Phil Geng

Our experience is the overarching defense against most incidents in the outdoors. In fact if we reflect on our own incidents and near misses over the years, chances are we have learned from them and gained experience - experience that will make us more aware of the specific oversight that affected us that day. In a chain of events we can usually trace back the cause for an incident to very early on with the “gut feeling” that something isn’t quite right usually being the indicator at the time.  Ultimately we are relying on our luck to ensure nothing happens if we are left in a situation where we have missed something.

Overall rating:

Overview

Since 2001 Jetboil have constantly and consistently shown that outdoor cooking systems need not be clunky, heavy or inefficient. Across their range they offer everything from single person cooking systems to expedition base camp grade kitchens. Famous for their fast boiling times and portability the Zip, the smallest of the range, features all of its family’s pedigree while packing down to little more than a Nalgene bottle. For those of you wishing to enjoy a fresh brew on the hills this is a truly indispensable piece of kit.

With the old year done and dusted and a new year ahead of us I thought this was a good time to figure out what the new year will bring us in terms of the outdoors. The honest answer here is that the outdoors will remain largely the same it always was. Although the government has recently made outdoor pursuits a focal point of their legislation and support, nature itself will be largely indifferent to this political support. For those who venture onto Ben Nevis this year though, the path improvements being undertaken will mean some disruption and potential issues. However, recent weather and increasing pressures on the services we rely on may impact us more than we find comfortable.