Reading maps and navigating - too much detail or too litte?



Silva Expedition 54 Compass

This post has now moved to our website blog, http://www.walkandtravel.com/walk_and_travel_blog/reading-maps-and-navigating-when-your-eyesight-is-failing/ 

Wemmi Wipes

Wemmi Wipes

What I hear you say? Wemmi Wipes? What is a Wemmi Wipe? All I can see are two rather large horse pills. Yup, that's right. A Wemmi Wipe looks like a rather large horse pill. A paracetamol for a horse size headache.

I was delighted that to find a small sample card of these wipes stuffed in with my Shewee delivery. No explanation just a sample card with two Wemmi Wipe pill type things attached to it. The slogan on the card - Wet me, Grow Me, Use Me and WOW! They grow before your very eyes, coupled with, Fun, convenient adn really rather good... had some sort of teenage humour to it. These slogans added to the fact the sample came in my Shewee delivery prompted a very humourous comment of;  "what are you supposed to do with it? Pee on it and wipe your bum?". Much laughter sounded.  (For those not in the know a Shewee is a female urinary device to allow you to pee standing up)

 I have just popped one of the pills under a tap. Lo and behold expand it did and yes there was a moment of fun as is expanded into a tightly rolled bandage type thing. After a quick unroll you have a very useful wet cloth to do whatever you like with. Wash dishes, wipe your face and hand and generally use for wipe type things.

I did like this product. It did make me laugh, but for the life of me I can't see a use for it. Why would you want a small dehydrated compressed wipe? Why not just carry a small, scrunched up cloth? They never really take up much space in your bag. It is instantly usable you don't need to find a little water to 'Wet me, Grow me' and well it just does the job.

Fun product, but have to ask myself, Why? Wemmi - if you are are out there listening let me know!

Shewee - fun gift or trekking essential?



The Ubiquitous Pink Shewee.

Thanks for stopping by to look at Shewee's but this post has now moved to here: http://bit.ly/XCGiIS

Survival Kit for Walkers - Solo or otherwise!

This post has now moved to: 

http://bit.ly/YFownx

Many thanks for dropping by! 

Kit for Kilimanjaro

Kit for Climbing and Trekking up Kilimanjaro

Are you heading up Kilimanjaro in the not too distant future? This wonderful mountain that rises out of the African plans attracts thousand of visitors each year. Some climbing it for charity, some climbing it for their own personal sense of achievement. No matter your reason, it really is an achievement.


Kilimanjaro is 5893 meters high. The best part of 20,000 ft. That is around 6km, vertical upwards. To me that seems pretty high. Though in Africa the cap still has glaciers and snow on it. It can be cold and there are high risks of health problems associated with going to that height on a mountain. Acute mountain sickness is probably the most likely. Usually solved by simply going back down to a lower level. You can try and avoid this by acclimatising yourself as you go up. At the end of the days walk, climb up a few hundred meters more and then come back down again, getting your body slowly used to the thin levels of oxygen available at this altitude.

You also need to get in some training - it's a long hike. Uphill. But perhaps worse (for me at any rate) is the long walk down hill. This kills my knees and I need to really get in the practice and build up my quads and hamstrings before attempting a hike like Kilimanjaro. I simply try to get in as much walking as I can on the hills, which is usually the South Downs for where I live. I top this up with some gym work, walking on the running machine at it's steepest incline at around 6.5 kph for 30-40 minutes 3 times a week, whilst being plugged into my iPod or reading the latest Dan Brown offering. This is closely followed up with weights work for the quads and hamstrings.

Fitness is important as well as having the right gear. There is quite a lot of kit you need for Kilimanjaro and below is a response to an email from a customer who wanted to know about a few things to take with him:

Great to hear from you Mike and great to hear that you are embarking on an expedition to climb the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free standing mountain in the world. Exciting stuff.

Many thanks for looking at Walk and Travel, hopefully I'll be able to help you out with a few things. Can certainly help you out with most of the things that you have put on the list so here goes:

Soft Kit Bag - Something like the Tatonka Barrel Kit Bag should do it. I've used them a lot when I go on trips, they are very tough bags with shoulder straps for lugging about between places.

Small backpack - A selection here, probably look at the Vaude Ultralight 35 or the Vaude Triset 35. They both come with a rain cover.

Sleeping bag. Unless you are going to use this again, I would say hire one out there, but take a silk sleeping bag liner to give extra warmth and comfort. I do sell a range of sleeping bags that would be suitable for you, probably the Snugpak Softie Winter as you are not carrying it. I don't do fleece liners at the moment but can get them, they are around £20.

Water Bottles - small range here as well, but you may also want to consider the hydration systems. I don't have any insulated sleeves for the hydration systems but again, can get you one in. I think they are around £10. The best way to stop it freezing is to keep sipping water from it! The Sigg water bottles are in there as well. If it is going to be really cold I would skip the Sigg bottle as it has a metal top on it which isn't too nice to drink from, you may even get your lips stuck to it. I would recommend a Nalgene bottle made from Lexan or any other bottle made from Lexan (which is an unbreakable plastic).

Sleeping mats - I'm guessing it is going to be cold when you are going (February) with the risk of sleeping on snow or ice. There are inflatable sleeping mats and thin foam ones. If they recommend both, it is to really get some insulation between you and the ground. The ground is the place where you will lose most of your body heat due to conduction. The thin
foam sleeping mat, which will be a 5 season foam mat will really bolster the insulation. These are bulky, but not heavy and perhaps would be best if you hired / bought one out there. I've got an inflating sleeping mat on special offer that would be good, but isn't the lightest. If you want something lighter then try the Multimat Adventure Superlight Inflating Sleeping Mat. Again, if you are not going to use these things again, you may want to consider hiring them.

Head torch - Go for one with an LED bulb, then you won't need to take a replacement bulb (in fact you can't replace the bulb/led). The batteries will last much longer with an LED head torch. Something like the Silva L4 Headtorch would be perfect.

Lightweight, quick drying trvael towel - Pink or Blue? Great to take, but not that great to use. To be honest I take a face flannel to dry myself with and this will dry out on your back back during the day as it is small and therefore quick drying... probably both makes sense, especially if you need to spare your blushes at any point.

As you said I don't do clothing, just the accessories. Plenty of places that can sort you out with clothing, such as Blacks and Millets. Craghoppers is a good quality value for money brand...

OMM Rucksacks and lightweight outdoor gear.

OMM Rucksacks and Lightweight outdoor gear.

Two months away fro the blog - what is happening? Time does indeed fly quickly - apologies for the missing two months, I hope to pick things up again...

Inspired tonight by Dee Blick from the Marketing Gym who gave a talk to local businesses in Horsham on newsletters and blogging. I'm also inspired by these great new rucksacks I am stocking and thinking about why I didn't stock them before.

The great new products are OMM Rucksacks. OMM stands for Original Mountain Marathon and I think this is why I have shied away from the for I am no mountain marathoner. I have friends who are, but I can't even imagine myself walking a marathon let along running one over mountains. They are a special breed.

But, OMM Rucksacks are amazing, lightweight and tough. They can be made lighter by stripping out everything you don't think you need, the parts that make is comfortable, because, lets face it, if you are tough enough to do a mountain marathon then you don't need to worry too much about comfort.

I've just been playing with an OMM Villain 45 and now desperately want to go out on a weekend trek and try it out. The OMM Villain 45 only weighs around 1100g. I'm going to set myself a challenge and see how light I can make a rucksack fully packed for an overnight expedition. (using my own clothing as I don't sell any yet!).

Check back in a couple of weeks and I'll let you know how I have gotten on. Do you have a piece of lightweight outdoor gear that you recommend?

Trail Magazine Review

Trail Magazine

This blog post has now moved to our website www.walkandtravel.com. http://www.walkandtravel.com/walk_anhttp://www.walkandtravel.com/walk_and_travel_blog/trail-magazine-review/d_travel_blog/trail-magazine-review/

How to look after your leather walking boots.

How to look after your leather walking boots.

Question from a customer.

Hi,

My Karrimor conniston boots have started to leak, can they be fixed with reproofing agents? I have only had them for 2 years and there's loads of tread left.Please advise,Thank-you

Thank you for your email.

I see that the Karrimore Coniston walking boot is made from smooth leather with an eVent lining to help keep it waterproof.

If your walking boots are definitely leaking (put them in a bucket of water and see if anything leaks in), and it isn't too much sweat, then it is highly likely that the eVent lining has worn or become damaged in some way. It was always a concern that the amount of flexing in a boot, particularly across the toe box, can cause the waterproof lining to wear out much quicker than when it is used on a jacket. This was definitely a problem with Gore Tex a number of years ago.

Another problem may be that, if you have not nourished the leather at all since you have had the boots, the leather will be wetting out, that is absorbing a lot of water and therefore this will really reduce the amount of water vapor being moved away from your feet by the eVent lining. The result will be wetter feet.

Though you cannot replace the eVent lining in your leaking Karrimore Coniston Walking Boots, you can really help to make them more water repellent, by treating the leather with a wax or cream such as Nikwax Wax. This will nourish the leather as well as really help with the water repellency, therefore allowing the eVent to breathe easier, which may help to make your boots more water repellent.

Leather by it's very nature is a porous material so therefore cannot be classed as 'waterproof', however with regular treatment with a product such as Nikwax Wax or Nikwax Aqueous Wax then this can really help to make the leather very water repellent.

Both these Nikwax products can be applied to the leather when it is either wet or dry, so is great to carry around with you all the time and is easy to apply to the walking boots, either by using your fingers, where you can really rub the wax into the leather (the warmth from your fingers can help melt the wax right into the leather) or with a cloth.

I hope this helps and if you have any more questions please do let me know.

Have you got a question about outdoor gear? I have over 15 years experience working in the outdoor industry and many more of going out walking and travelling. I am more than happy to try and answer any questions you may have on outdoor gear, or recommend what types of gear you need for a travelling, walking, a Gap year or Round the World Trip.

I look forward to your questions!

Win a Leatherman Kick!

Win a Leatherman Kick with Walk and Travel!

Email me the answer to the question below before 28th February 2010 to go in a draw for a Leatherman Kick.

How many tools does a Leatherman Kick have?

Look forward to hearing your answer!

Good luck

Rucksack for a D of E (Duke of Edinburgh Award) Expedition

Choosing a Rucksack for D of E - this post has now been moved to here:
http://www.walkandtravel.com/walk_and_travel_blog/choosing-a-rucksack-for-d-of-e/

Iodine Ban by the Eu

Water purification and EU legislation.

It isn't often that I am affected by EU Legislation that I see so blatantly in my day to day life, but recently I had someone buy up my whole stock of Iodine Tincture - and wanting more besides!

I duly got in touch with my supplier only to find that you can no longer sell Iodine in the EU. This was a surprise. hard to keep up with changes in law. Especially EU Law. So I duly sold what I had in stock and advised the customer accordingly - who knew about the ban and was buying up as much as he could from people who were still advertising it.

Researching a little further I see that it is classed as biocide and is being banned because of this and also - according to some forums, can be part of a drug making paraphernalia.

A quote taken from a forum shows Lifesystems stance in this:

'As you may know, iodine droplets and tablets will not be able to be sold in Europe for water purification purposes after 26th October 2009. Although proven to be very effective and safe, unfortunately iodine is not being supported under the EU Biocides Directive. For this reason Lifesystems will discontinue supplying iodine products (stock codes 3100/3110) in August of this year. It should be made clear that the product is still perfectly safe to use. Please however be aware that we will not accept any returns on iodine after August, unless due to a quality problem.Lifesystems have been working with various water treatment experts to make sure an improved alternative is available. Chlorine tablets will continue as normal, but we will also be introducing Chlorine Dioxide liquid and tablets to the range from August to replace Iodine. Chlorine Dioxide is considered to be the best way to disinfect water in outdoor environments and will be very effective against most water borne pathogens including Cryptosporidium and Giardia, and does not have any after-taste or long-term effects. '

Which makes interesting reading. Amazing how EU legislation 'filters' (excuse the pun) and affects humble little retailers, who aren't really into 'doing drugs' or major biocide use. So I'm guessing look out for Chlorine Dioxide water purification , in stock at Walk and Travel and has been for years - like to think we are one step ahead of the EU ;-), if you really want to be sure about making your water clean. To be honest, it is what I've used, quite a lot, but not in real anger in Africa or Asia, just in UK and European mountain streams and even with my delicate disposition, have fared well. On the other hand you could invest in a great Katadyn Water Filter, that will clean out most of the nasties that you don't want to drink.

Get your Chlorine Dioxide water purification now, before the EU decide that this too becomes a banned chemical. You may also want to stock up on DEET insect repellent and permethrin insect proof clothing treatment as well, but I think that story is for another time.

Water Filters & Overland Truck Safaris

Water filters - which one do I need for an overland truck safari?

I've just had a great conversation with a customer about water filters and deciding what one he needs to take on his adventure. What adventure is he doing? He is getting the bus to Australia. From the UK. Cool. Now this is a trip that one day I'll be doing.

The journey takes 6 months on board a converted Scania lorry, an overland truck safari grande! My customer said that he was travelling with UK to Oz Overland taking in 23 countries in one massive hit. This is the route they are taking. That's as many countries as I have been to in my life time -let alone cramming them into 6 months, and going through Iran. Iran is supposed to be stunning and you need to get there soon in case the Americans decide they want a regime change. I'm jealous, I'll admit it.

Think of all those fantastic passport stamps and visa's that look really rather grand when you get home. Think of all the fantastic photos, places, people. The three P's sounds like a marketing wheeze. But to me it is really what travel is about. Photo's, Places, People.

So that is the amazing adventure that my client is going on. On an overland truck safari they usually provide you with clean water, but this water is kept in storage tanks on the truck and then often cleaning using a chemical process, such as chlorine. Sometimes this may leave the water not tasting brill, so you may just want to put it through a water filter to give it a thorough clean - hopefully making it taste a little better.

We went through his options and he was advised to get a water filter bottle where you can just fill up the bottle and the top is the filter. Now, 6 months on the road is quite a long time and these bottles only do 150-200 litres of water until you need a new filter. You would probably need to be drink 2-3 liters of fluids a day, especially if it is hot and more than 3 liters if it is excessively hot or you sweat profusely. So you may need to think of a new filter on the bottle every 50-60 days. so on this trip you will need to take two/three spare water filters for the bottle. Which can be expensive.

Looking at other options the Katadyn Mini Water Filter looked like an ideal alternative, but you need to pump the water through the filter, from one container to another container, or directly from the source, be it a stream or a sink in your hotel. The Katadyn Mini Filter can filter up to 7000 liters of water before you need to replace the water filter. So this may be the better option.

Before you go on an overland truck safari, talk to the operator and see what they recommend and what would be the easiest for you to use. My customer is going for an Aquamira water filter bottle -because it what was recommended and because it is simple and easy to use.

What are your thoughts? Have you used water filters on an overland truck safari? Got a question on water filters? Post your comments!!

Want to read an overland truck safari review? Rob sent this one in after his trip to India.

Outdoor Technology

Outdoor Technology.

What type of technology accompanies you on a walk in the mountains or hills?

I've just started to ask this question as my list of gadgets, or Outdoor Technology increases - as does the weight of my rucksack.

Last week I was in the Lake District, enjoying some very cold and snowy weather and even a couple of mountain tops - one on the Uldale Common the other, Skiddaw, the 4th highest mountain in the Lakes and a beautiful climb at 8am on New Years Day.

These walks, plus a couple of shorter ones with my young family, saw me carrying a mind boggling array of these gadgets:

Canon Digital SLR
Canon Compact Camera
Panasonic Camcorder
Garmin GPS - Oregon 300
Mobile phone

Back at the cottage lay a net book and a Three mobile internet dongle, which proved useless as there was no signal!

Thankfully I wasn't silly enough to take all these things out with me each time. I carefully chose the gadget for the walk. Family walks, camcorder, great views on a crisp cold morning the DSLR, risk of getting a white out and general interest in walking stats (nerdy?) Garmin GPS and the compact camera and camcorder for when we went out on Uldale Common where a blizzard whipped up and we decided to try plastic survival bag sledging.

Now, me being me, I decided to do the sledging with my camcorder and camera in a pouch on my waist belt - where I could get easy access and film the action, makes sense I hear you say. What I didn't reckon on was the spindrift and the general snow from wiping out on the plastic survival bag sledging. Opening my case I found that everything was covered in snow, I had (if it was made from paper) a very white and soggy loooking set of gadgets. Oops I thought. Best get them dried off and hope that they still work. Amazingly, like when I lost my DSLR into a crevasse for a week, I got them home, dried them off and they are working fine. I'm very impressed - but will be more careful next time.

For the the walk up Skiddaw I was more prepared -I put my DSLR into a plastic bag into the camera case. Perfect I thought. I can even shoot through it and not get wet gloves all over the camera. On the saddle between Carl Side and Skiddaw I was foiled by the wind with the plastic bag being whipped away from me as if I wasn't holding it. It was a wild day. But the pictures look great (coming soon). On the summit, spindrift was getting into my case again so I made a mental note to take a dry sack next time and attach it firmly to the daysack. The Garmin GPS fared better, being waterproof and rugged, it performed well at every glance, giving me my altitude, stop time, walking time and average speed and a maximum speed of 19.6kmh (more sledging!).

Technology is amazing and what is available can really add some fun into your walking, especially when you are back in the warmth of your cottage reviewing sledging on the lap top, looking at your amazing pictures, thinking that was awesome whilst checking out your walk stats and wondering what the hell I was doing stopped for an hour on a 5 hour walk? Heck - you could even upload your pics to Facebook if the dongle worked.

Be warned though - take care of your gear and don't let the snow into it nor the rain. And spend some time getting to know it before you go out - I'm sure my Garmin GPS and Panasonic Camcorder can do a lot more than I manged to get them to do. Have fun - Love the Adventure and may technology help you re-live it.