OookTub first look

So far all of OookWorks products have been “made to order”. A few days ago, Sean introduced some tarps and groundsheets (tubs) which are stock items and could be delivered immediately. I was interested in the OookTub as it would give me some flexibility to use my Duomid or possibly Scarp as a single skin shelter. I could have bought a flat groundsheet, but I feel more secure with a tray type groundsheet, given the number of times I’ve had rivulets run under a tent.

While £60 is approximately double the cost of a quality flat groundsheet, you get a high level of workmanship (as usual with OookWorks) and four corner struts with adjustable shockcord that makes a perfect bath tub groundsheet (220cm x 75cm, 150g without stuff sack, 159g with stuff sack).

It’s big enough to accommodate an Exped Synmat UL with space to spare.

Fits perfectly inside my cuben MLD Duomid. The mat is the Nemo Zor short.

I’ve always wondered about using the Tarptent Scarp 1 as a single skin shelter.

Without the inner, the space is huge.

The OookTub fits perfectly.

The Scarp inner weighs 470g, so substituting the OookTub would save around 320g.

So the OookTub introduces some interesting summer options (as long as there aren’t bugs about!).

You can find more details here.

Disclaimer: my OookTub was purchased with my own funds.

Carneddau gear round-up

As usual, I thought I’d better do a quick gear round-up with some feedback on then items I used on my recent trip.

Shelter and sleeping

As you’ve seen from previous posts, I used two shelters, the F10 Nitro Lite 200 and a cuben MLD Duomid with OookWorks hybrid nest. Both in their own ways were fine. The weather was good, it was hardly a test. The one thing to pass on is that in strong sunshine, cuben seems to act like a greenhouse and it got very hot in the Duomid.

My sleeping mat was a Thermarest Neoair Short with a MYOG fleece cover. It’s a while since I’ve used this mat and I’d forgotten how comfortable it is. So much so, that I didn’t swap back to the Nemo Zor as I had intended. One tip to pass on is that I’ve overcome the sensation of sleeping on a shelf where my knees drop off the mat by using a stuff sack filled with my waterproofs. This makes a gentler transition and stopped my knees aching. It’s also more comfortable not to have the Neoair fully inflated. As usual I used a 150cm thin CFC mat underneath the Neoair and my my legs.

On the first night, I used my Western Mountaineering HighLite sleeping bag. I felt slightly cold so I swapped it for the next two nights for my Cumulus Quantum 350, which was perfect.

Clothing and footwear

I had intended to use my Ecco Biom Mid Hikes with the new Sidas footbeds, but I decided it was too warm, so I reverted to the Salomon Fastpackers, which worked well and my feet didn’t overheat. It’s a shame they’ve discontinued these, but I’ve got a new pair in storage . In camp, I used my Nike Mayflies, which only weigh 300g for the pair and fold flat. Again, these have been discontinued, which is a shame.

Most of the time while walking I was wearing a Paramo Katmai Light shirt, which I was pleased with. It dispersed sweat quickly and was reasonably smell resistant, although perhaps not as good as my Rohan shirts. However, the material is a bit thicker than the Rohan Pacific, which makes it more comfortable for walking. I used my Rohan Windshadow windproof jacket, which I really like. It is slightly wind permeable, which means it’s not as sweaty as Pertex windshirts can be. The material is more pleasant to the touch as well. It’s a shame the hood is not very good.

For warm wear, I took a Haglofs LIM Pull-on and an old Arcteryx fleece jumper. These were only used when the sun went down. I probably could have only taken one, but I would have been grateful to have both if the weather had been less kind. I do like a lightweight fleece and a Primalot pullover for warm wear.

Other stuff

I used my Gossamer Gear Mariposa rucksack (the latest version). I’m really impressed with this rucksack. It’s probably the most comfortable I’ve used. I love the combination of pockets and it simply swallows gear. Highly recommended. Cooking gear was all the same stuff I’ve been using for ages (Snow Peak GST100, Evernew pot, MSR mug).

I’m very impressed with my Sony WX-100 camera. At 124g, it’s one of the lightest proper cameras you can buy. On automatic mode, it’s very rare that it takes a poor picture. It’s very quick to fire up and takes great panoramas. It’s got a good zoom as well. For a snapper like me, it’s perfect. My only criticism is that the display can be a bit dim sometimes, making it difficult to frame a picture.

Instant OookWorks Goodies

Most OookWorks products are bespoke and made to order. However, Sean has produced some Oooktubs and tarps for immediate purchase. So there’s no waiting. Instant gratification. Stocks are limited, so get in quick!

Bla Band freeze dried meals

The problems and possible demise of Fuizion Foods left me in a quandary over evening meals for my recent trip. I still have four FF meals left, but I decided a short trip was a good opportunity to try some new food. Second best to Fuizion, IMO is Real Turmat, but they are very pricey at c.£10 a meal. So I thought I’d give Bla Band a try and ordered some from Outdoors Grub.

Mashed Potato with Beef and Vegetables

On my first evening, I sampled the mashed potato with beef and vegetable meal. The first thing to note is that the pouch is squat rather than tall, making it easier to access, fill and stir. It also has fill markings, taking the guesswork out of the volume of water needed.

Fuizion meals are by far the best freeze dried meals I’ve tasted, so I was prepared for a lower level of quality. However, this meal was really disappointing. It looked like brown gloop. The carrots and turnip pieces were identifiable but the meat seemed to have gone missing. The taste was was very bland, not offensive, just largely absent. This one gets a thumbs down from me.

Skinnarmo’s Pasta Carbonara

I approached the next evening’s meal with some trepidation. I selected the Skinnarmo’s Pasta Carbonara, which is named after a Swedish explorer. This is basically a macaroni pasta with minced beef in a cheese sauce. When I filled the sachet, it looked very runny, but don’t be deceived, after leaving for 12 minutes, all the water had been absorbed.

I was very impressed with this meal. It had a good cheesy and slightly peppery taste. The pasta rehydrated properly. OK, the pieces of beef were tiny, but overall I really enjoyed this one and could easily have eaten another sachet. So this gets a big thumbs up as one of the best non-Fuizion freeze dried meals I’ve tasted.

Risotto with Mushrooms and Chicken

After the previous evening’s experience, my faith had been restored in Bla Band and I was looking forward to the Chicken and Mushroom Risotto. Again, preparation was simple. The guide mark is very helpful in gauging the correct amount of water. Unlike the pasta, not all the water was completely absorbed, but it wasn’t a soup.

While not as good as the carbonara, the taste was still pretty good. The chicken pieces were small but discernible, as were the mushrooms. The rice was was properly hydrated, with no crunchy bits. Overall, this gets a thumbs up as well, but not quite as enthusiastic as the carbonara.

Summary

I’d certainly buy two out of the three meals again (carbonara and risotto). In terms of ranking against competitors, they are not quite up to Real Turmat standards, but are much cheaper and less salty. They are some way behind Fuizion (so is everything) but they are better than Mountain House, Expedition Foods, Adventure Food and Be Well. They don’t suffer from that dry feeling and after-taste that some meals have. They also have a  low flatulence rating!

I still have three more to try, beef stew with mushrooms, creamy pasta with chicken and potato with beef and sauce Bearnaise. I’m sure the pasta one will be fine, but it will be interesting to see how the two beef dishes stack up against the one I’ve already sampled. I’m certainly not going to buy the mashed potato with beef and vegetable again.

Overall, I think Bla Band is worth trying and would recommend trying the pasta and risotto dishes.

Disclaimer: these meals were purchased with my own funds. I have no financial or commercial arrangements with Bla Band or Outdoors Grub.

Force Ten Nitro Lite Mods Update

I used my Force Ten Nitro Lite 200 for one night on my recent Carneddau trip (I used my Duomid on the other two to test out the mods on that shelter). It was a good chance to see whether my mods were effective. Firstly, I can tell you that the extra pegging point on the rear panel worked perfectly. It maintains the gap between the fly and inner, so there’s no chance of it touching and transferring moisture.

A lack of rain (now there’s a thing) meant I can’t tell you whether the rain gutter in the rear vent works. Also, there wasn’t enough wind to assess the effectiveness of doubling the side guys, but I have no reason to doubt that they are more effective than the original configuration.

While the bottom set of loops seem secure enough, when I arrived home, I saw some comments from Andy on my mod post, suggesting a different way of securing the lower cord. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to try it out.

Essentially, it involves adding a second linelok on the lower section of the cord, mimicking the arrangement on the Akto. To secure it to the pole, the loop of cord is passed through the loop on the pole sleeve and around the pole. The (slightly fuzzy) picture below illustrates how.

While it’s slightly more fiddly, looping the cord behind the pole means that all the strain is taken by the pole, rather than the loop on the pole sleeve. Ideally, you need to do this when threading the poles. However, if you forget, you can always undo the knot on the linelok, loop the cord through the pole sleeve loop and behind the pole, back through the pole sleeve loop and retie the knot on the linelok. That could be a bit fiddly in bad conditions, so I might take some mini karabiners, to revert to the original configuration if necessary.

I’m really pleased with the mods, especially the rear pegging point. My trip was hardly a test of the Nitro’s capabilities. However, I do think it’s a really good tent and love the amount of space it provides. I still think the Scarp is a slightly better tent, but there’s not much in it. Unfortunately, the Nitro is still not a tent for tall people. Much over 5’10″ and I think you’ll find it a bit short. One minor irritation I found was that occasionally the shock cord loops on the inner tent slip out of the retainers on the fly. I might try some thicker shock cord.

Duomid mods

Before I went to the Carneddau I made a few mods to my Duomid:

1) New dyneema cord. I completely re-guyed the Duomid using 3mm dyneema for the ground level pegging points and 2mm for the mid panel pull-outs, all colour co-ordinating in a rather nice yellow.

2) Two new ground level pegging points on the rear panel. In my experience, the rear panel benefits from two extra pegging points. I’ve been using a couple of tarp clips. However, I decided to make the pegging points more permanent.

I used the same technique as I used on the F10 Nitro. I glued a reinforcing patch on to the cuben at the hem with silnet. Then I secured a linelok with a short piece of grosgrain, using strong nylon thread. As with the Nitro, I’ve used a length of dyneema together with a loop of shock-cord. This means that there’s not too much strain on the pegging point, while still controlling and dampening the movement of the panel.

3) Extra door pegging point. The duomid door has a linelok pegging point on the left hand door panel but not on the right. If the wind comes from the right hand side, it’s a bit of a problem. The answer is to sew a linelok on the right hand door panel.

Sewing the grosgrain onto the zip fabric is quite tough. In fact so tough, that I broke a needle. That partly explains the slightly messy stitching in the picture below. The other explanation is that I’m not very good at sewing. The grosgrain can’t be sewn on the hem because there is a snap fastener, so I’ve sewn it a little way up. Despite the messy appearance, the sewing is very secure because it pulls directly onto the zip fabric.

The mods were hardly given a severe test on my Carneddau trip, but I’m very pleased with them. If you can use a needle and thread, they’re not difficult to do, just use a strong needle on the door pegging point.

Sunshine in the Carneddau

Sometimes it’s just as much fun to return to a familiar area as it is is to explore a new one. I love the Carneddau. Despite generally lacking the craggy drama of their near neighbours the Glyderau, the Carneddau have the advantage of being less crowded, especially on the eastern side.

For a variety of reasons, there’s been little opportunity to get out recently, so when I spied a gap in my diary to go somewhere for a couple of days, I immediately thought of the Carneddau, especially my favourite place in the universe, Maeneira.

I arrived at the car park near Llyn Eigiau mid afternoon. The winding road from Tal-y-Bont had been widened with passing places to allow lorries to access the Coedty Reservoir to renew pipes for the Dolgarrog power station. Fortunately, I only met one lorry on the way up. After a brief gear faff, I was on my way to Maeneira.

From the car park, it’s a quick 20 minute walk to Arcadia. There’s an indefinable magic here. It’s the perfect place for a spot of wild camping. The rough pasture on either side of the Afon Dulyn provides ample choices for camping. Every time I come here it’s a bit different. Two years ago, it was festooned with Foxgloves. In the autumn, there’s usually thick bracken on the hillside. This time, it was comparatively bare, but there were lots of sheep grazing.

I decided on the northern side of the Afon Dulyn for a change. Up went the tent. On went the stove, for a reviving cup of tea.

The rest of the day and evening was spent idling around the tent. The next day, dawned bright with no sign of a cloud in the sky.

The plan for today was to walk to Cwm Eigiau, have a poke around the mine workings, which I hadn’t visited before, then up to Carnedd Llewllyn, with a view to going on to Carnedd Dafydd, then dropping down to camp somewhere above Bethesda.

I returned to the car, to swap my tent and my sleeping bag and walked up the track to Llyn Eigiau. It was still cloudless, but fortunately, there was a cooling breeze. As I approached the dam, the calm was interrupted by a S&R helicopter circling. It appeared to be doing a training exercise around the reservoir.

I passed Cedryn and crossed the bridge over the Afon Eigiau.

On the way to the quarry, I passed Eigiau Cottage. I wondered whether it was an open bothy, but the door was locked. When I passed it in 2011, it was being repaired. At least there was a seat outside that I could use for a brief rest stop. It wasn’t much further to the quarry.

The quarry is even more impressive close up with large spoil heaps and some substantial remains of buildings. Apparently, the quarry didn’t last long, because of the poor quality of the slate. You can read some background here. While I was exploring, I kept an eye out for possible places to camp at a future date. Time was getting on and there was a mountain to climb, so loins girded, I started up the steep slope to Gledrffordd.

As I climbed, the full majesty of Cwn Eigiau opened out behind me. Despite being dry in most places hitherto, the lower slopes were quite wet underfoot. It was a rather sweaty climb to the flat expanse of Gledrffordd. On the plateau, I was greeted by swarms of flies, so I kept moving. As I reached the slope of Foel Grach, the breeze freshened, blowing the flies away. About half way, there is a collection of boulders, one of which made a convenient seat for lunch.

After a sumptuous lunch of oatcakes, Primula cheese spread and a chunky KitKat, I shouldered my pack for the final climb to Carnedd Llewellyn. The final couple of hundred metres is quite rough, so I took some care. At the summit there were a number of other walkers, including a group having lunch at the wind shelter. I couldn’t be bothered to be sociable so I headed towards the arrete leading to Carnedd Dafydd.

I was now faced with a choice: should I head over to Carnedd Dafydd, then down to the Afon Llafar to camp or go south over Craig Llugwy to Ffynnon Lugwy, where I knew there were decent places to camp? Scanning the valley of Afon Llafar, I decided it didn’t look too promising, so I decided to head for Ffynnon Llugwy.

Descending Craig Llugwy, I made the error of straying too far to the north and was confronted with some crags that were impossible to negotiate. I backtracked up the slope and traversed to the grassy slope further south. It was quite tiring and I was glad to reach the bottom. I located the spot where I’d camped before and pitched my Duomid. Despite a bit of poor camp craft in selecting a less than flat piece of ground, I slept well.

The next day dawned with bright sunshine, but my tent was in the shadow cast by Pen yr Helgi Du. I was up reasonable early and had a little wander to take some photos.

It was going to be a hot day, so rather than climb the back wall of the cwm up to Pen yr Helgi Du (which I’ve done before), I decided to head down into the valley to follow the leat to Llyn Cowlyd. This is a lovely gentle walk giving some great views of the Gyderau and Tryfan, albeit in retrospect rather than prospect.

On the track leading to the leat, I was passed by a van from the water company going up to the reservoir. I was glad that I had vacated my pitch just in time! I didn’t want to get into an argument about the rights and wrongs of wild camping.

It was a very pleasant walk to Llyn Cowlyd with good views all around. Foolishly I took a short cut near the end, which meant a short yomp over some boggy ground. Although there was a reasonable breeze, it was hot work. At the head of of Llyn Cowlyd, I took a rest break to have a bite to eat and drink some water. It was idyllic.

I followed the track on the northern shore, which is well defined. Perhaps on a future occasion, I might try the less obvious track on the other shore. I was surprised how dry the path was. Fortunately, there’s a stream about halfway along and I was able to fill my water bottles.

Near the dam, I passed a group of five youngsters with large rucksacks. My greeting was met with a stony-faced silence. I don’t think they were enjoying themselves! I perched on a convenient boulder on a slope above the dam for a spot of lunch. It was getting quite hot by now and I was glad of a bit more sustenance.

After lunch, I followed the path over to the ruined farm of Eilio and on to Llyn Eigiau. Back at the dam, my circuit was complete, but I still had to get back to the car, so it was a hot and dusty step to the car park. At the car, I got rid of some rubbish and then made my way back to Maeneira to camp.

For a bit of variety, I decided to camp in a different spot. The weather was still glorious. In some ways, it was too good as the translucent cuben of the Duomid acted like a greenhouse. I measured a temperature of 35c in the tent. Every so often I had to get out of the tent and into the breeze to cool down. Even so, I spent a pleasant, lazy latter part of the afternoon doing nothing in particular. My reverie was disturbed by the stampede of some playful horses. Fortunately, they avoided my tent!

Despite the short hours of darkness, I had a good sleep. It was impossible to lie in for any length of time as the sun shone brightly through the flysheet of my shelter. After breakfast, I quickly packed and returned to the car. All in all, it had been a very pleasant couple of days in unexpectedly fine weather.

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to Wales I go

On Wednesday I shall be off for a quick two day wander in North Wales, revisiting old haunts and finding new ones. The weather forecast is looking reasonable.

Sidas custom insoles

Last year I wrote a post on the various insoles that I had tried for my Ecco Biom boots. My conclusion was rather surprising. I found that the Sidas Conformable footbeds from my ski boots were the most comfortable. This was despite the fact that they are about 25 years old and not really designed for flexible walking boots.

I was contacted recently by Simon of Candid Solutions who handles the PR for Sidas. He took pity on my ancient footbeds and offered a free pair their up to date custom footbeds for me to try. My old footbeds were starting to show their age with a couple of cracks and I had been thinking about a new pair of footbeds but not got round to doing anything, so I accepted Simon’s kind offer.

He arranged to have a pair of Sidas Custom Multi Soles sent to the Covent Garden store of Snow + Rock for a free fitting. So on Tuesday, despite the pouring rain, I trekked into central London for my fitting. After introducing myself, I was escorted to the basement where there was a whole wall of gleaming ski boots. Trying not to be distracted by one of my erstwhile passions (downhill skiing), we got on with the fitting.

The mouldable pads

First the insoles were placed in a heater. Then an impression of my feet was made on some pads, taking care that my lower leg was correctly aligned. After the insoles had been heated and made pliable, they are placed on the moulds. By standing on them, the insoles were then moulded to the shape of my foot.

Insole in the mould

The Custom Multi insoles are somewhat different to the red ski insoles I have been using. The main structure is under the heel and mid foot, which moulds to the shape of the heel and arch. Unlike the red insoles, the fore foot is quite flexible rather than rigid. Although it does take on some shape, it is less pronounced than on the ski insoles. The ski insoles are really designed for rigid boots rather than flexible walking boots or shoes.

Underside of the insole

After moulding the insoles, an optional heel stabiliser was added, which is designed to stop the heel of the footbed moving around in the boot. After the stabiliser is glued, it has to to ground into the right shape to fit the boot.

Shaping the heel stabiliser

Below you can see the underside of the Custom Multi insoles and the heel stabiliser (top) compared with my old footbeds (bottom). As you can see there’s a crack developing in the old footbeds!

Here’s a picture of the top of both insoles.

So what are the differences? I’ve used the new insoles in my Ecco Biom boots for a few short dog walks, so I can give you some first impressions. Firstly, they are more supportive under the foot arch. They feel a bit more like Superfeet Green insoles, which I used a fair bit in other boots. However, the arch support is in the right place, whereas the arch support in the Superfeet never felt quite right.

Secondly, the heel stabiliser is quite noticeable compared with the old footbed. I definitely feel that my heel is more secure. Thirdly, I much prefer the surface of the Sidas insoles to Superfeet. They have a little bit of cushioning and are quite grippy. They also dip beneath the ball of my foot, which I find more comfortable.

I’m hoping that I will be able to spend a couple of days in North Wales next week, where I’ll have an opportunity to test them out more thoroughly. I may even take the other footbeds along to do a bit of a compare and contrast. While nearly £70 might seem a bit steep for an insole, it’s worth bearing in mind that they can be transferred between boots and shoes and they do last a very long time.

Prices at Snow + Rock: Sidas Custom Multi Insoles £49.99, heel stabiliser £16.99

I’d like to thank Simon at Candid Solutions for the free footbeds and arranging their fitting. Also a big thanks to the staff at Snow + Rock for their time and expertise in fitting them.

Disclaimer: these footbeds were provided and fitted free of charge for me to review as I see fit. I have no business or financial relationship with Candid Solutions, Sidas or Snow + Rock.

Dartmoor photos

I’ve uploaded the photos from my April trip on Dartmoor to my Picasa account. You can view them here.

Cairngorms in Winter available from Steep Edge

Terry Abraham’s excellent film “The Cairngorms in Winter with Chris Townsend” is now available to download in HD video for £15 from Steep Edge. A DVD will also be available in the near future. Well worth the money IMO.

Farewell Fuizion Foods?

I looked at the Fuizion Foods website a couple of days ago. There was hardly anything available, so I emailed them to find out what was happening. I had a reply today that they are suffering “trying times” and that they are “not sure when production will start, if at all”. I hope they can recover but it doesn’t sound good.

Fuizion freeze dried meals have been a constant for me over the past couple of years. They are light years better than any others I’ve eaten. It will be a huge shame if they are no longer available. However, needs must, I only have four Fuizion meals left, so I thought I’d try some Bla Band. Outdoors Grub, being their usual efficient selves, delivered within 48 hours. Next time I’m out (which might not be for a while), I’ll give them a whirl.

Force Ten Nitro Lite 200 mods

Much as I like the Force Ten Nitro Lite 200, it falls short in a couple of areas. Most serious is that the rear panel of the fly sheet can touch the rear of the inner tent, transferring condensation, which can lead to a damp sleeping bag. Secondly, rain drops can be driven up the rear vent and onto the mesh ventilation panel. I’ve also been looking to see if I could improve the stability of the hoops by doubling the attachments for the guys. This afternoon, I got round to trying out my ideas.

1) Extra rear pegging point.

I glued a circular piece of nylon cloth (ironically from the valance that I cut off the door of my Force Ten Vortex 200) as a reinforcing patch on either side of the hem in the middle of the rear panel. I used some McNett Silnet glue to secure it. After this was dry, I sewed on a linelok with a short piece of grosgrain (kindly donated by Sean at OookWorks). I used strong nylon thread, ensuring it was securely fixed to the hem. Next, I added a piece of shock-cord. The idea was to have the option of using the shock-cord or a piece of guy cord.

After trying, the shock-cord on its own, then a piece of guy cord and lastly a combination of the two, I felt the best setup was the guy cord with a loop of shock-cord at the end secured on the same peg as the vent tie out. Hopefully, you can see that this pulls the rear fly panel well clear of the inner. The shock-cord means there’s not too much strain on the linelok and there’s some flexibility in the wind. It should also help compensate for the stretch of the silnylon fly when it gets wet. The picture below shows it from a different angle.

Vango would do well to adopt this mod. It pulls the fly well clear of the inner. Inside the tent, it was almost impossible to push the inner onto the fly. It adds next to no weight and by doubling up with an existing pegging point, it doesn’t require an extra peg. Here’s another picture (eagle eyed will notice that this is using the guy cord only). You can see how well it pulls the fly away from the inner. Even without testing this on the hills, I can see this will be much better than prior to the mod. My only criticism is that I didn’t get it perfectly centred! It’s about 5mm off centre

2) Doubling up the guy lines.

From the picture above, you can see my next mod was to double up the guys. While I’m not suggesting that the Nitro is unstable with the original system, having two attachment points on either side definitely improves the stability of the pole arches. It’s noticeable that most Hilleberg tents adopt this configuration. Fortunately, it’s really easy to replicate. On both sides, at the exit of each pole sleeve, there is a loop. They are sewn into the seam of the pole sleeve and seem quite secure. To each, I attached a mini karabiner (Alpkit) and doubled the guy back (shown below on the rear pole).

Initially I used the guy line supplied with the tent. Vango very kindly sent me some surplus guylines to play with. However, this is a bit thicker, so I used some 2mm line that I bought recently on Amazon. While it’s not Dyneema, it is very strong and it’s a rather wonderful, eye-searing orange with black flecks.

Above you can see the guy lines on one side. I’m really pleased with the extra stability it adds, particularly on the rear hoop. It’s not so noticeable on the front as the Tension Band System works well, but the rear hoop has no TBS. On the rear hoop, the original guy line is long enough to double up and maintain the correct angle of “pull”, but the front guy is too short. If you don’t want to re-guy the tent, you could just double up the rear, while leaving the front unchanged. However, I like symmetry, so I did both ends. The only slight doubt I have is how strong the lower loops on the pole sleeve are. They seem quite solid, but only time will tell. Even if they ripped out, it wouldn’t do much damage.

3) Rain gutter for the rear mesh vent.

This mod is going to be a bit harder to explain! On my Lakes trip, on the second night, some rain drops were driven onto the mesh vent on the flysheet. None penetrated to the inner, but it made me concerned that in strong winds, with heavy rain, the vent could be vulnerable to water ingress. My initial thought was to make a vent cover. However, it looked very difficult to make, especially to sew Velcro attachment patches inside the vent.

Then I had a brainwave. Why not make a gutter or barrier to prevent the droplets being blown up the vent and onto the mesh. I though of using some window draught insulating strip, but decided it wasn’t quite right. Then I thought of using a V shaped strip of material.

Using the same material from the Vortex valance, I cut a strip 30cm long by 4cm wide. I covered one side with Silnet and folded it in half length ways. Only glueing the very ends, I halved it again to form a V. I then used my old Black & Decker workmate as a vice so that the material would retain the V shape. After leaving overnight, I added a couple of stitches at the ends and 1/3rd and 2/3rds along. Hopefully you can see that in the picture above.

The next part was quite tricky. With some Silnet, I glued the underside and then stuck it to the flysheet just below the mesh vent (shown above in a slightly blurred photo). The idea is that it presents a barrier to any raindrops that are driven by the wind up the flysheet, so they can’t migrate onto the mesh. Will it work? I don’t know, but the vent hood is quite deep, so I don’t think drops can be blown directly onto the mesh. The picture below shows the gutter strip from inside the tent. It was quite difficult to position so it’s not perfect, but it can’t be seen from the outside.

4) Zip pulls and pegging loops.

Not strictly necessary, but I added some zip pulls from the same cord as I used for the guy lines. More useful are the pegging loops that I added to the corner pegging points. These make pegging and adjustment easier.

So there we are, some useful mods that are not to hard to do. I recommend doubling the guys (really easy) and the extra rear pegging point. Let’s hope Vango include them in a mk2 version. They also need to look at the rear vent. I would prefer the option to close it completely. However, I’m hopeful that the rain gutter/barrier will work. I’d also like to encourage them to do a winter version with doors at either end, an extra hoop in the middle and removable snow valances. I’ve also got a few other ideas up my sleeve if they are interested

Mountain art

I “painted” this on my iPad recently.

Review: The Cairngorms in Winter with Chris Townsend

Many of you I’ll be aware of Terry Abraham’s outdoor videos. Having turned a hobby into a business, his output has become markedly more ambitious. He’s just released a 96 minute film “The Cairngorms in Winter with Chris Townsend”. The project was funded through Kickstarter, including a modest contribution from my good self.

It’s difficult to review something that you have emotional stake in, so I’m not going to try to be objective. To say this film exceeded my expectations is the understatement of the century. To go from short promotional videos to full length film/documentary is amazing. To attempt this in the depths of a Cairngorm winter is nothing short of bonkers.

Quite frankly, this is the best outdoor film I’ve seen in a long while, possibly ever. It’s been made with a huge amount of care and love by both Terry and Chris. The cinematography is terrific. Terry has captured the full drama and majesty of the Cairngorms from the glens to the mountain tops. The time lapse photography is jaw dropping at times.

The snow and changeable weather give the scenery incredible contrast and vibrancy. Of course, this has to be captured on film, and Terry has done a great job. To do this in possibly one of the most hostile environments in the UK is incredible.

Ninety minutes of just looking at scenery on film, however magnificent, might get boring. Interlaced through the film is a very personal view of the Cairngorms from the one and only Chris Townsend. I thought Chris was brilliant. Talking from the heart, he explains his love of the Cairngorms and how it has related to his life.

It could have been a really dull monologue, but it wasn’t. Chris struck the right balance between personal reflection and being informative. He was fluent without being rushed. Some documentaries have too much commentary. I thought this film had the right mix, with the scenery being given time to breathe and speak for itself.

Special mention must be made of the music accompaniment. At first it sounds a bit like a Lord of the Rings out-take, but quickly settles to be an effective evocation of the landscape. As the film progresses, it becomes better and better.

Kickstarter supporters have been supplied with a 720HD downloadable version. I watched this first on my computer, which has a reasonable monitor. The second time, I watched it on my Sony TV through a Bluray player. It was good on PC, but fabulous on a HiDef TV.

I also pumped the sound through my Hifi (an expensive AVI active system). Terry was a bit concerned whether the sound was up to snuff, but through the Hifi, it was excellent with both words and music very clear.

As I said at the beginning, as a backer, I’m hardly the most objective judge, but I’m delighted at the final product. I think it stands comparison with the finest outdoor films. I congratulate Terry and Chris on the fruits of their labours and hope there will be further projects. They deserve enormous credit for producing a superb film on a shoestring in testing conditions.

The DVD should be available in June to buy from SteepEdge, where you can see a trailer of the film. It is also being premièred at George Fisher in Keswick on 18th May (sold out) and will be shown at the Rheged Centre near Penrith from July 22nd to 27th.

Get modding!

I received a little package in the post today. Some Dyneema (2mm and 3mm), a length of grosgrain and some linelocs. I’m going to re-guy my cuben Duomid and add a couple of extra pegging points. I’m also going to add a lineloc to the right hand door panel, so either left or right can be furled back. The rear fly sheet panel of my F10 Nitro Lite 200 needs an extra pegging point to stop it touching the inner. I’ll do some posts when I’ve done them. I need the weather to cheer up a bit so I can pitch both tents in the garden.

MobileFun sync and charge cable

Carrying multiple cables to sync and charge phones and Kindles is a pain. Here’s a neat device that has an Apple Lightning, Apple 30 pin and a Micro USB connector from MobileFun for syncing and charging your devices. The cable is 70cm and retractable.

The connectors plug into the back of one another and unplug for use. It weighs 20g, slightly lighter than the standard Apple 30 pin cable (21g) and marginally heavier than the Apple Lightning cable (18g). The Micro USB adapter is compatible with a Kindle. I paid £9.99 for my cable. Not much more I can say, other than it works.

Disclaimer: This item was purchased using my own money and I have no relationship, commercial or otherwise, with MobileFun.

Bonne chance Challengers

This time last year, I was in Oban at the start of the 2012 TGO Challenge. I’m envious of those starting their trek today. On the other hand, this year would have posed some domestic dilemmas. I also managed to hurt my back last week. Fortunately, it’s a lot better today and probably wouldn’t have put me off starting.

The Challenge has bitter sweet memories at the moment, given that I had to abandon mine last year because of illness. I know that both Martin Rye and David Williams are carrying leg injuries. I hope that both of them are able to complete their crossings. It’s a crushing disappointment to pull out.

The weather forecast is doing its usual trick of changing by the hour. It looks like a wet weekend followed by an improving outlook next week. It also looks like a cool Challenge, although not as cold as last year.

I’m looking forward to reading about the escapades. I’m hoping that I will be able to do the Challenge in 2014. I’m more or less guaranteed a place. I have a couple of routes in mind. I’m keen to do some of the Monadhliath as it looks like I’ll not be able to go there this year. Anyway, bonne chance to all the Challengers. Have a safe and enjoyable crossing.

Camping in Glen Etive

Nordisk Telemark 2: reader review

A blog reader, Jonathan Inch, contacted me with an offer of an initial review of the Nordisk Telemark tent. It looks a very interesting tent and a real competitor for the Laser Competition. Whether it competes with the Scarp, depends on your priorities. On weight, it’s about 0.5kg lighter, but I doubt whether it is as stable and it doesn’t have the flexibility of two porches. If I didn’t have so many tents, I’d be tempted myself. Thanks to Jonathan for sharing this. Here’s his initial impressions:

My number one love in tents is my trusty Vaude Mark II Light. Brilliant exo-pole pitching system, room for me, my gear and a hot tub (what, you don’t take one wildcamping?!) and two large porches for cooking and storage. Sadly at a sniff under 3kg it isn’t ideal for lugging around the hills on an all-day walk. Vaude had already minimised the weight through lightweight pegs, cord and the like so as much as I dreamt I could make it into a 200g 3 person tent with a few mods here and there, it wasn’t going to happen.

So, after a mere 5,000 hours of research into “very light but big enough to play footie in” tents, I concluded that it was time to pack my bags, leave Utopia and buy a ticket back to reality. If I wanted a really lightweight tent, it would naturally have to be small inside. But how much space could I get for a reasonable weight?

Whilst looking at another tent I stumbled on the Nordisk Telemark 2. It had won a string of design awards and claimed to be the lightest two person tent in the world, if you bought the 880g carbon-poled version. For a saving of £150 or so, I could get the 950g version. The space seemed good – up to 135cm wide inside, and designed by a plus six-footer rather than a scrawny OMM ultralighter who’d prefer to fold themselves in half and sleep in a carrier bag. Best deal I could find online was £280 through www.elitemountainsupplies.co.uk, including a 20% BMC discount and a free “wind anchor” kit thrown in (extra cord, pegs and a couple of zip pulls).

Problem was, I’d never really heard of Nordisk and a bit of research seemed to throw up a lot of cheap family tents and low-priced sleeping mats. Hmm. Everything else seemed to indicate it was a good tent though, and a Youtube video suggested it was a piece of cake to put up. I took the plunge and got it delivered yesterday.

When I opened the box, the tent nearly floated away it was so light. With a pack size of 41cm x 12cm it was reasonably long but thin, so ideal for slipping down one side of a sack. There was a raft of swing tags attached, proclaiming awards won and tent techno facts. Inside all looked well, with a separate peg pouch on the pole bag and decent English instructions. A quick rub of the semi-slimy flysheet material, and it was off to bed ready to pitch it in the morning.

My local industrial estate was this morning’s chosen ‘campsite’. Expecting to be arrested at any moment, I found a large area of well-cut grass and tried to look like pitching a tent was a perfectly natural thing to do in an industrial estate at 9 o’clock on a Tuesday morning. Luckily I was in my civvies (jeans and Mountain Hardwear softshell) so I was ready with a cover story involving a photoshoot for Go Outdoors. As it turned out, I had the tent up and down so quickly the estate security wouldn’t have had time to finish their sausage sandwiches and waddle down to find out what was going on even if they’d been bothered. Which generally they aren’t.

But what of the tent? As mentioned, pitching was lightning fast – a couple of minutes from unrolling to standing back and admiring. That’s partly helped by the four corner poles being in place when you unpack. There’s no need to force tiny poles into fiddly sleeves, as I found with the ends of the Vaude Power Lizard I tried. Simply peg out one end, slip the DAC pole through the middle, pull the other end until everything pops up, and peg it out. You’re good to go with the four supplied V pegs, but if you want to really nail it down you can peg down the pole ends and add an additional guy to either side of the hoop. That would be four more pegs and some cord you’d need to invest in or find in your gear supply, but I have the free wind kit so two pegs and the cord are covered already.

The inner is already attached so once your pegs are in you’re done. The inner can be detached, which could prove an advantage to me as it means I can use the outer as a quick-up lunch shelter in bad weather.

You have a couple of options with the inner configuration. If you don’t need all the internal space, the inner can be tagged back at ground level along the line of the main pole, giving you more porch space or room to cook. If, like me, you prefer to keep as much of your gear as possible inside the inner, then option two lets you slide the inner out further towards the door, increasing internal space at the cost of porch room. It’s a simple system that’s adaptable to your circumstances and preferences.

As a nod to our American cousins, Nordisk give you the option to remove three of the corner poles to make a longer tarp pole. The fly door has a special grommet the pole slips into, and with this and the supplied extra guy you can turn the fly door into a mini tarp – ideal for keeping rain out of your supper time pasta carbonara and glass of merlot. I’m not sure how likely I am to use this, and if I did I’d rather invest in an extra three pole sections so I don’t have to disassemble the corner poles to utilise the tarp. Regardless, it’s nice to have the option.

The Telemark seems to pitch pretty taut. I don’t have experience of Terra Nova binbags and the like but I know of their flappy reputation, and I expect the Telemark wouldn’t suffer from the same issue. It has a low concave profile on its longest side and doesn’t seem to have any areas where extra pegging or guys would be needed. The one-handed end adjustment pulls are excellent and really get the fly rigid. By nature I’m a worrier when it comes to tents, so I’d be using the extra guying points on the main pole as a matter of course.

Inside, the tent is very light and airy. I didn’t spend too long indoors as I thought I’d look a bit weird lying down on an industrial estate, but there’s the usual hanging point or two and at least one pocket that I spotted. When lying down, the floorspace varies from 76cm at your feet, to 135cm around chest height and recedes to 102cm above your head. There seems to be plenty of room for stowing gear to the side of you if you prefer to do so, and I’m sure two people with smallish mats could fit in fine. I don’t expect to use it as a two person tent so I’ll leave it for others to see how many body parts come into contact…

There’s a large netted vent above the door zip for ventilation, and a small magnet at the base of the fly door helps keep it shut when you batten down the hatches. And that’s pretty much it. Quality seems excellent and I can already tell this is going to be a favourite of mine: it’s very light, got ample room for me and goes up in a flash. Obviously longevity is not something I can comment on, but I heard an interview with Nordisk on backpackinglight.co.uk and they appear to be very focused on building quality technical tents now, with features requested by real users rather than beancounters.

Anyway, I hope that gives you a bit more information on the tent than I could find before buying. There’s a good Youtube video showing a rather pretty lady pitching the Telemark 2, and that gives a good insight into ease and speed of pitch. Bare in mind that the model in the clip has been superceded by a new version – almost identical but with a few mods like extra guying points, reduced stitching, etc. Sorry, I mean the model of tent – the lady model remains unmodified as far as I’m aware

If anyone has any questions or would like me to check something out on the tent itself, feel free to ask – I’m only too happy to help.

Nordisk page

Youtube pitching video:

Details on new model plus all the tech specs

Website I bought it from (use BMC20 for 20% off):

Scarp mods summary: part 2, minor mods

In part 2 of my Scarp modifications, I’ll outline the more minor tweaks that I’ve made. They are all quite straightfoward.

1) Silicone anti slip stripes on groundsheet. Silnylon is very slippery, so sleeping mats tend to slide around, especially on a slope. To counter this, it’s a good idea to paint a few stripes of silcone seam sealant (McNett Silnet) on the groundsheet. It’s up to you whether you use stripes or dots.

2) Inner tent pocket. The pockets in the Scarp are so small and poorly positioned that I’ve never used them. Instead I’ve cut a silnylon stuff sack in half and sewn up one end to make a pocket. I’ve attached it to the inner with a couple of safety pins. This means I can move it around if I decide to switch sleeping positions. In an ideal world, I’d like to have large mesh pockets at either end, but such a radical mod is beyond my capabilities.

3) End vent cord lock, hook and loop. On the flysheet, at either end, there is a short zip to aid ventilation. The tension of the flysheet means that this has a tendency to come apart. To prevent this, I added a cord lock to ensure it stays closed. To make it easier to keep the vent open, I’ve used a hook (taken from another tent) and a loop of cord, so that I can hook up the vent as shown below, to maximise the ventilation.

4) Inner tent door tie back. The original door tie backs for the inner are plain ribbons. These are a pain to tie, so I’ve put a cord lock on one ribbon and added an elastic loop to secure the tie back. I probably could have done a slightly neater job as the elastic has frayed a bit. It’s now much quicker, simpler and more secure to tie back the doors.

5) Zip pullers. The zips on the Scarp are not supplied with pullers. On the inner tent I’ve made my own and on the outer, I’ve used some Alpkit pullers. It’s much easier now to use the zips, especially with gloves.

MYOG zip pullers

Alpkit zip pullers

6) Fly adjuster venting cord. For some reason, the cord supplied was like an old black bootlace. I’ve replaced it with some dyneema cord. There’s no particular need to replace it. It just looks neater.

7) Modified crossing pole loop. Inserting the crossing poles through the grosgrain loop at the apex, especially after it’s been sealed, is quite tight, so I’ve added a loop of dyneema cord to make it a lot easier (orange loop above vent in picture). Arguably it makes the Scarp slightly less stable, but it doesn’t make very much difference.

The only modification that I’ve yet to do is to swap the supplied crossing pole clips, which are like glove hooks for the clips that Vango kindly supplied me. Something else I’m mulling is whether to make some removable snow valances for winter.

Hopefully, at least some of those mods will be helpful to other Scarp owners. I’d be interested if anyone has thought of any others.