Tag: Gear

Posted on in Archive, Review

Review: Alpkit Numo Sleep Mat

I bought this product with whatever money I had left after the kids had been fed, clothed and sheltered.
The opinions expressed in the post are my own.

Here’s an idea. Plan a hiking trip with your family. The kids are small and can’t carry much but that’s ok because Mum and Dad can carry most of their stuff. We won’t go far, just around 100 miles on the West Highland Way. That will be a perfect first hike. Great. Until you grab your pack and realise its just far too heavy to carry for even 2 or 3 of the proposed 96 miles. So you start culling stuff. That extra fleece can go, how much underwear do I really need. Those 2 self inflating sleep pads that weigh nearly a kilogram each are probably overkill, and what difference do those thin foam ones make anyway.

IMG_0117
Our Massive Packs for the WHW.

It’s the first night in the tent, in Scotland, in very early April. We’re wishing we had carried the sleeping mats. The kids have got one of the foam ones each and are surprisingly cosy but Hazel and I are freezing. I emptied my pack and slept on the empty rucksack. Turns out those mats make a huge difference so we picked up 2 more foam pads before hitting the trail and we were much less cold.

 

This year I treated myself to a new sleep pad. I was tired of carrying the weight of the self inflating one and the foam ones were just a little bulky so I thought I’d try an inflatable one. After a while trying to decide which to go for, I went for the Numo from Alpkit. It was reasonably priced and so much smaller and lighter than the ones we had. It was cheaper than similar options from other manufacturers and I felt a nice warm feeling inside by supporting a smaller UK company besides, I’d previously bought a top and a crash pad from them and was very happy with the speedy service and the hand written thank you note that was in the package.

It came out of the box, even smaller than expected and weighed next to nothing in my hand. I immediately went to the Gear Store (or the cupboard under stairs as Hazel calls it), grabbed the old one for comparison and bounced into the living room to excitedly show off the size difference to anyone who was there. Evan said it was cool but no-one else seemed interested.

Time to blow it up. The info said you could inflate with 12 breaths and it wasn’t many more before I’m lying down on it in the kitchen. It was nice and comfy and surprisingly non-slidy and as soon Hazel had tried it out (again on the kitchen floor) I was back on the computer ordering one for her.

Lils Birthday - 17
Wild camp with Lil on Brook Down. Numo hidden under sleeping bags.

So we’ve used them for all this years camping trip since our snowy Glyndwrs Way hike where they would have been useful. They’ve performed really well in the tent and under a tarp both with and without a groundsheet. I would be extra careful if you don’t have a groundsheet because I’d imagine a gorse or bramble thorn would lead to a harder nights sleep but so far no punctures and we’ve been wild camping more this year than we have been to camp sites.

There are a couple of huge outcomes for us after buying these mats. The first is the weight and bulk savings, and while I’m sure you could get a lighter mat, I reckon you’ll struggle to get one at this price point and made from the same tough material. The second is that we actually sleep well on them so we’re better rested to wrangle 3 kids along the trail

The only drawback is that the kids want one each now I’m happy to get them one because they’ll last them for a couple of years at least, I’m not sure if I can fit 5 of them in our little blue tent.

 

Posted on in Blog, Review

Review: Mountain Hardwear Lamina 0 Sleeping Bag.

So here’s a story. Last Christmas my dear old Mum gave me this sleeping bag. Brilliant, a nice warm sleeping bag for late autumn/early spring, just what I needed. Turned out she had bought it for my brother who didn’t like it, and so she gave it to me instead. Again brilliant, it would be perfect for our Easter trip on Glyndwrs Way,  and if a little heavy, it would be warmer than the one I already had.

View this post on Instagram

Trying out the new sleeping bag (thanks Mum)

A post shared by Rob Jones (@justupthetrail) on

At some point before we go backpacking, Mum decides she would like to join us for a couple of days on the trail. No problem. Whats that? She needs a warmer sleeping bag? Well being a dutiful son I suggest she use the one she gave me for Christmas and I’d make do, and when she leaves the trail, she can take my old one home and I’ll continue on with this one.

Snowy Tent

Now if you’ve read our trip report from Glyndwrs Way you’ll know just how cold it got and how we called the trip off after a couple of days because of the weather. I never got to try the new sleeping bag but on a positive note, the kids didn’t have to dig out Nana’s frozen corpse when the snow came.

Once Spring arrived properly I put this bag away until just last week, when I thought I might like a little extra comfort on our Round the Island hike, after all at the end of October we could get ALL the weather. It was quite a bit heavier than my alternative but it packed down nicely into the same size dry bag and to be honest, once I started hiking I didn’t really notice the difference.

The first night of the hike was quite chilly, around 5°C, so while setting up bed for the night I got out my spare fleece, puffy jacket and woolly hat and used them as a pillow and handy extra layers. I didn’t use them although I did get a little cold in the early hours. The second night we were a little further inland and it felt a little warmer and I was more than warm enough but the 3rd night we camped on the cliff tops right next to the sea and it was freezing out. I did climb into the bag with a fleece on and was glad of it for a start but woke up sweaty about midnight so I lost that extra layer and slept soundly for the rest of the night. The last night of the hike we spent “camped” in my Mother in Laws basement which was pretty luxurious and I used the bag as a duvet so I could stick a leg out easy enough to cool down.

Overall, this sleeping bag was great. It was a little on the small side for my larger frame and I’m not sure it would have been very comfortable if I hadn’t lost 2 stone over the summer, however it was easy to get in and out of, the zips worked and didn’t snag every time I used them. I didn’t notice the extra weight once I got hiking and I know if I had taken my other bag I would have been wearing all my spare clothes to stay warm, especially when we camped closer to the coast.

So it’s a great bag for late Autumn/Early Spring and a great gift. If I was choosing for myself I might get something slightly bigger so it’s not quite so tight, or I could lose some more weight! Oh and remember it kept my Mum alive in a Welsh snowstorm, which is kind of a positive.

Posted on in Review

Review: Xero Shoes Terraflex

I bought this product with whatever money I had left after the kids had been fed, clothed and sheltered.
The opinions expressed in the post are my own.
*There are affiliate links in this post which will earn us a small commission if purchase these shoes.

Back in the summer I was in the market for some new trail shoes. I like to hike in trail runners rather than a heavier boot, especially in the summer, and while some of our American hiker friends don’t bother buying “waterproof” shoes, I’ve always looked for something that will keep the water out.  To be honest, when you have size 13 feet, the choice of shoe in my budget is rather limited, there’s plenty of choice in the budget range and a bit more in the high end but little around the £60 – £100 mark which for me is a real investment. I ended up with a choice between 2 well known brands but I’ve had well known brands let me down plenty of times in the past.

A couple of days later I stumbled upon a Facebook post from Xero Shoes which pricked my interest. Barefoot/Minimalist trail runners might work for a hiking shoe. But they’re over in the states and won’t have my size. Not only did they have a UK online store but they also carried my size, and in my budget. I made a decision. If I’m risking £80 of my hard earned cash on shoes, I’d rather give it to this smaller company thats doing things a little different than another global behemoth. Two days after ordering they were on my feet.

First impressions were great, really comfy, good fit and looked great. Having read a little about going to minimalist footwear I knew I shouldn’t go out and hike around the Isle of Wight first time. So I started with a few shorter hikes, an overnight hiking trip with my daughter and other than a little extra soreness in my calfs, they were really good and coped with the lowland, Isle of Wight terrain.

Time for a test. We hiked a 20 odd mile loop in the Brecon Beacons including a climb up Pen y Fan and again they performed really, really well. And when the rain came and my feet got wet, they dried out in no time. Another benefit, which may be from the shoes or could be from some weight loss was a lack of the usual knee pain I suffer from while coming down a mountain. I’m no scientist but something was improved.

Over the rest of the summer they have become my shoe of choice for everything except work and so when we decided on our last big trip of the year, I was always going to wear them for hiking around this little island. So how did these shoes cope on a 78 mile hike on mixed terrain at the end of October.

Xero Shoes

TerraFlex Trail Running and Hiking Shoe

XeroShoes UK

Overall they were great and any downsides can be placed on the trail itself. At the end of the first day, the soles of my feet were in agony but they had just hiked 17 miles on tarmac and my wife’s feet were just as sore in here well padded boots.  A little calf soreness the next day which went away after the first mile or so and the shoes felt great on every terrain except tarmac, which wasn’t a major issue again until the last day.  The soles of my feet were sore for the day after finishing but by the second morning they were fine, and there was never the thought of blisters on the whole hike.

I’m glad I took the risk with these shoes and while they may take some getting used to if moving from traditional hiking boots, I’ll definitely be continuing my foray into barefoot hiking. I may try out the Daylite Hiker next season, they look really cool but only have womens sizes on the UK store at the moment.  Now If only they’d do a minimalist work boot!

Posted on in Review

Review: DD 3×3 Tarp

*Originally posted back in January 2018.  Updated after our Wildcamp on Pen Y Fan, this summer.

After carrying our 3kg tent for 96 miles on the West Highland Way, and hiking past some lovely spots unfortunately unsuitable for a tent but perfect for a tarp I bit the bullet and ordered a 3×3 tarp from DD Hammocks.

Last summer (2017) we only used it on a handful of occasions mainly as an additional shelter to our little blue tent when the weather has been awful but also once as our only means of shelter when Evan and I hiked through the New Forest (Watch the video here) and camped on the heath, hidden and secluded. That night we used a tent style configuration as Ev was a little nervous about wild camping. (It was his first stealth camp in England and he knew the rules were a bit different to Scotland where we had wildcamped before). It went up fairly easily, although we had practiced setting it up this way in garden on the previous weekend. It stowed perfectly in the side pouch of my small rucksack (also from DD Hammocks) and to be honest, I hardly noticed the weight.

We’ve set it up in different configurations too, as a rain shelter for the kids to play in while camping in the Brecon Beacons, to shield the tent entrance and provide storage space in Snowdonia, and to protect our washing machine drum fire bucket and BBQ while camping in a friends orchard for Lil’s birthday.

tarp

I really like this tarp especially the seemingly unlimited set up options which will give us many more camp spot choices when we head out in the future. I’ll happily carry it on our next long trip even it’s “just in case”.

**UPDATE**

This summer (2018) I think we’ve the tarp as much as the tent and it hasn’t let us down at all. Because of our wildcamp on Pen Y Fan, which turned out to be the perfect night for it, we all fell in love with our tarp. All 5 of us managed to fit under it with room to spare, I hardly noticed it in my pack and it went up with no bother at all, in fact it was our eldest, Evan, who took charge of building our shelter for the night.

Posted on in Gear

A Quick Word about Gear

 

Please be aware that the following is NOT an endorsement of any brand, retailer or product. Merely a statement of how we kitted out the kids on a budget.

I’ll be the first to admit it. I LOVE GEAR, or kit or whatever you want to call it. I can spend ages reading the kit reviews in magazines or looking through the racks of our nearest outdoor supplier. My problem is that it’s all so expensive. I know, “You get what you pay for” but I can’t justify paying £100+ on a jacket while I’ve got kids to provide for.

However that doesn’t mean we don’t try to kit the kids out decently for our adventures because if they’re warm, dry and comfortable their less likely to moan. Even in the rain. Before our first big adventure to climb Snowdon we tried to get them the basics at a fair price and slowly built on that. So here is a little list along with a rough idea of what we paid for the stuff. So far it’s worked out fine.

  • Boots. These came from Mountain Warehouse in the sale at around £15 a pair. Kids being kids, they have grown out of the original pairs but these have been replaced with hand me downs (Lil now has Ev’s) a pair found in the charity shop and another pair from the same store. (For Isaac who doesn’t quite fit into Lil’s old ones)
  • Trousers. We put them in leggings for our first big hikes and they have really worked well. If they do get wet, they dry really quickly. I think we got some from Sports Direct for about £3 a pair. In the winter they can put their padded waterproofs over them for extra warmth.
  • Tops. They each had a new wicking base layer to help keep them comfortable. Again about £3 from Sports Direct. Fleeces they already had or came from the local charity shops.
  • Coats/Waterproofs. I did buy them new coats, again Sports Direct were pretty good, they had either Gelert or Karrimor waterproof coats at about £12 each. I got them in gender neutral colours so they can handed down.
  • Hats and Gloves they already had.

So there you go. I feel we’ve kitted them out pretty well at affordable rates. They’re always comfy, generally dry and rarely complain about being cold. Job done.

Posted on in Review

Review: Kelly Kettle 1.6l “Base Camp”

There’s nothing better than a campfire but our Kelly Kettle offers the next best thing. We use it to boil water for a cuppa or to rehydrate food, usually noodles, and with a couple of handy attachments can, from time to time make the greatest camp supper ever. Instant Mash Potatoes (Smash), Hot dog sausages and baked beans. There’s a pot stand which sits in the chimney of the kettle which takes a little pot, and if you’re not using the kettle there’s a bit they call a hobo stove which can take the pot directly or pop a little grill on if you’re desperate for some real sausages. It burns just about anything so you can gather fuel from aroundabouts and soon get a nice fire going to cook on. Once we’ve finished cooking we keep it going for toasting marshmallows, it becomes a mini fire bucket really.

Boys Night Out – A trip to the beach for tea, in the dark, in the winter

We always take it when we’re out for a day hike in the winter and make up some soup and it’s our primary stove when car camping. Unfortunately some campsites don’t like it but I usually find a few bricks to protect damaging the turf. If they still don’t like it, we do have a little hiking gas stove as back up. It is, however, far too cumbersome for longer trips without the car, and the need for dry twigs etc can be a bother in a typical British summer, but we usually keep a bag of fuel with us for day hikes or a bigger bag of twigs in the car when we have it. I have, on occasion, boiled enough water for 2 coffee’s and 3 Hot Choc’s using just 2 firelighters, although this does create more soot inside the kettle.

Overall, it’s our favourite stove, it’s versatility (with the accessories) overcomes the size and occasional issues and in the end it’s just so much fun.

 

 

Posted on in Review

Review: Coleman Cobra 3. Our Little Blue Tent

The Tent that Redefined our Adventuring.

A few years ago we came to a conclusion. Camping holidays are frustrating.  We would get together all the stuff we felt we needed, cram it into the car and drive for hours, kids squashed in like sardines to a campsite that had been booked months in advance and build a camp. Then we head off to explore and return every night to basecamp. Yes we had loads of fun but we seemed to spend so much time in the car that it got too much. No more car camping. (You can read more about our decision making here)

I managed to pick up two 3 man Coleman Cobra tents at a good price and they have had a really positive effect on our camping expeditions. The idea was to be more portable while we’re away and that has definitely happened. I bought 2 tents so initially Hazel and the little ones could share while Evan and I go into the second. When the kids get older they can share and husband and wife can be reunited. That was the plan.

The first time we took them out was just to the back of the Island (or the south coast if you prefer). We set up the first tent really quickly and immediately put the second one away. These tents were massive (for 3 man tents) so we decided to experiment. As it was only for one night we all piled in and we had plenty of room.

Since then we have only ever set up one tent at a time and it’s only now that the kids are three years older that it’s beginning to be a squeeze. The second tent lives in my backpack (inside a smaller stuff sack with poles strapped on the outside) for impromptu wild camps. We have even swapped the inner for a groundsheet in the summer if we know bugs won’t be an issue

So far these tents have kept us dry and warm (it went down to -8 last March) and I have every confidence that they will perform admirably when we hike the West Highland Way this Easter. The only slight issue we’ve experienced is that condensation can be an issue but I’m sure that’s only because there’s 5 of us in it, anyway when it’s dry we generally leave the doors open so I can doze off under the stars.

Update January 2018:

The tent did indeed perform well on our West Highland Way trip last Easter the only downside was the weight. After a couple of days I really felt every gram of the 2.9kg but in fairness it kept 5 people warm and dry in at times some horrendous weather and I think I’ll struggle to find a tent that sleeps 2 adults and 3 kids for much less weight unless I spend an obscene amount of money.

There were a couple of times when we had to hike longer to get to a campsite for the night because potential wildcamping spots in the trees were too small for the tent, but would have perfect if we’d carried a tarp as well.

All in all, we love our little blue tent but this will definitely be the last year we all cram into it because the kids are growing too quickly. Whether we look for an ultralight 4 man replacement or get an additional 2 man tent for the kids to share while we stay with the Coleman remains to be seen.

Posted on in Gear

A Lightbulb Moment

We’ve always taken the kids camping, Evan woke up on his 1st birthday under “canvas”, and to be honest it was often out of financial necessity (Although it’s not always cheaper nowadays). Camping was the only way we could afford to get away and we loved it, even trying to pitch a tent in a gale blowing hail into your face while Mrs Jones entertains the kids in the car was kind of fun. However, on a trip to Cornwall we had a dilemma to address.

On Monday we headed for Tintagel, it took over an hour to get there in holiday traffic, had a wonderfully long if cloudy day and drove back another hour to the tent. We stopped at the chippy on the way and went straight to bed. That night, the airbed deflated.

Tuesday morning was wet, so we got up quick, piled into the car and drove to a cafe for breakfast. The weather cheered up so we walked some of the coast path, lunching on cheese rolls and crisps and finished the day at the beach where we finished off the lunchtimes leftovers for tea. We returned to the tent, pumped up the airbed and slept. Until the airbed deflated.

Wednesday was nice so we left the tent early and had a breakfast of milk and biscuits on the beach. I drove to the supermarket at lunchtime and replenished the lunchtime supplies and had both lunch and dinner on the beach. The kids fell asleep in the car so we put them on our deflated airbed and climbed onto their one. Which went down over night.

I sure you can see the pattern. All the stuff we had diligently packed and repacked and set up at camp was either useless (airbeds) or not being used (Camping stove/windbreaks /multiple sets of plastic crockery etc). And we were spending far too much time travelling back to the tent from wherever we were. Then we had a lightbulb moment.

What if we had a smaller tent that was quick and easy to put up and take down?

What if we only had a little stove to boil water?

What if we just slept where we happened to be at the end of each day?

What if the tent was small enough to be carried so we didn’t have to rely on the car?

After that holiday we got a smaller tent. We now use the storm kettle to boil water for coffee or noodles. We carry the tent on long hikes just in case and we try and use public transport when we head to the mainland for our bigger adventures.

I think we used to try and distill home into a tent. Of course we wanted a comfy bed. Of course we wanted the camp cooker and the range of culinary delights that 2 burners can offer and of course we wanted a folding chair and our wellies just incase and that extra blanket and a bat and ball and a kite and a bloody inflatable dinghy.

We now have a basic kit of tent, sleeping bags, storm kettle and a few little bits that we can just grab and know we have everything we NEED for a camping trip and that makes things just so much easier and more fun.