Outdoors: Hiking Apps, Offline Maps, Mountain Weather and the Kit That Gets You Home

The hills reward a little preparation: a map that works without signal, a forecast for the summit rather than the valley, and a way to call for help when there is no phone mast in sight. This is where DailyStoke compares the apps and devices that make a day outside safer and easier, with UK prices and the small print on subscriptions.

If you are in trouble in the UK, call 999 or 112 and ask for the police, then mountain rescue. Every guide here starts from that.

Hiking apps and maps

• Best hiking apps: OS Maps, AllTrails, Komoot, Outdooractive and Gaia GPS compared.
• OS Maps review and Gaia GPS review
• Best offline map apps for when the signal goes.
• OsmAnd review
• Already on DailyStoke: AllTrails, Komoot and Organic Maps reviews.

Mountain weather

• Best weather apps for hiking and skiing: Met Office, MWIS, Windy, Mountain-Forecast and OpenSnow.
• OpenSnow review and our Windy review.

Staying in touch off-grid

• Best satellite communicators and SOS devices: Garmin inReach, ZOLEO, SPOT and phone satellite SOS.
• Garmin inReach review and ZOLEO review
• Best emergency apps: what to install and what to switch on before you go.
• Meshtastic explained: free off-grid messaging, and why it is not an emergency service.

On your wrist and on your legs

• Best GPS watches for hiking
• Hiking exoskeletons compared: Hypershell, DNSYS and Ascentiz, and what the evidence says.

Insurance for the mountains

• Best winter sports travel insurance and what off-piste ski insurance covers.

All outdoors articles