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UOG Review for Kahtoola KTS Crampons and Tote SackThe night before we set off we’d booked a Bed and Breakfast in Fort William, just to make sure we had a good start the following morning. We’d both brought along Kahtoola KTS Crampons as well as Hillsound Trail Crampons – leaving the choice of which to take to the last minute when we could look up and see how much snow was on the tops.Although we d …

The Rab Alpha Flash jacket is an extremely lightweight and simple mid-layer fleece made entirely from Polartec® Alpha™ Direct 120 insulation. This fabric was originally developed for the U.S. Special Forces in order to provide them with an ‘advanced’ insulation piece in their uniforms, which all sounds very impressive. The aim behind the fabric is to provide a highly breathable material that will …

At 240g, the Petzl Ride is light, it weighs less than half as much as some of our other ice axes! This short and light axe is an ideal addition to the axe arsenal for routes that involve mostly rock with only some ice/snow (i.e. descents/approaches from alpine rock routes) or for carrying on a ski tour where its use is unlikely.We like short ice tools and really believe that the places where a lon …

CoCoNa Technology

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UOG Review of Fire Maple FMS-F5Selection: I was after a stove for a 6 day backpacking trip to Scotland taking in a number of munros with a possibility of camping quite high. The weather can be quite rough, even in May, so I decided to take a liquid fuel stove that would be reliable in cold and wet weather, and fast when I needed it to be, the Fire Maple F5 is our lightest liquid fuel stove by quit …

Choosing a sleeping bag can be a tricky affair. How each person sleeps can differ greatly so guidelines for warmth can be difficult to follow. We tend to look at the environment we are intending to use the bag then choose a rating as high as possible for the weight we’re willing to carry. Our intended use was for winter camping in the Cairngorms where temperatures often exceed minus double figures …

Used extensively by Cairngorm Treks throughout the Cairngorms and surrounding mountainous areas, Winter 2017 – Spring 2018.Montane have set very high standards for this jacket claiming it to be “one our most technical and innovative products yet, developed using thermal imaging data produced during activities in cold, wet conditions.” On first arrival the appearance certainly matches the descripti …

Used extensively by Cairngorm Treks throughout Autumn and Winter 2017/18 within the Cairngorm National Park and surrounding areas.We were really excited when we received the Montane Icarus Jacket to review as we’d heard so many amazing things – team members were fighting over who would have the privilege of giving it a test drive. On first appearance the Icarus jacket has the look and feel of a re …

SOTO Muka Stove The MUKA stove is a liquid fuel stove that will burn either unleaded petrol or 'White Gas', (White Gas is a particularly refined petrol sold in outdoor shops, hardware shops and other outlets in various countries - in the UK it is most often seen as 'Coleman Fuel'). From the outset I'm going to say that its a wonderful piece of engineering that addresses all the 'dislikes …

Primaloft Hybrid Down Blend

MSR Access 1p - 4 Season TentMSR's Access tents are excellent - a four season tent weighing in at a shade over 1.3kg is a noteworthy achievement and I was delighted to have the opportunity to test one on a short excursion in Scotland during February. I was mightily impressed, the pole structure works amazingly well so the tent kept its basic shape despite strong gusty conditions.The Access tents a …