Coasteering and MRE

“

“”The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.””

Adventure is not a physical task that you undertake; it is a feeling that comes from within. Everyone spends their life striving to work hard and earn money. They get absorbed in their roles, responsibilities, and their day to day chores and with this, their day comes to an end. It is people from among these that believe in living each day of their lives to the fullest. Their day does not end with the tick of the clock. They are the ones who want to explore as many dimensions of life as they can one of the most integral of which is challenging yourself to do things you never thought you would do. It is these people that pursue activities that give them the rush of adrenaline and the thrill of being alive. If you are that kind of individual, Coasteering is one sport that will excite your interest.

What is Coasteering?

It is an adventurous sport that requires you to move along the intertidal zone of a rocky coastline. There are no surfboards or boats that you can use to traverse the coast. It is one of the best liquid refreshments you could ever get. Coasteering is thoroughly adventurous as it involves a lot of other activities which include:

• Adventure Swimming: Swimming is an integral part of coasteering. Even on the routes that you would think that you can stay dry you may have to swim because you cannot say that you have done coasteering unless you have swum the waters and gotten yourself all wet.
• Climbing, scrambling, sea level traversing: The coastline mostly involves a rocky path, and there may not always be a trail that you can walk on. There are instances when you have to cover the distance through climbing, scrambling, and canyoning. While climbing, safety spotters are used in place of ropes.
• Jumping and Diving: Although they take only a small part of the time you spend coasteering, these activities are what make coasteering all the more exciting.

What makes coasteering an all in one adventure is that it is not only a form of sport in which you will exercise each and every muscle of your body, but you also get a fantastic chance to go on this aquatic-nature trail that will leave you exposed to the eco-adventure playground. You will get an opportunity to explore the flora and fauna that escapes the eyes of the tourists. You will get to be close to nature in a way no regular walker has ever been.

Can coasteering be dangerous?

Anytime you are out of your house, doing something away from the civilization to give yourself that thrill and rush that you so greedily seek, you are doing something that involves dangers. Coasteering is all about exploring the coastline and due to the number of physical activities involved including climbing, canyoning, and diving; coasteering can be dangerous. It can be even more dangerous if you set out to do it all alone. So one advice that you must take is not to go on a coasteering trip alone no matter how experienced an adventurer you are. If you are an amateur, then you must take help of accredited operators who have the knowledge and the experience to guide you on the techniques that will help you do coasteering successfully and safely. Their guidance will also be helpful in having an all round experience by getting the most thrilling wave surges, the most enticing stacks and caves and the most captivating wildlife. Another thing that they will educate you about is how to avoid the coastlines when they are brimming with breeding seals and seabirds.

Who should go for coasteering?

Anyone who can doggy paddle or knows how to swim is qualified to pursue coasteering. But one thing that helps more than any other kind of preparation is confidence. The waters do get rough at times, and you might not know what to do. In such a situation if you leave your calm and start panicking then the situation can get worse. Therefore, the primary goal you need to accomplish before you set out for coasteering is to mentally prepare yourself for the task. Anything you do is as difficult or as easy as your mind makes it out to be. Some operators have coasteering tours for families and teenagers. When a small kid of 10 can do coasteering and feel good about doing it, then so can you.

Don’t worry if heights scare you to your core. If you are concerned about what might happen if there comes a situation where you have to dive from a height, and that concern is holding you back from pursuing coasteering, there is absolutely no reason to stop. Sometimes, it’s all in our minds, and when you are up for doing such an adventurous task, you never know when you may end up surprising yourself.

Why coasteering?

Coasteering is one activity that will never cease to interest you. It is an activity that you can undertake if you want to give yourself the ultimate all-around fitness workout. Though you need to prepare yourself physically first before you set out, coasteering will help build your strength, improve your stamina and muscle co-ordination. Needless to say that when all of this is happening, the calories are burning giving you just what you need, a physique that is all trimmed at the right places. Who needs the gym when you can go coasteering?

Another fantastic thing about coasteering is that you will experience thrill every minute while you are doing it. At one moment you will be on the tides and the waves, swimming into the canyons and exploring caves and the next moment you will be scrambling over the rocks, capturing the wildlife in your eyes and etching this beautiful experience in your memories.

What do you need for a coasteering trip?

No trip is complete without preparation. Coasteering is the last thing you would want to go without being prepared. From the wetsuit and the floatation device to the buoyancy aid for warmth and the safety helmet, there is just so much you need to have before you are ready to take the plunge.

A primary coasteering kit must include the following:

• Wetsuit: The first thing that you need to have is a wetsuit. If you already have a wetsuit lying at home and are planning to take it along then here is what you should do before you set out:
  • Rinse the wetsuit with cold or lukewarm water to make sure that the wetsuit is clean from all the sand and grime from the last time you used it. Cold or lukewarm water is helpful for easy removal of the sand and the grime particles. Using warm or hot water to clean it will break down the composition of the wetsuit, rendering it useless.
  • Once you have washed it, do not dry it up in direct sunlight as the ultraviolet rays are quite harmful to it. Do not, at any cost put your wetsuit in a dryer or use a hot press on it in case you find it is still wet. Prefer wearing it wet than trying to dry it and damaging its quality.
• Buoyancy aid
• Floatation device
• Helmet
• Kayak cag

Prepare a basic kit with items of everyday use which will contain the following:

• Warm clothes that include long sleeved t-shirts and sweaters that you can wear inside the wetsuit
• Beach appropriate footwear
• Comfortable clothes because you will miss feeling relaxed after spending an entire day all wet and constricted in a wetsuit.
• Water sandals so you don’t have to walk barefoot or worse, in wet shoes
• Dry bag to store all your essentials when you are out for the day
• Medicine supplies for the duration of the entire trip. Do not forget to take the prescription medications when you leave for the day.
• Tent or bivvy bag
• A sleeping bag
• There is nothing better than having a head torch because then your hands are free to use but if you don’t have one or you can’t get one at a store, a hand torch will suffice. Make sure to have extra batteries with you because you don’t want to wander in the dark when your flashlight battery decides to betray you and dies out.

Miscellaneous items to pack must include:

• A small flask
• Sunglasses (if possible bring the ones with a strap on them)
• Sunscreen with a high SPF that is not oily or greasy in texture when applied to the skin
• Lip balm with SPF because lips get tanned too!
• Waterproof camera because what is a trip without a few photographs here and there
• Binoculars: They are not particularly necessary but in certain situations when you have to figure out how much distance is left to cover or what lies ahead, they come in handy
• Insect repellant: You will need it to keep those nasty creatures away from feasting on your blood at the night time when you are camping.

Food and water supplies: Coasteering is a thorough workout of the body. When you have been swimming, climbing, diving and walking all day long, all your body needs is energy. The only way to get that is by eating healthy and nutritious food. So chuck all the plans of carrying along packaged snacks and go for MRE or Meals, Ready to Eat, our preferred choice is 1300XT. The MRE meals have a clear and distinct advantage over any other kind of food in any outdoor vacation where you cannot get access to proper kitchen supplies and raw materials. Some of the many reasons why MRE trump any other food choice are:

• MREs are packed in a hermetically sealed environment which makes sure that the quality of the food inside the package does not deteriorate or is affected by the environmental conditions outside.
• MRE are known as military foods. Since people in the military do not have the time to prepare food, but they need energy an MRE meal is what they eat. Considering the rough conditions that they work in, MRE packs are rugged and impact resistant. So no matter how much you jump, climb or dive, the food in the MRE pack will remain as edible as ever.
• MREs come with a self-activated heating system so anytime you need to eat a meal, you don’t have to worry about heating it up. They also have eating utensils.
• A day pack for MRE contains three meals of the day including snacks, desserts, and beverages, so you don’t have to worry about the taste or variety
• A single pack of MRE has 1300 calories of energy which is more than enough for a person for a day
• MRE food can last from 3 days to 5 years. This long shelf life ensures you don’t eat stale food.
• MREs food packets come with water supplies as well. If you want individual water supplies, MREs have that too.

So gather all that you need and set out for the adventure without any inhibitions.”