The AADSAFARI Insiders Guide to Outdoor Kit
THE APPLIED ACTIVITY DIRECTION & APPLIED ART DIRECTION ACTIVITIES VACATIONS PAGES
Navigation is one of the most rewarding and important aspects of walking and mountaineering; surveys show that navigational errors comprise the most common feature of mountain accidents. When people go astray in the hills in bad weather they can blunder into danger. Even for low-level ramblers, losing your way can ruin a day.
Maps:
Ordance Survey maps have one big limitation - they tear easily and wear out quickly when they get wet, Chartech produces laminated OS maps, coating them with polypropylene or polyester to make them waterproof and extend their life by up to 10 years. Prices: £8.95-£12.95. Full list and mail order: Chartech, Bridge Works, Aston Lane Industrial Estate, Hope, Sheffield S30 2RA (01433 621779).
Harvey make its maps waterproof from the start. It now publishes more than 50 for kay walking areas in Scotland, Wales and the Lakes, with important features such as crags and contours emphasised. Its newest maps is the West Highland Way (£6.95) and it is soon to extend south with one for the South Downs Way. Full list and orders; Harvey Maps, 12-16 Main Street, Doune, Perthshire FK16 6BJ (01786 841202; add 80p postage per orders).
How do you carry your maps? A depressing number of plastic map cases crack and split. From Highlander comes the simple, flexible and durable Deluxe Military Map Case. It survived a very wet test in the Highlands this month and is good value at about £6.50. Mail order: Peglers, 18 High Street, Arundel, West Sussex BN18 5AF (01903 885555).
Global Positioning System:
The hot technical issue remains the development of GPS navigational aids, which use satellites to tell you where you are and where you should be going. Early models were hideously complicated and expensive but they have become far simpler and cheaper, due in part to a vicious price war between the two main manufacturers, Magellan and Garmin. The Magellan 2000 is easy to start up and has a battery life of 24 hours. The cheaper Garmin 38 has a "trackback" feature which helps you retrace your steps if you are lost.
The GPS devices are catching on fast with sailors, and walkers and beginning to use them too. There is one vital caveat: they remain subject to the problem of "selective availability", which makes them prone to errors of up to 100 metres.
Official retail prices are £199 for the Magellan 2000 and £162 for the Garmin. But shop around: Wilderness Ways has the Magellan for £165, and prices could fall further. Mail order: Ellis Brigham, Snow and Rock, Taunton Leisure, Wilderness Ways.
Guides:
AADSAFARI walkman tape guides to walks and tours in the north of Britain. Each pack contains descriptive audio tape to talk you through the layers of history along spectacular trails selected by our experienced guides. Audio information is supported by special maps with printed topographical information and local guide to inns/pubs and accommodations. Trail subjects include: The Lake District (including Wordsworth Route); South Pennines; North Pennines: Yorkshire Dales; North Yorks. & Coast; Coast to Coast; North Wales; Mid Wales; Monmouth/ Symonds Yat; The Rochdale Canal; The Leeds & Liverpool Canal; York; Bath; Manchester (Castlefield). Full pack costs £7.50 from AADSAFARI at 3 Shore Lea, Littleborough, Lancs. OL15 8EY ; postage/packing 90p per pack or email glavin@rmplc.co.uk or fax +44(0)1706 370728 for full list of audio guided trails. Guests reserving a place with any AADSAFARI recieve a FREE audio trail pack!
From Walkfree Productions comes a series of audio tapes which describe key architectural, historical and topographical features along the way. The current four titles cover walks in the Peak District, Cotswolds and Hadrian's Wall, with others promised. Cost £9.99. Mail order: Latitude, 34 The Broadway, Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Herts EN6 2HW (01707 663090; postage 50p per tape to maxiumum of £3). You can use Latitude's mail order service for all maps and related items, from gloves to jigsaws. It guarantees to obtain any map from anywhere and laminates them too.
The year's most breathtaking techincal gizmo
is The Munros through Windows - an interactive guide to Scotland's 3000ft mountains and subsidiary tops, plus 3,000ft peaks elsewhere in Britain. Aimed at hill-walking devotees who own computers with a CD-ROM drive, it displays maps you can zoom in and out of, panoramas you can rotate and elevate, lists of heights, route instructions, compass bearings, history, music, poems, your own log of ascents. Most alluring of all is to hear those Gaelic names pronounced correctly. Price £79. Mail order: Isys Computers, 8 Upper Glenburn Rd, Glasgow G61 4BW (0141 943 1533).
For low-tech Munro fans, Harvey Maps (address above) publishes an attractive wall-chart showing both the Munros and the Corbetts (peaks between 2,500ft and 3,000ft) at £5.95. The long-awaited new edition of the Scottish Mountaining Club Munros chart has now been published by the original cartographer, Gordon Henderson, at £7.95. Mail order: Cordee Books, 3A De Montfort Street, Leicester (0116 254 3579).
Clothing:
Head protection is vital as 40 per cent of heat loss emanates from there alone. For a long time we juggled with combinations of caps, woolly hats and Balaclavas but the new mountain caps suit most conditions. Terra Nova's "Extremities" range of caps emulates the three-layer clothing system; a thin breathable skin layer, a thicker mid later. We found the adjustable Ice Cap made of Gore-Tex with a fleece lining, £29.95. There is also an attractive range of Extremities gloves. We found the Hand Bags ideal as outer gloves in cold and rain. Full catalogue: Terra Nova, Ecclesbourne Park, Derbyshire (01773 833300). Mail order: Cotswold Camping, Field and Trek, Snow and Rock, Taunton Leisure.
Some of the warmest and most luxurious underwear comes from Berghaus. Full catalogue : Berghaus, 1 Stephenson Rd, District 12, Washington, Tyne and Wear (0191 415 0200). Mail order: Cotswold Camping, Field and Trek.
Equipment:
Rucksack designs are becoming ever more technical. among the more basic versions we particularly liked the Vango Canyon 45. Vango also claims to make one of the lightest sleeping bags weighing in at 1.5 lbs. PRICE £59.99 Full catalogue: Vango 70 East Hamilton Street, Greenock PA15 2UB (01475 744122) Mail order: Cotswold Camping, Field and Trek.
Waterproofs:
Sprayways Pacs Rain Shell, £200
"Pacs" stands for "personal air-conditioning system" - a complicated system
of flaps allowing heat to escape without letting the water in. Air circulation
inside the jacket is improved by a fine mesh lining and cuffs that can be
adjusted with Velcro tabs.
This is easily the lightest and most compact of the jackets - made of thin,
rustly Gore-Tex. And it does seem to breathe a little better than most of
the others. There are just two, reasonably large, hand-warmer pockets - big
enough for a map, but a little awkward to get your hands into
. The hood is extremely effective - well shaped with big, wired peak to keep
the drips out of your eyes. However, it does get a bit tight if you use the
elastic drawstrings, and it doesn't fold away neatly - it rolls up and tucks
under a Velcro tab on the collar. The whole jacket can be stuffed into a
sack the size of a bag of sugar. Machinewashable, tumble dry.
Verdict Light, compact, airy: our best lightweight choice.
Stockists 0161 236 4239
North Face Stowaway Pullover, £149.95
This is the Sprayway's nearest rival as a lightweight waterproof. It is made
of Gore-Tex and is designed like a cagoule: the zip and poppers running about
halfway down the front. This design makes it neat and compact to wear - good
for golf or cycling perhaps, with no flaps to get in the way. It is also
generously cut around the arms and shoulders. However, it is quite short
so you would need waterproof trousers in heavy rain. It packs away as neatly
as the Sprayway in its own storage pouch. It also has two handwarmer pockets,
but no map pocket.
However, despite its mesh lining, this jacket is more likely to leave you
sweaty. This seems to be because you cannot open the front fully to let in
air when walking up hill - the high collar also stops hot air escaping. Another
negative point is the hood, which is far too bulky under the chin. North
Face points out that this jacket is not suitable for carrying back packs.
Wash or dry clean.
Verdict Rather too short, and let down by bulky hood, but reasonably
priced.
Stockists 01629 580484
Paramo Cascada, £150
A strange jacket, this one. It comes with another pseudo-technical marketing
tag: Directional Breathability Independent of Humidity. It is made of a soft
polyester fabric treated with a Nikwax product to render it waterproof but
still breathable.
However the Cascada does not feel like a waterproof jacket. It is soft and
rustle free. It is also fairly heavy with a nasty slippery polyester lining,
making it too bulky in warm weather. On the upside, it does seem to breath
reasonably well and has a copious map pocket at chest level which you can
get at by unpopping the front flap, rather than undoing the zip.
It also has two (rather small) zipped pockets at the front. The hood is well
designed with a big, wired peak that folds away to form a highish, soft collar.
The manufacturers say you can wash the jacket in Nikwax washing powder (£4
per bottle for three washes) to maintain its waterproof performance. And
they advise a full reproofing about once a year by washing in TX Direct,
which costs £5 for two washes.
Verdict An unusual design and fabric. It might appeal if you prefer a softer
material, but I didn't like it.
Stockists 01892 784477
Helly-Hansen Interlochen Parka, £129.99
This is another heavily lined jacket with a similarly generous cut to the
Paramo but in a stiffer fabric.
It is made of tough nylon coated with Helly-Tech - another type of breathable
waterproof material - and has a soft polyester lining. It causes the least
sweatiness of all the jackets because of two zipped vents under the arms.
Well tucked away so the rain cannot get in, you simply unzip them for a blast
of fresh air. However, I would not like to wear this jacket on a wet and
humid summer's day - the lining is too heavy.
Another downside is the rather basic hood with no peak. But it does fold
away neatly into the collar, which has a nice fleecy lining.
There are spacious pockets - you could probably get away without a day sac
if you were prepared to fill them all: two at chest height, two in the front
flaps, and a decent inside map pocket, but you have to half-undo the front
of the coat to get to it. Washable.
Verdict Excellent under-arm vents, but too warm and heavy for summer use,
poor hood.
Stockists 01159 509508
Lowe Alpine Foothills, £160
Lowe Alpine's Triplepoint Ceramic fabric looks, feels and performs like Gore-Tex.
Nicely shaped and simply cut, the jacket's classic outdoor design is very
like the Berghaus (below), but cheaper.
The two front pockets are rather small, but the map pocket can be used by
lifting the front flap instead of undoing the zip. The mesh lining and generous
cut help to keep it reasonably cool.
I would have considered this as a best buy if it were not for the hood, which
rolls up in such a bulky way that the collar becomes heavy and uncomfortable.
However, if you don't mind that, or expect to do a lot of walking with the
hood up, this is the best of all the hoods when in action. It is not wired
but is cut generously with a stiffened peak to deflect rain drops.
The ladies version - the Juneau - has a higher waist and shorter arms.
Verdict Classic, workmanlike jacket that performed well, but let down by
bulky storage of hood.
Stockist 0800 801665
Berghaus Cornice, £199.95
Despite the relatively high price, this is the jacket I would buy for myself.
Made of Gore-Tex, it is well-cut, well-finished, light and airy and with
a mesh lining to help the air circulate.
It has a good hood with a decent stiffened peak, a waterproof map pocket
that you can reach without unzipping the front, Velcro cuffs, strong metal
poppers and a double-sided zip so that you can attach a fleece lining to
the inside on cold days.
The only black mark - which could be irritating for some - is its length.
It is a little too short, and in heavy rain you would end up with your trousers
soaked almost to the groin unless you wore waterproof trousers.
Verdict Best Buy. Light, waterproof, comfortable and well cut if a little
short.
Stockists 0191 415 0200
MORE REVIEWS AND PICTURES SOON!
If you have a page, it would be indescribably enhanced by a link to this or the AAD sites.
Send an Enquiry or Book YOUR Course
email : Garry at AAD
Check these pages for information on unique activities and travel experiences....
The Applied Activity Direction Home Page
The Applied Art Direction Home
Page
Fax: +44(0)1706 370728 or write to: Garry Lavin, Shore Lea, Littleborough, Lancashire, OL15 8EY, England.
Your help would be greatly appreciated with our Readership Survey....
If you want to visit the UK, and need further information, we can provide you with full information packs and itineraries when you reserve a place with AADSAFARI. Literature on attractions in the north of Britain can be obtained by contacting us by email, fax or post. For immediate general information, here are the telephone numbers of the regional tourist boards:
- English Tourist Board
- 0181 846 9000
- Wales Tourist Board
- 01222 499909
- Scotland Tourist Board
- 0131-332 2433
- Northern Ireland Tourist Board
- 01232 246609 Omit the first zero if dialing from outside the UK. The country code for the UK is 44.
Hopwood
Hall College Information Server