A few years ago, before Offa’s Dyke – Alex and I were walking part of the Nantlle Ridge in Snowdonia. Alex was recording the route using Sports Tracker (I think), and I was using ViewRanger - what was surprising was the fairly large difference in calculated distance and height gain / loss.
This morning, I was reminded of this as I was mulling over… Read the rest of this entry »
The first proper head torch I bought was the Petzl MYO XP (I am excluding the cheap chain store head torches I went through that have poor performance and terrible battery life). My (former) neighbour, @documentally, had got himself a Petzl MYO RXP (his first look video is quite amusing) and, whilst the programming element seemed largely pointless, it seemed a good torch.
The MYO XP offers up to 150 lumens (in boost mode – shining up to 97 meters), has three lighting levels, a flashing mode, a diffuser and I found battery life to be good. It does however have some drawbacks – it weights in at 170g (including batteries), it is quite expensive (mine cost £58.50), the buttons are very fiddly (I really struggle to switch it on in a dark tent) and light gets reflected straight into your eyes when the diffuser is up (I never noticed this until @groovy_nut pointed it out – now it is like having the sun burning directly into my eyes. She has a fix involving matt black enamel paint).
The Petzl TIKKINA on the other hand is £19.99, offers a maximum of 23 lumens (shining up to 23 meters), weighs 80g (including 3 AAA batteries) and has two lighting levels (maximum and economic). The torch has a big push button switch – you press it once for maximum beam, a second time for economic beam, and a third time to switch it off. It comes in a variety of garish colours – french rose, electric blue, lime green and orange. I was initially not very fond of lime green (the colour of mine) – but having a bright colour certainly makes it easier to find in my pack than my dark ‘ninja black’ MYO XP.
But with 6.5 times less brightness, is the TIKKINA going to be any use? There is only one way to find out!… Read the rest of this entry »
For my holiday in Snowdonia a few weeks ago, I had intended to put the Powermonkey Extreme through it’s paces to see if I could keep my phone running (starting with two full batteries and the extreme full charged) for the full trip. Unfortunately things did not quite go to plan – primarily the complete lack of sunshine which meant the solar panel was never used, so the results are incomplete and I want to run some more tests but here are the results:… Read the rest of this entry »
There has been a lot of discussion recently amongst bloggers about kit reviews, particularly when kit has been provided free of charge to review. As I do kit reviews I thought I would take this opportunity to put forward my opinion.… Read the rest of this entry »
I have had this Men’s 100 Khyber 1/4 Zip fleece top for almost three months now. I have worn it on hills and in fields, on hot days and showery days, whilst on campsites and in pubs – I have even worn… Read the rest of this entry »
Over the last few days, I have ordered some outdoor goodies from a selection of online retailers. It would be unfair to ‘review’ the website and ordering process for each one, as they range from small businesses, to larger dedicated online stores, all the way up to large retail chains – each with a different budget and need for their website (and I managed to find, order and pay for the goods I wanted on all the sites!). The one thing they all have in common though is fantastic speed of service, especially from Webtogs, Alpkit and Chcolate Fish who do not charge extra for postage.… Read the rest of this entry »
With a trip to Snowdonia planned for next weekend (I say planned in the loosest possible sense – I have not actually planned any routes or where we are camping yet!), I have gone on a bit of an outdoor kit spending spree, inspired almost entirely by @PhilOutdoors kit list and videos from his TGO Challenge.
I love the idea of soft shell jackets – jackets which are nicer to wear and more breathable than traditional waterproofs, yet give you more protection from water and wind than a fleece. It is a combination that sounds brilliant, and I was finally able to put one to the test this month when I was sent a North Face Apex Bionic Soft Shell Jacket to review by Webtogs. Can a soft shell replace a fleece / waterproof jacket combo?
[Disclosure - this jacket was provided by Webtogs for me to give my own personal opinions on it and they have no influence on these views and no editorial control. Webtogs have a whole range of soft shell jackets available on their site]… Read the rest of this entry »
As a kid, I always loved the outdoors. We lived in a house in the countryside with a large garden, orchard and three small fields, and I have memories of being outdoors in all weathers climbing trees, playing soldiers with my brothers (fir cone wars) and creating bmx tracks. Although I do remember going on walks, it was not until I was about 13 that I discovered the joy of… Read the rest of this entry »
Much to the annoyance of my local post office (I have parcels delivered there as I cannot hear the doorbell from my garden office!), I have had a few deliveries of new kit over the last few days.… Read the rest of this entry »
