These five essential items are important to have available when in the wintry backcountry

Beyond the usual suspects of a winter kit, there are a few smaller, dare we say less, essential items that are often overlooked when it comes to winter recreation. So here are five important items to carry for any outdoor activity in winter.

Headlamp/Lighting Systems
This may seem like an obvious piece of kit that most have already, but its necessity in winter supersedes almost any use it has for summer. Reason being is most of your outdoor recreation takes place in summer when daylight hours last longer than night. Come winter, the roles are reversed, making the headlamp an invaluable piece of gear. In summer, the headlamp means getting ready for bed, in winter it often means its just time to make dinner.

Axe
Ask any old bushman anywhere north of the 40th parallel and all will say how naked they feel in the wilderness without a decent axe. Now some could argue a good chainsaw would do better, however the drawback with chainsaws, either electric or gas, is that they must be warmed up before use. The use of an axe both warms you up and will always work if used properly.

Muck boots
No matter rain or snow, if your feet are cold or wet, any experience in winter will be miserable without a good pair insulated boots. Waterproof boots may work, however depending on the temperature, can still make your toes cold enough to keep you up at night. Muck Boots and other similar pair keep you gripped in the snow whilst warm and toasty for the frosty night ahead.

Insulated water bottle
With what has to be the most underrated item for any season of the year, the insulated water bottle proves to be invaluable in winter. The uses to keep things cold on a sweltering summer day hold true, however in winter, they simply keep things from freezing. The last thing you want is to take a sip of an arctic beverage in the cold or quench your thirst with a frozen drink. An insulated water bottle keeps things from freezing, despite the temperature outside.

Shovel
A shovel can be held in the same conversation amongst an axe. Not only does it allow you to access deeper sites off a road that lower profile vehicles could never reach but can also dig you out of a sticky scenario. You can also dig out summer fire pits to use in winter. Either large or small, the shovel will never leave the kit for a winter outing.

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