Find below our complete guide to outdoor skills, well almost complete! We’re in the process of organising the content into more coherent sections.
YES! Despite our innate nature, Mud and Routes are becoming more organised!
As a starter for 10, here’s our Complete Introduction to Map Reading and Navigation Online Course.
If you want to start getting fit, perhaps lose some weight that you’ve put on due to the usual post Easter chocolate clearance, then getting walking is an ideal way to do that. Should i go walking, running or cycling? If you’re reading this article, then it can be assumed that you’re already able to […]
Get into Walking For Fitness.. Read More »
Where do you lie on the ‘hardiness’ scale below? I’ll admit i need at least a 6 if i’m going to get a good night’s sleep – though have been known to get away with a 2 on occasion (plenty of single malt helps). 1 – Rock. Where there’s no other option but to pitch on
Five Things you may find yourself sleeping on while wild camping…. Read More »
Maybe you’ve been inspired by Sunday’s London Marathon, but something’s got that little seed planted in your head that you want to get into running. You may have been talked into, against your will, into doing a charity 5k, or decided that you’ve squeezed into those size 38 trews (male or female!!) for the last time.
How far do we want to go with cutting our pack weights? I’m sure that the companies and the media surrounding them would wish this was at each new technological advance. I’ve thought about this more and more, with my tent now looking particularly obese compared to similar offerings. Weighing in at 1.3 kilos, the
Lightweight Obsession Read More »
Before I saw this little beauty in action, I thought this was a gimmick. For those who don’t know, a Kelly Kettle (or Ghillie Kettle – another brand) is simply a kettle in which you light a real fire inside the he hollow centre. This acts like a chimney, drawing the fire up along the inside
Trekker Kelly Kettle Review Read More »
Fed up shelling out for those magazines and can’t be arsed to go to the library? Here’s a few free magazines and books available online that should keep you busy for most of the year! Backpacker Magazine. There’s a backlog to the early 70s, and the ancient adverts fascinate me. There’s more content to these
No such thing as a free lunch, unless you cook it yourself… Read More »
You may already have seen our unscientific review of the Magicshine lights and how they’ve seriously revolutionised our night runs and hill walks. Despite the bulk, it was a step forward, like those early pioneers who carried mobile phones the size of briefcases and shouted loudly into them that their business deals were going nicely
Led Lenser H7 Review Read More »
This is the second part of our article on wild camping in winter snow. Rest of the stuff. I carried all the gear in the OMM Villain pack. This isn’t really big enough for this sort of trip. The sleeping bag is a bit on the bulky side, and the down mat takes up the
Winter Wild Camping 2 Read More »
Some have emailed asking what gear you can use for a winter wildcamp. Here’s my selection of gear. I’ve split it into two posts – one for the ‘big 3’ of shelter, sleep and cooking and the other for the rest of the stuff. Freezing conditions were expected and the gear below kept me comfortable
Winter Wild Camping 1 Read More »
Of course, it should go without saying that you’ll need to know how to use the gear properly! Walking in crampons and making proper use of the ice axe are both essential skills. Get a mate to show you, join a club or pay for a course. If you’re going to pay for it, I’d
Hill Walking Winter Skills 2 – The Equipment You’ll Need Read More »
Well, I’d like to think it was. I’ve been looking at the freezing levels since the end of August when there was a forecast for Yr Wyddfa to almost freeze. Since then, I’ve managed to wild camp 600m below the only snowline we’ve had this winter, the 3rd of October. Rain during the night soon cleared any
Hill Walking Winter Skills 1 – Clothing for Hill Walking in Snow Read More »
Fed up of it getting dark by seven and being stuck indoors in the evening? Well there’s a way around it. Get a good head torch and get out in the dark. Here’s our five tips to do so safely. 1.Pick a walk you know well (in the daylight!) Keep it within your capabilities. Make
Winter camping has been a rather hit and miss affair. Taking the usual summer tents means taking a lot of care in choosing the right weather conditions and pitching in sheltered areas if needed. A lot of umming and aaahing, basically agog at having to spend £600 or more on a decent tent that had
Mountain Hardwear Trango 4 Review Read More »
Only very rarely are we able to experience something totally new in an environment that has become so familiar. The Carneddau are one of my favourite walking are as and I realised that I know the area well, except for a small section. I’ve walked nearby, but never to Llyn Eigiau or the neighbouring valleys
All hot and bothied. Read More »
I previously owned the OMM Mountain mover, the Giant Jaffa. I spent a few months umming and aahhing to buy it, with the only negative point being the colour. I bought it, and i was quite pleased. It did the job, but it was cavernous. Far too big for the kind of trips i was
OMM Villain Pack Review Read More »
The final section of the course was an expedition with night nav. We did a bit of rough walking and navigation to get up to our campsite in Cwm Edno. It was almost ghyll scrambling up past the Afon Edno, much more interesting than the faint footpath. As it was due to be windy, we
Day 3. This was a bit of a shock to my system. Ropework. However, i only needed to use one knot, the overhand (or is it underhand?), and that was easy enough. A mentally challenging day to anyone unfamiliar with ropes, but at least there wasn”t much walking involved. I”d have found concentrating on the
Had a great weekend with Phil George and the rest of the group. Small group, but means that contact time was maximised. Day 1. Met at Pete”s Eats. Didn”t know there was a flexibility to the 9am meeting time, so missed out on breakfast (will do me good). Met up with a couple who looked
1 – It tells you where you are. You can switch it on, and simply find out your location. Most modern GPS devices will lock onto the satellites pretty quickly and provide you with a grid reference. Just make sure that your GPS is set to British National Grid and that you can transfer your grid
5 Good reasons to get a GPS… Read More »
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