Current Favourite Midlayers

• Mountain Equipment Switch Pro lightweight with some insulation and rain resistance.
  
  

• Mountain Equipment Oreus  very fine denier shell and very light. Used when very cold and windy.
  
  

• Rab Cirrus Flex hoodie good balance between insulation and breathability.
  
  

Depending on the conditions a cheap'n'cheerful fleece may also do the job. I like the ones with full zip (and zipped pockets).

Current Favourite Baselayers

Nothing fancy required, but make it synthetic (and long-sleeved). These Peter Storm ones have got a bit of usage.

Current Favourite Legwear

• Paramo Cascada 2 for really wet and cold days.
  
  

• Rohan Striders mid-weight and robust.
  
  

• Endura cycling trousers for warmer days, this is the closest approximation to some older pairs that I have. Fast drying, comfortable and robust.
  
  

No shorts? See the Beasties section lower down.......

Current Favourite Overtrousers/Gaiters

• Berghaus Gore-Tex Overtrousers very light and a two-way leg zip for ease of putting on and ventilation.
  
  

• Trekmates Gaiters for the really boggy bits.

Current Favourite Gloves

• Hestra CZone Mountain Gloves for cold mountain days.
  
  

• North Face Apex ETip gloves lighter weight option for more temperate weather.
  
  

• Dachstein Mitts old-school mountain mitts.

Current Favourite Footwear

• Scarpa Rapid XT For the better weather.
  
  

• Scarpa SL Activ  For the wintrier stuff, takes crampons.
  
  

• Zamberlan Ultra Lite GT RR In-between weather boots, good for wet and muddy.

Current Favourite Backpacks

• Rab/Lowe Alpine Aeon 35l  Non-winter longer days.
  
  

• Osprey Talon Pro 30 heavier duty fabric, long and thin - for winter.
  
  

• Exped Typhoon 25 good for shorter walks - very waterproof fabric.

Current Favourite Trekking Poles

• Leki Makalu FX Carbon Not cheap, but light and foldable. Plenty of strap room when wearing hefty gloves.
  
  

• Leki Ultra Trail Fx.One  Really meant to be trail running poles, but a good ultralight summer option (also carbon fibre). Best used bare-handed.
  
  

• Robens Coniston T7  Metal and thus heavier than the carbon fibre poles (but also cheaper).
  
  

Obligatory now for ageing knees.

Current Favourite  Winter Gear

• Tiso Monte Rosa C1 Crampon  These fit nicely on the Scarpa  SL Activ boots.
  
  

• Tiso Grivel iceaxe   A walking ice-axe, rather than something more fearsome looking for ice climbing.
  
  

• Nortec Microspikes For walking on icy paths without too much of a gradient. Anything more serious is crampons and ice-axe territory.

Current Favourite Hill Transport

• Claud Butler Ridge 2  Behold, an e-bike.  It looked like the cycle to work scheme was going to be culled in the November 2025 budget, so I signed up in advance. The bike got me from Attadale to Lurg Mhor + Bidein a Choire Sheasgaich and back with about 1/3 charge left and from Incheril to Lochan  Fada for The Fisherfields (and back) on 1/2 the charge. Can also be used for cycling to work.
  
  

• Claude Butler hybrid  Old faithful, pressed into service more recently for Munro bagging.
  
  

• Thule VeloCompact bike rack for getting the bike(s) to the starting point.

Current Favourite GPS device

Garmin GPSMAP 67i   It looks like a scaled up version of an old-school feature phone from a few years back, and it has the long battery life to match. It also has Iridium connectivity in case I have to send for the cavalry in a no phone signal zone or want to waste time sending/receiving messages from the middle of nowhere instead of admiring the scenery.

Current Favourite Trip Planners

• Walkhighlands  both the website and phone app, the latter with downloadable maps and GPS. Also, it's free (supported by donations).
  
  

• OS Maps good (paid, for extra features) website and phone app.
  
  

As for olde-fashioned books:

• SMC The Munros (Hillwalkers' Guides)
  
  

• Munros Walkhighlands guide
  
  

• Skye Munros: The walker's guide to bagging the Cuillin summits
  
  

Also, both physical OS Maps and Harvey Maps and innumerable videos (YouTube and elsewhere) and social media posts ("I am bagging the Munros", "All Things Cuillin"..... on FB etc).

Current Favourite Beastie Defenses

• Smidge  Moderately effective for me against midges.
  
  

• Avon Skin so Soft (!!) some versions reportedly put midges off your scent. I'm unconvinced.
  
  

• Sawyer Picaridin US product, can be found online.

You can also go nuclear and buy something DEET based. This is effective, but it will melt your plastic watch strap.

The main annoyances are the midges and ticks, the latter potentially carrying Lyme disease these days. Horses flies (clegs) can also be a pain, literally.

I don't wear shorts and always wear long sleeves, but I have still managed one tick from my wanderings that was attached undetected for an extended period and resulted in a precautionary course of antibiotics.

Current non-Favourite Beasties

• Highland Midge The bane of The Scottish Highlands from (roughly) May to September. They seem to like me.

• Tick These used to be merely a bloodthirsty nuisance, but they now carry Lyme disease, which you don't want to catch if at all possible. 

• Horsefly (Cleg) A painful bite, since they are designed to get through thicker animal hides than mine. They also seem to like me.