One self-confessed ‘outdoor gear shopaholic’ asks Mountain Bothies Association trustee Juls Stodel for some help with their ever-growing kit room – here’s hoping their £100 voucher goes towards socks! TGO’s Uphill Struggles advice column is supported by Highlander Outdoor. Every month, one reader who writes to Juls with an Uphill Struggle will win an £100 voucher to spend with Highlander.
Dear Juls, Those around me think I have an addiction to buying outdoor clothing! I can give you plausible reasons for every purchase. I have seven hardshells, each picked for various conditions, which eventually go on the rack “for gardening use”! I have three softshells and two windstoppers. Mid-layers: where do I start? Of varying weight and thicknesses I’m into double figures. Too many base layers to list.
Boots are my favourite, though, and if I find a pair of boots I really like I will order a second pair very quickly – although I always buy boots I can get resoled. I have more pairs of socks than you can shake a stick. Talking of sticks I have two pairs of walking poles. Have I finished? Not quite, if you count maps (I love map reading) and compasses, my two GPS watches, first aid kit, several backpacks and bumbags.
You’re expecting me to say that I live in the Peak District or Scotland? No, I live in Hampshire where sharp inclines are as rare as chicken’s teeth but I do walk about 7/8 miles nearly every day. Got to go – EVRi van coming down the drive with a package!Outdoor Shopaholic, June 2026
Dear Outdoor Shopaholic,
The complete list you provided along with your desperate plea was almost equivalent to the total word count allowed for this column. I believe I counted 12 jackets, the majority of which pair with different trousers, 10 midlayers, three pairs of boots (despite a clear favourite) and apparently more baselayers than I have owned pairs of pants in my entire life.
You live in Hampshire and have five times the perennial wardrobe fit for the Faroe Isles. My initial reaction was ‘thank goodness this man hasn’t caught the camping bug yet’ but, actually, the camping bug or a taste for long-distance trails might be just the thing to force you into ruthless choices. Nothing is going to shake things up quite like having to shake down your gear in order to carry it for two weeks.
I lived out of my backpack for four years – even after begrudgingly settling into an address I only have one waterproof, one down jacket and one pair of boots. I’ve sacked off so much kit. Like you, I do own many socks, but I can forgive socks. Keep your socks.
There’s a difference between packing layers for the fickle British weather and collecting all the layers in the entire world. Are you a pastry? It would take the laminations of an entire tray of croissants to begin to equal your collection. Plan a trail in an indecisive Scottish April or tackle the Pennine Way in a sulking October and you’ll find out very quickly what you truly regard as tried and trusted, what is just gleeful whimsy, and get your layers down to a breakfast stack of pancakes.
When you have worked out what clothing and gear really has your back and your heart, what to do with the rest of it? Thankfully there’s many sustainable options that allow you to pass your own love of the outdoors to others.
Kitsquad takes in donated outdoor items and passes them onto low-income individuals to enable others to experience the outdoors. Some Cotswold Outdoors stores have recycle bins from which everything donated will be reworn or repurposed through community projects locally as well as internationally. Rohan runs a similar ‘Gift Your Gear’ scheme. Scouts and Girlguiding groups also often benefit from donations. Think of the kids!
If philanthropy isn’t convincing you, maybe the idea that you easily have a grand’s worth of spare second-hand clothes to sell will. Just imagine the distant hills in far off lands you could be hiking with that!
Every month, one reader who writes to Juls with an Uphill Struggle will win an £100 voucher to spend with Highlander Outdoor.
