When sports equipment fails
Sir Chris Hoy and team mates could have missed out on a Gold medal yesterday thanks to faulty pedals. Competing at the Copenhagen World Track Cycling Championships, the Olympic star snapped his right pedal as he readied for the off. No harm done – other than some tainted pride – but imagine it was a crampon or an ice axe?
We’ve all had it. Something frays, breaks or tears just when we need it most. Annoying yes, but for some sports people, the integrity of their equipment is all.
We are all guilty of craving the latest, the lightest and the cleverest in kit; all of which is far from indestructible – despite firms sometimes claiming otherwise. But it can and does fail.
Improvisation is everything. If it means using gaffer tape to stop your GPS getting lost under your handlebar, so be it.
Ultimately, we are the ones to blame should equipment fail. Carry a spare, learn how to fix your gear, and most definitely read the user manual – it may be boring, but it’s a mini mine of information.
And if all else fails: do without. Rely on your skills and perhaps take inspiration from those intrepid explorers, ultra-distance athletes, and adventure sports people who have gone before – they weren’t so well catered for.
There is a saying in the military and adventure sports communities: “All the gear, no idea.” How true.
Is there any equipment that you think is truly indestructible? It would be great to hear of it.
My offering: The Panasonic Toughbook laptops. Solid as rock.
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Mark Pawlak
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OK I’ll start. I can’t remember the exact make but I had a pair of Saloman cross track trainers that I went travelling round the world with in 1998. They basically stomped, trekked, hiked, skipped and slogged their way across 4 continents over a 2 year period and came back with hardly a sticth out of place. I became so sick of the site of them I had to just throw them out in the end as they were clearly never going to wear out! Well done Saloman.
I have a 60 ltr Blacks backpack that I have had for over 15 years and it just keeps going and nothing has been replaced.
I bought it to inter-rail around Europe when I was 18 and as it was on a half price sale for about £35 which is why I got it rather than a cheep bag! It has since accompanied me on an 18 month travelling trip, two 6 month trips and at least 2 holidays a year where as I have friends that got through 2 backpacks in 6 months travelling.
When I was a student I also used it to ferry my life to and from university each term (Brighton to Liverpool is a long way!) and to get my shopping to and from the local supermarket.
It has been used for trekking, camping, festivals, hitch hiking, as a seat, as a pillow and my little godson even hid in it to scare his mum!
Great gear just keeps on going. My Zamberlan boots managed ten years: comfy like slippers, low-tech mile-munchers, I miss them so.
Chris needs to get himself a pair of these http://bikehugger.com/2010/03/heels-and-cleats.html
Hear Hear Luke!! I’ve got a twelve year old McAlpine 55 litre backpack and between me and my brother its been round the world on fourteen adventures! Its been lobbed by its buckle straps countless times onto the top of buses in central America, dragged through airports here there and everywhere, oh … and don’t forget the time it swam in pig swill in Thailand for a number of hours! Ok that last adventure wasn’t necessarily a true test of its strength and durability but hey it survived! I’ve had to re-stitch the inner lining once but apart from that it’s never failed. Well done McAlpine. Great value for money.
Nice one Sarah,
Just reminded me of another bit of kit that I just can’t do without: Gore-Tex bivi bag. Dropped my daysack and all my clothes into it once, floated along a mountain aqueduct through mountains in northern Spain. If there are any further suggestions, I will put together a top ten ‘gear you can’t travel without’ blog piece.
Thanks for your comments so far,
Mp
Mark, part of doing an expedition is at least a year of training, which includes testing equipment and knowing its ins and outs, but an Expedition is also a serious of equipment failures. Always bring plenty of spares, see siberia check list http://www.siberia.nu/utrustning_en.html, and duck tape! But at the end of the day, one would easily survive without most equipment. Too many gadgets today and to many people rely on a GPS, which is banned on my Expeditions when it comes to orienteering, but used as exactly pinpointing night camps for sending dispatches on the internet, but never for safety. Safety is manual, e.g in your head.
Thanks Mikael,
I remember having followed people the first time they used their GPS. As much as its a great development if fails to read the ground ‘as it is’.Even with the latest mapping, it needs to be used as confirmation or as a safety grid – I remember dustbowls on the Canadian Prairie becoming lakes during winter. Tired driving at night, the rest you can work out…glug, glug, glug!