In my backpack - an idiot abroad's essential equipment.

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- in my backpack (an idiot's favourite travel gear.)

an idiot abroad proudly presents some of the essential items he wouldn't leave home without - and invites you to show him yours!

I'll dig more things out of my pack on a regular basis.

If you've got a piece of equipment that you're particularly fond of, or impressed with, and would like to let the world know, click the link below.

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	in my backpack



	Cooking/Eating Equipment A small pot (with lid) for cooking, a pan for boiling water, stainless steel mug, plastic bowl, strong plastic cutlery. The cutlery and a tea-strainer (for coffee!) is stored in a small pouch. A small bottle of washing-up liquid and a scouring sponge is stored (in a bag) in the mug.				The pot, pan and mug are part of a larger billy-can set designed to fit together well. The bowl is plastic. The cutlery set is made of very strong plastic. I find them remarkably resilient, immune to rust, easier to clean and far less likely to damage things than their metal counterparts. It is important to have at least two pans - one for cooking your stews and porridge and the other reserved solely for boiling water in. (curried water is an acquired taste). Some people prefer a set of Army Mess tins (2 rectangular pans, one stowed within the other), since they are robust and pack better than round pans, but I find them harder to heat (being thicker), harder to stir and harder to clean than round pans. For ideas on what to cook and why, read this article on field cooking & nutrition, or visit wilderness dining to stock-up your larder.



	'Hexi-stove' The 'hexi-stove' or solid-fuel burner is one of the smallest (and cheapest) stoves available. It measures only 115mm x 95mm x 28mm (4½" x 3½" x 1") and weighs less than 125 grammes (4½ oz.). It burns solid-fuel (hexamine) tablets (similar to firelighters). One tablet will burn for about 5 minutes, but it's best to break a tablet up first and feed it to the flame bit by bit. You can improve your stove's performance with a few modifications.				Even if you don't intend cooking on your trip, it's always worth taking your hexi stove, pan and mug along, plus a few cup-a-soups, tea-bags, sachets of hot chocolate, coffee or whatever. Being able to knock up a morale-boosting brew anywhere, anytime is what made the British Empire great. You'll be hard-pushed to knock up a banquet on one, but it'll boil a pan of water or heat a can of stew within a few minutes. It is designed to be used both on flat surfaces and on uneven ground, to work in the wind and rain, and you can even store the fuel tablets in it. If you run out of tablets, firelighters (or, at a pinch, wood) are found worldwide. The stove costs less than £5 GBP and a pack of 24 fuel tablets costs about £3 GBP. Most burning tablets are toxic (so use only in adequately ventilated areas), but non-toxic equivalents (e.g. those made by Esbit) are becoming more common. The tablets also leave a black deposit on the underside of the pan. Don't worry, this washes off easily (undiluted washing up liquid works well, but so does a rub with wet grass). Top Tip - Waste not, want not: when the water boils, blow out the tablet. When the stove is cool, you can put the partly-burned (and subsequently easier to light next time, but also more brittle) tablet in an empty matchbox (or even better, a small snuff tin), in the stove, ready for your next brew-up. Top tip 2 - Stay clean: As mentioned, the tablets leave a black deposit, so store the stove in a plastic bag to protect your other gear.



	Platypus water bottles Crush-proof! Freeze-proof! Boil-proof! Lifetime guarantee! And unbelievably, it's less than $5 US! But that's not the best part: unlike conventional rigid bottles, the Platypus gets smaller as you use it. Take a drink, squeeze the air out and Voila! - reduced volume. You can even roll it up like a half-empty toothpaste tube! See the full Platypus range at: www.cascadedesigns.com				Shown here are the 2.4-litre and ½-litre bottles. Unfortunately, my 1-litre bottle burst while I was demonstrating (once too often) that it could support my weight. (They come with a lifetime guarantee, but jumping on them is probably not considered 'acceptable use'.) The bottles come in a variety of styles and sizes, with a choice of screw-tight or push-pull caps. The push-pull caps allow you to drink without taking your bottle out of your backpack - just stick your mouth over the cap and squeeze the bottle. There is a risk (according to Platypus) of the push-pull cap popping open in your backpack, but so far none of mine have. Peace of mind comes cheap, however, since replacement caps (screw-tight or push-pull) cost less than $2 US. A wide variety of accessories and 'hydration-systems' is also available, should you have more specialised requirements. Top tip - Don't pee in your water supply: never put flavoured-drinks (of any kind) in your water bottle - the taste will never go away. My ½-litre bottle is reserved exclusively for fruit-juice concentrate, which I add to water in a disposable mineral-water bottle, never to my bigger platypuses.



	Mini-compass Measuring just 30mm (1¼") at it's widest point and weighing only 5 grammes, this little compass is great on trips where you don't intend too much map-reading, or as a handy backup to your main compass. Comes in handy for following-guide book directions, meandering through medinas or finding your way back to the beach at night.				The Recta 'Clipper' costs about £6 GBP. It comes with a strap so that you can wear it like a wristwatch, but I prefer to just tie it on to my bumbag with a piece of non-magnetic string. Visit the Recta website to see their full range or to find your nearest reseller. Top tip - Don't trust anything: when taking a compass-reading, wave the compass around a lot. If the needle moves at all, then there's a nearby source of metal or electricity interfering. Perhaps you're too close to your vehicle, or under a pylon. Perhaps it's your wristwatch, or maybe you're standing under the Eiffel Tower!



	Space Pen The Fisher Space Pen was designed for use by NASA in outer space. Thanks to its sealed and pressurised ink cartridges, it writes perfectly in the frigid, weightless vacuum of space, deep underwater (or on a wet surface), upside down (or any other angle), on top of Mount Everest, in the middle of a monsoon or any other extreme conditions you're likely to encounter on your terrestrial travels. The pen is made of stainless steel (and then chrome-plated) and is a petite 9.7cm (3¾") long when closed. Take off the lid, stick it on the other end and voila! you've got yourself a perfectly weighted, full length (13.7cm, 5½") regular pen.				When closed, it's small enough to fit into the zip compartment of my wallet, where it now lives permanently, ready for use in an emergency. It's not the kind of thing I'd ordinarily buy, but I was lucky enough to be given one for free, which cheered me up, especially when I visited the website and saw that they cost $50 US! But don't worry, there are various economy versions costing from as little as $7 US. Refills (in various colours and points) cost $5 and are available from the Fisher website along with the complete product range. Did I mention that they have a shelf life of 100 years? Top tip - Get a grip: A pen this good is just crying out to get lost or stolen, so develop a protective and possessive attitude to yours. Mine is always zipped away in my wallet, or it's gripped tightly in my hand - end of story.




	Well, that's enough rummaging around in my pack for now. Let's see what's in your backpack



	Your cool thing A description goes here.				What you like about it, what you use it for, tips for use, etc.



	If you've got a piece of equipment that you're particularly fond of, or impressed with, and would like to let the world know, Click here to show us your gear!

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