Protection? For hiking? Sure! I'm not talking about arming yourself or hiring some heavies though...I'm talking about protection from the sun, snow and beastly insects that can blight your hike.
Firstly, protection of the eyes is important. The suns rays can be pretty relentless in their power and we don't want to be squinting all day, making our eyes tired causing headaches etc. The very simple answer here is take a pair of sunglasses with a high UV protection factor.
Try to get a pair that fit well so as not to steam up the lenses when sweating in the heat. A set of sunglasses that sit too close to your eyes, or sunglasses that are tight, may cause an enclosed area ripe for condensation to build up on the lenses. They should be light and comfortable.
Sunglasses are also important when there's snow on the ground because the sun reflects the white brightness up into your eyes. This can cause snow blindness (Photokeratisis), and although I've never suffered from it, by all accounts you really do go temporarily blind.
So slipping a pair of sunglasses into your backpack is an essential for hiking. Obviously, you won't particularly need them if your in an area where there's no snow, or the weather is cloudy, this is where common sense comes into the equation. If it's going to be hot and sunny, wear sunglasses, if it's going to be a white-out...wear sunglasses.
The sun also causes sun burn, so a good sunscreen is advised on those hot days, even when in the mountains where the air is thinner, the sun can be scorching above whilst your feet could be freezing. The sun will burn you in all kinds of weather conditions, so it's always good to slap on some high factor sunscreen to keep it at bay. If you're wearing shorts, don't forget rub in the cream, especially at the back of the knees.
Another form of protection is insect repellent. Those pesky little critters will bug you all day if you're in their territory and there's nothing worse than having your hike ruined by little bites and stings. Then there's all that swiping and slapping to be done!
I cover myself with a deet based formula when hiking in places where the little blighter's are rife. I hike around Scotland and always seem to run into clouds of midges unexpectedly, and whilst the insect repellent won't see off all the nasty biters, it will cut down the nuisance to an acceptable level.
In areas where mosquito's are known, the wearing of a strong repellent is essential. These little rascals can eat you alive! The stronger the deet formula, the better.
So, really we have 3 more essentials for hiking here, but as with all things, common sense prevails on what sort of things you take to what sort of hike you're taking on. You may well need all three in this section, but then again, you just might need one. Whether it's sunscreen, sunglasses or insect repellent, you're bound to need at least one in our 10 essentials for hiking list.
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