It was my first look at the competitively priced Squalline Jacket from Alpkit.
It's been designed as stash-in-your pocket go-to waterproof/windshell for fast paced activities like trail running and mountainbiking. I like it, it's ideal for those days were the weather can be a bit mixed but there's no need for full-fat waterproof like the Gravitas Jacket.
I breached the summit of a steep earthen track with sore feet, aching muscles, and healthy sweat on, and was immediately thrust in to a melee of tourists, touts, and taxi drivers, humming like the bees I’d been studying earlier around the abundant wild thyme.
Three days of blissful tranquility had preceded this moment - I made a dash for the nearby coffee shop and found myself a quiet corner.
A tip off about some bargain flights to Malta and a nod towards an interesting coastal walk from an acquaintance a few weeks previously had quickly snowballed into a rough plan. I tracked down the out of print guide, still available as a Kindle edition on Amazon, and a 1/50000 map of the island, and hightailed it over to this remote corner of The Union.
Lush Shampoo Bars As a committed environmentalist I'm always on the lookout for products that will reduce my footprint on the planet, and as a regular traveller I'm always on the lookout for products that will make my life easier and more efficient. (I appreciate the paradox in that statement and I do my best to keep air travel to a minimum and to offset it whenever possible). So when I stumbled upon these little beauties I did a little jig of joy.
A few days ago a friend of mine rang me to say that he'd spotted some cheap flights to Malta, and that he'd heard that they have a very nice coastal walk. So that's what we are doing on Wednesday. Part of my plan for my year off was to have no plan at all, other than some loose ideas about places I'd like to visit and things I'd like to do. My no-plan-at-all-plan allows me to sweep up spontaneous opportunities, just like this one.
I called in at Alpkit on my return from Nepal to check out their new Morphosis Jacket. I was so impressed with it that I also bought the Half-Zip Top too. My old Softshell has started to see better days and I was looking to replace it. The Morphosis is Alpkit's modern slant on the classic softshell. It's classic Alpkit - all function and no faff, just how I like my gear. It's made from a breathable, wind resistant, DWR coated outer material that has a bit of stretch, and a 140gsm micro-gridded fleece liner. The fleece liner is exempt from under the arms and the sides, ideal for heat control under exertion. The usual stuff like internal baffles and hem & hood adjustment are simple and effective. I'm a regular medium and the fit and cut are excellent. With some foul weather on the near horizon I'm looking forward to giving them a rigorous test. I'll let you know how I fare in a couple of months. Below is a bit of information to be getting on with.
Perfectly in line with their "Go Nice Places, Do Good Things" tagline the good folk at Alpkit have announced their latest social & environmental initiative through their Alpkit Foundation.
The Continuum Project is a partnership with several other organisations to donate, recycle, and redistribute, your old and unwanted outdoor gear to those people in society who are less fortunate.
Here at Chase The Rainbow we love things like this and we'll be digging out as much of our old kit as possible. If you have some stuff kicking around then why not donate it to a good cause; you'll feel good about it and so will the people who benefit from your generosity :)
I've been using and recommending an Osprey Atmos 35 litre rucksack for quite a long time; and with very good reason - It's the best pack I have used for travelling, full-stop.
Osprey have now discontinued the Atmos in its 35 litre guise and so I contacted them last year to discuss an up to date alternative. The Stratos 34 looked to fit the bill nicely.
To be honest it is virtually identical to the Atmos, which is a good start.
If I am to replace my trusted Atmos it will need to be good.
I posted my first video on YouTube. It's crap, but it's a start :) I'm a one-take wonder. One day I'll learn how to edit and stuff. Damn, I look an old git on camera :D
Some time ago I had a chat with Nick at Alpkit about the possibility of adapting one of their Hunka Bivvy bags in to an ultralite hooped bivvy for The Tour Divide.
After a little brainstorming session Nick went away to work on something for me.
This is the result. It's the first working prototype of, I believe, a potential production model. I hope I haven't jumped the gun here and let the cat out of the bag.
I've christened her "Little Nellie".
Nick pretty much nailed it first go.
Mitch Bryan and I will be doing some CO2 testing on it for safety purposes (breathability) and then I'll take it out in the field and see how I get on with it. It's a new laminate material and Nick seems pretty excited about it.
Alpkit are a company that are going places (in more ways than one!), and they just won Online Retailer of the Year 2015 at the prestigious TGO Awards. Recent restructuring has seen them move up a gear in terms of product development and with that comes a measured increase in the range of equipment that they currently offer to customers.
In the spring of 2015 I was tinkering about at home with some simple designs for just such a product when it conveniently popped up on their website. Plenty of outdoor manufacturers do a similar product but none of them were fitting in with what I needed. Most were way too big; the Sea-To-Summit Ultra-Sil Daypack, for example, is a whopping 20 litres. The 11 litre LitePak was just what I was looking for. I wanted something compact, light, and unobtrusive, for stashing food supplies during bikepacking trips, and for kicking around town when travelling.
Alpkit have been on a bit of a mission lately with a lot of new products being drip-fed to consumers throughout the course of the year.
One of these - The Kepler Merino Range - has been on my radar for a while.
I'm a huge fan of merino wool products, I have a fair bit of it in my wardrobe, so I was excited to check out their offerings to see how they measure up.
The benefits of merino wool are well documented, great breathability, quick drying, fast wicking, warm when wet, and extremely resistant to odours. In recent years it's become the de-rigueur product of choice for most outdoor users and manufacturers. With the likes of Rab and Icebreaker retailing some serious high-end performance products the competition is stiff.
I'm heading out to Nepal for a couple of different adventures; two weeks of Mountainbiking, followed by three weeks of high-altitude trekking.
As you might imagine, I am looking forward to it.
This time around I will be travelling with friends again. Mitch Bryan is coming out for the first part of the trip which will see us out in Eastern Nepal, around Ilam & Kanchenjunga, recce'ing new routes for an upstart tour company called ThamBikes.
After that I am meeting up with Wilco Voulon for the trekking part.
I've been considering writing something on this since the news broke. Fortunately experienced Mountain Guide and Author Jamie McGuinness has taken up the mantle and has said what needed to be said in a much better way than I ever could (see the link below).
Jamie McGuinness wrote the Trailblazer guide book "Trekking in the Everest Region". We used it extensively on our first unsupported trip in 2012 and found it to be invaluable; referencing it on a daily basis.
It is a tragedy that really could have been prevented for the most part. Nepal is a staggeringly beautiful country, but it is a country that is also chaotic and suffers from many social and political problems that will take a long time to be fully addressed, if ever. Don't let that put you off from visiting though; it is one of the most rewarding places in the world in which to travel.
I would personally add to Jamie's comments that there is a worrying lack of genuine mountain experience amongst the majority of trekkers. Hiring a reputable guiding company is a good start but there is no substitute for personal experience. The ability to route find, read a map & compass, and make simple safety decisions, should be something most people entering The Himalaya should probably consider before embarking on an arduous trek in a remote, and potentially hostile, region.
My heart goes out to all the families that have been affected by this unfortunate tragedy; I know from personal experience the pain that you are suffering. Rest In Peace.
You can read Jamie's viewpoint using the link below to his website Project Himalaya.
Alpkit are a brand that many of you may not be familiar with. A lot of climbers and mountain-bikers (particularly Bikepackers) certainly will be.
They are based in Newthorpe, close to the town of Eastwood, on the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire border.
They have a great reputation for producing quality kit and because they sell direct, either from their website or from the factory showroom, they are able to keep their prices very competitive. And I mean competitive.
I'm a great believer in buying the best that you can afford, it always pays off in the long term; and believe me I've made the mistake of buying cheap! Alpkit, however, seem to have pulled off the coup de gras of making quality kit and keeping prices attractive.
I've visited their showroom a few times and I own a few items of their kit. After today's visit I own quite a few more.
I went particularly for some of their Bikepacking kit. (Bikepacking is simply the lightweight mountainbiking alternative to bicycle touring with pannier racks etc.)
I have been drooling over it for a while but with my current plan to take on The Tour Divide in America I thought it was time to take the plunge and get myself kitted out.
A grumpy Dave Slater demonstrating "The Rab Ascent 700" in Bupsa, Nepal, during our first trek in that region.
I first acquired this bag, from Rab, in early 2012 and it has since been on four high-altitude trips to The Himalaya. I think I can now give it a fair assessment.
Firstly it's squarely a 3 to 4 season sleeping bag, and from a UK perspective you are unlikely to use it outside of the November to February Winter period. Internationally, of course, you might well use it much more than that. It is manufactured from the excellent Pertex Microlight fabric and is filled with 700gms of 650 fill power European duck down. Which means that is reasonably light and very warm. I have the (now) older version of this bag and it weighs about 1400gms when packed into the stuff sack.
(The information from Rab, provided below, is for the current model).
Given the title of this piece you might well be thinking that I've been sprawled out on the psychiatrists couch, and to be fair that wouldn't be an unreasonable assumption. Although, let's be honest, your common or garden psychiatrist would probably have a complete meltdown, and require the services of one of their own practitioners, if they spent half-an-hour trying to psychoanalyse some of the stuff that floats around inside my head!
Nope, the fact is I have become a couch-potato. There, I said it. It's out in the open.
It isn't entirely self-enforced, well, I say not entirely, what I mean to say is that it wasn't a concious decision; I fell off my bike. And broke my elbow. And two ribs. And my iPhone. Luckily the bike is OK, which is good, because they are expensive to repair. Ribs heal by themselves, for free.
Soooo, given that I have time on my hands, I thought I ought to do some catching up.
Osprey Talon 8 being put to good use during The 2014 Yak Attack in Nepal. Regular readers will know that I am a big fan of Osprey Packs, I have used their products consistently for a number of years, and with good reason; they are outstanding! I purchased The Talon 8 Lumbar Pack in February 2013; after borrowing a Talon 4 from my friend Mitchell Bryan to use in The Strathpuffer 24hr Mountain Bike Race. Mitch had been singing it's praises and I was keen to see if it would be suitable for me to use in The 2013 Yak Attack and The Everest Marathon in Nepal. It was, and I did.
If your idea of idyll is a tourist brochure paradise with all the comforts of a developed society it's probably for the best if you don't come! :D
However if you have a sense of adventure and wonder for the world, and you can leave a few of your "necessary" comforts on the doorstep, then this could be just the place for you!
Colours of Kathmandu.
For newcomers to Nepal, and particularly Kathmandu, the culture shock can be overwhelming.
Hopefully I can prepare you a little for what's in store.
Kathmandu can be a beautiful place to visit but it also has some environmental and social problems to which unprepared Western visitors might find hard to adjust.
The first thing to remember above all is that Nepali people are trustworthy and friendly. It is unlikely that you will be ripped off, scammed, or robbed. In fact it is more likely that you will get the better end of any deal! I have been followed down the road after leaving expensive items in cafe's and restaurants.
Kathmandu has some amazing sights around every corner.
Sights, sounds, smells, and tastes all make up the delicious, myriad, flavour of Nepal. Although not all of the smells are that delicious!
I arrived in the permanently chaotic Kathmandu a little under three weeks ago, and it's been a blast. So much so that I haven't yet extricated myself out to the high mountains for some much needed altitude acclimation. The trails around the Kathmandu Valley rim are perfect for training, and the hub-bub of Thamel has been perfect for relaxing and having fun. The weather is warm (although the locals seem to disagree with me on that; 16-20 degrees Celsius is considered Winter in KTM. That's what we call Summer in England!) and the trails are dry.
