Have the right tools for the job.

This evening, at about 4 o'clock, three friends of mine went together with me on a hike into unknown territory at the hill. It had been raining before we reached the hill. Despite the rain, we decided to go ahead with our plan to discover a certain area some Hash House members have been planning to go. We were told it would be interesting terrain with unfamiliar paths, slopes and further than the usual routes we have explored, perhaps needing approximately two and a half hours for fit hikers.

I had on a fairly cheap China-made, studded shoes for hiking while the others have their more expensive trekking shoes. Anyway, I was comfortable with my pair and was making good speed. across and over the hill. Then we reached a place where we had to climb up a steep slope with wet, yellow, clayey soil. It is here that my pair of cheap hiking shoes prove themselves to be very suitable for their grip on the thick, slippery clay.

One of the friends who had a more expensive pair of shoes found that his shoes could find no grip on the slippery slope and fell a number of times. Each slope that presented no plant or tree for him to grip onto caused him great concern for his safety. It was only with great difficulty that he eventually reached the top.

It was a lesson for him as he realised his shoes were just not good enough for the job. Yes, in difficult places, the right shoes for the type of slopes are indeed important.

With the ease with which I trekked together, it reaffirmed the fact that it is the right type of soles of the shoes that matters and not the price. That, in fact, has been known to me for some times, as I also have shoes that cost five to six times as much as my present pair and they are seldom used; used only when I am sure the path will not be too slippery and the grip on the ground would not be a problem.

I believe it is not just shoes when it comes to suitability of tools or equipment in any activity. Suitability is in fact of utmost importance in practically every sphere of life.