You might not think that at first that this goes both ways. Kids these days do have the possibility of always getting new toys, games, gadgets and apps. However, at the end of the day their stuff doesn't develop any better than your phone. The manufacturer just adds a better camera, smooths the edges and paints in with a new color your eye can't even separate from the last silver jam opal blue, or whatever it was.
My daughter figured this scheme out way before me. While we still focused on the small upgrades, comparing the latest model to the new one, she took a step back and without my knowledge did an inventory assessment of my equipment.
I do have quiet the stockpile of gadgets which I assembled over the years working and traveling around the world. And not like my latest phone, which should have been "built for the rugged adventures" according to the commercial, my other equipment dates back years and still works. I still have a trekking shirt which I worn in the Sahara desert in 2006. Quality matters and good maintenance too.
So my daughter started going through my stash of equipment and before I knew, she was using my Bushnell Rangefinder binoculars to check on a bird, ventured through the dark closet with my night vision scopes, was using my headlamp or climbing equipment to create the wildest constructions.
Of course we try to buy our children the "kid outdoor' equipment, and we often succeed with single items. However, an outdoor kit with purpose and of quality is a different challenge. We tediously need to research, collect and buy single equipment just to try it out, just to find out that the cardboard box is more fun to play with than the toy.
Giving your kid a compass doesn't make it know anything more where North is. You will have to teach your kid how to read a map. But are you carrying a map and compass when you hike with your family. I hope you do, as a backup for your GPS, which sufficient battery reserves and the latest trekking map saved on it. So why should the kid be in the stone edge behind, while you are riding the Enterprise ahead? It just doesn't work like that. You need the same tools.
So where I love to downgrade some tech and learn the basics with my daughter, i.e. Morse code, weather forecast according to observing the nature and clouds, land navigation with compass and landmarks, plants to use for first aid and so on. I prefer to have a first aid kit, GPS, radio or satellite phone, and more with me. Like this, I can focus on the exhibition ahead and I am never worried that all that technology will stop me from a real adventure.
I would plan to get lost, just to find a way out, with or without GPS :)
