Have to stay close to base this weekend, so a quick spin through the Trossachs was perfect. It’s beautiful this time of year and Holly loves Callandar for some reason, but starts girning every time we go near Aberfoyle for another reason. Aberfoyle holds a current fascination for me as I’m reading Jules Verne’s 19thCentury novel set [...]
Posted on October 30th, 2010 by PTC*
Filed under: Adventures, Items Various | 20 Comments »
Haglöfs made me a rucksack for my 3rd birthday, they said it’s called the Corker XS, but it’s got a big H on it, and a reflective snowflake with an H on it, I think they meant that it’s the Holly XS. It’s got a Fruit Shoot pocket, a bungee for stowing blankie and opens [...]
Posted on October 29th, 2010 by PTC*
Filed under: Gear Diary, Kit Reviews | 20 Comments »
It was raining today, raining stupids, and the streets of Glasgow were flooded. What the hell is it about rain that turns folks brains into broccoli florets? Every box junction was filled with vehicles, every red light had cars driving past it. Every green man crossing had the hidden danger of lighting my fuse as [...]
Posted on October 29th, 2010 by PTC*
Filed under: Items Various | 6 Comments »
The foray into the wonderful world of testing boots continues with the Brasher Kanaga’s. They’re a B1 rated winter boot, but they look anything but. The styling is that fell-walking thing, like old Meindl Burma’s or something. Now, I’m not being nasty here, lots of winter boots are all disco-y with their colours and their shiny silver, [...]
Posted on October 29th, 2010 by PTC*
Filed under: Gear Diary, Kit Reviews | 4 Comments »
These were meant for testing by the group the Assynt trip, but they the arrived too late, so I get to eat them all. I’ve only eaten the Lasagna from Mountain House, and that was by accident at first. A happy one at that. There is much said about nutritional values in outdoor food, I think [...]
Posted on October 28th, 2010 by PTC*
Filed under: Gear Diary, Kit Reviews | No Comments »
I’m always looking for different food for the trail, I get bored with the same stuff all the time. Except my mini Irn-Bru’s, they’re beyond reproach. So in for test is Yum Yum Bros. Energy food has always been handy, good size, easyily stowed, quicke refuleing on the move, but they’ve taken a different slant [...]
Posted on October 28th, 2010 by PTC*
Filed under: Gear Diary, Kit Reviews | 2 Comments »
A few years back I discovered the joys of Keen’s Growlers, a fantastic lightweight winter boot. But like all good things, they got canned. This winter, Keen may just have redeemed themselves and brought in a replacement, the Delta. Visually they’re very different to the Growlers, the upper is nubuck rather than synthetic, the ankle is [...]
Posted on October 28th, 2010 by PTC*
Filed under: Gear Diary, Kit Reviews | 15 Comments »
It’ll destroy my soul when I check in here if I don’t have not-gear near the top of the page. The rain’s stopped, there’s lovely autumn light scattered down the Clyde and onto the trees on the far bank. Work’s in tatters, not for the want of trying, but due to outside influence. I can [...]
Posted on October 27th, 2010 by PTC*
Filed under: Items Various | 4 Comments »
Mr Panda has been absent from these pages for too long. So, here he is, sporting Inov8′s Rain Peak 62. It’s the wee things that make the difference but get no attention, head, hands and feet need love too, they’re only human. And panda. Inov8 have a bunch of what all brands condemn with faint praise as [...]
Posted on October 27th, 2010 by PTC*
Filed under: Gear Diary, Kit Reviews | 5 Comments »
After great success with a SnowClaw, I thought it was time to try something a little lighter and a little easier to pack. That was last winter, but the CAMP XLS never showed, so when cutting around Tiso GOE after lunch (most days, pull up a chair if you’re passing) last week, I spotted this dusty [...]
Posted on October 26th, 2010 by PTC*
Filed under: Gear Diary, Kit Reviews | 10 Comments »
I don’t think I’ve had had something in for test that you can actually call “a fleece” in the old sense of the word. But here it is, the Scythe from The North Face. A strange choice you might think, but I put this on when I was down at the showroom recently and it [...]
Posted on October 26th, 2010 by PTC*
Filed under: Gear Diary, Kit Reviews | 11 Comments »
