Hiking Diary: My Walking/Hiking Gear

So far, I have not been able to convince anyone in my household to become my hiking/walking companion—which, by the way, is really important for safety purposes. 

Yesterday, I  was walking alone as usual on a quiet, scarcely populated area when  I got spooked by two instances involving strangers—first, a service truck stopped on the side of the road 500 feet ahead after passing me and the driver came out for whatever reason then hopped back into his truck shortly after I came in visual contact with him.  Then another guy in streetclothes (meaning not a biker or fitness enthusiast) passed by en route to nowhere. So that same day—yesterday, I went to my favorite army-navy surplus store to buy me a pepper spray…

I had other choices like the gel pepper spray with a reach of 14 feet.  What’s great about this one is it has a velcro strap to wrap around the hand. It has a reach of 8 – 10 feet.  Spray from ear-to-ear across the eye.  It said to shield my eyes when spraying into the wind.

This is my whistle/thermometer/compass.  I do not know how to read the compass though so it’s not of much use to me.  But the whistle  definitely is.

My hiking hat made of nylon supposedly moisture repellent – to keep the harmful UV rays away and unlike cotton, wouldn’t absorb the sweat. I normally use a baseball cap but I find that when my head gets hot I had to remove the cap. This way, with the tie I can just flip back my hat and go on my merry way.

Of course, my “self-phone”, er cellphone with all the cool apps.  This I cannot do without.  I use it for a camera/videocam, to gauge the weather and temperature and as a GPS when needed.  It  has the coolest hiking gadget so far, my ImapMyHike app that I use to monitor my progress on the road and at home in my pc.

To hold my self phone is my cellphone arm band. Slide in the phone, slide into my arm, and let my legs do the walking.  My cell phone doesn’t stay there all the time, though.  I have to stop and take pictures or check out my distance and pace several times en route.

I also bought a hydration back pack but I still won’t be needing it on these short walks.  Maybe in the near future when I do find likeminded folks who will hike with me on areas of the Florida trail. For now, considering it’s summer and my state of health, I am waiting for the weather to get cooler and my body to get fitter to be able to tackle more challenging adventures. 

I will surely keep you posted on this journey.  And hey, if I can encourage you lazy- boned couch potatoes out there  to get into the groove and let your legs  not your fingers (on the computer or remote control)  do the walking, that indeed be will be a win-win for all.