Men (boys) and our toys…

One thing about the race in Namibia is that it has given me the opportunity to justify buying all kinds of equipment that I might (or most probably – might not) need. For those of you who know me well know that I like my gear and equipment… No matter if it is for climbing, downhill mountain biking, photography etc. I always like to look into and then buy the latest equipment available *smile*

So far, this is the kit list for Namibia :
Anti-venom pump – great for making interesting round patterns on your skin *smile*
Compass – it was a very long time ago I got lost during our orienteering course in school
GPS – much more to my liking, extra plus for being very gadgetry
Signalling mirror – kind of cool, low tech, but certainly has a high “adventure ratio”
Buff – not that fun and almost a bit girly; but the thought of being without one if a sandstorm comes in is not really pleasant
Desert hat – white with neck protection, legion d’etrange!
Raidlight backpack – heaven for a bag collector like me. Only weigh 690grams!
Skin-tight running top – Under Armour is just great!
Fleece for the night – sleeveless, but with arm protection in the collar (got to be seen to be understood)
Therma-rest – to lie on
Dry-freeze food rations – plan to properly cook food twice during the run
Tin – for heating water and cooking
Pocket camera – Leica, gorgeous and one of the few pocket cameras that can take Raw images
Fold-up spoon/knife/fork – camping, here I come!

I thought I should try to rate the kit I have bought, so I looked at three parameters:
Adventure ratio, ie how much will the piece of kit make me feel like I am on my way to an adventure.
Technical ratio, ie how technically advanced a product is, and just for the records, a backpack can be incredibly technical in the innovations in design
Usability after the event, ie how likely it is for me to ever use this piece of kit again.

As you can see by the table above, here is the rated kit list:
GPS
Raidlight backpack
Dry sack
Pocket camera
Therma-rest
Anti-venom pump
Compass
Fleece for the night
Desert hat
Fold-up spoon/knife/fork
Signalling mirror
Skin-tight running top
Dry-freeze food rations
Tin
Buff

I am a little bit surprised that the Anti-venom pump is scoring so high, but I guess it does make me feel like a true adventurer! The GPS and the backpack is understandably high up on the list. Other surprises are that the dry sack beats off the camera, don’t know how that happened.

What do you think, do you agree with my rating of the kit list, and maybe more importantly, have I forgotten anything do you think?

The race day is coming at me at a phenomenal pace… It is just around the corner!!!