Camping Equipment Blog from OutdoorScotland.co.uk

Boot Bags Available Again

2009-10-20T12:14:00.002+01:00

Boot bags are available again! Both black and olive DPM are available. They were out of stock for ages and they are one of our favourite products too.
So if you feel the need to keep your muddy boots off the car upholstery or the carpet at home, you're in luck. Beat sticking your precious boots in a manky old carrier bag. Well, we think so anyway.
http://www.outdoorscotland.co.uk/shop/ta14_boot_bag.htm

Postal Strike Service

2009-10-20T11:17:00.002+01:00

Aye, it's postal strike time again and it's going to be causing delays to our orders that go by Royal Mail. We've added Courier delivery as an option in the shopping basket. If you're in a hurry to get your gear Courier is the delivery option to use. Orders posted in this way will come flying to you by DHL in 2-3 days from when they are despatched.

We're now on Twitter

2009-10-15T23:14:00.003+01:00

Are you a twitter user? Please login and follow us at http://twitter.com/outdoorscotland
We'll be updating it with all site news and then some!

Get on Your Bike at the Hairy Coo

2009-10-01T11:23:00.002+01:00

It's just over two weeks until this years Hairy Coo Mountain Bike Challenge at Comrie Croft near Crieff. It's running on 17th October 2009. This year's race has been altered quite a bit from last year with a new start/finish further up the hill and different rules on finishing in the Big Race. There are races for kids and inexperienced riders too and a great atmosphere. There are still plenty of places available click here for more.

October 1st Newsletter

2009-10-01T10:52:00.004+01:00

This is an online archive of our newsletter that was sent out today:

In this month's newsletter:

Subscriber Only Discount!

Autumn Camping!

Item You Can't Do Without!

Subscriber Discount Week!

As a Subscriber to the Outdoorscotland Newsletter you are entitled to 10% off EVERYTHING in our online shop. Just enter the code **only for email subscribers** in the promotional code box when you checkout, valid from 1st October until 8th October 2009.

Have You Tried Autumn Camping?

We are well and truly in the throes of Autumn now. Darker, colder nights mean that it is vital that you are more prepared than ever if you have a taste for latter year camping. It's heartening to know that so many more people are getting into camping nowadays. Now you've had a taste of camping during the Summer, why not give it a shot now that the cooler weather is here?

Nothing quite compares to the crystal skies you get of an Autumn evening. Let's face it, camping isn't as popular once the mercury drops, but the upside of that is that campsites are quieter (not as many in the queue for the showers in the morning) and you're more likely to have that trail all to yourself or be the only soul on the mountain top.

Here are some ideas that will make it a more pleasurable experience.

Headtorches give you light wherever you are looking and our Cybalite Sport LED headtorch is a lightweight (75g) and affordable (£17) choice.

http://www.outdoorscotland.co.uk/shop/ring-cyba-lite-sport.htm

Our Echo 400 sleeping bag is our most popular product and the spec on it shows why - it has an extreme rating of down to -15ºC yet has an inconsiderable price tag of just £42. Why not take a look at our tester's review: http://www.outdoorscotland.co.uk/shop/sb112_echo_400_sleeping_bag.htm

Most important is a tent that won't collapse the moment the wind picks up. A new addition to our product range that ticks this box (and many more besides) is the Coleman Avior X3 back packing tent. It is stable and yet at 2.95 kilograms is incredibly lightweight. You can read up on the Avior here: http://www.outdoorscotland.co.uk/shop/coleman-avior-x3.htm

Why not write and tell us your favourite camping spot and why, and we'll publish the best stories online. Send us a photo too!

Item You Can't Do Without!

I am loving the Ring Cybalite Eco Wind-Up torch (£12.50) and have got one in my car's glove box. With 3 virtually indestructible LEDs it is bright and I never need to worry about running out of batteries again. There is also something incredibly satisfying about creating your own light. Find it here: http://www.outdoorscotland.co.uk/shop/ring-rt5124.htm

So who's up for a weekend at the shops? Nah, didn't think so! Why not shop online now and free up your weekend to have some proper fun?

International Delivery

2009-08-19T15:54:00.002+01:00

Delighted to be able to tell you that OutdoorScotland.co.uk now ships to USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand as well as the UK of course. Please select your country in the shopping basket to see the shipping charge to your country.

Now Accepting Paypal & Protx

2009-08-11T15:03:00.002+01:00

We've recently added the ability for our customers to pay by Paypal as well as our established merchant account with Protx. It's not a big change but if you prefer paying by Paypal, then we've done it just for you! :-)

In the checkout process you will be given the option of either Paypal or Protx, both are secure, just choose the one that you prefer.

Coleman Lightweight Stove

2009-06-25T16:43:00.004+01:00

This is the latest Coleman stove to come into the shop. It's the Coleman F1 Lite. It's a pretty stripped down stove and weighs just 77g excluding the gas bottle. Tricks like making the valve control key out of wire rather than a more solid material definitely shave off the weight. It folds into a tiny little pouch and to be honest is probably rather easy to loose.

It fits the standard self-sealing gas cartridges that come in a variety of sizes and can be found in almost all campsite and outdoors shops. Coleman claim that it can boil a litre of water on a windless day in 3 minutes. That's rapid! Would be interested to know if anyone has one of these stoves and if they have timed it? Please leave a comment if you have.

Buy the Coleman F1 Lite Here

New Coleman Folding Camping Stove

2009-06-11T15:56:00.003+01:00

We've got a bunch of new Coleman stuff on the shelves waiting to go on the website. The first is the new Coleman Fold'N Go (that's Coleman's spelling) propane double burner.

It really looks great. Opened out it gives you a 60cm cooking surface under the two rings and it's easy to close up and throw in the boot of the car. It runs off Coleman propane cartridges which cost around £6 each but use every gram of gas until they are empty, supposedly getting more value from each cartridge. The cartridges are widely available so there should be no problem finding them.

See the Coleman Folding Stove here

DPM Boot Bags

2009-02-03T12:18:00.005Z

We've now got boot bags in olive DPM as well as black. Perfect if you want to hide your boots so you can't find them again!

Boot bags might seem like an extravagance when you could just use a poly-bag to keep your car from getting muddy but once you use one I'm sure you wont be disappointed. The mesh top means that your boots can breathe and dry out, even before you get home and clean and dry them properly.

Perfect too if you keep a pair of shoes or boots in your cupboard but don't clean them every time you go out. With one of these boot bags you'll save the bottom of your cupboard and other shoes from getting mucky.

Sleeping Bag for Kids

2008-11-26T16:37:00.002Z

I remember as a kid going camping and sleeping in what seemed to me at the time to be an enormous adults rectangular sleeping bag. It was big, draughty and red. My feet didn't reach anywhere near the end and I was cold in it. Well times have changed and kids sleeping bags are now available from a lot of manufacturers.

Given those early experiences, it's probably been a bit remiss of us to ignore kids all this time, but we've finally added a kids sleeping bag to the stock list. It's 2-3 season and is a good value sleeping bag. We know it's good - our kid's got one, and two of his mates do too.

Hairy Coo Mountain Bike Challenge

2008-10-15T08:06:00.002+01:00

As part of this year's Drovers Tryst in Crieff, the Hairy Coo Mountain Bike Challenge is running this saturday (18th Oct 08) at Comrie Croft between Crieff and Comrie. I'm riding it, and I'm mentioning it as it's my first bike race ever.

It looks like they've got loads of places left through the website, so if you fancy a saturday biking round the perthshire woods, I'll see you there.

http://www.droverstryst.co.uk/hairycoo.htm

Choosing a Camping Stove

2008-09-25T10:56:00.001+01:00

What kind of stove should I buy for backpacking?

This is something we get asked from time to time at outdoorscotland.co.uk. There are loads of different camping stoves on the market and choosing one can sometimes be a tricky task for the first time buyer. Decisions should be based not just on weight but on fuel availability, ease of use and in some cases cooking speed.

Read the full article here...

Make ANY Item 100% Waterproof

2008-08-27T16:39:00.002+01:00

That's the claim from Plasma Product Innovations (P2i) who are busy applying their new technology to Hi-tech footwear amongst other things.

Their treatment process involves coating the item in an ion-mask plasma. Sounds complicated. The resultant waterproof item is then fully waterproof and it won't wear off either, apparently.
It almost sounds too good to be true, but time will tell.

Read all about it here.

Choosing Synthetic or Down Sleeping Bags

2008-08-05T12:53:00.003+01:00

New article - choosing a sleeping bag. Describes the advantages and disadvantages of both down and synthetic sleeping bags.

GPS Tracking for your Outdoor Activities

2008-07-30T16:06:00.002+01:00

If you have a modern GPS enabled Nokia phone, it might be worth checking out Nokia Sports Tracker. This handy little application will record the important information via GPS from your walk, bike rides, runs etc and allow you to upload them with ease to the Sports Tracker website. From there you can show the routes on Google maps (handy now Google have terrain maps). you can compare your trips, share them with friends or the world and a whole bunch more that we've not explored yet. From the 3 or 4 tests we've done it's all worked very well. Finally, something useful you can do with your GPS phone!

Frightening Footpath in Spain

2008-07-28T22:53:00.003+01:00

El Camino del Rey - If this footpath in Andalucia, Spain doesn't give you sweaty palms you've got a stronger constitution than me. I love how the guy is just breezing along it while the people he passes are busy clipping their via ferrata gear in earnest (as I would be).

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.