Equipment
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..
A Garmin e-Trex hand held GPS system for checking
where we actually were, as opposed to where we thought we
were! This item worked well at first, although after 9 months
the
display had faded so much as to make it almost unusable. Crossing the
mountains in the Iranian desert on our way to the Persian Gulf, we found
that the little GPS receiver had a discrepancy of as much as five miles.
Not an impressive performance, as my (very poor) navigation actually showed
us our position to with about 500 metres. Since we travelled
through Iran, GPS technology has improved a lot, and is now extremely reliable
(except in Iran!). I am earn my living driving trucks, and would
not consider going to work without my Garmin
Nuvi 360. Great kit. We have learned, since our return,
that the US military who run the GPS system, have made it virtually unuseable
in Iran, as part of their ongoing poitical spat with this lovely country!
Sorry George W! I have to say that I found the people in that spectacular
country, some of the nicest I have ever had the pleasure to have met!
You should go their sometime. Without your army.
.
The Garmin Nuvi 360 don't leave home without it.
.
Supplied by Road Pro the C9303 24 volt Truck Start pack
to insure against flat batteries!! Weight 15 kilos, with a 12 volt
outlet and costing £385. It is charged up from a 'cigar lighter'
socket, or from a mains outlet. Just plug it in and drive.
Much simpler (and cheaper) than installing leisure batteries!
No need to worry about using the vehicle battery to power lights etc.,
at night. In the morning if the vehicle batteries are run down, the
'Start' pack will do the job for them. The trouble we found
with it was that after we had run it right down, it refused
to charge up again!!
Road Pro are suppliers of a whole host of trucking goodies, and
at exceptionally low cost in many cases. Andy Harris, the owner,
has years of experience in this field and is a great source of information
and advice!
General Ecology (Europe) Ltd, (see links page) are based near Crawley
in SE England. Their product "Seagull IV Water Purifier"
must be one of the greatest inventions since the wheel. In ten months
of travel, we used three filters (a 'before & after' shown here) and
never once had any problem either with the functioning of the filter, or
with the quality of the filtered water. In fact, Indian village pump
water, (slightly brown in colour ) was crisp, clean and free of any taste
or colouration. It just twinkled at us from the glass! No water
problems on the whole trip, in fact some people who tasted it thought it
was bottled water we'd brought from Europe. We cannot recommend this
product highly enough. The sevice we received from the company
was
first class, including sending new filters to us in Pakistan!
The makers claims that it removes all viruses, bacteria and other nasties
(except salt), as well as bad tastes and colour, are thoroughly justified.
Dont leave home without one!
Warning
Binoculars. Great for viewing wildlife, border crossings before
you get within their field of interest and places of interest you can't
be bothered to walk to! They have a down side too. Most non
European police will regard green ones as military which were issued
to you by your spymaster. This, in conjunction with a GPS, can mean
real
trouble. Black is good.
Even wondered what all the numbers on them mean? The ones we
bought are 8 x 40. The first number (8) tells you how many times
the object you are looking at will be magnified. Over 8 and
any movement of the hands is noticable, and often gives rise to 'shake'
and they are best used on a tripod or stand. The second number
(40) tells you how much light will be let in. The higher the number,
the brighter the view! 50 or over will give you 'night vision' on
a clear night. They tend to get expensive over 40 though. There
is a third number. It is usually given in metres. Ours is 143
at 1000. This is the length of horizon in the view of the binoculars
at 1000 metres, or in other words the angle or 'field' of vision.