|
Home About Us Glossary Disclaimer Contact Links
General issues
Look for simple, rugged gear which is within your price range. Also look at what you will be using the gear for; there's no point having a four-season alpine tent if you only ever walk in summer, and it is easy to spend large amounts of money on features which aren't really necessary. Also, with some gear you are paying for a brand name. There's nothing wrong with that if it's a brand you have used previously, trust, and are comfortable with, but if it's for showing-off value then you may be paying a heavy premium for the privilege
Price and quality are peoples' major considerations for most equipment. For some things, we try to buy the best gear we can afford; for others, cheaper versions are fine. An example of this is boots; although you might be OK in a pair of inexpensive leather boots, you're probably better off spending some extra money if you think the more expensive ones will be more comfortable and durable in the long run. It is also worth checking the price and availability of consumables (for example, ceramic water filter cores) if they need to be replaced regularly.
Effectiveness, or fitness-for-purpose, is also an important factor. The equipment needs to be able to do what you intend. This means, for example, that if you're looking for adjustable trekking poles so you can also use them for telemark skiing, they need to contract to a short enough length for you to be able to telemark properly.
Comfort is subjective but is critical for clothing, footwear, and packs. Obviously, you should always try clothing on before buying it. You'll be spending a lot of time in it, so it needs to be comfortable.
Weight is a critical consideration for most people. Unfortunately, when buying gear you can have any two of the following: light weight, low price, or durability. You rarely get all three. That means that you may have to sacrifice one of the other two to get lightweight gear. However, there is a growing movement towards lightweight gear which may change that equation.
The degree of durability required from your equipment depends on what you intend to do with it. A pack which will only be used for circuits around the southern end of Wilson's Promontory does not need to be especially durable, whereas one bought for a three-week epic on the Port Davey Track in Tasmania most likely does.
A related consideration is ease of repair. If the item does break, can you fix it? Hopefully, yes you can. However, running repairs mostly take the form of patching something up to the point where it is usable, rather than being completely repaired. Equipment such as GPS units and gas stoves are likely to be difficult to repair on the track because of a lack of skills, tools, or spare parts, whereas textile-based equipment like packs and tents are easier to repair if you have needles, thread, and spare buckles. See also repair materials
Ease of use can be helpful in situations where you need to do things quickly, or in poor conditions. For example, Shellite stoves are highly effective at cooking in the snow, but are difficult to set up and light if you have cold fingers.
Interoperability may be helpful where one piece of gear has similar consumables or spare parts to other gear you or other party members own. That way, on a pesonal level, if your torch and GPS both run on AA batteries you only need to carry spare AA batteries, not AA and AAA. On a group level, if everyone is using shellite pressure stoves and one breaks, it may take longer to cook but you won't run out of fuel because the fuel which would have been used in the broken stove is instead used in the other stoves.
One piece of equipment can be inferior to another on all the objective criteria, but you still buy it. Sometimes, an item just works for you on a subjective level. For me, my water bladder is strapped to the outside of my pack and insulated with foam rubber. Under any objective criterion it should be ineffective, but I just like it.
Colours
Colour is an often-neglected aspect of selecting clothing. That is fine 99.9% of the time. However, when the weather is poor and visibility less-than-perfect, you may be glad that your clothing and those of your companions stands out against the landscape. Alternatively, on a bright sunny day you have less visual impact on the landscape, particularly in open areas, if you are wearing earthy colours. Having a colour-coordinated bushwalking wardrobe is not a high-priority consideration when purchasing your outdoor clothing; however, it is something you should consider if all other things (such as materials, weight, fitness-for-purpose, etc) are equal.
We like bright colours on the basis that they enhance your ability to be seen in poor visibility. Colours such as red, orange, and royal blue are helpful for this. I think that rain jackets and fleeces, which you are likely to be wearing in cloud, fog, and snow, are best in bright colours.
Earthy colours such as khaki, forest green, and brown can be used to blend in to a natural environment. This reduces your visual impact on the landscape for other park users, particularly in open areas where you can see for a long way. Darker earthy colours also hide the dirt a little better than other colours, if that’s an issue for you, and lighter ones may reflect a bit more heat. However, wearing such colours does mean that you can be difficult to see if you need to be visible (for example, if you are lost) and you may also be confused for a park ranger.
Dark colours such as navy blue, black, and dark brown are less visible and also hide dirt reasonably well. However, they may be hotter to wear in warm weather. Waterproof overtrousers are almost always in dark colours.
Fluorescent colours like yellows, greens, pinks, and oranges are highly visible. My tent footprint is fluorescent nylon so that if I need to attract attention I have a large piece of brightly-coloured lightweight fabric available to spread out on the ground.
Purple is in a category all its own. It is a refugee colour from the 1970s which was very popular for outdoor apparel a few years ago. I myself was caught up in the wave of purple popularity and bought a deep-purple fleece (admittedly on sale) despite hating purple. Purple's resurgence waned, however, and we are now back to more sensible colours.
I don't like camouflage for some reason. I think I find it vaguely annoying partly because of its military associations; if you want to wear camouflage then you should join the army. I find that camouflage just makes people look like extras in a war movie.
If I was selecting outdoor clothing from scratch, I would probably select the following:
Rain jacket: bright colours
Overtrousers: dark colours
Fleece/jumper: bright colours
Sun hat: earthy colours
Beanie: bright colours
Shirt: earthy colours
Pants/shorts: dark or earthy colours
Groundsheet: fluorescent
Tent footprint: fluorescent
|
|
