Reviews - March 2009
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Mon 30th Mar 09 Torch: Leatherman S3
On seeing a price tag of £69.95 for a small pocket torch, one tends to baulk. That said, it has a 100 lumens bulb (which is extremely bright) and a 10 year warranty. Built by legendary American pocket-tool brand Leatherman, it has a seriously good feel to it. It’s similar in size (in fact a little shorter and fatter) than the old style pen-lights, runs off a single CR123 battery (my one quibble is that these are not always the easiest batteries to get hold of, especially when travelling), has a pocket clip, and three brightness settings (be aware that the 100 lumens setting means the battery lasts just 1 hour; 43 lumens for 4 hours on med, and 7 lumens for 36 hours on low).
Switching modes is done via repeated pressing of the button embedded into the end of the torch. As high is the default mode you always have to turn it to high before pressing again for med and again for low. Personally I’d prefer it to be the other way around, thereby not wasting battery power and not illuminating the whole room (when all you need to do is check the time at night, for example).
Although incredibly bright for its size I have, over the past twenty years, become accustomed to wearing a torch on my head. Therefore, I find it a little less useful than an average headlamp as I either have to hold it in my mouth, or use just the one hand. A simple clip and head-strap would put this torch firmly in contention with some of the better head torches out there. In fact, a couple of them mounted together would provide ample light for a night-ride (battery life would obviously be an issue here as it’d only work on the brightest setting!). All in all a nice bit of kit, if you can afford it.
Reviewed by Matt Heason on behalf of planetFear
Thu 26th Mar 09 Waterproof Jacket: Sprayway Arista Pro (Women's)
The Sprayway Arista Pro women’s waterproof jacket is a lightweight, yet tough and durable jacket. It weighs only 333g, and packs down nice and small. It still has lots of the features that I would look for in a heavier weight jacket. I have been wearing mine instead of my normal gore tex, and have found it does the job just as well.
The Arista Pro has a stylish fit (nicely tapered to a woman’s physique) and a well fitting hood (volume adjustable) that maintains its shape and keeps the rain off your face with it’s wired peak.
I have worn this jacket in short downpours and longer showers, and it has kept me dry on all occasions. I haven’t yet tested it in all day torrential rain, but am off to Yorkshire this weekend, so that could be a good test!
The women’s tailored fit looks appealing, but I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t fit much underneath it in colder weather. This concern was ill founded though, as it easily allows a base layer and lightweight fleece underneath without seeming too tight.
At first try, I thought the waterproof zip design seemed a little insubstantial. It’s a nice lightweight unobtrusive zip, to fit with the style of the jacket but I did wonder if it would suffer early from wear and tear, and be difficult to use in the wet. It doesn’t have a storm cover flap like many others. Once again, I was nicely surprised. I’ve been wearing the jacket regularly for quite a few months now, and no problem so far with its durability or waterproof qualities.
I really like the flexibility of how you fasten the sleeves- there is a row of Velcro circles- discreet but allowing you the option of different fits depending on what you’re doing and what you’re wearing underneath. The arm movement is nice- doesn’t feel restrictive like some jackets.
The jackets come in black and red. The ‘raspberry’ red is much softer than SCARLET so quite safe to be seen in town as well!
The Arista Pro RRP is £160 which seems to compare favourably with other similar weight and style of jackets. Always worth shopping around on line though as I easily found it for £112.
Reviewed by Hayley Lever on behalf of planetFear
Tue 24th Mar 09 Guidebooks: Cool Camping (England, Wales, Scotland & France)
Cool Camping Collection
Fantastic I though as I received my copies of the Cool Camping series (England, Wales, Scotland & France). A decent sounding set of guidebooks to the better campsites in the UK (and France). That however, was before I realised what the author’s definition of ‘Cool’ is. To me, a cool campsite would be one that was sensibly priced, located in a beautiful spot, with sufficient, but basic facilities, and above all, some good old fashioned charm. The guides are clearly aimed at a different reader, presumably from London, who wants more of a slick stay away from home, perhaps with a dash of quirkiness thrown in, and doesn’t mind paying for the privilege.
Let’s use some examples. I first turned to the Welsh guide. Having grown up in Snowdonia I know of a number of very good campsites which cost around £3 per person (with no additional charges), are in the mountains, by rivers, have toilets and wash rooms, but not much else – basically exactly where I would like to stay. I leafed through the pages looking for these sites. I found one pretty quickly – there it was, photographed nicely, sitting at the end of Llyn Gwynant in Snowdonia. However the description that accompanied it was for another site. Five minutes of leafing through the pages, examining the index and contents pages, and it was clear that a) one of my favourite campsites in the world was not in the book, but that they authors had made a massive error and put the wrong picture in next to another site. From that moment on I have been untrusting of the entire collection in case they have made similar errors. What of the site that was incorrectly associated with the aforementioned picture? It sounds nice, but seems that it is in the book primarily because of its proximity to a real ale pub. Another alarm bell rang. Sure it’s nice to be able to pop to the pub from the camp site, but in my opinion, this should not be a pre-requisite for it being a great site.
Another example from Wales. Whilst scanning the South Wales pages I discovered to my horror that Hill End campsite is included. Now Hill End is in a stunning location right at the end of the Gower Peninsula. But when we met friends there last summer I was disgusted to be charged £20 per night per tent. no other charges, but this fee was levied regardless of the size of the tent – I kid you not. Our group included a single guy in a peapod and a family of 5 in a behemoth of a tent with 4 rooms and they paid the same rate! On top of that there was a minimum 2-night-stay rule! When my friend in the peapod queried this Draconian rule and fee he was told to go elsewhere if he didn’t like it. Not, in my book, ‘cool’.
Quickly moving on to the Peak District where I now live I found that my favourite two sites were once again left out – North Lees in Hathersage, and one whose name escapes me, on the hillside above Castleton. Both are basic, cheap, and beautifully situated, but unfortunately don’t have Yurts, real ale or a safari park.
Given that the publishers also released Wild Swimming, a gorgeous guide to the rivers, estuaries and swim holes around the UK, I am extremely disappointed.
Reviewed by Matt Heason on behalf of planetFear
Tue 24th Mar 09 Book: Cool Camping Cookbook
A fun book detailing recipes for a plethora of food that is easy to cook whilst camping. Useful for the car boot camper who doesn’t mind taking half their kitchen implements with them, collecting some firewood and cooking over an empty fire, it is of less relevance to light weight campers who cook mostly over a petrol or gas stove. There are plenty of recipes for the latter, but many of them are fairly standard fare with succulent looking photos to illustrate them. If you have the time to marinade your chicken and put it in a leak-proof Tupperware before you leave home for the weekend then this book will suit you down to the ground.
Reviewed by Matt Heason on behalf of planetFear
Tue 24th Mar 09 Guidebook: Essential Fontaineblau
A quaint and sensible idea, cramming the best of Font into a single light weight, small-format book that you can put in your shorts pocket for the day, this is a commendable guide. 350 'essential' problems from all across the forest. Nice compact maps, labelled pictures. Quite possibly the ultimate tick-list for the ultimate bouldering area. Irritated me that many of the photos do not tell you the problem / grade though.
Reviewed by Matt Heason on behalf of planetFear
