12 Adventure Tips of Christmas – 360 Office team

Team 360

This is by no means a comprehensive list nor is it compulsory. Think of it as a personal reminder of what we each do before we set off on an adventure or trek. It’s just a little advice to help with your trip and preparation so it can run smoothly. At the end of the day you’re always going to learn something new so don’t worry about forgetting things (as long as it’s not your passport), not making the most from your kit, doing something the wrong way. It’s called life, you won’t know it all. Just go and have fun and most importantly learn what works for you.

So, here’s a quick list of things we make sure we do pre, during and post expedition.

Nick’s Top Tips

  • Pre-hydration – drinking lots of water in the morning. Make sure you sip water throughout the day – aim for roughly 2 litres or more.
  • Pack essentials into dry bags (passport, socks, ipod etc.) – essentially anything you don’t want to get wet.
  • Bring foot powder – helps prevent your feet from blistering by keeping your feet dryer so you’ll be able to dance your way up Kilimanjaro….

Hugo’s Top Tips

  • Have all your kit laid out on the floor before you pack – you can then visualise everything you’ll need and hopefully you won’t take more kit than you need or you won’t forget anything.
  • Take zip ties – amazingly useful for fixing stuff like shoes, skis, rucksacks, tents etc.
  • Take a good amount of zinc oxide tape (aka blister tape) – you could store a little extra around your ice axe, water bottle or on the role as it comes in handy for all sorts of issues.

Marni’s Top Tips

  • Pack clean socks for summit night you’ll be amazing by the additional physiological comfort. They’ll also allow your feet to breath better which means you’re less likely to get sweaty feet leading to rubbing and possible blisters.
  • Pack nibbles into small sealed bags – if you’re on the mountain for seven days then pack seven bags. Ideal snacks include dried fruit, nuts, flapjacks and tracker bars.It also means you don’t have to fiddle about with half packets of snacks.
  • Altitude homeopathy – coca (apparently)! Marni is convinced by using coca throughout her expeditions and to date it’s worked every time. (Controversial we know but it’s worked for her, so you have been told!).
  • And one for luck… Take your walking boots on the aeroplane along with some trekking kit – in case your luggage goes walk about – as you can still begin your trek while your luggage catches you up.

Helen’s Top Tips

  • Sanitise your hands regularly – especially after you tie your sneaky shoe laces that may have been trailing. Be careful about where your hands have been at all times. Another handy tip is to not pull your gloves off with your mouth (you can’t sanitise your gloves).
  • Wear a buff or neck gaiter to keep dust out of your lungs – helps stop your mouth and throat getting dry and also helps avoid the Khumbu cough!
  • Keep your batteries warm – stuff them into the bottom of your sleeping bag or down jacket, this helps retain their charge so when you wake in the morning to a beautiful sunrise you’ll have juice in your batteries!

An important factor to consider is that it will probably take you a few treks and expeditions to get you kit system absolutely perfect and to pack only what is necessary. It’s taken most of us a good few years of getting out and about to find out what works for us. Some of our tips may not work for you and that’s fine. Each person is different. We’re only an phone call away so if you have read our FAQ’s and still have questions give us a call!

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