Review for UK Adventure Sports Magazine AR Pack Group Test
Summary – Exceptionally lightweight racing pack.
Made from the same fabric as their hugely successful Laserlite tent range, it’s thin, superlight, water-resistant and seems to be pretty tough. It has one large main compartment with a vertical water resistant zip, with an internal bladder pouch and a smaller slot pocket on one side. This design can place a lot of strain on the zip if over stuffed, but so far careful packing and a month’s use are showing no ill effects. Packing heavier items low in the ‘A’ shape packs keeps their weight off the zip and keeps the packs stable. External mesh pockets and thin bungee cords provide additional storage, and extra hypalon loops allow you to configure the cords for best compression or helmet carry. At first glance they look insubstantial, but in practice they held trekking poles securely on an extended mountain run. Hip pockets are easy to use and bottle pockets are attached to the hip belt for ease of access. The compression on these is a bit fiddly and can’t be tightened one handed or excessively as the thin bungee seems a bit fragile, but again it is effective. The harness is well fitting, stable and although back padding is just some well placed mesh, it is comfortable. At half the weight of some other packs around, it’s really at the cutting edge of racing equipment design and despite the low weight it still manages to be practical for everyday hill use.
Tags: Adventure Racing, Reviews
Choosing the right pack for adventure racing is
almost as important as choosing footwear. For one to two day races like
the Rat Race Urban Adventure, Polaris Challenge, Open 24 etc, where a
reasonable load needs to be carried, then a 20-25 litre pack is what
most racers are going to need. Key factors in choosing a pack are the
volume, ease of access, comfort, stability, lightweight, hydration
bladder compatibility, volume adjustment or compression, and on the
move accessibility.
Some things to look for are hip belt
pockets, adjustable chest strap, external bungees or mesh to hold
helmet or shoes, easy access side bottle pockets and a comfortable
harness that doesn’t dig into your neck. It’s unlikely that you’re load
will be heavy enough to require much padding on shoulder straps and you
may wish to look for optional removable back padding to reduce weight.
Often packs have ‘breathable’ mesh panels to keep your back cool but
rarely do they work well enough to make them a significant buying
consideration.
A more important consideration is fit and comfort. A bag that bounces around when running is going to cause chafing and discomfort so look for back hugging packs that hold tight but allow you to move your arms and torso without restriction. I recently reviewed a range of packs for the UK Adventure Sports Mag July edition which I’ll publish here in due course.
Tags: Adventure Racing, Backpacks, Reviews
50 pure dead giveaways that you are Scottish
1. Scattered showers with outbreaks of sunshine and a cold northerly
wind, is your idea of good weather.
2. The only sausage you like is square.
3. You were forced to do Scottish country dancing every year at high
school.
4. You have a wide knowledge of local words, and know: Numpty is an
idiot, Aye is yes, Aye right is No, Auldjin is someone over 40, and
Baltic is cold.
5. You have an irrational need to eat anything from the chippy, as
long as its deep fried – Haggis, pizza, white pudding, sausage, fish,
chicken and battered Mars Bars.
6. You used to love destroying your teeth with – Penny Dainties,
Wham Bars, Cola Cubes, and Soor Plooms.
7. You always greet people by talking about the weather.
8. Even if you normally hate the Proclaimers, Runrig, Caledonia,
Deacon Blue, Big Country, etc, you still love it when they are played in a
club abroad. (in fact you’ll probably ask the DJ to play it)
9. You have an enormous feeling of dread, even when Scotland play a
diddy team.
10. You are proud that Scotland has the highest number of alcohol and
smoking deaths in Europe.
11. You used to watch Glen Michael’s Cartoon Cavalcade on a Sunday
Afternoon with his lamp Paladdin.
12. You got Oor Wullie and The Broons books Every Christmas.
13. You only enjoy Weir’s Way on the telly, when you are pissed.
14. You are able to recognise the regional dilect, (Glasgow) ‘Awright
pal, gonie gies a wee swatcha yir paper nat, Cheers, magic pal.
(Aberdeen) Fitlike Loon? Furryboots ya bin up tae? fair few quines in the
night, min. (Inverness) Ah-eee right enuffff! How’s you keeeepeeeen?
15. You know the police are about to arrive when you hear someone
shout-Errapolis.
16. You have witnessed a ‘Square Go’
17. You know that when you are asked which School you attended they
really mean, ‘Are you Catholic or Proddy?’
18. You have eaten the following: Mince and Tatties, Cullen Skink,
Tunnock’s Teacakes, Snowballs and Caramel Wafers, Porage, Macaroon Bar,
Baxters Soup, Scotch Pie, Oatcakes.
19. A Jakey has ask you for 10p for a cuppa tea.
20. You wait at the shop counter for 1p change.
21. You know that the right response to ‘you dancing?’ is ‘you askin?’
followed by ‘am askin’ and finally ‘then am dancin’.
22. You associated sawdust with vomit, coz the ‘jannie’ always, used to
pour it over sick in school.
23. You lose all respect for a groom who doesn’t wear a kilt.
24. You don’t do shopping, you ‘go for the messages.’
25. You’re on a bus and the drunk picks you to sit next to.
26. You are able to conduct a 20 minute phone call using three words
only,– Awright, aye, and naw.
27. When you refuse the offer of a drink, you hear, ‘ You no well?’
28. You have heard the following:
You canny fling pieces oot a 20 storey flat,
700 hungry weans’ll testify to that,
If its butter, cheese or jelly,
If the breed is plain or pan,
The chances o’ it reachin earth,
Are ninety nine tae wan.
29. You know that going to a party means bringin a Kerry oot.
30. Your holiday in Benidorm is ruined when you hear there is a heatwave
back home.
31. Scotland go 2-0 up against the French, and you immediately think,
getting beat 3-2 was ‘no a bad result’.
32. You can pronounce: McConnochie, Ecclefechan, Milngavie, and
Kirkcaldy.
33. You love deep fried Pizza.
34. You can’t pass a Kebab shop after being at the pub.
35. You are used to four seasons in one day. (winter, winter, autumn,
winter)
36. You can fall when drunk and not spill your drink.
37. You see people wearing shellsuits with Burberry accessories, and
think ‘thats class’.
38. You measure distance in minutes.
39. You understand Rab C. Nesbitt.
40. You go to Saltcoats because you think its abroad.
41. You can make a whole sentence using only swear words.
42. You know what haggis is made with, but you still enjoy it.
43. You know someone who planned their wedding around the football
fixtures.
44. You have been to a wedding and the football results have been
announced in church.
45. You are not surprised to find one shop selling ALL of the following:
Pizzas, Nappies, Fags, Curries, Milk, Paint, Shoes etc.
46. Your seaside home has Calor gas under it.
47. You know that Irn-Bru is a good hang over cure.
48. You could swear before you could count.
49. You would ‘nut’ a terrorist if they tried to bomb your Airport.
50. You are not only Scottish but Glaswegian when you understand the
following- How’s it hingin’, clatty, boggin’, cludgie, Ba’heid, bawbag,
and double nougat.
Tags: Humour
…the Agony of my Feet.
I recently finished reading an interesting and amusing Adventure Racing book which is basically a collection of short essays on racing experiences. It includes tales from pioneers and prominent racers in the sport over the past two decades through to marshals, first timers and consistent back of the packers. It’s definitely worth looking out on Amazon from the link below.
The Thrill of Victory, the Agony of My Feet: Tales from the World of Adventure Racing
The Thrill!
The Agony...
The introduction has the following manifesto that I really liked. Apologies to the author, I can’t recall your name!
AR manifesto:
If you’re not hungry, you’re carrying too much food
If you’re not thirsty, you’re carrying too much water
If you are warm, you have too many clothes
If you’re not wet, scratched and bruised, you took the long way
If you’re not frightened, you have too much gear
If you’re not tired, you’re going too slowly
If you’re not drop down sleepy, you’re getting too much rest
And if you finish the race on schedule, it was too easy anyway!
Tags: Adventure Racing, Humour, Reviews
I’m testing a batch of waterproof jackets for UK Adventure Sports Magazine this week from Paramo, Haglofs, Rab, and Berghaus. Hopefully a few more will show up, but I wasn’t expecting the little surprise that arrived with Mr UPS from Germany. Seems I was sent a Gore Running Wear Air System Gilet to review alongside the other jackets, but this one is a little bit different so I’m not sure it really fits in. Will probably have to look at it separately and in more detail.
Gore Air System Gilet
It’s constructed from a mixture of different Gore fabrics, Performance Shell and Paclite along their Comfort Mapping theme – putting tougher fabrics in higher wear spots and lighter, more breathable fabrics where they can get away with it. You might spot the unusual looking matrix across the front, which continues on around the lower back. This is an air chamber that can be inflated by blowing in the black valve on the chest, creating a web of small compartments on the inside. These trap warm air next to the skin, in the same way as down or synthetic insulation does, however, being Gore, the outer fabric is waterproof, making this a pretty interesting piece. So its a waterproof gilet with adjustable insulation, that won’t stop performing if it gets wet like down, or becoming sodden like Primaloft etc. I’ve yet to try it in anger, but I can see it being quite versatile meaning days on the hills with a windproof need only be augmented by the gilet if the weather turns shit. Keeping the core dry is clearly the most important point, which this will do. Still getting chilly or stopped at a belay point midway up a climb? Just blow in the valve for some instant insulation. Ready to move again? Just release the valve and be on your way!
Voila! Gore Air System Gilet inflated
I’m keen to see how it works out and about on the hills, but in the short term I quite like this, but that’s maybe just because its different and I welcome Gore’s attempts to bring something different to the market. My only niggle at the moment is a lack of handwarmer pockets, but hey it is designed for runners and who runs with their hands in their pockets?
Tags: Outdoors, Reviews, waterproofs
Sometimes motorway journeys can be the strangest of things. Today I saw a hearse, driving at 80mph on the M74 – unusual in itself, being that these black behemoths barely manage anything more than a crawl from day to day. However, to add to the sight, behind the hearse was an ambulance racing with blue lights on, clearly attending a callout but being held up by the hearse. Tucked in behind the ambulance, unbelievably drafting at a distance of about 4feet was a motorbiker (or organ donor as they’re also known), clearly keen to get a move on past the ambulance. The whole scene just seemed to be arse about tit and made me chuckle. Hope Mr Biker didn’t get 5ft closer to that ambulance, or worse, the hearse…
Tags: Humour
The summer edition of the UK Adventure Sports Magazine is out now with articles from some of my teammates and friends. Nick Gracie profiles the Original Mountain Marathon, Tom Gibbs talks about race strategy and Carrick Armer reports on the Bimbache AR World Series event. I reviewed one day AR packs around the 20 litre mark and was most impressed by the Terra Nova Laser 20, OMM Adventure Light 20 and Inov 8 Race Pro 18.
I’ll post up the extended reviews here when the magazine has been in publication a bit longer, as they had to be drastically shortened to fit tight space in the mag.
Tags: Adventure Racing, AR World Series, Hill Running, OMM, Reviews
As soon as I heard about Explore Sweden I knew it was a race I had to do at some point. Race Director Mikael Nordstrom has a great reputation for organising exciting, adventurous and interesting courses with one of his last offerings, the 2006 AR World Championships, being hailed by great racers such as Ian Adamson as the greatest race course of all time. With this near guarantee of quality, we knew that travelling all the way to Sweden would at least give us a great race experience regardless of our performance.
Over the months leading up to the race we changed team members a few times and lost our main sponsor Aberdeen Asset Management. Thankfully we got a settled team together and some help from interim sponsor Helly Hansen, however, it was still a tough call for me to commit to such a huge race and financial commitment with current personal circumstances. However, the opportunity was too good to miss and my chances of getting away to major expedition races in the next 4 years look to be few and far between so this was a last chance to lay it all on the line.
It was everything it was billed to be and the only thing I could say it was lacking was technical mountain biking. We spent a long time on roads and gravel tracks but a tiny amount of time on technically challenging and fun mountain biking. This was made up for though by the awesome variety of activities we completed including some exposed mountaineering, whitewater rafting on a grade 4 river, white water kayaking on a grade 3 river, canadian canoeing on a grade 2 river and a lot of inline skating! I’ve written a full race report that will be published in either the UK Adventure Sports Magazine or Sleepmonsters, I’ll post it here too when I know.
The final rafting section. 6km on flatwater!
The race went pretty well for us and my only personal problems were my feet blisters sustained on the 60km mountaineering section and a bit of overheating on the same section. I did fall asleep a bit dramatically and get a serious dose of the sleepmonsters on the long 270km bike leg. I was seeing all sorts of safari animals, though was lucid enough to tell teammate Bruce Duncan that I realised he probably couldn’t see them. Still, didn’t stop me ’sprinting’ when he shouted that they were charging after us! We finished 8th in the end and were satisfied with this. We lost maybe 4 or 5 hours on the inline skating compared to the Scandinavian teams ahead of us, so potentially we could have been nearer the top 5, but for now it just gives us another discipline to work on and bring up to par with the rest.
Helly Hansen UK at the Finish Line
It sure as hell was fun and I did what I went there to do – give it my all. It was hard work and very painful at times and 2 weeks later I’m still suffering with tendonitis and am on antibiotics for infected blisters and a haematoma I developed, but that’s what adventure racing is about for me – seeing how much I can push my body and mind through and this time it was pretty far!
Tags: Adventure Racing, AR World Series, Helly Hansen, Sweden
I’ve just had to replace the suspension pivot bearings on my Giant Anthem frame and really had to have a good look around before I found any decent instructions. Thankfully LyNx on mtbr.com has put together a handy guide here
Giant Anthem, Trance and Reign Bearing Replacement Guide
Also, here’s a useful Giant Anthem assembly guide
Tags: Mountain Biking
