Force 10 XPD3 tent
£575
Fore 10 has been making serious tents for 50 years for use in the harshest environments in the world. The XPD3 is a fully geodesic three-person tent with an inner first pitch and added front porch. From the first pitch everything about this tent shouts tough quality that’s built to last: Yunan UK poles, heavy duty nylon flysheet, and chunky zip pulls and loops. With a weight of 4.4kg, the XPD is light for an expedition tent too.
Force-ten.co.uk
Vango Ultralite 1300
£100
Designed for long-distance backpacking and wild camping, the Ultralite packs down to a solid 278cm x 23cm with the aid of its four-strap retention system and weighs 1.9g. That might not sound featherweight, but for a four-season bag to cope with temperatures as low as -10 degrees C, at a cost of only £100, this is a high-performance bargain. Down bags with the same specification will weigh a few hundred grams less than the synthetic Ultralite but cost several hundred pounds more, and they might not even handle getting wet as well.
Vango.co.uk
Vango Firestarter
£8
Anyone who has ever snapped the head off their last damp match and had to eat a cold camping dinner will know how invaluable a reliable fire-making tool is. The Firestarter is good for up to 12,000 strikes – regardless of what the weather is doing – and good value too. You will need to have some dry moss, leaves or carefully stashed piece of paper to convert the strong sparks it makes into the first flames of your fire – not to mention some well-developed bush skills. It’s a good advice to practice before you leave home…
Vango.co.uk
Blue Mountain Compass
£4
Cheap, and well-thought out, Blue Mountain's compass is your Ordnance Survey map’s best friend. You get grid-measuring scales to work with the squares on your 1:25,000, and 1:50,000 scale maps, metric and imperial rulers, as well as a magnifying glass for hard-to-read map detail, and a lanyard for hanging it round your neck or tying it to your back pack so you don’t lose it.
Cotswoldoutdoor.com
Trangia 27-8 stove and kettle set
£76
Trangia’s portable camping stove set has legions of followers who swear by the clever design and practicality of this spirit-burning cooking set. You get two 1 litre saucepans, one 18cm frying pan, two windshields, a kettle and the spirit burner itself – all of which are made from hardanodised aluminium and pack down inside each other with a retaining strap to hold the compact package together. Good enough to cook for up to two people, plus tea, the set weighs 827g plus however much spirit fuel you need to carry.
trangia.se
Globalstar GSP – 1700 satellite phone
£386 prepaid or from free with contract
If you’re heading to a remote location where there’s no mobile phone coverage but still want to stay in touch you need a satellite phone.
Small and light at a shade under 200g, the GSP- 1700 will do voice and data calls in 120 countries – which pretty much means everywhere in the world except sub-Saharan Africa, and some of the Southern and Pacific Oceans.
It’s simple to use, reminding us of what ‘good old’ phones used to be – a lit LCD small screen for call and signal information, and a backlit keypad. It will also give your grid reference in a featureless landscape, which could be really handy for navigation.
Prepaid phones from €0.45 per minute, contracts from €10/month.
Globalstar.com
