How to prevent blisters when out hiking.

The blog post on preventing blisters has now moved:

http://www.walkandtravel.com/walk_and_travel_blog/5-top-tips-for-blister-prevention-when-hiking/

Top tips for winter walking.

Walk to know about Winter Walking? Then please follow the link to where this blog post is now located! 

http://www.walkandtravel.com/walk_and_travel_blog/top-tips-for-winter-walking/

Beginners Guide to Walking Gear

This page had now been moved to: http://www.walkandtravel.com/walk_and_travel_blog/5-uk-walking-essentials/

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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...

Local Travel

There are lots of local places to go and visit right on your doorstep. Beat the credit crunch and get out and exlpore local. What is there around where you live? What is there an hours train journey away?

I took my Scouts out on a walk a month ago, just before the snows, on the Horsham Riverside Walk. The Horsham Riverside Walk is a fantastic 11 mile walk around Horsham in West Sussex, following bridlepaths, foot paths, and believe it or not the rivers of Horsham, the Arun or as some call it Red River.

The walk passes through housing estates, little cut through around the town, pass an old pill box, mott and bailey castle and an old water mill. You can learn quite a bit about the town and it's history as you walk along taking in the country side as well as the houses!

Freezing on the hills.

Freezing on the hills.

Don’t you just love this weather? I do and I really wish I could get out more on the hills and enjoy it.

The South Downs did manage to entice me out for a walk the other day. It was freezing on the hills, but beautifully sunny and fresh. The local was just out of Steyning, up on the Bostal, which is one of my many favourite views across the downs.

On with the Hiking Books, Han Wag Lima (fully recommended for people with feet like me, if you want to know what my feet are like email me). Out with the thermals – now where did I put them? I took them skiing last year, it was plus 12 C so didn’t need them, I took them trekking in Andorra, just in case, didn’t need them, went to get them out and couldn’t find them – great and still can’t, even out on a night hike last night with my Scouts. Time to invest in some new ones. At least I managed to find my daypack.

The day was clear; the views went on and on. You really can’t beat a crisp winter day for clear air and immense absorbing views. The walk wasn’t very far as the wind chill really did make the temperature plummet, so we just headed up and along the South Downs Ways and looped back and round to the car after a few miles. My chin was numb, why did I leave my fleece neck tube at home? But so worth it, just for the views. But must get sorted with my cold weather gear! Get up onto Steyning Bostal any time of the year but get up their now before the cold snap ends to really appreciate the clear wonderful views across the South Downs and the Weald.

What have you been up to? Have you been walking anywhere and enjoying the slightly chilly weather? Let me know where you have been!