What to take on your first walk.

A few weeks ago I wrote a post on how to plan your first walk. Now I’m sure you’re all sat at home thinking, ‘that’s all well and good, I’ve planned my walk but what on earth do I take with me?’ Well help is at hand. This week I will cover some of the things you need to make your walks more pleasurable. Fundamentally all you need to go walking is two legs. However, there is plenty of kit out there to enable you to go stay comfortable in increasing extremes of weather and terrain, depending on how much you are willing to pay. And that is what this is about really, cost vs comfort. You can go walking in any gear you have in your wardrobe but if it rains will it keep you dry? If it’s cold will it keep you warm?

Walking shoes for good weather.

Probably the single most important piece of kit is footwear. This is what keeps the world away from your feet. Footwear choice depends markedly upon the season. The fairer the weather and terrain you plan on walking in the more you can get away with. I usually use a sturdy pair of walking trainers in the summer and a full ankle support leather boot during the winter. A good walking trainer will be well ventilated, comfortable and have a grippy sole. A leather walking boot will be waterproof (if well looked after), warm and again will have good grip in the wet. Walking in ordinary trainers may be fine in the summer but at the first sign of inclement weather or rough terrain you will be quite uncomfortable. If you choose one piece of kit to spend a bit more money on it’s boots.

Walking boots for more inclement weather.

Your clothing again depends on the weather. If you are only ever going to walk when you are 100% it’s not going to rain you can get away without a waterproof. If you don’t live in the Atacama Desert however you’ll need something to keep you dry in unexpected downpours. The problem is not keeping water out, that’s easy. A bin bag with some arm and head holes will do the job. The difficult part is making it breathable. If it isn’t you’ll saturate from the inside through profuse sweating. If you’ve ever warn rubber gloves for any length of time, you’ll know what I mean. A full set of waterproof top and bottoms are becoming cheaper nowadays but it’s always worth spending that extra bit. Again this should be a purchase that lasts you many years as long as you take care for them.

Gore Tex works better when it's garishly bright. Fact.

For your top half you should layer accordingly. I find it’s best to combine a t-shirt with a thin warm top and a thick warm top. That way you can escalate in warmth depending on the weather. Don’t be tempted to put on everything as soon as you start. It’s actually best to be cold when you begin. You’ll be surprised how quickly you get warm. You really want to avoid getting sweaty as this will make you very cold if you stop and it’s windy. I wear a wicking t-shirt as my base. This draws sweat away from the body. Then I have a thin fleece and a thick fleece.

Jeans are bad m'kay.

Do not wear jeans! I cannot overstate this enough. Denim will give you bad rub after a very short period of time. If it gets wet, you may as well wear heavy sandpaper. Wave bye bye to the skin on your legs as it is replaced with a corned beef looking substance. A cheap option is tracksuit bottoms, the thin material, not the thick towel ones. But then you’re only an energy drink and baseball cap away from chavdom. The only other alternative is an actual pair of walking trousers. These are not flattering as you’ve probably seen from our photos but they are cheap and comfy. Make sure they are nice and baggy around the thighs for leaping over gates or you’ll get fresh ventilation between the legs. At the same time make sure they are not too loose around the waist all you’ll be forever pulling them up. It’s good if they come up quite high to keep your shirt tucked in. Again you’ll look as cool as your Mum trying to beatbox but it’ll stop your bag rubbing on your lower back.     

   

Bags. Great for carrying stuff.

Which leads me to back packs. Every extra layer of clothing over your basic level of decency should fit into the bag you are carrying. It may be cold after a frosty night at 8’ o’clock in the morning but after the sun’s come out and you’ve been walking uphill for half an hour you may regret those extra layers if you’ve got nothing to put them in. Conversely, just because it’s warm when you leave the car, it may be blowing a gale the other side of a hill. I find the best way to figure out what to take is to fill your bag with everything you may need to make sure it fits, then dress accordingly from the bag’s contents. The only real factors in deciding what bag to buy are, is it big enough and is it comfortable. It doesn’t really matter what it looks like when you’re cutting about with your t-shirt tucked into your frumpy walking trousers.

Caps. Not always chavvy.

Other items you should take are water, food and a map and compass. Even if you don’t know how to use a compass it’ll help you orientate your map. Take an emergency snack such as a choccy bar on top of your lunch. If you run out of energy this may help you get back. Be aware you’ll probably eat this regardless if there’s an emergency or not. As rule of thumb I’d say take a pint of water for each hour you are out. Energy drinks should only ever be used to supplement water intake and preferably never drank, anywhere, ever. Something I always wear is a cap. No, I’m not a chav. It is just very good for keeping the sun off your face and when it rains it stops the hood of your waterproof falling over your eyes, which trust me, does happen.

Please don’t rush out and buy all this kit at once and then decide you hate walking because it’s expensive. It almost better to avoid this advice initially. Go out in a pair of jeans and trainers with no bag and horrible cheap waterproofs. Then you will really appreciate the money you spent when you eventually do buy the right kit. Trust me, I’ve been there. Have you ever been caught out by bad equipment choices? If so let us know in the comments below. Until next time.


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