Inspiring Your Outdoor Adventures
This summer I was given the opportunity to trial Mac in a Sac’s new Venture jacket and have put it through the wonderful British summer weather to test it out.
Billed as a jacket designed specifically for runners and offering waterproofing and breathability, I was interested in whether it would live up to this.
I am very lucky to have been given a Suunto Race S watch to review by the Ordnance Survey and Suunto, but despite it being a freebie I want to ensure I give a thorough and honest review for anyone looking to buy this sports watch.
Designed specifically for women who tend to have smaller wrists this watch has a sleeker design and a smaller face than the Race model. It’s marketed as a performance watch for racing and training. As a keen runner and hiker and already a Suunto fan, I was excited to see if this watch would provide everything I needed. Would it prove that all the additional features mean that I give up using my trusty Ambit 3?
Our expedition to the Western Zaalisky was supported in part by the Montane Alpine Club Climbing Fund and some of the team were also provided with jackets too.
I got the women’s Prismatic jacket. Available in four colours, Blue, Black, Berry and Red, I chose the blue colour in a size 10.
It’s always exciting to be given outdoor clothing to test, but in all honesty this jacket wasn’t about to fill a gap in my wardrobe as I already have something similar which performs well in a variety of situations. So how would this jacket compare to what I already have?
Continue reading “Montane women’s Prismatic Jacket”On our expedition to the Western Zaalisky we took a range of freeze dried foods to cook at our Advanced Base Camps. We opted for the 1000kcal options for all as it enabled us to ensure that we were sufficiently fuelled for our strenuous kit hauling days and summit days.
As vegetarians Jared and I are used to having a much reduced list to choose from whenever we eat, but we were pleasantly surprised by the choices available to us.
When it comes to vegetarian options both companies have a great selection with 4 main meals each.
I should add that Expedition Foods supported our trip with a great discount on their foods, but this hasn’t affected the honesty of our reviews of the meals.
All the instructions for the meals are easy to follow with clear guidance of quantity of water to add and time to allow to rehydrate. That said the Summit to Eat meals have a fill line on the inside of the bags which makes it easier to do when wild camping, rather than trying to measure hot water.
“Long, blue, spiky shadows crept out of the snow-fields, while a rosy glow, at first scarce discernible, gradually deepened and suffused every mountain-top… this was the alpenglow, to me one of the most impressive of all of the terrestrial manifestations of God”
Continue reading “Book review // The Mountains of California”
I’m currently gear testing for Holme Valley Mountain Rescue, who are currently fundraising for waterproof jackets for team members.
This is a significant cost to the team, in the region of £10000, so we need to know what we’re buying is built to last and able to withstand the worst of the British weather.
I’m reviewing the jackets we get to test, raising the profile of Mountain Rescue teams and the need for practical kit built to really withstand the weather.
Third for the test is an alpine jacket from new brand Dannah, made in the UK it is said to be able to withstand heavy wet weather.
Continue reading “Gear Review // Dannah women’s alpine jacket”
Who doesn’t love a book which inspires adventures? I was lucky enough to receive a copy of The Adventurer’s Guide to Britain from fellow OS Champions Jen and Sim Benson. Having travelled to a lot of places in Britain I was interested to see if this book could really provide someone like me with inspiration.
Continue reading “Book Review // The Adventurer’s Guide to Britain”
Its always exciting to receive books to review but this is the first one I’ve had which is written specifically to inspire women to get outside and take up their own adventures.
“There’s still a perception of adventure as an extreme pursuit, a living-off-urine, round-the-world-on-a-unicycle tough club only open to the hardiest grizzled explorer. That’s not what this book, or the outdoors, is about.”
I’m currently gear testing for Holme Valley Mountain Rescue, who are currently fundraising for waterproof jackets for team members.
This is a significant cost to the team, in the region of £5-6000, so we need to know what we’re buying is built to last and able to withstand the worst of the British weather.
I’m reviewing the jackets we get to test, raising the profile of Mountain Rescue teams and the need for practical kit built to really withstand the weather.
Second for the test is Paramo’s Aspira Pro Smock, a heavy weight Pro version of the popular smock.