What makes the best outdoor gear the best, is the way it performs. For people serious about their outdoor gear, it’s usually because they are testing it in ways that you would think it is designed for. Outdoor sports clothing is a specifically designed for it’s purpose ad one of the items of gear that has been so popular this year has been the Gore-Tex Pro Shell waterproof jackets. You might also want to check out the outdoor clothing advice section.
Gore-Tex have replaced their Gore-Tex XCR technology with the new and improved Gore-Tex Pro Shell technology. We’ve seen it across a number of jackets so far this year, and the feedback had been very good indeed.
Live for the Outdoors (LFTO) wrote a serious, advisory post following an article in Trail Magazine about reasons that should make you think about turning back before reaching the summit. Whether you are a walker, mountaineer, mountain biker, skier, runner or other, these reasons are certainly worth considering:
Bad Weather – snow, rain, cold and wind can all come in severe doses, so make sure your prepared but sometimes preparation isn’t enough, so know your limits!
Weather Hazards – associated consequences from bad weather such as rockfalls and lightning
Here at CheapTents.com, we love it when people share their stories, write reviews, pass on outdoor industry news for us to then share, and what not, but we also like to raise the profile of outdoor sports athletes for sponsorship purposes and even for their charitable causes. For this reason, make sure you contact us for more information.
Guys that did this just last week, are now featuring on our blog, and we will be following their progress over the coming year. And we couldn’t be more happy to support them! Here’s what they’re getting up to…
Insoles can be used in Walking Boots. Source: Flickr by re-ality.
Cushioning for Feet
Outdoor activities such a walking, backpacking, mountaineering and fell running cause a lot of force to be applied through the knees and onto the feet. Most walking boots and running shoes provide some cushioning against this. Simple insoles can be put inside walking boots and running shoes to provide additional cushioning and absorb impact shock made by feet that are pounding on rocky trails all day.
Earlier this month Adam Wilton and Gavin Booth set off on a two man expedition to the geographic South Pole. Their journey started about a week ago at Hercules Inlet and will cover a distance of 1,130 km. They will climb almost 3,000 m on their expedition and will be heading into winds of up to 55 knots. With no support or re-supply they will each be pulling sleds of 120 kg with all their expedition equipment. Average Antarctic temperatures will be from – 25 °C to -40 °C.
A short while ago, we put out a blog post offering to provide support to outdoor sports people looking for sponsorship. We’ve had a couple of emails lately from people looking seriously at 2009 and wanting to put a big fat stamp on the achieving something truly great…whilst helping raise funds for charities.
Our first-up is Andrew McMaster, a medical student from Manchester University, who’s currently in training for the Marathon des Sables – an ultramarathon race across the Sahara desert…you can read more about the Marathon des Sables here, but here is Andrew’s first post for the CheapTents.com blog, on what will be a phenomenal achievement.
In response to our offer to help promote outdoor charitable events, raise the profile of up-and-coming outdoor sports professionals via media sponsorship, offers to share your news and advice, and our eagerness to encourage outdoor sports participation we’ve had some interest from people who wish to feature in our blog…and I have to say they are quite some feats!
Marathon Des Sables
First up is Andrew McMaster, a medical student from Manchester University who wrote a piece on his preparations for the toughest foot race on Earth: the Marathon Des Sables to raise money for Manchester’s St Anne’s Hospice. This will be published shortly…here though, is a little bit of background on the race.
If you are lucky this winter, lots of snow will fall on the hills and mountains near where you live. You will be able to get out your crampons and ice axes and go mountaineering. Alternatively you could do the crampon dance…
Advice about choosing winter mountaineering accessories can be found on our ice axe and crampons advice page. Obviously if you do not have any winter accessories, then you can buy crampons and ice axes from us
Related camping and outdoor news, reviews and advice:
The 7stanes are eight mountain biking centres in southern Scotland. The public sector organisations behind the mountain biking scheme have recently announced that they will provide £1 million of funding over the next three years.
The BBC have reported that the announcement has been praised by Environment Minister Mike Russell, who called the 7stanes mountain bike trails a “major success” in building Scotland’s image worldwide.
Have you been mountain biking on any of the 7stanes trails? What do you think of them? Share your thoughts! Click on the “comments” link below.
Related camping and outdoor news, reviews and advice:
Marathon Des Sables
