When you are packing for your next trip it is easy to remember your swimming gear and beach towel and for the outdoor adventurer your walking boots and your camera. There are many useful accessories that you should also consider squeezing in and one of them is a small sewing kit. I have lost count of the amount of times that these little marvels have come in handy for me and I now never travel without one wherever I am going.
The Skiing Accident
If you only have a few clothes with you it is a major frustration when disaster strikes and if you are the active sort disaster is always just around the corner and can be very embarrassing. Last year, whilst skiing in Italy, my partner arrived at the end of a run to find that his pride was not the only thing that had been injured in a rather dramatic fall. His salopettes (ski pants) had ripped at the crotch and he was close to bearing all to the skiers waiting for the lift. Luckily my handy sewing kit came to the rescue in the evening and he was able to wear the salopettes for the rest of the trip.
An Unfortunate Hike
I wasn’t so lucky on the Amalfi Coast the previous summer. We had decided to hike up into the mountains but the trail was less than clear and before very long we were scrabbling our way up through a forested area with the occasional very seep section. I fell a couple of times and then realised that a rather large rip had appeared in my hiking trousers. This was awkward to say the least as we were now miles from civilisation and the exertions of the walk were making the situation worse by the minute.
Revealing All
It wasn’t long before my entire backside was hanging out! Thank god there were no people around as most travellers in the region were down below enjoying their ice creams on the waterfront. I was forced to tie my hoodie around my waist with the body portion hanging over my posterior until we got back to our holiday home. Had I taken the sewing kit up the mountain I could have performed a repair which would have saved the trousers but sadly it was back at the house and the trousers were now beyond rescue and then some. Even sophisticated machinery couldn’t have saved them from a trip to the bin!
To The Rescue
Over the years I have variously ripped holes in knees, torn elbows, detached sleeves and even broken the straps on my rucksack and that little sewing kit has rescued me and my gear on many occasions. The kit doesn’t take up much room and weighs little and so is worthy of inclusion wherever you are going just in case you run into trouble. It is probably fair to say that most people aren’t quite as clumsy as me but you just never know.
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Article by Sally Stacey