Best emergency shelterFor the day someone cannot walk further
SOL Emergency Bivvy
A hundred grams that keeps an injured or exhausted person alive while help walks down for them — you will almost certainly never open it, which is exactly the point.
Most used item nobody lists
Splits a boot, a pole, a mat and a duffel back together
Tape and a small repair kit
Tape wrapped round a pole, plus a needle and cord
4.7 on Amazon
A metre of tape wrapped around a trekking pole has salvaged more trekking days than any other single item we carry — it will not fix a delaminated sole permanently, but it will get you to the next village.
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What you get
- Weighs nothing when wrapped round a pole
- Fixes boots, poles, packs, mats and blisters in a pinch
- Free, effectively
What it costs you
- Adhesive gives up in real cold
- Leaves residue on everything
- A repair, not a fix
Do not buy this if: Nobody. Wrap a metre round each pole before you leave home.
The alternatives
Everything else we recommend in emergency & comms, including the ones we think suit a different trekker.
Best emergency shelter
Best whistleHeard where a shout is not
Fox 40 Pealess Whistle
Carries across a valley when a voice does not and works when you are too cold or too winded to shout — pealess means it still works soaked or frozen, which the corked kind does not.