At this time of year, you’ll need some idea of how cold it’ll really feel on the hill. Here’s a metric Wind chill Chart, as all those we could find were US units. If you want those then the Wikipedia Windchill page is quite useful. The temperature of -27ºC has been highlighted as the coldest […]
Cut Out And Keep – Windchill Chart Read More »
You will need: One Mars Bar, duct or parcel tape and at least a modicum of self respect and control. If you take emergency rations on the mountain then you may well end up eating it. One solution it to take something you dislike, so as not to be tempted, but that’s not going to
The Beast’s Tip of The Week – Bombproof Emergency Rations Read More »
If you do end up stranded on the mountain after dark (though these tips on avoiding benightment should help in the first place), then there are a few items that will make your unplanned night out a bit more bearable. Remember, if you are stuck on the mountain and someone knows your whereabouts then Mountain Rescue will probably be
5 Things That Might Make an Emergency Night on the Mountain Comfortable Read More »
What do you need for a safe trip up the mountains? Here’s our quick run-down of the kit you shouldn’t leave home without and few optional extras that are just good to have. Depending on conditions, you may want to take spares of many of these. If you expect your gloves to get a soaking,
The Essential Hill Walking Kit Checklist Read More »
Why can’t a grown man buy Vaseline without someone sniggering? A little pot of Vaseline can be used for many things while you’re out and about, so here are a few ideas. 1 – Chafing – Whether you’re running or walking, a bit of lubrication never goes amiss. If you don’t know what jogger’s nipple
The Beast’s Tip of the Week – Vaseline Read More »
No, we’re not taking the pi** this week, seriously. When you’re navigating, and you want to point to a location on the map, be aware that your finger is somewhere in the region of 400m in width when you measure it relative to the map scale (1:25,000). That can lead to a huge discrepancy. One
The Beast’s Tip of the Week – Pointing to the Map Read More »
Fed up of that fusty and minging flask on a hill walk frosty morn? Get rid of the stink by adding a load of bicarb in it overnight. Not sure how much, just get a decent tablespoon’s worth in there and it’ll absorb any niffs that might be hanging about. Make sure you clean it
The Beast’s Tip of The Week – Sprucing up that Flask Read More »
Here’s a few of the best Starting Out and Skills and Tips tutorial articles we’ve published over the last year or so. 1 – Wild Camping It may not have been a good year to start wild camping, but if anyone was inclined to do so then our Wild Camping tutorials would certainly have put them in the right direction.
Five Things – Starting Out Read More »
If you’ve recently read the article on how to give your boots an overhaul, or the previous on waterproofing leather boots and own fabric boots, then you’ll need to proof them slightly differently. This should take about 10 mins, plus drying time and is well worth the effort if you want your boots to keep
How To Proof Goretex Fabric Boots Read More »
Normally we’d be saying that it’s that time of year when you’re going to have to think about getting the wet weather kit out, but ours haven’t been put away this season. Nevertheless, it’s as good a time as any to make sure those boots are in good order. If you’ve got to ask yourself
How To Give Your Boots an Overhaul Read More »
You’ve already got into walking, wild camped a bit and know how to use a map and compass; you need another challenge. Walking one of the many long distance paths could be what you need this summer. Where to go? With so many options, this is probably the hardest part. You’ll nee to decide if
Your First Long Distance Footpath Read More »
If like me, you’d rather boil up some ‘wild raisins’ from next to the tent than suffer a brown liquid that purports to be ‘coffee’ from some sort of stick, then this might be an option. Rather than taking up any extra paraphenalia, all you need to make some almost proper Camping Coffee is a
How to Make Camping Coffee Read More »
If you’ve got a lightweight titanium pot or similar, then while they’re perfect for boiling water, if you try anything more adventurous you’ll soon find how easy they are to burn. I managed to carbonise popcorn on my MSR Titan Kettle, leaving it totally unusable. Soaking overnight in the sink didn’t have much of an effect,
Kit Care – Cleaning Your Titanium Pot Read More »
Why follow someone else’s idea when you can get out a set of maps and create your own?! We plan our Escape From Knoydart trip and show you how you can plan your own week long backpack. You’ll need: A week or so off work OS Maps at 1:25k and possibly 1:50k, or Harvey’s Mountain
How to plan your own Backpacking Trip Read More »
One boot in the stinky stuff and one in the aqueous new stuff and a couple of 100km later how did they compare? Nikwax have decided that the only real wax they sell is to be discontinued! We’ve never been overly impressed by their aqueous wax. Ideal for the organised walker who loves nothing more
Nikwax Boot Wax Head to Head Read More »
This is probably one of the more daunting cleaning jobs, but not all that difficult if you’re prepared. It’s a good time of the year to get the spring/summer bag washed seeing as it’s not going to see much use for a good few months. Of course, it’s not the best time of year to
How to Clean and Reproof a Down Sleeping bag Read More »
So you’ve fancied submitting a route, or downloading one, but you’ve no clue what these mythical GPX files are that we’re on about. Basically a GPX file is a collection of information about a route that includes the location data, altitude and possibly time and heart rate information too. If you upload one of these, then it’ll
Everything you wanted to know about GPX but were afraid to ask…. Read More »
Another of those little things that can easily cause a bit of head scratching. Ideally, if you’ve never done this then you probably should ask someone to show you how to do this. If you’ve done it and need a reminder (my first winter trip every year sees me fixing my crampons incorrectly! I’m hoping
Winter Skills Putting On Crampons Read More »
One of the more difficult things for winter walking is getting used to walking in crampons again. Unless you’re lucky enough to get up to Scotland over the winter, then walking with crampons further south is something you may only wear for a few hours on a day trip and only rarely all day. So
Winter Skills – How To Use Crampons Read More »
To some of you, this may well be stating the obvious but if you’re ready for your first trip out in the snow with a group and you’ve packed your flask and sandwiches. Then you’ve a pack in one hand and an axe in the other and you realise you haven’t a clue how to
Winter Skills – Attaching your Axe to your Pack Read More »
With Winter officially here and the clocks turned back to perpetual darkness for another five months, the only good thing we’ve got to look forward to is mountain biking on Snowdon and the possibility of loads of lovely snow. Before you get out there it might be worth watching the Snowdonia National Park’s video to brush
Diogelwch ar y Mynydd Amodau Gaeafaol- Mountain Safety – Winter Conditions Read More »
Setting out for a winter walk you’ll need to make sure you’re properly dressed, but if you’re not then you’re from as much risk from overheating as you are from the cold. You need to be comfortable.. This means that it’s no good whacking on that down jacket at the start of the walk, unless
Layering up for Winter Read More »
It’s not officially winter, but it’s definately start of the winter season as far as the mountains are concerned, so we’ve put together a small series of articles in order for you to make the most of any snow we may be lucky enough to fall. We’ll have a few articles on winter skills, videos
Get Ready For Winter Read More »
It’s getting that time of year when you need to give those long abused leather boots a make over. 1 – Clean ’em – Water works, though you can get some proprietary boot cleaners that work out a little expensive in the long term. Use a brush to clean out all the dirt from the seams. You
How To – Waterproof Leather Boots Read More »
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