Take a load off
If you've ever walked back-to-back 20-mile days or tackled a steep descent with a 60-litre rucksack, you'll know what a godsend a decent pair of trekking poles can be. These lightweight carbon ones from Silva weigh just 357g, and can be shortened down to 67cm long for easy stowage. The extended soft-touch cork handles are comfortable for all-day use in hot or cold conditions. Adjustable wrist straps combined with the innovative "Blueberry" attachment system will help to keep your poles securely in hand on the hills. The telescopic joints use the flick-lock system, which some of the long-distance walkers on the WildBounds team reckon are more reliable than twist-lock poles. The hard-wearing concave carbide tips are replaceable, and each set of poles comes with mud baskets and quick release wrists straps, so you can adapt to the changing terrain and weather with ease.
- Lightweight telescopic carbon poles in three sections
- Extended cork handles for comfortable grip on steep gradients
- Soft, adjustable and quick release wrist straps
- Flick-lock adjustment system
- Interchangeable tips
- Comes with mud baskets
- Adjustable length up to 140 cm
- Weight: 357g
It’s a bit of a cliché to say, ‘this brand needs no introduction…’, but sometimes it really doesn’t. If you ever did scouts, guides or cadets, got epic blisters on a D of E expedition or went on an outward bounds residential, chances are you did it with a Silva compass in the pocket of your boil-in-the-bag cagoule.
Like so many world-changing inventions, the Silva compass began as a problem that needed solving. Back in the day, your standard compass wobbled all over the shop, making it tricky and time-consuming to get a decent reading. That is, until 1933, when four Swedes invented a liquid-filled compass. The resistance from the fluid slowed and stabilised the needle, meaning you could nail a reliable bearing in seconds. Navigation was never the same again.
But iconic as the compasses are, they’re only one part of the Silva story. They were one of the first companies to make reliable electric head torches for the outdoors, and they’ve also branched out into optics, trekking kit and other navigational gear. Tried and tested for the better part of a century, Silva’s precision instruments have literally been the difference between life and death for generations of outdoor adventurers – and as brand pedigree goes, that’s pretty much impossible to beat.
