Outdoor Scotland.co.uk Outdoors Gear Blog

Backcountry Skiing/Boarding in Scotland

2008-04-01T14:34:00.002+01:00

A couple of mates posted this video on YouTube. It shows them walking up one of the Loch Tay mountains in January, then coming down by an altogether more enjoyable means. Fantastic stuff. If only it was like that every day.

Highlander Hydro 35L Review

2008-02-21T20:42:00.003Z

Until this pack came in I had only seen the cartoon-like image above of this sack. On closer examination though the real thing is a pretty good daypack. I tend to take out a 20-25L pack when it's not winter and I always find that with a set of waterproofs, spare fleece and sandwich box it's overstuffed. The extra space afforded by this pack though could come in really handy.
I tend not to use Camelback bladders as I find the water gets warm over several hours close to your back, but for those that do there is a tidy little pocket and conduit for poking the hose through. I like the pre-sprung plastic frame too - anything that keeps your back drier is a good thing. It does have an integrated rain cover too which could be handy in the UK. It's not the lightest pack out there, but that's probably due to all the features. Hydro 35 Rucksack

Great Camping Website

2008-02-19T12:40:00.003Z

A while back (nearly a year ago), Kat posted a link to a website called The Happy Campers in a comment here, and I've only just had a look at the site. It's without doubt the prettiest camping website I've come across. Lots of good info in there too, but just go and have a look at the photos and illustrations throughout the site and see if it doesn't put you in the mood for spring and nights under canvas. Fantastic stuff.

Lightweight Full Length Sleep Mat

2008-02-19T12:11:00.003Z

I'm sitting looking at one of these mats just now and can't believe that it's weighing in at a measly 550g. This self-inflating mat is full length at 183cm (well, not full length for me, but pretty close) and costs just £30. It's a full 3 cm when inflated and packs pretty small. I've been using one of the standard size Thermalites for the past 5 years (and no punctures yet, touch wood) but I suspect it may be relegated to the loft in favour of one of these at half the weight. As for the green thing going on - the other side is olive and a little more easy on the eyes. See the Thermalite Mummy Shaped Mat here.

Compasses and Foil Blankets Back in Stock

2008-01-28T22:26:00.000Z

It's been a long time coming (last summer actually) but we've finally got some new stock of Reflective Survival Blankets and Deluxe Map Compasses. Apparently the London Marathon had swallowed up the world's entire supply of foil blankets but we're happy to see them back on the shelves again. The deluxe map compass is a long baseplate standard compass - no messing about with sights or mirrors, this is the standard type of compass that you probably learned map reading with.

Minimise Your Impact - Carry Your Poo Out With You

2008-01-21T14:47:00.000Z

Walkers and hillwalkers in the Cairngorms are being asked to carry their human waste out of the hills in plastic bags and bottles to fling down a "poo chute" beside the main Cairngorm car park. It's a good idea, minimising impact on your hill trips and should definitely be encouraged. On the other hand though can you just imagine if one of these biodegradable poo bags burst inside your very expensive rucksack and spread it all over a few grand's worth of kit. Maybe in future we'll see rucksacks with specialised stink-proof poo pockets that can be clipped on the outside, varying in size depending on the length of your trip, or indeed your own regularity.
See more here.

Outdoors Cookbook

2007-11-21T14:08:00.000Z

Mountain Hardwear has assembled a free PDF download of outdoors recipes. Some might be tasty enough to make in your kitchen rather than waiting til your on the hill with your Trangia. Take Smash, garlic and beef jerky - that's good enough for a friday night meal I reckon.

Cheap Anti-shock Walking Poles

2007-11-16T09:48:00.000Z

If you're a big guy like me you'll know how easy it is to snap a walking pole (yes, even those expensive Leki's). So it's great that you can now get cheap walking poles with all the features of more pricey models. We've just added to the shop an exceptional value anti-shock walking pole from Highlander. 4 sections, short packed length, comes with trekking basket and rubber foot. An anti-shock walking pole for just £14.50 - that's a deal. Who know's they might just last longer than that expensive one I've just snapped.

Payment System Down

2007-08-01T11:37:00.000+01:00

Apologies to anyone trying to pay for website goods via our shopping basket this morning. Our Payment Provider Protx has done a major update that has broken everything. While they are beavering away to fix things we've made payment via Paypal available. Please click the "Pay with my card using Paypal" button in the checkout, until Protx is running again.

Postal Strike

2007-06-29T12:20:00.001+01:00

We send all your parcels out by the normally reliable Royal Mail. Today's postal strike however means that if you are waiting for a delivery from us it may be delayed by a day or two. Apologies for this.

Back from Holiday + New Thermalight Mat

2007-06-20T11:14:00.000+01:00

If you placed an order in the store while we were closed last week, we'd just like to let you know that all orders from 8-16 June have now been despatched. Thanks for your patience.

We've just got a new thermalight self-inflating mat in stock and we're very excited about it. Packs smaller and is lighter than all the others, but is full length. Will post here again when the mat is on the site.

Ben Hope Charity Hillwalk

2007-05-22T11:46:00.000+01:00

Assynt Mountain Rescue are running their 10th annual charity hillwalk on Ben Hope on 16th June 2007 to raise funds for Alzheimers Scotland and for the mountain rescue team. If you are interested there is full information on the Assynt Mountain Rescue website.

Cairngorm 50K Challenge

2007-05-17T10:58:00.000+01:00

The children's charity Barnardo's Scotland is launching a major new challenge event to raise funds for vulnerable children in Scotland.

The Cairngorm 50k Challenge takes place on Saturday 15th September and they need teams of four to take part. The teams will hike 15k up Scotland's sixth highest munro and cycle 35k through breathtaking Glenmore and Abernethy Forests to the finish.

If you are interested, or for more information please contact Kat Slater (media officer) 0131 314 6631 or Kirsten Goudie (fundraiser) 0131 314 6647 at Barnardo's Scotland.

New Baby at OutdoorScotland.co.uk - Store Open Again

2007-04-10T12:28:00.000+01:00

We're sorry if you've been trying to buy anything at OutdoorScotland.co.uk over the past couple of weeks and been unable to. We had to take the store offline for a few weeks while we got to grips with a new baby boy in our midst. He was born in the middle of march, healthy and bouncing. There have been a few nights without much sleep recently but we're now ready to open the outdoors store again for orders.

Over the next couple of days I've also got some new products to add to the store including a super-lightweight carbon fibre walking pole and some different camping stoves from Go System.

There are lots more exciting new products to come as well this year so keep this blog bookmarked or add it to your reader to stay updated.

Competition to Win Outdoors Show Tickets

2007-02-26T13:04:00.000Z

If anyone is likely to find themselves near Birmingham in a couple of weeks, it might be worth entering this competition on Outdoors Magic to win Outdoors Show tickets for the Ordnance Survey Outdoors Show on 16th 17th 18th March 2007. Since we've got a new baby due right around then, I wont be entering which means more chances for everyone else!

Mountain Festival 2007

2007-02-21T10:08:00.000Z

Fort William Mountain Festival 2007 ia underway at the moment with two full weeks of mountain films, lectures, some fantastic guest speakers, workshops and exhibitions. More at www.mountainfestival.co.uk

Don't Look For A Met-Office Forecast If It's Going To Snow

2007-02-07T13:14:00.000Z

Looks like people are suddenly very interested in the weather now that a couple of centimetres of snow have been forecast for the south of Britain.

The Met Office website was down today due to a high level of demand from visitors to the site.

Wow! A weather site getting lots of visitors because there is finally going to be some weather to speak of. You couldn't plan ( or perhaps forecast) for it!

Dehydrating Food

2007-02-07T11:07:00.000Z

The OutdoorsMagic newsletter just alerted me to an interesting discussion about dehydrating and rehydrating food.
It's a fascinating subject for anyone who likes a bit less weight when out on trips but isn't prepared to put up with pot noodles or beanfeasts and would rather carry food they had created themselves from scratch.
The dehydrator that they mention in the forum looks like a wise investment for anyone who cares about these things for multi-day trips.

Ring Cyba-lite Rechargeable Torch

2006-11-14T16:29:00.000Z

I've just found something to put on my Christmas list in the form of a Rechargeable Torch. I'm a sucker for torches, and Ring make this one to the highest specifications. We've just added it to the shop so you can view more here:
http://www.outdoorscotland.co.uk/shop/ring-cyba-lite-rechargeable.htm

Edit (7 Feb): We've caught the end of the wave on these exact models and they are now discontinued, however, we've just got in a bigger better ring cybalite rechargeable, it'll be on the website in a couple of days.

Hooped Bivi Bag from Highlander

2006-11-10T10:42:00.000Z

We've had a lot of requests this year for waterproof bivi bags in the store. So now, just in time for the cold dark wet winter season we've got one in stock. :-)

We wanted to find one that is good value and has decent features. This Falcon Bivi Tent from Highlander seems to fit the bill. The hoop design is the thing we like about it.
With tough fabric, 10000mm HH and suitable for wild weather we think it should stand up to whatever you can throw at it. The price is good too at just £90.

Outdoors Equipment - Free Delivery

2006-11-10T10:39:00.000Z

From now until Christmas, our outdoors store customers can get free delivery on anything they buy from the store. Normally you'd need to spend £19 to get free delivery. It's just a little thank you to everyone who shops with us and hopefully it will make it easier to buy a few gifts without having to pay postage.

The Hardest Traditional Climb in the World

2006-10-25T10:27:00.000+01:00

In case anyone didn't hear about it, Dave Macleod put up the first ascent of the hardest traditional rock climb in the world back in April. And he did it here, in Scotland. It's called Rhapsody and is grade E11 7a. If you did miss it, or you want to see the gory details about the climb, the video has just been released after a screening to great aclaim at the Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival last weekend.

You can buy the video at www.davemacleod.com

There is also a trailer at here for anyone who likes their excitement in smaller doses.

For those who want to know what other people think, here is the E11 review.

West Highland Way Blog

2006-10-18T14:51:00.000+01:00

Follow the progress of Aktoman blogging by mobile phone as he walks the West Highland Way this week.

Happy Birthday Hugh Munro

2006-10-16T16:18:00.000+01:00

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of that grandaddy of the Scottish Mountains, Sir Hugh Munro. Munro charted all the mountains in Scotland and created tables of those over 3000ft and all their associated tops. The result is that Scotland has 284 mountains (after revisions) that are now known as Munros. More than 3000 people have climbed them all. Happy Birthday Sir Hugh!
More about Munros
The Munro Society

Petzl Warnings About LED's and Lithium Batteries

2006-10-12T16:46:00.000+01:00

Petzl have issued a warning about Lithium batteries potentially damaging the LED's in some of their products.

I've no idea if the same will apply to other LED torches, but to be on the safe side you should contact your manufacturer if you are thinking of using Lithiums in your torch.