It should be understood by every pet owner that all aspects of care and handling must be optimal to yield a healthy and happy dog.

How much warm wear you need depends on the time of year and the weather. A spare garment should always be carried in the rucksack for wearing at rest stops and in case of emergencies.

There are many types of compass available but only one that is really useful for hill walking. This is the protractor or orienteering compass, which combines the compass with a protractor so that angles relative to north can be measured.

It is rare to see hill walkers in the UK using trekking poles yet as well as preventing injury and damage to your joints such poles increase safety and speed, especially on rough terrain.

Unfortunately taking a bearing is not quite as simple as described above because there are three different north directions: true north, grid norm and magnetic north.

Camping in a different place every night is one of the joys of backpacking. It can also be one of the horrors if you find yourself stumbling around in the rain still looking for a site long after dark, so being able to find places to camp is an important skill. It is also important to leave your site so that no one can tell you were there.

Tents are needed for protection from wind, rain and biting insects. Unfortunately they also cut you off from the outside world and add weight and bulk to your load.

While most people select their footwear carefully, knowing that a badly fitting pair could mean sore and blistered feet, not many pay such attention to their choice of socks.

A good snow-hole takes at least a couple of hours to build, a snow dome an hour or more, so they are not really practical in an emergency.

Igloos are complex constructions requiring a degree of skill to build. But snow domes, sometimes called 'instant igloos', are simple to make.