Friday 2 May 2008

Got to love those hills



This picture was taken whilst Charl and I panted our way up to Red Pike in February this year. As seen in an earlier post we were greeted with a glorious cloud inversion and a truly stunning day. Its images like this that make me crave the outdoors.
Well its just under a week until Paul and I embark upon our second hike and wild camp, this time in the Black Mountains. I'm just itching to get out there right now and the bank holiday shall mean a just a 3 day week to get through - good times.
Yesterday, Paul's self inflating mat (Airic) arrived from ALPKIT - in a gopping lime green! Since I had to place the order for him I was going to order the worst colour I could get but as it turned out Paul actually requested lime green. I think this has shelved any doubt in my mind that he is some sort of pervert. At £25 these lightweight mats look really well made and aside from a lack of anti slip backing on the underside is almost identical to my Robens Lite mat.
Whilst I ordered the mat I also ordered a Gamma head torch too because I was after a model with a 'scorch my retinas' kind of brightness whilst being lighter than the one I already have. The obvious choice is the Petzl Tikka Plus but these things seem grossly over-priced to me. The Gamma from ALPKIT uses 3 AAA batteries (provided and Duracell too) and has a plethora of lighting modes that even a wedding DJ would be proud of. I temporarily blinded myself when I first turned it on so thought it only fair to ensure that the same fate was dealt out to Paul when I showed him this morning! I've yet to test this on a trip so I will be posting a review with detailed pictures when I get back from the trip to Wales. Some night walking will be in order to really see how good this thing is for £12.50.

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