Expedition Kit and Equipment:

A major part of all expeditions is getting your kit right. The right kit for where you are going can make the difference between a cold miserable night and a toasty warm one. It can also make the difference being able to cope with an emergency or first aid situation or not. In this section we hope to build some useful tips and hints of what kit works for us. We'd love to hear from you with your suggestions and reviews.

We work closely with Nomad Travel store in supplying much of the specialist kit for our trips. If you are looking to buy expedition equipment or get travel vaccines we now have a dedicated kit page on their site:

If you are shopping on a bigger scale and want to get expedition kit or just want some advice it is always worth getting in touch as we may be able to get you some bigger discounts from our suppliers.

Hammocks

As we spend much of our time in the tropics, where better to start our kit reviews than with hammocks, a key piece of jungle camping kit.

If you are camping in the rainforest there’s really only one way to do it – in a hammock. Hammocks are airy and cool, light to carry, easy to set up and give you loads of flexibility when camping in jungle environments. They are also the al fresco camping experience.

But having seen people turn up in the jungle with a string hammock like one you might use in your back garden in the summer – its important to turn up with the right kit.

There are a few options out there on the market:

• 1- The Travelproof jungle hammock – made and supplied by specialists Nomad Travel Store . This is the staple of many a tropical forest expedition – I’ve had mine for over ten years now. It has a twin layer to allow for more insect protection and also if you want to slide a roll mat between the layers for extra warmth. Its used in conjunction with a separate basha sheet and box mosquito net which gives you loads of flexibility. The net can be used when you are lucky enough to get a day in a hostel or B&B, the basha sheet on its own sheltering from the rain for your lunch. Also as each bit is separate you can replace / chop and change parts of it easily. Personally I find the newer basha sheets slightly the wrong dimensions – a bit too long and not quite wide enough but overall a great hammock.
• 2- The Hennesey hammock. In many ways the Rolls Royce of the hammock world – super big and comfy. Once you’ve got used to the slightly concerning velcro fastening and climbing in through the bottom you won’t look back. It’s an all in one – with hammock and mosquito net built in together and a small fly sheet which attaches on top. This I’d say is the only weakness – that it has slightly less flexibility than the Travelproof. I’ve tried to crawl in and just use it as a mosquito net only but it ain’t easy! Also the fly sheet included is a little bit small – it’ll keep you dry but doesn’t give a lot of space to move about or cover your kit. A lot of people seem to resort to an additional basha sheet over the top if they are using it for longer periods. You can not beat it for comfort though and it is a truly ingenious design.
• 3- The DD hammock. DD were kind enough to send me one of these to test. So far I've only been able to do so in Oxfordshire but am looking forward to trying it out in Borneo over the summer.So far it looks great. A similar design to the Hennesey but with zip shut mosquito net and available with a waterproof underneath to the extent that you can just use it on the floor as a bivi when there are not enough trees.

If you are planning a trip to the jungle and want to learn more then you might find our tropical forest safety course is up your street!

Insect Repellents

• DEET seems to be widely accepted as being the most effective form of insect repellent. However once you’ve seen what it does to the plastic on your watch you might start to wonder what it is doing to your skin. Our standard line on courses has generally been that DEET is accepted to be the most effective though we all have our own repellent which we swear by – citronella, catnip, avon skin so soft… So we've tried to trawl the net in search of some evidence:
  Saying catnip is more effective than Deet
  Saying DEET is best
  Overall however the general opinion appears to be that there is no (or little) clinical evidence in support of non deet products, well summed up here:…
  However please let us know your experiences – I know I am always willing to try some new concoction. As ever Wikipedia is a good jumping off point to more info…