Blog

Sea to Summit have thought about the design of the  Alto tent very carefully, trying not to recreate what's already available and fans of the brand will not be disappointed with this tent. We took the Alto TR2 Plus version out for a three-day backpacking trip at the beginning of April when the weather was very cold but quite clear. The cold conditions (sub zero) required largis …

Costs As always we give details of what we spent for the whole trip, due to accommodation costs it could be done more cheaply or more expensively depending on the choices you make. Spending Essential Insurance Mark £57 Insurance Jacqui £57 Lateral Fl …

Getting there We left the house at 7.30am on the 17th September and drove to Manchester Airport for a 9.00am Easyjet flight to Geneva. Progress through the airport was fairly normal, I think fewer travellers offset any additional time for Covid checks and the flight left on time at 11.00am. A new policy at Easyjet specified cabin luggage as only 45 x 30 x 20cm so we booked a hold bag …

In September 2021 I would have loved to travel to Nepal, I’ve backpacked in many places around the world but never been there – it’s a serious omission that I was determined to sort out, but that was before the pandemic. September 2021 then was allocated to a trip to Scotland. In August a window of opportunity opened to visit Switzerland, my partner and I were both double jabbed and were ther …

The Stargazer Bivy has made my bivying experiences much more enjoyable than with my older, basic unhooped bivy. I think a hooped bivy is more than worth the extra weight penalty for the additional room and comfort it gives you by keeping the fabric away from your face. The intelligent design means that the angle of the hoop gives the bivy a reasonably stable structure. Using the 2 peg i …

12 items that ALWAYS make the gear list I've done a lot of backpacking routes over the years and there are some items that always make the gear list. No matter where, no matter when, I don't even need to think about them. Here they are: Gram Counter Gear Mini Firesteel - 12g Most people use gas stoves, a firesteel is more reliable than either matches or a Piezo Igniter (which can br …