Thermarest NeoAir XLite and XTherm Review - “Increased the comfort and thermal qualities making this the perfect option for lightweight wild-camping ”
Posted by Trek Scotland on Apr 11, 2023
Thermarest had, for us, changed our approach to wild-camping
when we first received a NeoAir XLite around a decade ago. We have now used the
XLite and XTherm as our core piece of kit for multi-day wild-camping group activities
since we started our business 9 years ago. We suppose that once you put trust
in a product it’s easy to stick with it, with
Thermarest offering a dependabl
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Revelation 850FP 20F Down Quilt Review - “ It’s an amazingly lightweight option for camping”
Posted by Mark Richardson on Feb 27, 2023
850 Fill Power down / -6.6 Comfort rating / Regular
Length / Wide / 683 grams
Fill Weight (Regular Wide) 479g
In the right conditions
quilts are an amazing way of sleeping outdoors,
Enlightened Equipment specialise in quilts and are very good at it. When Summer camping you can sleep
under a quilt and feel really comfortable compared to the restrictions of lying
inside a co
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Big Agnes Lost Ranger UL 3N1 15 Sleeping Bag Review - “I really liked the way the quilt attaches to your sleeping mat”
Posted by Mark Richardson on Feb 27, 2023
850 Fill Power down / -9 Comfort rating / Regular
Length / 1007grams
Inner bag weight 482grams / Outer Bag weight 530grams
Inner bag Fill Weight 227g / Outer bag Fill Weight
198grams
I have a natural aversion
to this type of product because multi-functional products often tend to be less
effective than individual products designed to fill a specific niche, however I
was v
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Rab Mythic Ultra Jacket Review - “The Mythic Ultra has all the things you need and nothing that you don’t.”
Posted by Mark Richardson on Feb 24, 2023
There are so many good
down jackets available that it can be difficult homing in on the one for you,
not surprisingly your first thoughts should be about how you want to use the
jacket, a decent warm jacket is an essential piece of backpacking or trekking
kit even in the summer if you are travelling high in the mountains and in this
scenario you want something that is lightweight and ha
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Osprey Exos Pro 55 Review - “I was impressed by the capacity of the pack!”
Posted by Mark Richardson on Feb 23, 2023
Osprey’s Exos packs are best
sellers; and for backpacking loads over say 15kg they are a good choice,
offering a comfortable carry at a low weight. Typically weighing in at 1.3Kg
there are lighter options for ultralight backpackers where the target weight is
around a kilogram for a fully spec’d backpacking rucksack of between 50 and 60
litres capacity.
A few years ago
Osprey p
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Silva Map Case M30 Review - “An excellent map case that improves upon other brand offerings.”
Posted by Mark Richardson on Jan 03, 2023
The
M30 map case is 295mm
x 295mm viewable area which is basically A4 which fits with the size of
Ordnance Survey Outdoor Leisure maps. It’s a welded construction with a double
‘zip-lok’ type seal at its opening, I’ve used quite a few of this type of map
case over the years and the seal can sometimes be hard to close and very hard
to open, especially in cold weather, and definitely
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Wool-It Review - “An ingenious and ultralight solution to blisters ”
Posted by Danny Pearson on Dec 12, 2022
Blisters are usually caused by poorly fitting footwear, friction,
warm or damp feet rubbing inside your shoes.
If you are walking long distances then it’s likely that at
some point you have experienced the discomfort of a blister. On multiday treks
it can be a real problem not only due to the pain but also the risk of
infection. Preventing blisters from forming in the first place is th
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Altra Olympus 5 Hike Low GTX Review - “Max stack height, max cushioning, zero drop.”
Posted by Mathew Garbutt on Nov 09, 2022
Since releasing their first shoe in 2012, Altras popularity
has soared - much like the millions of customers who choose to use their
products. Nowadays it’s rare for a seemingly unknown brand to enter the
somewhat saturated footwear market and make a success of it. But just what
were Altra doing that no-one else was? Quite simply, they were offering zero
drop running shoes, with
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Anaris Tent Review - “The tent's most impressive feature is the 50 Denier Nylon bathtub and floor, which is incredibly rugged”
Posted by Andy Neil on Nov 07, 2022
Combining the packability and lightweight design of a
trekking pole tent with the durability and shear polish of a Hilleberg, the
Anaris is a dream tent to some, myself included. I was
an early adopter of the Anaris when it launched in 2020, and already familiar
with
Hilleberg tents as, at the time, I was using a Soulo, so I could already
attest to their craftsmanship. I had als
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Rab Torque Mountain Pants Review - “Apart from winter conditions, these are my current favourite hiking pants.”
Posted by Mark Richardson on Oct 18, 2022
The
Rab Torque Mountain Pants (TMP) are a lighter weight version of the Torque Pants (TP) but there’s
not much in it – for a medium size the TMPs are 30grams lighter so you perhaps
wouldn’t choose the TMP over the TP because of the weight saving.
The main fabric for both
pants is the same but the reinforcement panels on the TPs are burlier than on
the TMPs. The other main
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MSR pocket Rocket Deluxe Review - “Does everything you could possibly ask of a humble gas stove”
Posted by Mark Richardson on Oct 18, 2022
This is one
of the easiest reviews I’ve ever had to write,
MSR’s Pocket Rocket Deluxe stove
does everything you could possibly ask of a humble gas stove. I used it first
on a trip to Glen Shiel in Scotland and on the first night I camped on the
Kintail ridge, it was windy and exposed but the Pocket Rocket Deluxe coped with
it well, the concave burner head (while not an original
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Granite Gear Crown 3 Review - “An ideal pack for long distances without resupply”
Posted by Mark Richardson on Oct 18, 2022
A 60 litre rucksack with a
decent harness and weighing around 1Kg is a key product for us, and in my
experience Granite Gears ‘litres’ are a bit bigger than some other pack
manufacturers, this manifests itself in the fact that the Crown 60 seems
significantly bigger than some other 60 litre packs. I think this is because
Granite Gear only count the main compartment when quoting the capa
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