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The OR StoryAt Outdoor Research, we built a company from a feeling: the urge to get out. It's what drives us. We love coming to work every day and inventing ever better solutions to what nature throws our way. But we're more than just the gear we build. We're part of a community of friends whose lives are connected by our common need to be outside. Our tribe is devoted to exploring our outdoor pas …

Having spent most of last summer trekking using the inov8 345 we were excited about the prospect of using the Roclite Pro G 400 for our late autumn and early spring activities. Having found the 345's to be a fantastic lightweight mid-boot for ultralight adventures over dry and rocky ground, once it came to travelling off path through course heather, deep bog and mud, they did begin to show some we …

Rab’s new range of waterproof shells are more than just a slight tweak in design. Throughout the years Rab have become common place for use of fabrics such as eVent, Pertex, NeoShell, including a few of their own such as ProFlex which we reviewed last year. What is surprising is this is Rab’s first partnership with Gore-Tex bringing out a range of high-performance clothing. This is a bold but brav …

Having been big fans of Rab’s Torque pants and jacket we were very keen to see if the shorts lived up to the same dependable reputation that has made this range so successful. What makes them instantly noticeable as part of the Torque range is the use of the Matrix double weave stretch material. Rab say that “although primarily designed for summer ascents in warm climates, their value as a general …

Granite Gear: Crown2 vs BlazeHow do you decide between two award winning packs with seemingly similar stats?The Crown2 and the Blaze are both 60L multi-day backpacks and at first glance they appear to be the same. They have similar features and use similar materials so it can be a little confusing trying to work out which pack is best for you. However, once you can identify the differences they ap …

The addition of a cap in the outdoors often becomes a handy piece of clothing. They provide protection from the sun, deflect light rainfall, whilst also adding a bit of rigidity when pairing with a lightweight jacket with a basic hood. We are big fans of this type of headwear so were eager to try out Montane’s GR Sun Cap.

Bikepacking is a new concept for us with the Ortlieb packs being the first we have used. We have used this set up for over a year now and always for back country forest and high mountain trails, throughout Scotland. This review is probably best suited for anyone with a similar approach in mind

Featured as part of Rab's new Skyline range the Pacer Jacket was built to be a very lightweight and compact option for fast movement in mountain environments. At 240 grams it certainly fits the brief and packing small into its included stuff sac it is almost unnoticeable amongst our pack.

Welcome to our picks of the new clothing for Spring 2020. Each new Spring season brings new fabrics, new designs and new interpretations of existing gear, often an updated design is better than a brand new one, building on a few years of hard use and feedback.In this section we've highlighted the best from the new crop of products, both brand new and updated - these are our favourites.Our picks fr …