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.
Best emergency shelter
For the day someone cannot walk further
SOL Emergency Bivvy
Reflective bag, ~110 g
5.0 on Amazon
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.
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What you get
- Full body bag, far better than a foil blanket
- Weighs nothing and costs little
- Reusable, unlike a foil sheet
What it costs you
- Condensation soaks the inside within an hour
- Once opened it never packs as small again
- Not a shelter you would choose to sleep in
Do not buy this if: Nobody. One per group, in the guide’s pack and one in yours.
Treks we recommend this for
Not every route needs it. These are the ones where our guides would put it on your list.
The alternatives
Everything else we recommend in emergency & comms, including the ones we think suit a different trekker.
Best whistle
Most used item nobody listsSplits a boot, a pole, a mat and a duffel back together
Tape and a small repair kit
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.