Because of the wide variety of work undertaken during my last two expeditions, I have had the opportunity to properly use a lot of the kit I have accumulated over the years, at the time just because it was cool. Now, I have a better idea of what just looks cool and what actually works. In no particular order:

1. •I should really write a whole article on batteries handling but here is a primer: To start with, I try to favour anything that uses AAs so I can bring lots of rechargeables with me and only one charger. My favourite cells are Sanyo Eneloop which deliver a respectable 2000mAh, can be recharged 1000 times and loose their charge extremely slowly over time. The all white design is nice but also allows one to take notes on them such as batch number and service date. This allows you to keep the batteries in groups of two or four with the same characteristics and have a good idea of when they will die or what performance you can expect. Recently, Sanyo offered them as a limited edition pack of eight different colours. By buying four packs, I was able to make eight groups of uniquely coloured four batteries, that makes it even easier to keep them together. I also bought an analysing charger which tells me exactly how much power my batteries retain and how far into their life cycle they are. Finally, none of this would work without battery cases which are essential to keep them organised. Charged batteries are all the same way up while I store used batteries staggered to know which to use next.
   

1. •Gerber folding shovel. There are many other models available, many poorly built and some that look downright dangerous to use. I liked the way the Gerber model looked and trusted the brand to be reliable. It looks properly built and it is properly built. It is small, so nowhere as efficient as a full size shovel but it is also light enough to take with you when you think you will not need a full size shovel. It does the job really nicely and will beat digging with your hands anytime. That’s going back into the wild with me.
   

1. •MUJI pill boxes. I always carry a few of these with me for collecting samples or giving small invertebrates a temporary home. They are extremely strong, very transparent, not too expensive and readily available as long as you have a MUJI store around.
   

1. •Panasonic pocket microscope. If you can’t afford a Nikon Model H, this is the next best thing. It exists in two variants with zooms from 10x to 30x or 30x to 100x and have built in lighting. The 100x model can handle slides and they are both really pocketable. They are pretty much impossible to find outside of Japan though.
   

1. •Olympus LS-10. Olympus makes some of the best dictation machines but their high end model is a bona fide professional sound recorder. I won’t go through all its features but let’s just say it can deal with 24 bits 96kHz PCM and record it to uncompressed WAV as well as MP3. So it works very well to take notes but it can also be used to record important sounds or to supplement your (very weak in that respect) DSLR when taking videos. It has a remarkably handy tripod socket and even a tiny remote control. The interface is fiddly but useable and the connectivity excellent so it has become another one of my essentials.
   

1. •Any PMR walkie talkie. I must have a dozen pairs of those and I tend to buy new ones for every trip. My perception is that they all have the same OEM circuit boards and all work identically. Any notion of working distance is pure fantasy, the absolute maximum being about 500 metres whatever the conditions and whatever the devices. I bought and brought four DORO waterproof walkie talkies for this trip and they were equally disappointing, even in the completely flat Pampa of Argentina. Those are going back home to serve as cupboard stuffers. The solution here is not simple. Licensed Walkie Talkies can be more powerful but will only be allowed in their original country, often for very good reasons, and unlicensed transceivers do have to be limited in power to limit interference. FMRS devices from America are much more powerful (and technically they are licensed, even though you can buy them off the shelf), but they use the same frequencies as some emergency services in Europe and are legal in extremely few countries outside the USA. Still looking. The little ones shown here are a common OEM style which has the advantage of being the smallest available.
   

1. •Camo netting. I bought mine from Alana Ecology, two sheets in green wood and beige wood and just love it to bits. Mixed up and out of focus they make fantastic backgrounds and they allow you to build or improvise hides anywhere. They are strong, resilient while being light and compressing into a very small space. No wildlife photographer should be without some.
   

1. •Nature & Decouverte folding stool. That’s a difficult one. For wildlife photographers it is the best portable stool ever made. It is tiny, triangular so it doesn’t get into the way of the tripod but, most importantly, it has a small backrest which allows you to slouch in it and remain still and comfortable for hours. It is light and folds into a small bag. And it is also inexpensive. The difficult bit is that they are no longer made and therefore unavailable through the original shop. Similar models can be found on the web from time to time however.
   

1. •Red Head Snake Boots. Although very popular in America, Snake Boots are completely unknown in Europe and I only discovered their existence by accident as my girlfriend was looking for proper, high, waterproof field boots that, unlike wellies, would lace up and hold on to her her feet in mud. It took a few days on the Internet but we eventually discovered the Snake Boots. They are very high (13 to 15”) lace-up boots that are usually waterproof, sometimes insulated and supposedly offer protection against snake bites. To use in the shallow swamps of Argentina, where they have a collection of very interesting Bothrops species, they sounded perfect. It took a long while to find a shop that would send them to the UK and even longer to decide on sizes but eventually we ordered a pair each from the Bass Pro shop. Bass Pro handled the order perfectly and we each got our boots about one week after whipping out the credit card. We chose Red Head boots mostly because it was the only one available for shipping abroad and we were a little bit worried that they were the cheapest boots in the catalogue. After a week of trampling in the mud, we can report that they are cool, light, comfortable and really totally waterproof. We haven’t verified yet that they stop snake bites, but we do feel much safer wearing them. As a photographer who doesn’t always watch where he is walking, they certainly have improved my peace of mind. We showed them around the Zoo before leaving and they attracted quite a few envious stares from people used to field work in extreme conditions. We will probably be starting a fashion.
   

1. •Petzl Zipka. Instantly after they were introduced I started collecting the little LED headtorches from Petzl. Tiny yet bright and working on three AAA they come in two main families: Tikka, with a normal elasticated headband and the much more clever Zipka with a retractable cord that can be used in a number of ways. You can tie the light to your forehead, but also to your wrist, any available object or just hold it as a normal, if small flashlight. The newest version is the Plus 2 which has one white LED and one red, both with a high, low and strobe setting. Put three lithium AAAs in it and you’re set for the year. I always have one somewhere in my pockets and I wouldn’t dream of going anywhere without one.
   

1. •Nikon Range Finder 800S. This is my first laser range finder and I got it mostly because it had just been discontinued and was on sale at uttingsoutdoors.co.uk. The range finder is a very straightforward device: a 6x monocular that gives you a very precise distance when you aim it at an object. It is small, light and it just works. Some models allow for sophisticated triangulation and the longer they reach, the more they cost. The 800s goes to 800 yards and would normally cost £400 but was down to £200 when I got it. It doesn’t do anything else than measure distance and I do miss having a compass bearing at the same time. The better story is Uttings Outdoors which has a large range of outdoor sports equipment, including top quality optics, at really low prices and is not fussy about shipping abroad or taking the VAT off if you are in a country that doesn’t charge it. Very nice.