Adventurers have risked life and limb to experience nature at its unspoiled best

The great outdoors have long been a challenge to the more adventurous travellers.  Whatever their reasons—getting back to nature, curiosity or self-renewal—adventurers have risked life and limb to experience nature at its unspoiled best.  The appeal of wild rivers, unclaimed mountains and even the most remote rain forest are what drive these adventure seekers to explore without hesitation.

The current craze for camping and trekking can be traced, in part, to the 1960s crowd who travelled the world, curious about non-Western cultures and people.  Hiking is also becoming more popular.  Today, people hike for recreation.  Many Europeans spend their summer holidays in the mountains and quite an increasing number of Americans literally following in their footsteps.  The hikes chosen are moderate to slightly challenging and anyone in a reasonably good shape should be able to handle this comfortably.

The hikes chosen are moderate to slightly challenging and anyone in a reasonably good shape should be able to handle this comfortably

Now, with the advent of adventure tour operators as well as the inevitable roads and airstrips, you can now visit these remote areas with relative ease.  Incidentally, the immense popularity of trekking, hiking and camping has also brought about an array of gadgets and gizmos and improvements on the old ones.

Silva Compass

• Global Positioning System: It tells you where you are and it can calculate your estimated time of arrival.
• Night Vision Scopes: It helps guide you around in the dark.
• Cell phone Reception Amplifiers: This pocket-sized, wireless antenna picks up and amplifies phone signals.
• Compass: It generally tells directions.

• SILVA STORMPROOF HELIOS LIGHTER – can withstand winds of up to 25m/s and is good for 30,000 lights.
  

  Silva Helios

The gadgets are not infallible; of course, they can break and do not always work properly.  Think of them as accessories, not substitutes for real wilderness skills.  Besides what would you do if you were suddenly attacked by a brown bear or a rhino?  In cases like this, you only need your feet to run.  You won’t need any other gadget except for your body and presence of mind.   But the most important of all is a water purifier.  No one can survive the wilderness without drinking water. The waters in the outdoors are not safe for drinking.  Of course, you can always rely on boiling the water for a certain number of minutes but that is so inconvenient.  With water purifiers, it will make water in the wilderness potable.

Katadyn Pocket Water Filter

Katadyn has come out with a water filter series perfect for expeditions, camps and other professional use.  The Endurance series makes extremely turbid water potable.  The product line is heavy duty and filters more efficiently, even in extreme conditions.  The product line offers maximum water capacity and produces up to 100 times more water than standard water filters. It is perfect for one or a group of four.  You will also need these few basic items like the following:

Wind and sun protection like bandanas and scarves for the face.

• The best wind and wet clothing that you can afford
• Insect repellent and mosquito nets
• Tarpaulin, hammock or sleeping bag
• Swiss Army Knives
• Machete
• Sunglasses with UV protection

You can choose what kind of “camping” you would like to experience. There’s the high tech kind of camping involving an RV, short for recreational vehicle. This type of campers arrive in their own RV equipped with electricity, bathroom, air-conditioned bedrooms and even a collapsible patio. Then there’s the survivalist kind of camping where a camper is equipped with little more than his boots and maybe a jungle knife. Now there’s the happy camper who “camps” in permanent camping facilities or camp grounds. Most camping entails some sort of hiking, canoeing, swimming, fishing, or biking. Whatever activity is included, it is best to pack light without sacrificing comfort.

High Tech and Lightweight Tent

If you are the RV type of camper, you need not worry about packing light and using lightweight materials and utensils. However, if you are the backpacking kind of camper, you seriously have to pack light and probably buy all those lightweight materials for ease in movement. A serious backpacker or trekker need to take the right supplies and utensils to make for a successful camping.

The weight of your backpack should be just right for your height, weight and strength. The recommended that your backpack be not more than 2 kilos, your 2-person tent no more than 2.5 kilos, your sleeping bag about 1 kilo, and other supplies like food and rain gear should be no more than the combined weight of 2.5 kilos. The total overall weigh might be too much or too little for some. The ideal is to carry the right equipment and supplies that you can bear. If you carry in your person a cooking pan that weighs 500 grams, then that’s just too heavy in proportion to the total ideal weight that you are supposed to carry.

Lightweight Pots and Pans

This is why it’s important to use light weight materials for your camping needs. Camping materials and supplies are a different kind of breed – as they come in waterproof, fire-retardant, and uber light materials. Carrying a light load would basically make you a “happy camper” as you can lug up and about without your stuff bogging you down. Remember thought that carrying a lighter load should not mean sacrificing essentials. It is carrying lighter and smaller equipments.

The available camping gear in the market today is unbelievable. There are categories for cooking gear, sleeping gear, survival gear, entertainment gear, mosquito gear, repair products, first-aid and emergency gear and many more. The most important thing to consider before you set off for camp is to make a list of all the things you would need for the duration of your camping trip. After that, buy the things you need and have fun camping.