Blog

Mastering Winter Hiking: A Layering Guide

Posted by Andy Neil on Nov 14, 2023

Hiking in the winter can be a magical experience, with pristine, snow-covered landscapes and crisp, invigorating air. However, it also comes with unique challenges, including fluctuating temperatures and unpredictable weather conditions. Mastering the art of layering your clothing is essential to ensure you stay warm, comfortable, and safe during your winter hikes. In this comprehensive guid …
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Fjallraven Abisko Lite Half Zip Fleece Review - “An extremely versatile mid-layer equally at home on a Munro summit or in the pub”

Posted by Danny Pearson on Nov 07, 2023

The popularity of fleeces seems to come and go. Sometimes they are everyone’s go to mid-layer, and other times lightweight synthetic insulated jackets become the trend. Ultimately, though, everyone has at least one fleece in their outdoor wardrobe because of their versatility. The Abisko Lite fleece uses Fjallraven’s own grid-backed fleece fabric. Being made from 100% recycled pol …
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Montbell Storm Cruiser Jacket Review - “It strikes the perfect balance of great features, lightweight and durability”

Posted by Danny Pearson on Nov 06, 2023

Picking a waterproof shell jacket can make your head spin. The lightest jackets will be ideal to keep pack weight at a minimum, but how will they hold up when used under a backpacking rucksack with several days of food? This was the conundrum when deciding on a jacket to use for the TGO Challenge. It needed to offer dependable protection for a crossing of the mountains of Scotland in M …
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Montane Alpine 850 Family

Nov 01, 2023

The Montane Men’s Alpine 850 Hooded Down Jacket provides essential alpine or high-altitude basecamp insulation. Made with ultra lightweight 10D Pertex Quantum means this down jacket has exceptional windproof protection. Excellent warmth to weight is achieved thanks to 850 Fill Power RDS-approved Hyperdry Goose Down, providing you our pinnacle in down performance. Engineered with exposed mountain e …
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Rab Mythic G Down Jacket

Nov 01, 2023

The Mythic G is the next evolution of our award-winning Mythic family, offering featherlight, packable performance. With 1000FP down and a heat-reflective TILT lining, which reduces your radiant heat loss by up to 30% without a gram of extra weight, the jacket is incredibly warm. The lining is body-mapped to trap heat where you need it most and absent in hot spots for improved comfort, allowing th …
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Montane Dart Lite Long Sleeve T-shirt Review - “The Dart Lite kept me comfortable and warm when tested down to low single figure °C temperatures”

Posted by Danny Pearson on Oct 27, 2023

Surprisingly, Montane’s new Dart Lite T’s are made from recycled plastic bottles so are helping to reuse plastic waste. The resulting polyester fabric is quick drying as polyester doesn’t absorb water so is perfect for wicking away moisture. I have used the standard Dart long sleeve base layer before and prefer this new Lite version. I tend to get quite hot when hiking especially up hill …
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Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL1 Review - “I absolutely loved the new awning style door opening”

Posted by Danny Pearson on Oct 27, 2023

Big Agnes Copper Spur tents have been bestsellers at Ultralight since their introduction in 2008 and with good reason. For 2022, the Copper Spur received some new updates and the TGO Challenge was a great opportunity to put them to the test. The Copper Spur has evolved from the original design over the years with improvements and new features. Big Agnes works closely with Jake La …
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Our Top 10 Winners In Our Taste Test

Posted by Andy Neil on Oct 27, 2023

We weigh everything we sell so that our customers have the most accurate information possible, but did you know we also taste every dehydrated meal we sell too? Over the last year, we have tasted every meal we sell, scoring each out of 10. We know which meals need more or less water, which need more time to hydrate, and which are best avoided altogether. So, we have compiled this list of our …
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Technology Page - Details that make a difference

Oct 18, 2023

Most people go adventuring in the outdoors to be outdoors – hiking, climbing, paddling and the like – not to sit in a tent! Thus, the most important thing your tent can do is afford lightweight, utterly reliable protection when the weather turns bad and you do have to be “inside.” For our Yellow Label, 3 season tents, it might be the intense summer rain squall that drives you into your tent, or a …
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Silva Head Torches - Our Range Explained

Posted by Mark Richardson on Oct 17, 2023

Silva Head Torches are a bit different, using two beams instead of one, and with a full range of battery and feature options we explain the different models on this page. The one thing all our Silva Head Torches have in common is Silva's Intelligent Light functionality, the unique combination of a long reach spot light and a close flood light results in less head movement, better control, imp …
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Time-Saver Guide to Choosing a Waterproof Jacket

Posted by Mark Richardson on Oct 16, 2023

A Waterproof jacket that will cope with most conditions will have a Hydrostatic Head of 20,000mm and an MVTR (breathability) of 20,000g/m2. In both cases, higher is better. 2 and 2.5 layer jackets are less durable than 3 layer jackets but tend to be lighter in overall weight and more packable. 2 and 2.5 layer can sometimes feel a bit clammy next to the skin because of the lack of …
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Bikepacking to the Four Corners of the North York Moors National Park

Posted by Lois Fife on Oct 13, 2023

Bikepacking to the Four Corners of the North York Moors National Park with Apidura’s Expedition Range. Sometimes you get an idea that’s like an annoying itch that won’t go away until you give it a good old scratch. I am blessed to be living about 100m outside of the boundary of the North York Moors National Park. It’s very presence, beauty and characteristics are a huge part of my li …
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