THE gadget of 2009 and still the best smart phone on the market. Ipod, great browser, 000’s of Apps, camera, video, 3G, maps….you get the idea. I recommend you also buy a battery charger case aswell, there are a few on the market (CaseMate, Ipow etc). As we all know that the last thing you want to happen when you are about to beat your opponent at Scrabble or email the office to tell them you need another month off is run out of juice.

The Amazon Kindle is an E-book reader (in case you didn’t already know). They were just being sold in the US but are now available worldwide with a smaller screen and free global wireless through Amazon’s 3G Whispernet. So you can now download the latest Mills & Boon bestseller direct to the depths of the Amazon jungle.

The latest version has a text to audio feature aswell so you can have your book read to you if you are too lazy or busy to read. I suggest you also get a Patagonia case for protection and in a attempt to make yourself a little less ‘flash’ looking.

I’m not talking about taking a Tom Tom that would just be silly. My suggestion is a pocket GPS, there are a number of these gadgets on the market (Garmin eTrex is a good one) that allow you to do all kinds of useful (some would say pointless) calculations. With a waterproof case you can take it kite surfing or windsurfing and find out exactly how fast you went and how many kilometres you have covered. What would you do without one?

Watch the videos and you will see why this little device is on my top 10 list. Go Pro have been making small sports cams (for helmets etc) for a number of years and the HD version is their latest and best. The different versions allow you to attach it to handle bars, helmets, boards and more. We all know that its very difficult to get any decent footage.

The key if you are going to take a laptop with you (which I think is a great idea) is to take a small light one and get a second battery. I’d also recommend you get a ‘non-flash’ crap looking durable case. Not recommended is a bright red ‘Ferrari’ Acer laptop – whilst the envy of the office at home it will very soon be someone else’s bright red Ferrari Acer laptop if you take it travelling with you.

Anybody who has bought these (and especially if they have kids) swears by them. I bought some expensive Shure ones and I think they are excellent. They work really well when you have a constant background noise such as on a Plane. My suggestion would be to buy some that are ear plugs rather than the Bose style massive headphones – again being slightly more discrete pays dividends and reduces potential tears and insurance claims.

An oldie but a goody. The small pocket shortwave radio will allow you to hear the dulcet tones of the BBC world service from pretty much anywhere in the world. Whilst some of your other neat gadgets may have an FM tuner its unlikely they have shortwave which is really what you need unless you just want to listen to the local crooners belting out their latest hits continually.

Obvious but essential. The question here is whether to take a decent Digital SLR or a small pocket sized digital camera. On my next trip I will be taking a Canon Eos 40D Digital SLR. My philosophy here is that you only tend to do these big trips few and far between and when you get back all you have are memories and photos. I want to take the best photos I possibly can. The downside is that taking such a bulky camera may mean you don’t use it as often.

One of the few things on my list that were around 10 years ago. Both the Swiss Army knife and the Leatherman are excellent and useful in a massive array of situations from the all important stick whittling to picking things out of your teeth and making sandwiches (not necessarily in that order).

There is nothing worse than having all these gadgets and no power so my recommendation is buying a solar powered charger with all the necessary adapters. There are a number of good ones on the market so I won’t recommend any specific brands or models.

A universal power supply is also a good idea so that you don’t end up with a bag full of chargers as big as your bag of clothes.

I know this is a top 10 list but I’m adding an eleventh ‘general’ point as I feel its important.

I like to live by the motto ‘you can never have enough kit’. My personal pleasure is kite surfing so I wouldn’t debate leaving home for a potential kite surfing destination without my 2 boards, 2 kites, 2 bars, harness, pump & wetsuit. Remember being somewhere with rubbish conditions for your sport of choice but with all your gear is a lot better than being somewhere with perfect conditions for your sport of choice but with no gear. With that pearl of wisdom I will finish my list.

The image is of some friends of mine  – Steve and Brian Kellner with all their ‘gear’ in Australia. They share my philosophy of never having enough kit (in fact I just spotted a radio controlled airplane in their photo – now I want one of those!)

For more info about me check out my public profile on ASH – Tim Brickle (Founder Adventure Sports Holidays). If you are an adventure traveller and want to share your adventures then join our tribe.