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Summary: Learn important gear to take on your next hiking trip in this free video.
Views: 2,197 | Tags: gloves, equipment, advanced, hiking, instruction, pants, hats, boots
About the Expert
Chris Van Londen Chris Van Londen's experience with backpacking and hiking spans three decades. He has hiked all over the United States and Canada.
In the mid seve... read more
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Questions & AnswersHi, I’m Chris Van Londen and on behalf of Expert Village I will be talking about bringing the right equipment. Beginning with boots, boots are very important. Boots need to be sturdy and need to have good soles. If you don’t have good soles, they can be treacherous because you can slide and you can slip. Some of the other essential equipment that is required is laid out right here. Very simple things that you will need. A compass is always a good thing to have on the trails especially if you are using a map. Flashlight you sometimes may end up on a trail longer than you realized and you may need it for finding home. Good to bring lip balm especially on hot days. Also, a lighter and sunglasses. Also your car keys; you want to get home. Another important thing to carry is some toilet paper in case duty calls and a nice pair of gloves. Some times if y you are stuck somewhere you can get cool. If you are up in the high altitudes it can be cool even though it is hot in the valley and a good cap to keep your head warm. I always like to wear a hat like this to bring me shade that is cool. Notice that it is netted on the top so that you get aeration on your head. And don’t forget your first aid kit. That is very important. Now let’s talk about pants. I think the kind of pants like these. These pants I can put on and zip up in case I am in high altitude and it cools down. Well when you hike, you are not going to wear one coat. You are going to layer so I always like to bring something like this; synthetic polar guard material without sleeves. It keeps my upper body nice and warm. Along with that I like to have with long sleeves thicker, so if I need more warmth I wear that. Of course, you need a shell and this is a water repellent shell. Now if you are going to be in the wet area you are going to need more than repellent but in most cases in the summer type of hiking, this will do. Another important item is your stay pack. It is a nice little pack that loads from the top so that I can get a lot of gear in here if I want. Also you have a pouch on the top, for gear that is easy to get to. Also these are curved chest straps and they fit nicely to your body but of course you want a lace strap that you can tighten. This will bear more weight.
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