Equipment intended for an activity that serves as more of a hindrance than a help
Games impedimenta — hockey-sticks, boxing-gloves, a burst football, a pair of sweaty shorts turned inside out — lay all over the floor, and on the table there was a litter of dirty dishes and dog-eared exercise-books.
things that you think you need to have or do, but which can slow your progress - often used humourously (plural of impedimentum; IMPEDIMENT)