Outdoor Gear Coach

Newsflash: Our first publication Keeping Dry and Staying Warm Part 1 is now published in paperback and Kindle formats and available on Amazon. Outdoor Gear Coach researches, writes and publishes books and materials for better understanding of textiles and outdoor garments, and to add training of usage skills. OUR MISSION IS TO: Increase the depth and breadth of understanding of textiles in the design and use of outdoor garments to the benefit of all sectors of the outdoor activist and professional community. Embrace all aspects of performance from physiology and nutritional (This is the vital source of heat, which your garments are designed to conserve ) to terrain, weather and layering techniques. Provide one day workshops for Continuous Personal Development (CPD) training for outdoor professionals and lead eventually to a qualification ‘certified garment professional’. COMMUNITY INTEREST COMPANY Outdoor Gear Coach is a UK based, not-for-profit CIC (Community Interest Company). Our objectives are to serve the outdoor activity community with publications and training courses about products and garments. This community includes anyone participating in any of the following activities. Walking, hill walking, backpacking, scrambling, rock climbing, mountaineering, orienteering, cycling and mountain biking, ski touring. This includes all activities where product and human physiology information linked to skills is needed for competency, safety and enjoyment in all outdoor and mountain environments, over 7 continents. The community of outdoor activists we aim to serve comprises 6 sectors. 1.Individual participants purchasing and using the equipment and clothing for personal use. 2.The professionals who are making, sourcing, designing, selling, and buying for resale. 3.Journalists and individuals who write and blog in printed and digital media about outdoor products and garments. For the above groups there is little or no training with personal accreditation of knowledge or skills. 4.Outdoor education courses in colleges and universities. 5.Outdoor skills training. This group comprises highly skilled, trained and professionally accredited outdoor professionals known variously as mountain leaders, climbing instructors and Guides. In the UK there are 13 different qualifications, operated under the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) as Mountain Training UK which relates to the Union Internationale des Associations d’Alpinisme (UIAA) who train and accredit in 20 countries. These members of the outdoor community provide skills and safety training and are the best placed to deliver product knowledge and related skills which are personalised to the end user under training. 6. Outdoor centres for training people of all ages in outdoor skills.