Hudsalve
Literally meaning "skin ointment", this no-nonsense chapstick was developed in the 1950s for the military in Sweden and Denmark, but is apparently becoming the go-to skin protection for outdoors adventuring. Made with natural oils (including peanut oil), it's good for lips, elbows, heels, hands, even dog paws. In fact, Hudsalve seems to have taken on a vaguely mythical aura, with talk of Scandinavian tank commanders using it as an anti-mosquito treatment and others as an improvised gun lubricant. Think fabulous tough love for skin.
About €10 for 23ml stick from med24.dk
Astro Time-lapse Mount
With many digital compact cameras, never mind DSLRs offering time-lapse modes as standard, there are several accessories to allow you add motion to your footage. Astro is one that hit the mark on Kickstarter. Thanks to a succinct interface with three rotating rings, it is intuitive to set duration, time-lapse interval and degree of rotation. Your camera must support remote control and Astro offers input cables for most popular makes. There's also a smartphone app offering more elaborate settings. Expect about 50 hours from 2 x AA batteries. $249 now from orderastro.com
Mammut T-Trail Headlamp and Light Dry Bag
A dry bag with a softly translucent skin which acts as a light diffuser when you attach a head torch at the bottom. So you get soft ambient light spill from your bag-lantern. Any head torch will do, but the best fit is with Mammut's own, and it is bundling the 60 lumens, 30 m T-Trail lamp with the waterproof dry bag. Empty it if you're not looking to light up your spare smalls for all. £36 from castlebergoutdoors.co.uk
Tom Kelly
betweenideas.blogspot.com
