This will be obvious for many of us. But then I thought it was obvious to me before I realised I wasn't paying enough attention!
If I'm out for a walk with my wife, we'll always be suitably prepared - plenty of water, spare food, map/compass, FAK or whatever is required for what we're doing. We do this because we've gotten into a routine - and it's a good habit to have.
Recently though I've found that if I'm not with my wife the break in routine makes me "lazy". A couple of examples:
1) I was out in the woods with Bambodoggy and AndyN a couple of weeks ago. A great time was had, but I was mortified to realise that I was woefully underequipped, and ended up sponging off them for food, drink etc. They were both very nice about it, fortunately! Next time I'll probably overcompensate and bring the kitchen sink with me too, but that will be better than nothing.
2) I was cycling with my brother the other day. Unlike my brother, I'm not really a cyclist, I was using his spare bike, so I left all the bike stuff to him to sort as he's the expert. As we were halfway through the ride, I noticed my rear tyre was a little low, so I asked to borrow the pump. "Errr, it's in the car." Puncture repair kit? "With the pump. Along with the bike tools too, before you ask." D'oh! Fortunately we made it back ok, but I was kicking myself for not taking responsibilty and ensuring we have all the necessary bike stuff with us.
In retrospect these were totally obvious, but it's easy to slip up. You learn from your mistakes, and fortunately my mistakes were fairly innocuous in the end, but god forbid if the tyre had completely run flat, or if I was in the middle of some woods, running out of water and food.
So, the lesson for today is to make sure you have all the stuff you need, and don't necessarily rely on others to do it for you!
If I'm out for a walk with my wife, we'll always be suitably prepared - plenty of water, spare food, map/compass, FAK or whatever is required for what we're doing. We do this because we've gotten into a routine - and it's a good habit to have.
Recently though I've found that if I'm not with my wife the break in routine makes me "lazy". A couple of examples:
1) I was out in the woods with Bambodoggy and AndyN a couple of weeks ago. A great time was had, but I was mortified to realise that I was woefully underequipped, and ended up sponging off them for food, drink etc. They were both very nice about it, fortunately! Next time I'll probably overcompensate and bring the kitchen sink with me too, but that will be better than nothing.
2) I was cycling with my brother the other day. Unlike my brother, I'm not really a cyclist, I was using his spare bike, so I left all the bike stuff to him to sort as he's the expert. As we were halfway through the ride, I noticed my rear tyre was a little low, so I asked to borrow the pump. "Errr, it's in the car." Puncture repair kit? "With the pump. Along with the bike tools too, before you ask." D'oh! Fortunately we made it back ok, but I was kicking myself for not taking responsibilty and ensuring we have all the necessary bike stuff with us.
In retrospect these were totally obvious, but it's easy to slip up. You learn from your mistakes, and fortunately my mistakes were fairly innocuous in the end, but god forbid if the tyre had completely run flat, or if I was in the middle of some woods, running out of water and food.
So, the lesson for today is to make sure you have all the stuff you need, and don't necessarily rely on others to do it for you!