Mountain Warehouse Merlin 23 Litre Backpack Review

I was looking for a small backpack for one day hikes. There are hundreds of backpacks to choose from, so finding one was going to be a task! Essentially I was wanting something that was cheap, but was of good quality. I had been around quite a few outdoor retailers, and hadn't really found anything I liked - without paying over the £30 mark. Now that may sound tight, but I was convinced there was a backpack out there that was good for below that price. But after a hike around town worthy of a blog write up I found the Mountain Warehouse.
 I have to admit that apart from a pair of walking poles I bought from them, I haven't had a good look around their store. After a quick conversation with the friendly staff I was looking at the backpacks, and the one that I particularly liked the look of was the Merlin 23 Litre...

5 out of 5 stars.

 This ticked all the boxes for me. The bag has two good sized compartments that is more than enough room needed for what I'll stash in there on a hike somewhere. It has lots of different pockets, including two outer mesh pockets for a water bottle, and a shoulder strap pocket too. One nice touch is the key clip - and for modern standards the bag is ipod compatible!...

Also note the nice rugged grab handle in the above picture too.


There are also plenty of straps on this bag, which gives you the option to attach walking poles if you wish...

The backing is nicely designed with four raised padded areas that allow air to circulate between the backpack and your back...

 So overall a great little backpack that is very comfy to wear, is ruggedly constructed, and has everything you could want from a rucksack of this size. It looks great too with plenty of features that would keep even the harshest sceptics happy. The only thing that I could possibly criticise with the pack is the fact it isn't supplied with a rain cover - which I think should be standard.
 But the best thing about the backpack - the price, I got mine in a sale, but you won't pay more than £25 for it at full price, a truly great backpack.

Rab Pinnacle Jacket Review

4 out of 5 stars.

I bought this jacket at the beginning of 2010. I had been looking for a dedicated hill and fell walking jacket that could handle the British weather.

On various hikes I often looked at other hiker's jackets, one manufacturer that had taken my eye was Rab. They have produced some great jackets over the years which always seem to pick up good reviews, and the design of the jackets that Rab manufacture are particularly impressive too. But being Rab you have to be prepared to pay that little bit more for their gear, with the Pinnacle jacket retailing at around the £100 mark.

The first thing I liked about the Rab Pinnacle jacket was the look of it, part of the Rab 'Active' range the jacket combines a stylish modern cut that is great for hiking or climbing, with a smart look that has a more mature edge to it. Rab have used 2 layer eVent as an outer fabric, which means the jacket is extremely waterproof, very light weight - but can take a bit of abuse from rucksacks straps, and of course the odd scrapes against a cliff side. Also this particular jacket comes with an inner mesh and taffeta lining - which to me is a nice touch giving added comfort to the jacket, this in my view is missing in so many outdoor jackets on the market today.
The jacket has what I describe as a 'proper mountain hood' allowing you to adjust the front of it via a wired peak, the hood also employs three drawcords - including one at the rear of the hood - to adjust to any size you require, and to allow you to get the hood to grip your head to stop it blowing down in strong mountain winds. For me however, the drawcord hem inside the hood is not designed particularly well as it hangs down inside the hood across your forehead.

An interesting feature is the collar, it needs to be buttoned together in my view, simply because if you don't then it hangs around across your shoulders looking like you've forgotten to button it up! The collar and hood are one combined unit, almost like Rab built a fairly ordinary jacket, then decided to put a quality mountain hood and collar onto it!

The jacket has two outer pockets that are almost at chest height - so can't really be classed as hand warmer pockets, but they still do the job. They are big too, allowing for easy stashing of maps, phones, GPS's and the like. You do also get one map pocket, and an inside pocket too.

Interestingly the jacket has a two way zip, and unlike on some jackets the zip is free and easy to operate giving a sense it will last a long time. The zip is also tucked away behind a front storm baffle that attaches securely over the zip with Velcro attachments and a button at the bottom of the jacket.
I bought my Rab Pinnacle jacket in a small size giving a close fit, with the jacket being part of the Rab Active range - it is a closer fit anyway, so I probably could have gone for a medium, but for me I prefer the closer fit for less impact from wind on the hill.

Lastly, the cuffs use good old Velcro attachments here again...

So how has the jacket preformed over the last 2 years? Well in one word fantastically. It has been a companion in my rucksack even on hot days in the hills - just in case of a sudden downpour. It has taken some real punishment on some climbs against rocky surfaces, and has endured many hours of rain, and I have never once had the rain leak through.

The jacket also packs down really well, and weighing in at around 550g's you don't notice it in your rucksack.

I still use the jacket every now and then, but when rain lands on the surface of the jacket these days it starts out beading, but then begins to look as if it's soaking into the material leaving dark looking patches on the surface. But this could probably be sorted out with some kind of waterproofing agent.

So overall a good hill walking jacket that won't let you down in any weather. It breaths very well thanks to the fabric, and it looks professional as well as casual. A fantastic jacket for the price.

The North Face Venture 1/2 Zip Waterproof Pant Review

5 out of 5 stars.

I bought these fantastic looking waterproof pants in October last year to replace an old pair of cheaper waterproof pants that had begun to leak. The North Face Venture Pant were my first choice out of a large range of waterproof pants on the market today. I was looking for performance, quality and style.

I love the look of these, bringing a sense of style to waterproof bottoms, most importantly from that perspective - they are not baggy like a lot of the same types of waterproof pant that are out there! This is particularly important in my view, for instance getting a pair of Gaiters over the top of my old waterproof pants was a nightmare, and if you popped them underneath 'Bear Grylls style' then you ended up looking like you had gone out specifically to buy a baggy pair of pants - they also when wet wet seemed to get even bigger! The North Face's Venture Pant however are not by any means tight, but instead taken in a lot more than other waterproof pants currently on the market - thus allowing freedom of flow when trekking  for long distances, scaling a hill or mountain, or when simply crossing rocky and uneven terrain. There are as standard Velcro adjustable fasteners at the bottom of each leg allowing you to adjust the tightness around your boots or Gaiters as you please too.

One of the first things you notice about the pant is the feel of them, the outer Hyvent DT material is a tough anti-rip, light weight, extremely waterproof and highly breathable fabric - the feel of quality indeed. The pants come in a large choice of sizes too with three leg lengths to choose from which is a bonus for me - again my last waterproof pants had a tenancy to catch underneath my boots which obviously damaged the material over time. I was able to get a slightly shorter leg length with these stopping the drag, but also still preventing water from getting the bottoms of my combat pants underneath wet too.

 The pants have a half zip leg, which can be slightly annoying sometimes. I personally do prefer a full zip leg allowing for quick pull on / off when out in the wilds. This means that sometimes if you’re exhausted or in the dark perhaps – can tend to lead to you jumping around on one leg trying to get the pants over your boots! But I knew this when I bought them so was something I had planned for. My old waterproof pants only had a quarter zip, so these new pants still outdid them massively in that respect too.

The waist draw cord is pretty basic, but effective feeling secure with an elasticated waist...

 So, the overall performance has been awesome, I love these waterproof pants – and I always seem to wear them on a hike somewhere, and they've never let me down. They look great next to my jacket, and in my view give a professional look to other hikers or passers-by too. To be honest I couldn't recommend these enough, and retailing for around the £50 mark you can’t go wrong with these at all.

Berghaus Men's RG 3-in-1 Jacket Review

4 out of 5 stars.

Berghaus have created a classic walking jacket with the RG 3-in-1 combining the tough, and well liked RG1 jacket, with the removable Berghaus Integral light weight fleece.

 I bought this jacket just over a year ago, and it has served me well. I liked the tough feeling AQ™2 outer shell, which is very waterproof and surprisingly highly breathable, and the jacket looks smart and mature.

 The RG 3-in-1 is seemingly becoming more and more popular, great for popping on to take the dog for a walk, going shopping in town, for work, or when out in the hills. I have noticed the jacket being worn by quite a few hikers when out, and who can blame them, retailing at about the £70 mark – this is a tough jacket to beat in performance for that price range.

The RG 3-in-1 has the detachable Integral fleece, which will hold off cold breezes when you don’t want to wear the jacket with it. The fleece itself connects into the jacket via a series of toggles. But you don’t have to connect these all up if you want to put the jacket on quickly. I bought my jacket in a medium, and I'm glad I did, the jacket is fine but if I had bought it in a small size I'm sure the fleece wouldn't  fit!

My first test for the jacket was in my home county of Shropshire for a trip up the Wrekin – a well known hill in the area. It was coming up to Christmas time and the week leading up to my trip it had been snowing every day on and off. When my friend and I got to the base of the hill it was bitterly cold, and climbing it was made hard by the ski-slope style slippery path way. By the time I had got to about half way up I was sweating, but the jacket let the sweat out – rather than it collecting on the inside of the jacket. When we finally made it to the top, a snow storm had enveloped the summit along with high winds and hail mixed in, the jacket held up against everything. It was actually quite cosy wearing it in such harsh conditions. 

 The only real let down, of which has sadly for me let the whole jacket down, and the reason why I have awarded this great looking, and popular jacket only four stars, is simply because of the hood. To me if you’re going to make a good quality jacket, then why not make the hood great too? I can only guess that due to the price range it’s in, then you won’t get a good hood for using in the great outdoors. The hood is fairly basic, just two bog-standard volume adjusters either side of it, and unlike most of the Berghaus range doesn't have a stiffened or wired peak. To me any outdoor jacket should have a volume adjuster at the rear of the hood so you can get the required tightness to your head that prevents the hood from blowing down - and crucially unlike with just two either side of the hood - stops your vision becoming impaired by the hood itself.

  However, here is the jacket, and me taking a pounding from the weather on the summit of the Wrekin last year...

The jacket has an overall smart appearance, completed with a waist drawcord to adjust to your liking...

 Another plus for the jacket, the cuffs. Berghaus have kept to Velcro cuffs for the RG3-in1…

 The AQ™2 outer shell is tough, and rough to touch. This does mean that it can become slightly bitty. Mine seems to pick up cat fur, fluff, and anything that has fallen onto the material, and it’s hard to brush off too. Here you can see the outer shell's appearance up close...

 The impressive Integral Fleece is a great fleece that can be worn under any jacket…

 So sadly it’s the hood in my view that lets this great jacket down, hard to get right so it’s in a good position to use when walking without it either falling in front of your face, or you having to pull the volume adjusters tight to your forehead! It is however a good size, and shape, but is let down by the lack of a rear drawcord…

So overall after well over a year of use, 4 stars – but to be fair a good jacket for the price. If you do decide to buy a Berghaus RG 3-in-1 I'm sure you would be satisfied with it, come whatever weather, knowing you have bought a quality jacket from a quality manufacturer.

The North Face Men's Resolve Jacket Review

4 out of 5 stars.

You could argue that the Resolve Jacket by The North Face is their most popular jacket. It's a great all round jacket, with a stylish cut. This jacket is at home in the city, or out in the hills, and with it retailing at around the £70 mark - is a good quality jacket that won't break the bank.

 I bought this jacket admittedly for casual wear, it goes great with a pair of jeans. And I have to admit I'm a big The North Face fan, I would put my trust into any of their gear.

 The Resolve is a good jacket to pop on for a bit of shopping, perhaps a day trip somewhere, and with suitable clothing can be worn effectively all year round. The jacket however is also at home in a rucksack ready to be put on when you're on a hike somewhere, it will pack down very small too for ease of carry. I have used it quite a few times on a summer's hike, when rain has set in, or perhaps on a high hill or mountain where it has provided cover against cold winds.      

 The North Face have used their popular HyVent ripstop nylon fabric for the construction of the jacket, and trust me it can take a few knocks and scrapes against rocky cliff sides, and so can take abuse from your rucksack too! The material is also very breathable, strong yet lightweight, and extremely waterproof!  

The overall look of the jacket is functional, but stylish. And carrying The North Face logo, has a perception of quality to it. In store, I tried on a medium fit first, I normally buy a medium jacket size, but in this case I was surprised to find the medium quite so large and baggy on me. So I bought mine in a small size, and this gives me more than enough room... 

The hood has a nice look to it, great shape to keep rain away from your face, and it can be rolled away if you wished. It is however quite a basic hood, with no wired peak or anything like that. I'm not keen also on the fact that there is no drawcord (or cinch cord as it seems to be known on this jacket) at the back, just the usual two on either side of the hood. So this mean't that in strong wind, is near impossible to stop it from blowing down. To me the hood is the most important part of an outdoor jacket, so I found this particularly disappointing...

It's a shame because if it had a rear draw chord, this would make a near perfect hiking jacket. You can see here the nice cut of the hood, and the traditional rear logo too...

The cuffs are pretty basic, just normal jacket standards here - being simply elasticated...

Here a close up of the collar, with its very nice and comfy feeling fleece lining...

The jacket has a mesh lining keeping you warm and dry, and two zipped hand pockets that are at a nice height to pop your hands into quickly when they get cold. The central front zip is nice and easy to use, doesn't have a tendency to get caught in its own lining like a lot of jackets, and to add a bit more security against the elements, the zip is protected by a Velcro attaching storm baffle!...

Overall a great all round jacket for hiking, climbing or just for a quick walk around town. I like this jacket very much, a great performer on all fronts, providing your not going to extreme. I think this will remain a favourite of mine for a long time to come as it has over the past year.

Rab Latok Alpine Jacket Review

4 out of 5 stars.

I bought this great looking jacket in October just as the weather was deciding to get nasty. It would take over from my previous Rab Pinnacle jacket that had been a good reliable jacket, but was by then sadly needing replacing.

 It had come down to a few jackets that are popular on the market today, but the Rab Latok Alpine was the one which had taken my main interest. It looked aesthetically good for a start, it was a mountain jacket by nature, had good online reviews, and it was reduced in store at the time!

 I tried the jacket on and instantly it felt good, with its tough feeling 3 layer eVent fabric. I then put the hood up and for me, it was sold. The hood for me is the most important part of a jacket, it has to move with your head so you can see where you are going, and it’s got to be designed so it minimises rain lashing into your eyes. The Rab Latok Alpine’s hood is wired, is climbing helmet compatible and has the all-important draw cord at back of the hood to give you the required tightness to stop the thing blowing down in mountain wind!

The cuffs are fully adjustable, as you would expect using Velcro rather than that horrible plastic locking system you get on some jackets...

 The zips are an interesting feature, unlike with most jackets, rather than a storm flap on the outside of the jacket, the Latok Alpine has an internal storm flap with a waterproof front zip. I’ve never seen a zip designed like it before, it was tough to operate at first with its ‘rain proof’ plastic coating but it has eased up since...

So that’s all the jackets main features. But how has it performed over the last four months? Well read on…

 My first test for the jacket was a trip to Snowdonia, what a place to christen it, the weather on the first day was pretty awful too, wet and windy (see the Carnedd Llewelyn blog entry, http://fell-finder.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/5-welsh-giants-29301011.html). On a climb up the side of Pen yr Ole Wen the rain got quite heavy. The jacket seemed to be holding up well, but when the trek was over there seemed to be some dampness on the arms of my fleece, but I put it down to sweat. However the two external pockets were soaked through, and unfortunately so was my phone, and wallet. An expensive trip indeed! Rab do realise this, and give a warning of this, yes a small label is inside the external pockets letting you know that any expensive items should be stored in the mesh lined internal pockets!

 The jacket has performed very well though. On Bleaklow in February (blog entry available to read, http://fell-finder.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/bleaklow-29112.html) it held up fantastically in the freezing temperatures and white out conditions. Also a bitingly cold wind was blowing across the Pennines that day, but it didn’t once penetrate the jacket. 
 The only time the jacket has truly failed me was on my last hike to Aran Fawddry (Britains highest most southerly mountain) (again see the blog entry http://fell-finder.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/aran-fawddry-on-very-grim-day.html) There was heavy fog hanging over that day and by the time the trek was over I was completely soaked through, in my view the jacket completely failed that day, this was even after treating it in Nikwax. I have also noticed rucksack abrasion on the lower part of the jacket too, the material does seem to have got significantly softer over time.

 So, overall after four months of use I would give the jacket four out of five stars. It looks great, it always gets a few stares when out, and it looks the part when taking on a peak somewhere. But the material is a bit flimsy feeling now, and if in heavy rain I would expect to get wet. At the end of the day though for the £190 I expected much better performance, and I’m thinking I would have been better purchasing a GORE-TEX lined jacket rather than eVent. But the jacket is light weight, easy to pack into a ruck sack and does seem to let the sweat out unlike GORE-TEX. So for now I’m sticking with it, I hope if you decide to buy one that it works well for what ever you put it through.

Garmin GPSMAP 62s Review

After a visit to Bleaklow back in December which was a little scary to say the least, trying to navigate its maze of peat hags and bogs in low cloud, I found a map, and GPS enabled mobile phone quite useless due to a lack of discernible features and mobile reception. This was not the first time that this had happened. On Rye Loaf Hill in Malhamdale, the cloud closed in again making navigating back to the Pennine Bridleway near impossible. On my first ever visit to the flat topped Ingleborough it was low cloud, with high winds. So not only could I not find the route to the Trig Point, the wind made it impossible to read a map. I ended up more or less completely destroying that map folding it over and over to try and see a flat 'page' of it. Even back on those rambles, a GPS looked like the sensible option.

 I had recently started a new contract on my mobile phone, and so a free upgrade was given to me. The phone had a GPS built into it, and I had downloaded a UK OS Maps software application, that worked fine. But on top of Bleaklow where there is no mobile reception, the internet dependant mapping software was unable to function and I ended up in thick fog with an arrow pointing to where I was on a black screen, not good!
 So my decision was made there and then to buy a GPS device. I had read about various models available from different companies. But, the Garmin GPSMAP 62s was the one that took my interest.

 The majority of reviews are very positive for the device, which provided good guides to read through when I was choosing the Garmin 62s. But at £400 it's not cheap. However the device comes with full coverage of Great Britain 1:50K OS Maps included on a Micro SD Card, which is worth £199 on its own.
 The Worldwide Base map it comes with is pretty useless really, so the 1:50K OS Maps is a must-have.
The whole device looks a bit basic - like a mobile phone from the late nineteen nineties. But it is a rugged piece of kit. Here are a few of the GPS's basic details I liked:

* Its is IPX 7 Waterproofed.

*Rugged Quad helix antenna and high-sensitivity WAAS-enabled GPS receiver and HotFix satellite prediction.

*Heavy duty rubberised casing

*The device also has nice and big push buttons that are easily usable with thick mountain gloves.

 My phone for example is touch screen, and so great until wet, or wearing gloves. The screen is near unusable in those conditions. The Garmin 62s has none of these problems.

The device is quite easy to use, but like any piece of technology - needs to be given a bit of practice before being taken to the hills.
 The menu is quite easy to follow, and you can set the device to a number of different profiles which gives the GPS a different look and feel when using. I personally use the 'Geocaching' profile, which as you can probably imagine be then used for geocaching.
 You can turn on lots of different features, such as road names, places of interest etc, they then all appear within the map on screen.

Your location is marked by the Garmin trademark 'Blue Triangle' way pointer, and is extremely accurate. This is great as it's pointing where ever you point the device towards. For instance, if you want to know the name of an object like a hill or wooded area, just point the device towards it, scroll out and see on screen what you're looking at!

The electronic compass is a real gem too. Some hills I've been on have been high in iron content, and so this can throw a regular compass off, again this could be dangerous in any condition. The electronic compass on the GPSMAP 62s uses the satellite positioning system so is always accurate.

 The nicest feature for me is the 'Basecamp' software that Garmin gives with the device. Once loaded onto your PC this gives you the option to plan a route using the 1:50K Ordnance Survey Maps. You have to link the GPS device via a USB cable (supplied with the unit) to use the software, but this means that the route is easily uploaded onto the device.
 Below is a route I drew up for a trek around Pen-y-ghent, with the split map option enabled. On the right hand side it gives you a 3D terrain view which is great feature, giving you an idea of what the area is like before you go. Once you have drawn up your route, it is then possible to 'pre-walk', or fly your route.  And once you've done your walk, the route can then be either archived or deleted completely.

In the above picture, you can just about see line I have drawn prior to my visit. You can also make out on the right hand side of the device, the on button. This again is easily turned on or off with gloves on by holding it down for a few seconds.

It is also possible for you to create a route using just the device, which is straight forward and easy to use.

* The only negative things that I can say about the device, are the fact that it's always worth carrying a spare pack of batteries around with you. The battery life does seem to diminish faster than the stated 20 hours its supposed to be able to do, although you do have a power option depending on the type of battery you are using!

* The whole device is a little creaky, and is to be fair a little bulky, like an old mobile. But a carabiner clip is supplied with the device to clip onto your rucksack or hip belt, for ease of use.

5 out of 5 stars.

• GPS TRACKLOG.COM have done a great review of the Garmin GPSMAP62s http://gpstracklog.com/2010/08/garmin-gpsmap-62s-review.html