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There are two types of mountain rescuer – the ones who have opinions about gear and the ones who have strong opinions about gear.
In over 30 years as a mountain rescuer our equipment has been transformed from very little to state of the art head to toe outfitting, and quite right too. I can remember that when I joined my team that we had eight radios and 12 jackets so you had to make it to the post quickly to stand any chance of team gear!
We have all been out in horrendous weather – when most sensible folks are either not on the hills or are making best speed back to the pub, many mountain rescue teams are mobilising to go on the hill and operating in the most difficult conditions.
In the 70s and 80s, most team members used their own equipment and, of course, this was trashed on numerous occasions, but the more affluent teams provided a small ‘equipment allowance’. This was all well and good but team members started to realise that as teams became increasingly busy the requirement for effective and appropriate equipment becomes vital – and there was always one team member who turned up without a jacket!
The 90s started to see the advent of teams providing limited team issue gear and some folks will remember when it looked like most teams were sponsored by Buffalo (although they had to be blue)! Very good jackets and discounts were provided to teams. This was followed by Slioch who made excellent (if heavy) jackets for many teams.
Most teams have had equipment officers who mainly looked after team equipment, ropes, slings, cas bags etc and as the 90s progressed inspection of equipment started to become routinely recorded and inspected.
There has been steady progress over the years and team members can now expect base layers, softshells, outer shell jackets, belay jackets, helmet, harness and PPE, personal radios, avalanche transceivers, ice axes, head torches, rucksacks, socks and boot allowances. This is clearly a good thing as teams should ensure that team members are appropriately equipped for the conditions we are expected to operate in, however it does come at significant cost and also requires a comprehensive and recordable inspection regime.
Many teams use proprietary equipment management software, or have developed their own to keep track of and replace defective team PPE. This is normally checked centrally and tagged as in date, carried out every 6 months.
Given that teams generally have between 30 and 40 team members, what is the cost implication in 2025, of kitting out a team? I have used my own team and been conservative in my estimates as most teams get discounts and the volunteer staff at SMR have generated numerous discounted deals with most major suppliers.
The cost comes to approximately £3050.00 per team member. If you multiply this by roughly 35 team members that makes personal equipment a whopping £106,470 per team. Then multiply by 27 teams across Scotland and the total figure is almost £3m.
It is critical for our safety that team members have the best equipment for the conditions we operate in, but this has significant cost implications for teams. A regular donation or bequest can keep us safe in the worst of conditions.
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