2. The right sleeping bag. After choosing the perfect tent for you, you should also think about getting a very good sleeping bag. Ideally, I think two sleeping bags would be a better choice. Instead of getting one that keeps you warm through medium temperatures, but in which you would be too hot in the summer and too cold during the winter, you should get a sleeping bag for the hot season and one for the cold one. That is, if you have the finances and if you think you will travel both in the summer and the winter. If you can predict you will travel only in the spring and autumn months and only in places which have moderate climate, then a sleeping bag which keeps you warm until 0 degrees can be the right choice for you. Just remember, when you buy a new one to look at the optimum temperature it can handle (the one in the middle), not at the extremes.

3. A flashlight. As you do not have electricity in the mountains when you are sleeping in a tent, you should have a powerful flashlight. One that you can place on your head like miners would be best so you could have your hands free all the time. Think of a situation where you would be caught in the middle of the forest after dark and without any source of light. You find that situation incredibly uncomfortable, even unconceivable. Well, a way to avoid it is to buy the right flashlight. And make sure you get one with which you can make signals, which has the option to emit light patters.

4. A solid backpack. One piece of ideal equipment for the outdoors is the backpack. Do make sure you choose one that is appropriate for your size and your strength and which has comfortable shoulder straps. A backpack that doesn’t stick to your back and lets it breathe would be even better.

5. A raincoat and waterproof clothes. You should get a big raincoat as part of your ideal equipment for the outdoors in order to put over your backpack when you have to walk in the rain. It should cover you and your backpack completely from your head down to your knees.

6. Reliable shoes. Mountain boots would be best in the winter, climbing shoes for more dangerous and abrupt mountain areas (make sure you have enough experience, courage and dexterity for that) and sandals in the summer (there are mountain sandals which are extremely comfortable and can also absorb shocks as they have a special track for it.

7. A Swiss army knife. A multi functional knife that can actually cut is a very valuable thing when you are in the wild. You can cut branches or meat and in a worst case scenario you can defend yourself from a bear using it.

Another two things you could really use on the mountain are a flint and some metal dishes (to have what to start a fire with in any kind of moisture conditions and to have what to cook some warm food in) and 20 feet of elastic, but tight and resistant string. This is because you never know when you are going to need a piece of string. These were all the pieces to make the ideal equipment for the outdoors from scratch. Now get out there and procure them after which you can explore the world.