Gear for Children

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] writes

Quoted message said:

What makes, manufacturers etc would people recommend as doing good
quality, cheap gear for children?

Before going down the "Manufacturers" road, have a look in your local
Primark shop. There are bits and pieces there both cheap and cheerful
which will do very well on the hills, and if the children grow out of
them then not much goes to waste.
--
Bill Grey
http://www.billboy.co.uk

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

My 5 yr old daughter Emilie has been nagging me for a while to 'take
her up a mountain', so, never one to look a gift horse in the mouth,
that is what I am going to do 🙂

Excellent! I've got a 5 yr old Emily who could do with being a bit less
bone idle. She's all in favour of walks, until we actually get there...

Mind, if she's with her 8 yr old brother she's not too bad, because
he'll keep going if he can and she doesn't like to be beaten by him :-)

Quoted message said:

Before I do so, she is going to need some basic 'gear' (a fleece,
waterproof etc), but bearing in mind how fast children grow I don't
want to spend a small fortune on it (especially since she may decide
that having been up one, that's it!).

*Sigh* BT, DT...

Quoted message said:

What makes, manufacturers etc would people recommend as doing good
quality, cheap gear for children?

To be honest, at that age, I wouldn't bother too much unless you're
planning to take her up something in Scotland in winter. My own
youngsters wear their ordinary clothes and have thin waterproofs to put
over the top that won't keep them warm but will hopefully keep them
sufficiently dry until they get to shelter (normally some sort of cafe
for a hot chocolate if they've got drenched). One thing I have done
however is to ensure that their normal school coats are adequate for
hill walking (because in south Wales where I live the weather can be
just as unpredictable as on Dartmoor). Anywhere there are plenty of
'gear' shops (such as Bettws y Coed in Snowdonia) there should be at
least one selling children's coats; failing that even high street
clothing stores are starting to sell at least shower proof stuff now -
and let's face it much more than a shower and Emilie is going to get
pretty fed up on a hill unless she's an exceptional child. Shoes?
She'll probably manage in a halfway decent pair of trainers, but if you
want to treat her to a pair of boots try somewhere like Milletts. Or
look at boys' boots in high street shoe shops - good solid things with
grip that can be worn to the shops and school as well as on a hill. But
don't put them to dry in the Aga or Rayburn without checking the
temperature CAREFULLY at frequent intervals...

--
Fran
(somewhat insane mother of 5 variously 'outdoor' children aged 5, 8, 11
(next week), 16 (yesterday) and 17)

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

do not skimp on the gloves. Look at ski wear and do not be put out
if you have to spend =A330.00 for a pair of waterproof ( essential) warm
ones.

"__!!!__"

It's not often that I'm speechless, but it's happened here.

<Recovers> That's the minimum amount I spend typically on a pair of
shoes for my children (because shoes are my one very fussy point with
clothes); however they have the one pair for school and everywhere else.
While they're young they can make do with a pair of cheap boots or
trainers for hills. Spending UKP 30 on a pair of gloves isn't something
I'd even do for me, let alone a 5 yr old. If the poor child 'needs'
that sort of protection for her paws she'll be too darned cold to enjoy
anything and should be removed from the hill ASAP before she gets
hypothermic. If she really needs waterproof or windproof gloves, get a
pair of stretchy disposable latex ones (from the local filling station
perhaps) and stick 'em over her ordinary woolly ones. 'Magic' gloves[1]
can be got for a quid in all sorts of places, and should be sufficient
protection against latex allergy if there's one of those to consider.

[1] One-size-fits-all superstretchy things - you know the ones I expect.
--
To reply see 'from' in headers; lose the domain, and insert dots and @
where common sense dictates.

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

If there is any doubt with the weather do not forget the gloves

Gloves, yes. UKP 30 gloves, however, are not "essential". Take a spare=20
pair of cheap wool mitts that will fit over the cheap wool gloves and=20
you've got more useful configurations, spares, and a lot of change from UKP
30.

Go to your local pound shop and you've got UKP 28 change - or enough to
treat the lass and her proud dad to a slap up feed to celebrate
afterwards *and* a supply of chocolate to take on the next epic voyage
up a mountain.

--
To reply see 'from' in headers; lose the domain, and insert dots and @
where common sense dictates.

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

Scenario.
Dollywagon Pike in March
2 kids crying with cold wet fingers in their cheap wet woolen gloves.
Mother going ballistic and giving me a serious bollocking for geting
the weather wrong.

So you got it wrong. We all get it wrong occasionally. What you do
then is to take the children off the hill before they get to the point
when they refuse to take another step. If they were at the crying with
cold stage you should have been well on your way down already. And I
thought /I/ was irresponsible.

Quoted message said:

Me saying well the forecast wasn`t for this.
A BAD day on the hill.
Truly I still vote the gloves, others do not we will have to agree to
disagree on that one.

Too flamin' right. If they're that cold they shouldn't be out on the
hills in the first place. If they're out on the hills then you find
something - anything - to put over their hands. Nappy sacks, sandwich
bags, spare socks... Look, I've BTDT, OK? A year old girl in a
backpack carrier who ended up with two pairs of borrowed socks over her
thin gloves halfway up Snowdon on a night hike in August because she
suddenly and unexpectedly got very cold. We tied nappy sacks over her
feet. And she probably shouldn't have been there any more than the
other inexperienced youngster in the party who started showing signs of
hypothermia and exposure at the top. But like I said, we all get it
wrong and we all make mistakes. And we learn. But spending that much
on a pair of gloves is just plain silly, especially given that we
started off by discussing outdoor gear for a child of 5

--
To reply see 'from' in headers; lose the domain, and insert dots and @
where common sense dictates.

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] writes

Quoted message said:

What makes, manufacturers etc would people recommend as doing good
quality, cheap gear for children?

Before going down the "Manufacturers" road, have a look in your local
Primark shop. There are bits and pieces there both cheap and cheerful
which will do very well on the hills, and if the children grow out of
them then not much goes to waste.

Nothing goes to waste: there's always another child down the road about
to grow into stuff, or there are charity shops who'd be glad of them -
who have customers like me... ;-)
--
To reply see 'from' in headers; lose the domain, and insert dots and @
where common sense dictates.

Fran said:

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

Scenario.
Dollywagon Pike in March
2 kids crying with cold wet fingers in their cheap wet woolen gloves.
Mother going ballistic and giving me a serious bollocking for geting
the weather wrong.

So you got it wrong. We all get it wrong occasionally. What you do
then is to take the children off the hill before they get to the point
when they refuse to take another step. If they were at the crying with
cold stage you should have been well on your way down already. And I
thought /I/ was irresponsible.

Yes but my 6 yod dosnt tell me her hands are freezing till shes at the
crying in pain stage.
New gloves have been purchased
recommend the Snowdon Ranger if you are ever Betws-y-Coed way.
They have loads of kids stuff that is end of line so Cheaper than other
places.
we have felt Boots have been worth it and now have good gloves after a
walk in Elam Dam Vally resulted in frozen hands and turning back when so
nearly at the ruins we wanted to explore.
Walking and home Edd go so well together.
ttfn
Jane

Message-ID: <[email hidden]> from
[email hidden] contained the following:

Quoted message said:

do not skimp on the gloves. Look at ski wear and do not be put out
if you have to spend £30.00 for a pair of waterproof ( essential) warm
ones.

Good grief, I don't spend that much on my own. In fact the last pair I
bought were three quid from Morrisons petrol station and very warm and
toasty they are too.

--
Geoff Berrow (put thecat out to email)
It's only Usenet, no one dies.
My opinions, not the committee's, mine.
Simple RFDs http://www.ckdog.co.uk/rfdmaker/

I said I think Waterproof warm gloves are essential because of personal
experience.
I said you might have to spend £30, not have to.
It seems to me that the mere thought of possibly spending £30 has put
a newsgroup into shock and totally distracted everyone from the
original question.

Peter Clinch said:

[email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

do not skimp on the gloves. Look at ski wear and do not be put out
if you have to spend ?30.00 for a pair of waterproof ( essential) warm
ones.

Quoted message said:

I've highlighted cases before where I think people are being a bit OTT
with words like "need", "must" and "essential", and this is another.

Quoted message said:

If it were essential for children to own warm, waterproof gloves before
they ever went outside for a few hours then [censored] Sapiens would have died
out many millennia in the past. You can keep hands acceptably warm and
dry by putting them in your pockets most of the time, and a pair of
cheap woollen mitts which are still usefully warm when wet combined with
hands in pockets will do for most of the other occasions.

Sleeves which are long enough and with elastic cuffs so that they can
be pulled down over a balled fist are also handy, and allow instant
extrusion of the bare hand when required. And you can't lose them :-)

--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

[email hidden] wrote in news:1139218395.376732.208320
@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

Quoted message said:

My 5 yr old daughter Emilie has been nagging me for a while to 'take
her up a mountain', so, never one to look a gift horse in the mouth,
that is what I am going to do 🙂

Before I do so, she is going to need some basic 'gear' (a fleece,
waterproof etc), but bearing in mind how fast children grow I don't
want to spend a small fortune on it (especially since she may decide
that having been up one, that's it!).

What makes, manufacturers etc would people recommend as doing good
quality, cheap gear for children?

Thanks

John

Hello John,

My eldest was already interested, so when it became time to change existing
jackets etc, I found the Keela range very good indeed.
He uses them for school, trips and camps.
Probably doesn't help for a test walk, but, IMHO, worth considering if she
wants to continue.

One "accessory" that guaranteed a REALLY GOOD TIME, was a kite :-)
I got a foldaway one from Cotswolds, went down a treat.
Another is a frisbee, an Aerobie, I think.

HTH

--
"Whit's fur yi, will no' go by yi"

Quoted message said:

I drew the line (in the sand (which a lot of people are crossing)) at
waterproof gloves.
The latex gloves idea sounds a good one for a first time trip.

And/or improvise: raid the lunch for the bags round the sandwiches, tape
them in place over hands, instant waterproof overmitts. I've seen
people do this with carrier bags inb full-on winter conditions, and it's
worked.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/