- Oversuit repairing and equipment fettling
- Buying very large quantities of food
- Packing the food, equipment and first aid into crates for stacking in the minibus.
- Packing personal kit.
The snow slope in the entrance.
Here is the rather long annual kit guide for freshers going to Slov, largely copied shamelessly from all previous expedition leaders' emails.
Again here there is no TLDR, you should read it all and make sure you are prepared.
-------------------Equipment--
* Frame Rucksack - >= 60L with good anatomical back!
* Rollmat - (a few spare in stores) or lightweight inflatable mattress.
* Sleeping bag (3 seasons+ ) - A cheap, big, synthetic is absolutely fine and probably most comfy on the uneven ground.
* Tent - make sure you've got something arranged (bring your own/share/ use club tents)
* Decent sized durable water bottle - for drinking from.
* (Optional) Hiking poles - If you care about the longevity of your knees, hiking poles are highly recommended.
* (Optional) Dry Bags - Big ones for your clothes/electronics on the surface (tent leaks happen, don't let your sleeping bag get wet). Small ones for taking thermals/electronics underground. Bin bags / heavy duty garden sacks are a perfectly acceptable alternative just as a rucksack liner.
* (Optional) Knee support - tubular bandages or other, particularly if >22Yrs
* (Optional) Personal First Aid kit - club has a communal kit, though ideal is to get a crush-proof beaker and assemble your own from spare bits 'n' bobs (include spare contact lenses, personal medication etc.).
-------------------Clothes----
* Walking Socks - 'Coolmax' or similar walking socks - 2 pairs minimum, 4 pairs or more → plenty comfort. Liner socks are also nice (Rhys swears by them)
* Hiking boots - Ideally find something with a Vibram sole (or equivalent) if you want to not suffer. Break in boots!
* Thermals - check Uniqlo for their 'heatmax' range - read materials to check for 'NO COTTON'. 'expensive'/nice versions are the Helly Hansen LIFA stripes range (~£20). Merino wool ('woolpower' or similar) is probably over-doing it but nice, particularly for dossing on the surface.
* SUN HAT - also doubles as a rain hat... ;)
* Sun glasses - it's bright up there when the sun is out, look after your eyes.
* Warm Hat - or two, cheap acrylic from the market / Primark is perfect
* Goretex jacket / waterproof. Cheapest to get a cheap (heavy) goretex or similar for warmth in evenings, and a lightweight waterproof to keep in rucksack (when carrying up / down) in case it rains.
* Waterproof trousers - If you like dry legs and boots
* (Optional, but very recommended) Duvet jacket / down jacket - nice to have a super warm layer to put on for when you're sitting around in the evening. Synthetic ones from mountain warehouse are cheap/good but take up space.
* (Optional) Synthetic 'wicking' tshirts – super nice and cheap. Makes sweating not unpleasant (and damn will you sweat on the carries up)
-------------------Caving-----
* Knife - Petzl Spatha or cheaper / smaller / more versatile, a simple swiss army knife.
* Head Torch - Petzl Tikka is the classic (~£20-30). Or get a cheaper/different brand. Important for walking round at night not just in cave.
* Whistle - good for signalling above and underground. (you never know).Borrow one of the club's friendship knives/lights as last resort (but definitely have these things!)
* Thin fleece hat (to wear under helmet) / (balaclava). Very useful when surveying or when waiting for others to rig.
* Fleece neck warmers - or buff (same as above, potentially also just get balaclava)
* Gloves - Thick rubberised work gloves are good, (can buy in Slov from farmers market). In general, gloves need to be more rugged and warmer (but less waterproof) than ones we wear in UK. Often people have builders gloves, gardening gloves, or fingerless wool etc.
* (Optional) Thermals - required for UG camp. Bring if you're susceptible to getting cold.
* (Optional) Cave pants - highly recommended, synthetic form fitting pants help with comfort, warmth and style.
* (Optional) Glove liners – silk/fleece for warmth or comfort.
* (Optional) Your own helmet + super-duper expo light. Ideal time to get your own if you're planning on caving a lot in the future. Talk to older members of the club for advice here (Rhys may try and coerce you into fitting his Spitelite onto your helmet, I advise dissuading him for now)
Note on clothes: Temperature is from ~just subzero (but feeling lower at altitude) to 30C in the valleys. Layers are brilliant. Shorts are ace - especially nylon ones. Thermal long trousers + tracksuit bottoms/ 'technical' fast dry trouser outers are typical evening attire, with thermal layers on top + fleece/wool pullover / jackets.
-------------------Entertainme
* Books/Kindle - Find books with really small text / get an e-Reader. You will have doss days when it's raining / you're recovering from caving and it's nice to lie in tent, doze, pop to Bivvi for more cheese + tea, & otherwise spend your day 'getting the chapters in'.
* A hobby - Why not learn to sew a reusable tea-bag, devise a better mousetrap, learn to play guitar/ukulele/harmonica, write a novella or learn to juggle while on expo?
* MP3 player - good for the carries / tent action. Probably bring a cheap/rugged MP3 player. A spare set of earbuds would be wise.
* Battery pack - we will have a solar power set up but its always good to have an independent supply to recharge your kindles/mp3s for those cloudy days where a drill battery is sucking up all the juice.
* Phone – there is some dodgy 3g (but mainly edge (2g)) signal floating around on the mountain so it can be worth bringing a phone to check exam results/tell parents you're not dead etc.
-------------------Things you don't need on mountain-------------------
* Cutlery/Plate (loads on mountain)
* Soap (no spare water to wash) - You're only going to smell of pine smoke, but baby/family wipes are nice for hygiene.
* Mirror (don't torture yourself)
-------------------Key points-------------------
* Any questions? Ask someone!
* Don't worry
* All your personal kit not including caving kit should fit into your rucksack.
Expedition caving is naturally risky business. However, don’t be put off. If you have been on the SRT trips with us this year you'll be fine. You won’t be thrown down 500m into deep right from the start. You will do several shorter bounce (down and up again) trips with an experienced leader first, on re rigging or surveying trips.