My best hiking essential - Hercules Adventure Stick

I have a lot in my life (most of us do) and for me, camping strips life back down to the basics. I’m happiest with the basics. Less stuff means less to lose and less to worry about. It’s liberating until you need to get back to real life again. And when you’ve got an old sedan, a 4 person family, and a tent that takes up half the boot, there’s no alternative but to keep it simple.

Your money goes further when you camp so you can stay away longer – and longer holidays are good, right? My family (wife, son 8, daughter 6) spent 3 weeks camping last summer. That was our longest camping trip so far since we've had the kids.

Before the kids came along, the wife and I hiked through Arizona and Washington and spent a breathtaking month in Slovakia hiking on High Tatras. In those 6 months were some of the best moments of my life and some of the scariest. From finding a rusty shotgun in a cave to an oh-shit-I'm-dead encounter with a bear, those memories are stories to tell the kids and one day the grandkids.

Nowadays, our camping trips involve sunscreen and aloe balm, pink unicorn sunhats and a pair of Wiggles boots. FML......seriously.

Don't get me wrong, I love my family, I absolutely love my kids. Wouldn't trade them for anything, well a new Ford Ranger XLT maybe......but nah......I've grown used to the kids and what's my life gonna be without the constant noise and never-ending questions like if I prefer Rainbow Dash's mane or Princess Elsa's hair. FML......seriously.  

Instead of taking my own life during those rainbows and sparkles days, I spend time trawling online for equipment that will make our lives better, easier and a bit more fun. My latest obsession - the Hercules Adventure stick from Epicstore.

I told myself I absolutely had to take it out for a spin when it arrived. What a beaut. It's 6 sections that you screw together and within 4 of the sections are a fishing spear, a knife with a saw on the other side and bottle opener, a fire starter and a sickle. On the bottom end of the stick is a glass breaker.

The Hercules stick is sturdy, very sturdy. It's heftier than most other hiking sticks (1.3kg) but I got used to it quick and it became a part of me almost instantly. The sections and the equipment are very well made. CNC machined so it's precision cut and every part of it is useful and well designed.

The parents agreed to babysit for us so the wife and I spent 3 days on a 1400m ascent up Ball Pass Crossing. Breathing the crisp glacial air makes me whole again. Everything is good with the world again and my soul is fed.

The Hercules stick came in handy in a multitude of ways and I can't wait to take it to Dusky Track the next time the parents agree to take the noisy rainbow buggers. 

You can get the Hercules Adventure stick here.