Leading walks; what do you take with you?

[Hugh Westacott]

In the discussion on the thread ‘The future of navigation’ I mentioned the example of a well-equipped walker in Snowdonia who had to be rescued because he broke his mobile phone, which rendered the satnav mode inoperable, and then found that he had packed the wrong map.

This catalogue of misfortunes set me thinking about the steps we take to avoid problems. A number of members of this forum lead walking trips. In my case I have a small business taking London-based Americans and Canadians on day walks in the countryside around the capital. (I wonder how many people know that there are two national parks and eight designated areas of outstanding natural beauty within a ninety-minute train journey of London?)

I have the following checklist of equipment on the door of the walk-in closet in which I keep my outdoor gear to ensure that I remember to take everything I’m likely to require:

Waterproofs
Spare poncho for emergency use
Gaiters
Gloves
Hat
Spare fleece
Hydration system
Supermarket plastic bags to wear over boots in pubs

Maps (2 copies of print-outs from mapping software plus Explorer map if considered necessary)
Compass
Satnav & spare batteries
Cheap mobile phone
Camera

Emergency shelter
First aid kit
Small packet of moist wipes
Cheap multitool
Duct tape (wrapped round water bottle)
Pen & pencil
500cc plastic bottle of water for emergency use
Energy bars

Clipboard with pencil attached
List of participants
Copies of relevant emails
Lunch menu (order for group phoned to pub from train)
Phone numbers of local taxi firms
Train timetable

Wallet
Railcard
Bus pass
Debit & credit cards
Paper money & assortment of coins

It would be interesting to learn what other leaders take.

Incidentally, I have a new website. This is not a sales pitch because nobody on this forum would be interested in my walks that are aimed at a niche market, but I should be interested in comments on its content particularly the section that gives advice to walkers from overseas. It can be viewed at http://walkwithwestacott.com

Hugh

[boogyman]

When on a day-hike, I also take with me:
- Food & drink (more than 500cc)
- Isothermic cover (is that a correct translation?)
- A really good torch + spare batteries
- A lightweight tripod for my camera (Gorillapod)
- Depending on the location, flares

Best regards,
Chris.

[Lost Soul]

Just checked out your website.  The photos of you are nothing like what I imagined you to be.  My mental impression having been formed from the deprecating descriptions you post of your physical self.

I carry an awful lot of what you carry.  Heavy isn't it?  Any way to add to your and Chris' list.

Loo paper.
Hygienic wipes.
Doggy poo bags to place used loo paper and wipes in and carry off of the hill.
Very light weight plastic trowel

Vaseline
Imodium tablets
Ibuprofen Tablets
Codeine Tablets

Chemical hand warmer pouches.

Swiss Army Knife
Whistle
PLB
A small hand mirror

Toughprint A6 spiral bound waterproof notebook plus pen.

Very lightweight compact binoculars. 

Cheese and pickle sandwiches.

Hope this helps.

LS

[Paul Hitchen]

Hi Hugh

As per the other suggestions I cannot recommend a torch strongly enough.  A lot of groups when found at night say ' I didn't pack a torch as I did not expect to be out at night'.  No one expects an incident and naturally it can take Mountain Rescue some time to reach remote areas.  It is amazing the difference to a night search when we can see a spec of light vs 350 sq miles of blackness    Using a mobile phone as a light wallops the batteries too, so using your mobile as a torch should be a last resort.  As head torches now only are a few grams and last 36 hours at least, I usually encourage every group member to carry one.

I also pack a blizzard bag in winter - you may have seen them, it's small compact vacuum packed sleeping bag type gear for insulation of a casualty inside a clan tent/survival tent as you have with you.    Only other thing is I take 25m of 7mm climbing rope if we are in scramble territory - but the common view is if the group can't do it, you should not have them on it. That said, I like to cover the bases. That and a prussik and I can extract anyone from anything (almost)!  There is a thought though, that some groups run into trouble through exhaustion which can be compounded by the weight they carry.  i.e carry too much 'safety kit' and its weight forces you to need it! So I tend to share kit out to the fit folk with no more than 25% body weight carried. Hope these thoughts contribute.

enjoy your walks - cheers Paul.  Oh nearly forgot - beer tokens for the pub afterwards - vital kit.

[captain paranoia]

I'm sure I replied to this last night.  Ah; network problems killed it...

I think Hugh's request was specifically about leading groups, not personal kit. (although his list includes a lot of personal kit, too...).

For group use, the medicines are a debatable point, unless you're qualified to prescribe them.  General first aid advice is that they should not be present in a first aid kit.  Making them available for an adult to choose to take is also questionable; I think they'd have to be in their original packaging, so the adult would be able to make an informed decision.  A sorry state of affairs, really...

The only additional things on my list of 'leader' stuff to take whilst supervising DofE expeditions is:

participant contact & medical details
emergency procedures
weather forecast
headtorch & whistle (although those might be considered 'personal kit')

We carry a fair bit of spare water; more than 500ml, but that's a bit more for refilling than emergency.

I'm with Lost Soul; Hugh's photos don't look like my mental picture at all.  It must the the 'librarian' image that's confused me...

The camera is left behind for 'Protection' reasons...

[Hugh Westacott]

Thanks for all your comments.

My list includes personal items. I don't list a whistle because I have one permanently attached to every rucksack I own.

The walkers in the groups I lead are all mature adults, overwhelming ladies from the US and Canada. After signing up (and paying!) for a walk everyone receives a list of items to bring. They are advised to enter my mobile number into their phones so that they can call me should they become separated from the group, and I check that this has been done at the start of the walk. I also appoint a backmarker who also acts as the gate-shutter. 

This particular list is for the walks I lead in southern England. They are rarely more than ten miles long (eight or nine miles seems to be the most popular length) and always include a pub lunch so the 500 mils of water is ample and I can't recall it ever being required. It's unlikely that we are ever more than two miles from a road or human habitation. I shall add a lightweight head torch to my list.

My first aid kit includes bandages, assorted plasters and dressings, Compeed and corn pads as well as Ibuprofen and anti-histamine tablets which I don't prescribe but, depending on circumstances, inform anyone in distress that I have them.

The photos in my biography are not particularly recent. They were taken on one of the forty-eight Coast to Coast walks I have led but which I gave up on reaching the age of seventy-nine. I'm now eighty-one and a half and 5' 6'' (166.5 cm) tall so I think that to describe myself as a 'geriatric dwarf' is reasonably accurate.

Hugh

[Callum]

I carry all of the above Hugh, with the exception of the bus pass - not long though

Is your cheap mobile phone in addition to the one you normally carry?

[Hugh Westacott]

I cannot abide mobile phones, Callum!

I own one but only carry it when I'm driving or on a walk. It is only activated on days that I'm leading a walk and I turn it off as soon as the walk is completed. I never load more than £20 on my 'pay as you go' tariff in the course of a year.

Hugh
The geriatric dwarf

[Pete McK]

Whilst I share your sentiments Hugh I have to admit to finding it difficult to manage without my mobile phone, yet a few years ago I did so easily! My concession, is that on my phone I can choose to turn it off, between specific times, to anyone other than select people, I choose family members

[adi]

Hugh what sort of emergency shelter do you carry? I am a huge fan of bothy bags and blizzard bags.

[Paul Hitchen]

Me too. When I run alone I carry a 4 man clan tent from Terranova and a blizzard survival sleeping bag.  With a group, or when dragging the missus out,  I swap the 4 man for a Vango 12 man but always keep the blizzard bag. I also carry a large double plastic bag that is quite thick, to sit on or under insulate the blizzard from wet ground.

(On an MR call out I found a women mid thirties exhausted, o/s temp a very wet -1c. Her core temp was 34c heading south.  I threw over the clan tent and put her in the blizzard, then as she was talking to me, I stuffed her full of calories through the usual hole.  By the time the rest of the team arrived she was up to 35.4c and her mood had improved massively.  This is only my personal view and choice of kit I hasten to add).

all the best

[Hugh Westacott]

Adi

The majority of the walkers I lead are fair weather walkers. They are nearly all women from the USA and Canada termporarily resident in London where their husbands are employed on short-term contracts. We walk in the lowland countryside within a 90-minute train journey of the capital. When they sign up for a walk via my website, they are referred to the section that gives advice on what to wear, and most of them outfit themselves with top of the range gear (the staff of the Cotswold branch in Piccadilly must rub their hands in glee whenever they hear a North American accent). In winter, I have occasionally cancelled a walk when the weather was particularly foul. My groups are limited to twenty walkers. Their preferred distance is eight or nine miles. We are never more than three miles from the pub or five miles from the railway station, and much closer than that to a road or human habitation, so it is most unlikely that the whole group will require an emergency shelter. But it is possible that somebody could be taken ill or hurt themselves (nothing serious has ever happened) so I carry a Terra Nova Bothy 4 Emergency Survival Shelter which can accommodate four persons. My rucksack is  lined with an inexpensive survival bag.

When leading walks in upland areas my groups are limited to twelve clients, but eight to ten is the norm. These are summer trips and we stay in an hotel for centre-based walks or b&bs if walking a linear route. I carry an Outdoordesigns Classic Mountain Shelter that can accommodate twelve people. It's been used a few times, never for an emergency, but to provide welcome shelter for a picnic lunch on a rainy day.

Hugh

[Lyle Brotherton]

I always carry a 2 person emergency, neon orange, shelter. Some years ago my friend, great mountaineer and Team Leader of Tayside MRT, Stu Johnstone, was working on developing a POD system and I was trialling one of these shelters for him. The product was fantastic but sadly much too expensive to produce.

[adi]

Lyle talk to me I am talking to a manufacture that makes the ribz packs we sale. lyle what is the two man shelter you use? i have a four man one but it is often too big for my needs. Hugh both those shelters are great.