Sleeping comfortable and sleeping warm.

'I have never taken any exercise except sleeping and resting' - Mark Twain

My Bed for the Week

'I have never taken any excersize except sleeping and resting' - Mark Twain

 Mark Twain it would seem could have been a successful and well respected mattress tester, and hell would he have written the most urban and engaging of mattress reviews wouldn't he? However in a world all the poorer for no longer containing Mark Twain you, my readers, and multimat will have to make to with me. I'll do my best, I do sleep quite a lot.

Just over a month ago I was very excited to be tweeted by multimat with regards to taking some of their great sleeping mats to the Arctic with me this summer. Needles to say I leapt at the chance to daub myself with the title of 'Kit tester' particularly when the helpful staff I was in contacted with me directed me to summit 25/38 and the summit-xl, the mat arrangement Rannulph Fiennes and the Coldest Journey team were using. Which needless to say makes me feel all the more like a proper explorer, albeit one with significantly more regard for his fingers.

Straight out of the box I was already impressed by the thoughtful little features which make these mats really user friendly.

My two favourite features

The foam roll mat has two large metal eyelets at the top with tape attached for fixing the mat once rolled. And the Self inflating mat comes with a fleece lined storage sack (possibly the most useful feature of any piece of gear I have encountered to date) so that once the mats are out and bed beckons the days clothes that you have taken off go into the inside out stuff sack and form a fleecey comfortable pillow. Neither of these features is integral to the manufacture or function of the mats but both indicate the care and attention given to the design of the products. It is reassuring to feel that the outdoor sporting products you are using have been design by people with an understanding of the needs and wants of the end users. These two small add ons re-enforced for me that the products I was using were designed by outdoor enthusiasts to be used in the outdoors.

These two features are very easily forgotten if the mats to which they are attached do a bad job of keeping one, comfortable and warm in ones, sleep. I am pleased to be able to say that these  features were not forgotten however as the mats performed brilliantly all week.

I am yet to put them through a full Arctic conditions test but over the 5 nights camping at my recent training course the mats proved functional, comfortable and warm.

Check out the multimat website for more on their mats.

I have always been a particularly mobile sleeper, it not being uncommon for me to wake up at the other end of the bed in the middle of the night. As such I have struggled with other mat combinations in the past not being able to cope with that mobility. At the previous training weekend I had a terrible nights sleep as I had to wake up every hour to drag my inflating and roll mats back onto one another to go back to sleep. There was no grip between the two and I was woken up frequently lying on the cold floor. 

This week however I am pleased to report no such problems. The non-slip water repellent base fabric lived up to its name ans gripped onto the roll mat with great sturdiness and I spent all night comfortable and well placed on the mat.

The two thicknesses in the inflating mat helped to reduce pack size but will require full blown Arctic testing to test their limits. for this week though it performed admirable and kept me warm and comfortable.

The only real draw back with the mat set up was my own impatience with the self inflating mat. I have never been one to wait around for the mat to inflate. This is not too much of a problem with most of my camping as I simply inflate it with breath ( Although this is an ill advised tactic in general). On the icecap however this will be particularly counter productive as the cold temperatures could freeze the moisture in the air I breath in to the mat forming crystals which can damage the mat and cause it to de-laminate. As such I need to work on my patience or find a way of getting cool dry air into the mat. Any suggestions welcome !

All in all the mats performed brilliantly and I am happy (and excited) to take these mats with me to Norway this summer !

A huge thank you to Multimat for all their help so far !

BatCat the notorious First Aid moggy

"When written in Chinese the word "crisis" is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity." -John F Kennedy

If the content of this quote from infamous linguaphile JFK (of German doughnut fame) is to be believed then the Chinese people seem to have quite adequately summed up the exploration mindset. Last week I had the 'opportunity' to learn how to assess, manage and minimize the 'dangers' to life and limb which can come about in a 'crisis' situation.

As part of the British exploring Trainee Leader problem we were put through a 16hr expedition first aid course with Expedition Care Program. The course was comprised of practical training  test scenarios and a certain amount of the obligatory death by powerpoint needed to get such a volume of information across in the short space of time. 

bandaging leg wound

Expedition Care Program have a huge amount of experience in expedition first aid and so the course was brilliantly tailored to meet the needs of a first aider in a remote location. A variety of adaptive techniques were delivered with great focus on how to deliver vital life saving care in the a situation where conditions and supplies could be less than idea. Gaffa tape came in to play. A lot.

A fetching head wound dressing to be combined with a nasopharyngeal tube to maintain an airway

In terms of my journey to expedition leadership the course has provided invaluable insight into the world of expedition first aid and medicine. Not only has the developed my personal skill set to allow me to cope in emergency situations (not to mention legally use any outdoor certifications I gain in the next three years), but also it has opened my eyes to a potential new line of interest for me in the world of expeditions.

First aid has always interested me, Since early days of being a practice student for my wonderful Mum when she worked as a first aid trainer and member of the festival medical services. Through Youth first aid qualifications at school and into work were I inevitably end up getting involved in any incidents which occur. I must admit I enjoy dealing with the situations. So perhaps a career in expedition or outdoors first aid/medicine could be calling. I have long planned to join the local MRT when I finally get settled in a home and job somewhere in the highlands so perhaps continuing down this line could prove interesting in my future.

And so I sit here planning potentiall exciting courses and far flung situations were i can break out the torniquets haemostatic dressings and gaffa tape to save someones life! 

And then to the title... a little strange as it may be we had some seemingly expert assistance from a certain feline resident of the scout camp we were staying on. This four pawed first aider let eagerly into the middle of a practice first aid situation to sit on the face and chest of the casualty clearly indicating to the other trainees exactly which order they should be administering CPR in.

The infamous first aid assistant (it has a batman symbol on its back)

Worringly I sometimes find myself hoping for a situation to arise to put my skills to the test. (not hoping so hard as to cross the line into sociopathic you understand).....

On which frightening note  I will leave you whilst I continue to write up the ongoing adventures I had in the last week learning and developing as an explorer and (hopefully) a leader.