I remember the accusations of “sellout” when I got a Jetboil in for test and liked it. It’s a fantastic bit of kit the Flash I’ve got and Jetboil are expanding the range. Above are the new Sumo’s in aluminium and titanium flavours. These are 1.8L pots designed to expand the regular Jetboil format into a [...]
Posted on August 30th, 2011 by PTC*
Filed under: Kit Reviews | 7 Comments »
I said something recently about the “sleepmat arms race” and it’s definitely raging away, mats are getting ever lighter and warmer and Exped have have pushed themselves to be near the front for next year by the looks of things. Although, they’re dropping that Canadian Goose from their logo, how much weight this will save is [...]
Posted on August 29th, 2011 by PTC*
Filed under: Kit Reviews | 19 Comments »
It all started back on Monday on that camp, I had my cuppa and my tooth went mental, a tooth with a history too. On Tuesday I kept on having to adopt a foetal position to stop passing out/crying, and this was at meetings with clients, a cuppa with Bobinson and in the studio, but [...]
Posted on August 28th, 2011 by PTC*
Filed under: Items Various | 7 Comments »
This weeks Ben Lomond quickie wasn’t a huge test of gear, but there were a few things worth a mention. First up are the Leki poles, we had four different models which we swapped between, all with the Shark glove/handle arrangement. The poles mixed the rubber foot , the curved hook and the regular spike/basket [...]
Posted on August 25th, 2011 by PTC*
Filed under: Items Various | 8 Comments »
That’s my feet sticking out the tent there, happily camped in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. Other folk were planning the same thing but had mixed results. In the Rowardennan car park a French hiker came up and asked about camping, the ranger had said that he and his misses couldn’t camp where they’d [...]
Posted on August 24th, 2011 by PTC*
Filed under: Adventures | 10 Comments »
New from LaSportiva next year is the Batura 2 GTX. It’s a high mountain boot, rigid sole with nice welts for a matching crampon with a nghuge rubber rand which has a mid-height Gore-Tex gaiter growing out of it. There’s continuous velcro and a chunky zip to seal it all up. It’s very light, in [...]
Posted on August 24th, 2011 by PTC*
Filed under: Kit Reviews | 2 Comments »
…that’s better. The roar of the stove, the rustle of the flysheet, the nip in the air as the sun goes down and the bliss of pulling warm down up around your chin when your feet are already warm, your eyelids are heavy and you just know that hot chocolate you had was the best idea [...]
Posted on August 23rd, 2011 by PTC*
Filed under: Adventures | 3 Comments »
I missed the Lyon Equipment stand at KORS (write up coming soon), but had a meet up with familiar face Si to catch up on what’s coming up now and next year. I’ll have a quick spin through the different brands over the next couple of days. First up is Petzl. These are the new Lynx [...]
Posted on August 22nd, 2011 by PTC*
Filed under: Kit Reviews | No Comments »
I’ve had a trio of new Smartwool socks on test for the past few months and first up for a write-up are the Hiking Ultra Light Mini Crews. I used to be such a trad sock wearer, going outdoors meant big outdoor socks, these are a perfect example of my changed ways. The Mini’s (as [...]
Posted on August 21st, 2011 by PTC*
Filed under: Items Various | 4 Comments »
I shot out of bed about 4am, the cramp in my calf muscle felt like a hot rivet dropped into a bucket of kittens. It’s a family thing, the quinine in the Irn Bru helps prevent it, but hell it’s been a dry week so it was bound to happen. I knew when I got [...]
Posted on August 21st, 2011 by PTC*
Filed under: Items Various | 9 Comments »
You can always rely on X Bionic to take the simplest item of kit and make into an android exoskeleton of technical wizardry, here’s some new stuff. The X Sock Accummulator below on John from Ardblair’s leg is due next out spring. The look is familiar, but these socks are zoned to a greater extent than [...]
Posted on August 20th, 2011 by PTC*
Filed under: Items Various | No Comments »
Below is Leki‘s Carbon Titanium Antishock. It’s a hybrid in several ways, the sections are a mix of aluminium alloy for the top part and carbon for the two lower sections and it has both twist lock and speed lock length adjustment. The handle is the very comfy aergon design with the extended foam covering on [...]
Posted on August 20th, 2011 by PTC*
Filed under: Kit Reviews | 1 Comment »
Now, here’s a gallus wee widget, the Jetboil CrunchIt. I love gas canister stoves, simple, reliable, fast, clean, light, look like miniature space stations etc, but the empty cans are a real problem, something that weighs on my mind in fact. So Jetboil have brought out the CrunchIt, a tool for making your canisters safely [...]
Posted on August 19th, 2011 by PTC*
Filed under: Kit Reviews | 13 Comments »
