Ripcord Adventure Gear Guide #1

#ONE

Ripcord Adventure Gear Guide is an imprint of Ripcord Adventure Journal Copyright Š November 2016 by World Explorers Bureau & Redpoint Resolutions. All articles and images Copyright Š 2016 of the respective Authors and photographers.

Cover image Courtesy of Ben Maxwell.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, general enquiries or sponsorship opportunities, contact the publisher: Ripcord Adventure Gear Guide: guide@ripcordadventurejournal.com Editor in Chief Tim Lavery Gear Guide Editor Sophie Ibbotson

Letter from the Editor I’m writing the introduction for the first RAJ Gear Guide lying on my back in the jungle on an uninhabited island in the middle of Lake Malawi, the slosh-sloshing of waves hitting the beach in the background, and an occasional bulbul squawking in the trees above my tent. If you’re green-eyed with envy, it’s quite understandable, but somebody has to do it. How else will you know which mosquito nets best keep the bugs at bay, which solar lanterns can also charge smartphones, and which rucksacks on the market are genuinely monkey-proof?

When we first conceived the RAJ Gear Guide way back in spring 2015, we wanted to create a reference guide for adventurers. The kit and clothing you choose when you’re exploring, frequently makes the difference between success and failure in the challenge you have set yourself, and certainly dictates whether or not you will be comfortable and safe as you do it. There is a wealth of information online about what to wear, pack and carry for every imaginable scenario, but it is poorly curated (if at all), disorganised, and often biased or limited in its detail. For something so vital, that’s just not good enough.

In the RAJ Gear Guide, you’ll find articles by explorers and adventurers who have been there, seen it and done it. They write from personal experience, and are brutally honest. If something isn’t up to scratch, however pretty it looks, they say so. We’re not going to pull any punches.

There is no point ‘testing’ something in an office or the local park: it has to be done in real world conditions by people who know what they’re talking about. Rather than let Max Lovell-Hoare review his cold weather gear at home in his admittedly drafty English farmhouse, we exiled him to Siberia in winter. Bryn Kewley spent two years on the road motor biking from London to Singapore before putting his findings in print, and ultra-athlete Carlton Rowlands ran, cycled, swam and skied on three different continents before providing us with his interview and Nuala Moore, openwater swimmer, bravely plunged into the Bering Strait to give us feedback on Mullion’s Aquafloat Superior Jacket and Trousers. Do you start to get the picture?

The RAJ Gear Guide is divided into three sections. In the first part of the guide you’ll find our big feature stories, incredible adventures and feats of endurance with inspirational photo spreads. This is the place to get ideas, to learn about innovative materials and approaches, and to delve in detail into what’s required to succeed in different activities and thrive in diverse environments. We’ll be inviting some of the most famous names in exploration and adventure sports to contribute their expertise, establishing an encyclopaedia of knowledge which spans from pole to pole.

Part two is our individual product reviews. Every item received by the RAJ is field tested by a World Explorer, and we don’t charge companies for featuring their products. You can’t buy a good RAJ Gear Guide review: it has to be earned. Reviewers rate what they’re testing in each of five categories - Aesthetics; Comfort; Durability; Functionality; and Value for Money - and products scoring 4.5 or above overall are awarded with a RAJ Gold Star so you can see at a glance what stands out from the crowd.

The final section of our Guide is our Gear Guide Listings which includes details of where to buy, our ratings of all items reviewed (c.

100 so far) and the RRP. The Listings section is to be found only on our Website, will be continually updated and is perfect as an online reference.

Sophie Ibbotson RAJ Gear Guide Editor, November 3rd, 2016 Above: Sophie Ibbotson and Cover image: Ben Maxwell © Maximum Exposure Productions

"What saves a man is to take a step.

Then another step. It is always the same step, but you have to take it."

Antoine de Saint-ExupĂŠry Wind, Sand and Stars

RIPCORD GEAR GUIDE

#ONE

Editor Sophie Ibbotson Featuring Max Lovell-Hoare Bryn Kewley Carlton Rowlands M. Skowronska Nuala Moore Ben Maxfield

Editor in Chief Tim Lavery An imprint of Ripcord Adventure Journal Publishers World Explorers Bureau & Redpoint Resolutions

www.ripcordadventurejournal.com

Contents Part One Pack for it: London to Singapore by Motorbike

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Bryn Kewley, Geographer & Biker I Can't Live Without..

Carlton Rowlands, Ultra Athlete

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Inside Out: Where the Rubber Meets the Road

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Game Changer: OEX

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Cutting Edge: DO-RA, Tellum Mobile and the Wicron Webot

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Flashback: Mountaineering Boots

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On Location: Siberian Field Test

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Part Two In Full: Mullion Aquafloat Superior Jacket & Trousers

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Nuala Moore, Extreme Swimmer Best of Base Layers

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Best of Insulated Jackets

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Best of Hiking Boots

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Image opposite from: London to Singapore by Motorbike Š Bryn Kewley

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Part ONE Image: Leatherman Surge. Courtesy of Bryn Kewley

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Bryn Kewley

Image: Bryn Kewley © Ripcord Adventure Gear Guide

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Pack for it: London to Singapore

by Motorbike

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Pack for it: London to Singapore by Motorbike Bryn Kewley

Bryn Kewley, geographer, biker and explorer, spent two years riding his Honda Transalp 650V from the UK to Singapore via Turkey, Iran and the Indian sub-continent. His route was diverse and demanding, and he had to carry on the bike everything he needed for the journey. We quizzed him about the trip, his gear and clothing, the highs and the lows. Here’s what he had to say.

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Where did you go and when?

It was a little late in the year when I got started, mid-September, which meant Europe was a bit of a dash in case the snows came to Iran. From Calais I rode south and over the the Alps, east across Italy, then Slovenia, the length of the Croatian coastal road, Montenegro, Albania, and into Greece. I had a small incident which found me living in a workshop for a week at a sailing resort. It was then onto Istanbul, across to Lake Van and through the Kurdish area of Turkey to the much more friendly southern entrance to Iran.

I rode through Iran during October and November, every day meeting the most incredibly hospitable people I'd met anywhere in

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Pack for it: London to Singapore by Motorbike Bryn Kewley

the world and wishing I could stay longer. I crossed the dodgy, Taliban controlled part of southwest Pakistan in late November (thought I'm fairly sure they paid for my breakfast in Quetta).

From then until mid-January, I was adventuring through Pakistan, including up the Karakoram Highway into the mountains and back.

After this I spent three months in India, including leaving the bike for some time, taking the train to Goa and living in a shack on the beach for February. I took the chance to explore the limits of my senses with bafflingly bright colours and incredible smells from there up the coast, and also to Rishikesh for some peace.

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When I first arrived in India, it was clear to me that I'd soon run out of money. So having stashed the motorbike with a lovely Sikh guy, April saw me fly out to South Korea where I lived on the 11th floor of a high-rise in Masan, taught English, made friends and rock climbed until my fingers bled and my cheeks ached from the smiling. The trouble is the bike could only be in India for six months, or 12 with an extension, and the Indians love their rules.

At the end of December I therefore flew back to India, and raced the bike back to Amritsar where I had first entered from Pakistan and where the rules said I had to go to get the extension. Much circumnavigation of the notorious Indian bureaucracy later, I crossed some unexpectedly treacherous and snowy Himalayan roads to Nepal.

Until Aung San Suu Kyi is able to re-establish peace and unity in Myanmar, it's unlikely tourists will be able to enter by land on the western border: a good friend of mine, hitchhiking from England, tried repeatedly but was turned back, and eventually hitched a flight over. Hemmed in by China to the north which also doesn't generally like tourists with their own vehicles (yet), southeast Asia is only reachable from the Indian subcontinent by air freight. After a stretch wandering in tiger country, drinking chai in Kathmandu and having my universe twisted about its fulcrum by vipassana silent meditation, I packed my bike into a crate and flew with it to Bangkok.

From April I drove about southeast Asia. First I went east through Image opposite Š Bryn Kewley

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Pack for it: London to Singapore by Motorbike Bryn Kewley

Cambodia to Vietnam for a month (the only country in which I paid a bribe), then to Cambodia for another month before continuing to Laos, where I briefly owned a boat, then back across into Thailand.

Singapore is pretty much the furthest connected landmass from Europe. Having passed quickly through Malaysia in August I reached what I named the bench at the end of the universe (or so it seemed) at the southern tip of Singapore. Amusingly this southern tip contains a theme park, all plastic and contrived, an omen of what my return to the west would feel like. Anchored off shore are hundreds of tankers bearing the names of their far off ports. To swim out to one and climb the anchor chain seemed like a particularly good idea. Returning to Kuala Lumpur I boarded a flight for Europe two years to the day after leaving home.

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Why did you choose the Transalp, how did it perform, and would you recommend it to others?

You need the right sort of bike to ride across the world. Through significantly more down to luck than judgement, I chose the Honda Transalp 650V which, as luck would have it, is a wonderful machine.

The Transalp is not too heavy and has long suspension, good ground clearance, a hard seat, smooth power delivery even on questionable fuel, and a mechanically simple engine. Being only vaguely au fait with engines, the last one was critical as it meant your average BENM (back end of nowhere mechanic) could get his head around it quickly. The bike did get a little farty high up on the Karakoram Highway, but once I'd taken the air filter out and given it a proper clean, it was much better.

For serious debate on this topic and all things overlanding, look up Chris Rose's The Adventure Motorcycling Handbook and Horizonsunlimited.com. I also recommend Vagabonding by Rolf Potts.

You had made your panniers custom made for the trip. Why was this?

Panniers can be prohibitively expensive and vary greatly in quality.

Images Opposite Š Bryn Kewley

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The Outdoor Research Transcendent Jacket and Ferrosi Hoody

The Transcendent Jacket is fantastic for a motorbike trip: it's lovely to have something so warm. It’s really efficient as it packs down so small: you can literally squeeze it into a tiny part of your bag, and yet when you get it out, it quickly warms you up. I’m always a little worried about getting down wet, but in all dryish conditions it's the perfect soft shell.

At first I was unconvinced by the Ferrosi Hoody as the material felt strange. I hadn’t come across it before and wasn’t sure what to expect, yet the more that I have worn it, it has grown on me. It is surprisingly durable and much more hardwearing than I'd expected.

It's well designed with pockets in useful places and I'm a fan of bright colours. Sold! It's earned its place in my bag for my next big trip.

Image: Bryn Kewley © Ripcord Adventure Gear Guide

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Pack for it: London to Singapore by Motorbike Bryn Kewley

At the time a friend of mine was working at an aviation parts manufacturer. Having bought racks that would fit and found some drawings online, he bent and hammered sheets of 2mm aluminium into two fantastically sturdy boxes. Those boxes got beaten to hell and back with crashes on black ice, getting driven into by other vehicles in Iran, and being covered in thick clay and sitting for days and nights in intense heat or relentless rain. Even after this, there was barely a scratch on them, for which I am forever grateful.

What were the three best things you took with you?

Leatherman Surge: Some tools can give out without consequence:

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Pack for it: London to Singapore by Motorbike Bryn Kewley

if your toothbrush snaps, you can just use the end bit, and other things like a scuffed visor just cause vague annoyance. But some tools are vital. When my throttle cable gave out deep in the Nepalese Himalaya, knowing my Leatherman was up to the job of extracting the mangled end was more than just a comfort. Just like with engine oil, there are times to avoid the bottom of the range.

Buff: The humble tube of fabric, to which the name Buff has become eponymous, is constantly useful and something I permanently carry on my wrist when out in the world. From protecting your nose and mouth from dust or bitter wind, to covering your watch in a busy marketplace, blocking out the light for an hours extra kip, to washing your face with it before leaving it wet over your head for a hot evening, a Buff does absolutely everything. Once in a tight spot it even served to filter Afghan dust from water poured into an engine. Marvellous.

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Good maps: Perhaps it's the geographer in me, but you can't beat a good map. I keep one up on the wall for weeks before a trip to keep me dreaming whilst wading through logistics and visas, and then it provides physical reassurance and accurate detail when I’m on the ground. Good maps are hard to come by and it's worth getting used to a type, detail and colouring that you find distinctive and easy to read. Always buy your maps before you go.

Were there any things you'd leave behind if you did the trip again?

The less experience you have, the more you find yourself carrying.

When I left home and wobbled up the road (the wrong way), I was horrified at the fully-laden weight of the bike. This was partly because having passed my bike test just two months before leaving, I'd filled the left pannier to the brim with metal tools and parts (just in case). This included a 1 kg impact driver and my old chain, both of which travelled at least 25,000 km and were never used.

Having not bothered with travel guides for Europe, I nonetheless carried all the guidebooks for the countries between Turkey and southeast Asia. As I later discovered, no matter how remote the Opposite: The Honda Transalp 650V Image Š Bryn Kewley

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Pack for it: London to Singapore by Motorbike Bryn Kewley

place where you end up, there is always a travel guide to be found.

My own copies were therefore dead weight.

Preconceptions are often worth challenging. I took an old and bulky Vango sleeping bag, a heavy Coleman multi-fuel stove and some bits of foam as a roll mat. As fine as this was, and it saved me money upfront, there are inexpensive modern alternatives which would have been worth the investment.

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Are there any additional things you'd take with you?

I’d definitely take a better camera from the start. I had an old Canon IXUS with a small sensor, which took frankly appalling photos in poor light. I was opposed to a DSLR for the love of keeping a camera in the top pocket of my riding jacket for all those moments you catch on the road. Eventually I did change out for a Canon Powershot with 17x zoom. This was small enough to deploy whilst riding, but with a bigger sensor and enough zoom to catch facial expressions across the street. The right camera for you is worth serious consideration: make the choice early enough and it may not cost you a year's worth of sunsets.

Did anything get lost or stolen?

I lost my passport in Baluchistan, Pakistan. Two weeks later, the day before I was to buy a new one, I had a phone call from my parents. The person who had found it had rung the emergency contact number in the back. Unfortunately they were not willing to post the passport to me unless we paid them a considerable amount of money. This was bartered down and they posted the passport to Gilgit, but I have the nagging sensation I've in some way financed terrorism.

Did you have to make any kit/clothing repairs en route?

Yes. Not everything was as sturdy as those panniers, and en route I had to mend all manner of things, including my soul on more than one occasion. Relentless use of my Black Zero riding boots led to me needing to source a thick needle and stitch them painstakingly Opposite: Re-welding the rack Image Š Bryn Kewley

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Pack for it: London to Singapore by Motorbike Bryn Kewley

back together. Everything needed re-waterproofing at some point, including the tent. My flip flops were zip-tied, my trousers ducttaped, and the bike tires glued.

The one fix I didn't make but definitely should have before I left was a bracing bar for the the pannier rack. Strong as the boxes were, the Givi rack I bought just wasn't up to the job, though that’s probably because of the weight of all the tools I was carrying. The panniers would flap limply on off-road sections as if the back of the bike wished to take flight, and re-welding the rack in each country became almost a tradition. What it really needed was a bracing bar between the boxes, but there are always too many waterfalls to visit, people to meet, sunsets to watch and other such excuses.

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What would be your three golden rules for packing for a long distance motorbike trip?

The golden rule of travelling light is to start with a small bag. When riding long distance by motorbike, however, this can be stretched as it's not your muscles that do the carrying and much of the time you only have to lug your bag a short distance. My substitute golden rule would be to make sure it's all waterproof, as you can't just duck out the weather every time dark clouds are looming.

Look up the lists. Hundreds of people have written up kit lists of what they took on their motorbike trip, and most of them will have one or two fab ideas or hacks that can make life a little easier. Do your research, then tailor it for where you're going and who you are.

Eventually, just leave, because you can spend weeks reading these endless lists just because some idiot told you to. All the online sites and books out there are worth a scan, and it is useful to read up, but you'll never cater for all the world will throw at you. That's not only part of the fun, but getting into situations you're not ready for is a vital part of adventure.

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Pack for it: London to Singapore by Motorbike Bryn Kewley

What would be your three golden rules for packing for a long distance motorbike trip?

The golden rule of travelling light is to start with a small bag. When riding long distance by motorbike, however, this can be stretched as it's not your muscles that do the carrying and much of the time you only have to lug your bag a short distance. My substitute golden rule would be to make sure it's all waterproof, as you can't just duck out the weather every time dark clouds are looming.

Look up the lists. Hundreds of people have written up kit lists of what they took on their motorbike trip, and most of them will have one or two fab ideas or hacks that can make life a little easier. Do your research, then tailor it for where you're going and who you are.

Eventually, just leave, because you can spend weeks reading these endless lists just because some idiot told you to. All the online sites and books out there are worth a scan, and it is useful to read up, but you'll never cater for all the world will throw at you. That's not only part of the fun, but getting into situations you're not ready for is a vital part of adventure.

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Pack for it: London to Singapore by Motorbike Bryn Kewley

BRYN'S PACKING LIST Clothing

Buffalo Endurance Motorbike Jacket Buffalo Special 6 Shirt Buffalo Traveller Trousers Helly Hansen Long Sleeve Base Layers Jack Wolfskin Merino Long Sleeve Shirt Jeans North Face Fleece Outdoor Research Ferrosi Hoody Outdoor Research Transcendent Jacket Seal Skin Socks T-Shirts Footwear Merrell Trail Shoes Black Zero Waterproof Motorcycle Racing Boots

Accessories

Bike Gloves with Seal Skin Liners Buff Cotton Scarf Nolan Helmet

Gear

Aladdin Thermal Mug CamelBak Hydration System Coleman 553 Stove Duct Tape Givi Bike Rack Glue Guidebooks Leatherman Surge Life Saver Water Purification Bottle Lloyd’s First Aid Kit Maps and Map Case OverBoard Waterproof Duffel Bag (100 Litres) PackTowl Travel Towel Panniers (Custom-Made) Pots, Pans and Sporks Ratchet Straps Sewing Kit Tool Kit Vango 2-Season Sleeping Bag Vango Inflatable Sleeping Mat Waterproofing Spray Zip Ties

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I Can't Live Without...

Carlton Rowlands, Ultra Athlete Images courtesy of Carlton Rowlands

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I Can’t Live Without…

Carlton Rowlands, Ultra Athlete

Carlton Rowlands is a pro runner with Team Vibram, and a ski mountaineering (skimo) competitor with an appetite for extreme conditions. As a director of Evergreen Endurance, he hosted his first international iron-distance triathlon in September 2015, and in the past year he has trained and raced everywhere from Morocco to Isle de la Reunion in the Pacific Ocean. We briefly interrupted his preparations for the 168km Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc and the infamous Marathon des Sables to quiz him on his training and the kit and clothing he relies on to perform at the top of his game.

Describe your training regime.

My training regime differs depending on the time of year. In summer, I tend to be at home in Chamonix. From Monday to Thursday I usually focus on speed (long and short lactate threshold intervals); power work (hill climbing or plyometrics); and have a rest day or recovery run. I will also do two functional stability sessions, which include physio. Weekends are a little different, because then my focus is on endurance. I’ll train for up to 10 hours, and this might include race replication (endurance with bursts), staying at or below lactate threshold throughout.

This is, of course, when I’m not competing! The last of the races take place in the autumn, and then I need my recovery time, and possibly a holiday. I might do some general alpinism, skiing and climbing for fun.

The skimo season starts in the winter. There is some similarity with the training programme above, but generally it is big days out focusing on endurance and race replication efforts on the weekend.

Winter often lingers on the trails, meaning that in order to get into solid running form, a training camp can be a great way to kickstart the season in spring. It has to be somewhere hot and hilly: last year I went to Spain, and this year it was Morocco. At some point during the winter I will also be on a training camp with my team, the trail running Team Vibram.

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I Can’t Live Without…

Carlton Rowlands, Ultra Athlete

What is the single most important piece of clothing or kit you use when training?

Undoubtedly it is the Garmin Fenix 3 GPS watch. It keeps me training in zones, stops me getting lost, and helps me to record loads of valuable training data.

What is the greatest training challenge you face?

Balancing between my other jobs as an osteopath and triathlon race director, whilst competing against other professionals who only run.

What one technological innovation would make your training easier?

A huge step forward would be a solid form of nutrition so that I don’t get stomach cramps in hot weather. I am currently forced to use only liquid nutrition, and gels become very sickly after 15 hours or more!

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I Can’t Live Without‌ Carlton Rowlands, Ultra Athlete

Which items of clothing and kit do you use when you are competing?

Clothing: Shorts, tights, vests and waterproofs from Crazy Idea (with Polartec fabric) Compression wear: BVSports Tech: Garmin Fenix 3 Lighting: Petzl Nao Shoes: The North Face MT Ultra (for long sessions and races) and TRII (for short sessions/races), both with Vibram soles Nutrition: Ultimum Eyeware: Julbo Bag: Ultraspire Alpha

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I Can’t Live Without‌ Carlton Rowlands, Ultra Athlete

How much does what you wear and/or carry impact on your performance?

Some things have more of an impact than others. You have got to be mentally in the right place with this kind of competition, and so knowing that all your equipment is optimal makes life so much easier.

When you are maximally fatigued, it is amazing how little things become annoying, and how a small innovation can really make a difference. A good example of this might be when running in the dark. A good headlight might allow you to see ahead, but a great one allows you to run just as fast as you would in daylight, even on technical terrain. That is why I love my Petzl Nao with reactive lighting: it is like a car headlight in its brightness, illuminating everything up ahead, but the battery lasts forever as the sensor detects ambient light. It knows how much energy to put out, and adjusts the brightness accordingly.

What was the single most difficult event you have ever competed in?

They all have their special moments! All races are difficult in different ways, but fighting and hurting for the front positions is fun.

The Courmayeur Champex Chamonix (CCC) 2015 (101 km with more than 6,400m in height gain) takes the award for being the most hard in terms of disappointment. It was fast and aggressive, and I had ambitious goals: I wanted a podium placing. I got horrendous stomach cramps from km 10 to km 70,

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I Can’t Live Without…

Carlton Rowlands, Ultra Athlete

however, which meant I was entirely unable to eat for about 40 km.

Without fuel going in, my pace diminished. I battled on and finished in a disappointing 40th place overall, so since then I’ve gone back to the drawing board with my pacing and race nutrition.

It is always hard when your expectations don't meet your results, but it is all part of the journey and an endurance sport is all about understanding yourself and gaining experience. There really is no such thing as a bad race, just lessons learned for the future.

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What are your competition goals for the coming year?

First off, I want a top 15th placing in the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB), my hometown race in the Alps. Other than that, I’d like to strike a better work/training balance so that I continue to enjoy the journey.

What clothing and equipment should people just getting into skimo and/or ultra triathlons think about buying?

With skimo, it is all about minimalism: the less you can carry on your feet, the better. For the winter racing season I’d love a pair of lighter ski boots, and something like the Scarpa Alien 1.0 would be ideal. They are super light, yet have just about enough stiffness left in them to ski on technical terrain, steep and hard underfoot. As skimo is more a training method for me rather than the focus of my training, I have always made do with non top of the range equipment. As I get better results in this field, the marginal gains of better and lighter technology start making all the difference.

With trail running, make sure you get some shoes with good grip and stability. I love the New Vibram MegaGrip soles, which are fitted to a number of products, but notably on the The North Face MT Ultra. It gives you a huge amount of confidence to be able to descend fast on technical and wet terrain.

The other piece of equipment that is very important is a bag. It’s very personal and depends what length of course and how you like to arrange your equipment, but choosing something well designed

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I Can’t Live Without…

Carlton Rowlands, Ultra Athlete

and comfortable is vital. My Ultraspire Alpha, which has a few personal modifications, is now a race ready tool and it puts all my equipment easily at hand whilst I’m in the zone! It is super comfortable, so I don't even know I'm wearing it.

You can follow Carlton’s progress with Team Vibram at http:// eu.vibram.com/athletes/trail-running.

Carlton's Five Essential Items for Endurance Running and Skimo

#1 Scarpa Alien 1.0 Ski Boots #2 Petzl Nao Head Torch #3 The North Face MT Ultra Shoes #4 Garmin Fenix 3 GPS Watch #5 Ultraspire Alpha Rucksack

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Image Courtesy Salewa MICHELIN Technical Soles

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Inside Out: Where the Rubber Meets the Road

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Inside Out: Where the Rubber Meets the Road

Start from the bottom up when considering outdoor footwear

What would it be like to hike in a pair of slippers? Comfortable, for sure, until you tried to scale rocky terrain.

How about running a marathon in a pair of ski boots? Don’t laugh: in April 2016, a UK man, 36, ran all 26.2 miles of the London Marathon in a pair of 15 year-old, vintage Salomon boots. He finished in 8 hrs. 1 min. His boots undoubtedly provided lots of ankle support, but little in the way of comfort or traction.

When buying outdoor footwear, you need to carefully consider your planned activity. The decision of which mountain training, trail running, snowboard boot, or mountain biking shoe to buy should begin from the bottom up where the rubber meets the road, or in this case, the trail, slope or any unpaved surface.

Footwear is divided into two basic components: the uppers and the lowers. The uppers include Boa closure systems, waterproof/ breathable laminates – think Gore-Tex – or additional performance features such as mesh panels for breathability, an EVA Super Skin plate for protection, translucent rip-stop fabric, and other bells and whistles.

When it comes to performance, however, it’s the lower portion of footwear, called the outsole, that should be your first consideration.

Outsoles found on today’s footwear from companies such as Aku, Garmont, Hi-Tec, Northwave, Quiksilver, Ride, Salewa, Shimano, and Under Armour, to name just a few, offer a range of features based upon their intended use.

Not all outsoles are alike, of course, the best tend to offer advanced rubber compounds and computer-aided design to provide the specific performance you need for a range of adventure pursuits.

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Inside Out: Where the Rubber Meets the Road

From Tires to Soles

International automobile and bicycle tire companies have increasingly entered the outdoor footwear market to provide outsoles with specific performance characteristics. Ripcord Adventure Gear Guide caught up with Trond Sonnergren, Head of Design & Product Development at JVI for MICHELIN Technical Soles, based in Verona, Italy, and asked him what connects car tyres and adventure technical soles.

“Tires and shoes share the same vocabulary: footprint, sole, tread, rolling, stability, and rubber,” says Sonnergren. “We design outsoles for better contact with the ground, outsoles that work perfectly with the uppers to offer high performance under various natural outdoor conditions.”

Sonnergren continues, “The sole of a shoe has so much in common with a tire that the development process of each often follows the same model. Both need detailed studies, functional analysis, simulations, design, compound preparation, laboratory testing, prototype development, machine and then field testing.”

Sonnergren adds, “Each sole is unique. MICHELIN’s R & D department works closely with the design and technical requirements of the footwear manufacturer to obtain greater performance in terms of durability, strength, traction and self-cleaning in the outdoor environment.”

Next time you shop for outdoor footwear, match the tread design with your intended outdoor activity and you’ll be less likely to gripe about your grip.

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Inside Out: Where the Rubber Meets the Road

5 Features To Look For When Checking Outsoles:

#1 Outsoles custom-designed for specific outdoor activities, or a range of activities, might have sawshaped siping (slits) to improve traction, control and lateral hold on soft, wet or muddy ground.

Continuous siping on the heel can offer optimal grip during heel placement and walking downhill; while the heel area of the sole can be molded softer for excellent shock absorption. #2 Check to ensure the outsole has channels for self-cleaning and can shed accumulated mud and debris rapidly and efficiently. Tread blocks are

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Inside Out: Where the Rubber Meets the Road

spaced where debris accumulates, a handy feature that removes water and mud so that the sole is clear for the next step. Well-designed outsoles can also offer high flexibility, traction, adherence (grip) and control while traversing slopes. #3 A robust sculpture (lugs) at the mid-foot of some biking shoes can provide optimal and constant adherence, while reinforced tread blocks on some models function like claws offering controlled braking even on steep slopes. #4 Outsoles can be made with a combination of rubber compounds, often in the same pair of shoes. One mixture for excellent grip, high stability and strength, and another for abrasion resistance in the area where foot pressure is greatest. For example, heat-resistant rubber compounds can help withstand that 135-mile Badwater run through Death Valley. #5 Snowboarding your preferred activity? Watch out for snowboard boots with rubber compounds that insulate against the cold and remain soft even in intensely frigid conditions (to minus 40° F. which is the same as minus 40 degrees C.), while still maintaining strong adherence and traction to surfaces.

Image Opposite Courtesy UnderArmour MICHELIN Technical Soles

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Game Changer

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Images courtesy OEX except where indicated

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Game Changer: OEX

In one slow motion second, the motorbike accident could have ended it all. Ben Maxfield, keen climber, skier and Mountaineer, was doing his best to travel to every corner of the world from the Alps to Alaska. If there were mountains, the chances are, sooner or later, you’d find him there. But the same thrill seeking on and off piste also reared its head on the road, and the consequences of a poorly made decision there are just as severe. Overtaking another vehicle at 70mph, Ben realised at the very last moment that he didn’t have the space to make it, and he jumped out of the way to avoid what surely would have been a fatal collision. There wasn’t much left of the bike, and his knee was severely smashed up too. High altitude mountain guiding was no longer a realistic dream.

Stuck in the UK to recover and reconsider his future, Ben retrained as a Head of Year in a school. He wanted to share his passion for the great outdoors, to impart it to a new generation, but quickly found that the Duke of Edinburgh’s award and other similar initiatives were becoming increasingly commercialised. An excessive fear of potential risk was stifling adventure: schools were becoming restricted in DofE programmes due to a lack of qualified staff, and those that did continue offering them were forced to partner with costly outside companies. Ben believed that the losers in all of this, were the kids.

With his mountain leading qualifications, Ben was in a unique position: he was teaching and had the requisite paperwork to take under 18s on trips. He reached out to schools in Swindon, offering them a DofE expedition, and split the cost between the number of children. As long as the expedition covered its costs, that was fine.

No profit was needed.

And so BXM Expeditions was born. The hobby grew rapidly.

Within two years Ben had left teaching and taken on two apprentices to run the company on a day to day basis. BXM now works with thousands of young people each year. All of BXM’s leaders have outdoor qualifications, something that rarely can a school provide in house, and what had begun as a local project has now spread from Sheffield to Portsmouth, Bristol to London and beyond.

Opposite: Ben Maxwell

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Having found a solution to provide low-cost expeditions, Ben’s next challenge was to source equipment that his teenagers could afford to buy and that was up to the rigours demanded by the DofE Gold level expeditions, the longest and most challenging that the award requires. Even in the UK, weather in the Brecon Beacons and the Lake District can be severe, so there’s a need for quality kit. Many of the products on the market were either too expensive, or just not up to scratch.

Ben found himself in a Go Outdoors superstore looking at what was on offer. He’d made copious notes, and taken photographs of the stock to incorporate into short videos to tell expedition participants what they’d need to pack. Such seemingly suspicious behaviour caught the attention of the staff, but rather than hauling him before security, they were curious: what on earth was he doing?

His project captured their imagination, and he was invited up to head office to share his ideas. Go Outdoors hired Ben as a consultant, and 18 months ago he was asked to work on a new exciting OEX project.

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Unless you’ve ventured into a Go Outdoors store, or were at the Telegraph Travel and Outdoor Show in London, you probably haven’t yet come across the OEX name. What you might have seen, tromping across a mountainside or desert, however, is a bright red tent glowing in the distance. They tend to catch the eye.

OEX is currently exclusive to Go Outdoors stores. The development team have come up with new initiatives and their mission is to create high quality, appropriately priced outdoor products with advanced features, and to give their overpriced competitors in the group sales market a serious run for their money.

Four really important things set OEX’s products apart. Firstly, they're designed by people who intimately understand the needs of their customers and at the same time are trying to teach them good habits. The tents have big doors and easy clips (necessary for cold hands fumbling with something unfamiliar) and the inners and outers come in their own dry bags so that one won't make the other wet. The tent can therefore also be split easily between two people, or between three if the third takes the poles and pegs.

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Game Changer: OEX

The products are all thoroughly field tested on real expeditions, not just in a development lab environment. During testing, tents were erected in 70mph winds and left up in the open for four weeks to see how they fared. The only damage was gradual fading in colour.

The third strength is the quality of manufacturing. Last but certainly not least, OEX sells individual replacement parts. If you lose or break something, you don’t have to buy a complete new product. This is a major selling point for schools in particular, as they can’t afford to replace a complete set of tents every time poles go missing or someone tears a fly sheet.

It’s not just all about tents, however, the OEX range also includes sleeping bags, inflatable mattresses and rucksacks. The Coyote III three-man tent sold out completely in a matter of months of its introduction in 2015; and the Vallo rucksack, which has straps for climbers, a side opening, a map pocket, simple, adjustable straps, and is designed to hold the tent poles and sleeping mat on its outside, keeps selling out too. However many Vallo rucksacks that OEX manufactures, they keep on flying off the shelves, and when he describes it, Ben is understandably proud.

Demand is such, in fact, that during 2016 OEX is expanding its range to over 50 products, including items of clothing and stoves. In addition to the initial, DofE focused range, they’re also launching OEX Evolution, a range of more sophisticated products for specialist activities. These include light-weight mountaineering tents, and a 4-season sleeping bag, all of which will be high spec and well made, but very competitively priced.

It all sounds good: encourage kids to get active and explore by providing them with affordable expedition opportunities and high quality equipment, hopefully encouraging the competition to up their game at the same time. But how good actually are OEX’s products? That, not price alone, will surely be the deciding factor in determining the brand’s long-term prospects.

For this very first Game Changer, the Ripcord Adventure Gear Guide sent World Explorer Max Lovell-Hoare to the Terelj

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Opposite: Max Lovell-Hoare in Mongolia © Ripcord Adventure Gear Guide

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Game Changer: OEX

National Park in Mongolia with three of OEX’s best-selling products: The Coyote III tent, the Roam 300 sleeping bag, and the 2.5cm self-inflating mat. Here’s what he had to say: I took the kit to Mongolia in March 2015, so although it was bright and it was warm in the sun during the day, there was still a smattering of snow on the ground and the earth was pretty much solid. There’s a great deal of flat land in Terelj, believe it or not, and there’s no tree cover at all, so you don’t have the option to get out of the wind. My first priority was therefore to get the Coyote III tent up.

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Game Changer: OEX

I laid out the tent on my own with no difficulty. The inner and outer are in separate bags, clearly marked, and the assembly instructions are sewn onto the main bag so you can’t possibly lose it. If you’ve got a lot of kit and aren’t terribly careful with it (which is frequently the case when I’m travelling), this is a smart move, though to be honest once you’ve erected the Coyote III two or three times you probably wouldn’t need to refer back to them.

There are two types of poles for the Coyote III, one of which has a silver section in the middle to differentiate it from the others. I didn’t spot this at first, so wasn’t entirely sure which pole was which, but once I’d found it, the instructions made much more sense. The poles are sturdy but light and go together quickly.

Image: Max Lovell-Hoare with Mongolian horseman © Ripcord Adventure Gear Guide

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Game Changer: OEX

Up until this point in the process, I’d been erecting the tent quite happily on my own, thinking that there was no one in the vicinity. I was wrong: a horseman had come to inspect what I was doing, and was most eager to help. We didn’t share a word in common, he couldn’t read the instruction, and I’m pretty sure the only tent he’d put up before in his life was a yurt. Still, I didn’t want to thwart his enthusiasm, and we communicated through charades. Remarkably, and it’s a credit to OEX’s product development team, my nomad and I had no difficulty getting the poles in and the inner and outer pegged. The ground was hard, but my new friend had plenty of brute strength, and the pegs didn’t buckle despite the force being deployed. The whole process really was pretty intuitive, and within 10 minutes or so we were able to stand back and admire our handiwork. The horse looked quite impressed too.

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Game Changer: OEX

The horseman and his horse bid me farewell, and rode off into the distance. I was left alone, which was the preferable scenario given I had only one sleeping bag. The 2.5cm self-inflating mat comes in a small, reasonably strong case to keep the dirt off it and stop it becoming snagged on anything sharp, and I rolled it out in the tent.

It was just about long enough (I’m 5’10”), and sufficiently wide that none of me hung over the side when I lay down. A nice touch is the non-slip panels on the underside of the mat, which should in theory at least reduce the likelihood of you sliding in the night if you’ve pitched the tent on a slope. I was on the flat, so this wasn’t a concern, but I noted it nonetheless.

The third of the items I tested was the Roam 300 sleeping bag. To be honest, I’m picky about sleeping bags and have used the same Big Agnes bag since 2008, eschewing all others. I often get too hot at night, even in cooler climates, and hate it when the sleeping bag gets sweaty.

At night, the temperature in the park dipped well below zero, and I could see my breath in the air. I therefore retreated into the tent early, pretty much as soon as it fell dark, and clambered into the Roam 300, holding my torch in my teeth. My first impressions were positive. There’s plenty of wriggle room, even if you’re wearing several extra layers. You can reach the pull cords around the hood easily enough and the toggles are placed in such a way that they’re not going to inadvertently dig you in the face if you roll over in the night. That’s certainly a plus point.

Initially I was warm, but as the night went on and my body temperature dropped, the sleeping bag wasn’t quite as cosy as I’d have liked. This isn’t the fault of OEX - it’s not a 4-season bag - and it would have had ample insulation if the mercury had stayed above zero, or even a few degrees below freezing. When OEX do a 4season comes out, I’d be happy to give that a go.

When I did the field test in Mongolia, I hadn’t been told what the products cost. Based on what I’ve paid for my personal expedition kit previously, I’d mentally pegged the Coyote III at around the £300 mark, and estimated the Roam 300 would have set me back £120 or so. I’d have been happy with £70 for the sleeping mat, though would

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probably have opted for the 4cm version and paid a little more. It was only when I got back to the UK afterwards that I saw the products’ RRPs. Put simply, I was really, really surprised and impressed that they’re able to hit those price points. I’d willingly have paid somewhat more, and would still have thought I had got a good deal. I’ve added this OEX troika to my expeditions stash, and will definitely be using them again.

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Game Changer: OEX

OEX: Best-Selling Products

#1 Coyote III 3-Person Tent (RRP £200) #2 Bandicoot II 2-Person Tent (RRP £140) #3 Vallo 70+10 Rucksack (RRP £85) #4 Cougar II 2-Person Tent (RRP £170) #5 Roam 300 Sleeping Bag (RRP £65)

#1

#2

#5

#3

#4 Image Opposite © Ripcord Adventure Gear Guide

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Cutting Edge: DO-RA, Tellum Mobile & the Wicron Webot

Image Courtesy of Tellum Mobile

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Cutting Edge: DO-RA, Tellum Mobile & the Wicron Webot It can take years for a great idea to make it from the drawing board into the marketplace, but at the RAJ Gear Guide we like to know what’s on the horizon. In Cutting Edge we are heading into the labs and studios of start-ups and well-established companies alike to find out the latest innovations with a potential bearing on the expeditions and adventures of the future. Read on for the first three of our exciting discoveries.

DO-RA http://intersofteurasia.ru/eng/

DO-RA is the abbreviation for dosimeter-radiometer, as well as a catchy product name. This new device, patented and now available for pre-order, measures background radiation (and human exposure to it).

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Whereas a traditional Geiger counter and similar technologies simply give the user a reading, DO-RA also has smartphone capacity. Results are automatically uploaded to the Intersoft Eurasia website to create an up-to-date radiation map of the world, enabling scientists, geographers, disaster response teams and other interested parties to compare and contrast levels geographically and over time.

So why is this of interest to explorers? Well, first of all many of us venture into parts of the world where the background radiation

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Cutting Edge: DO-RA, Tellum Mobile & the Wicron Webot

levels (natural as well as man-made) might be of concern if you’re exposed for any length of time. Although the dangers of sites such as Chernobyl are already well-documented, publicly available data on other areas — notably fall-out zones from the Polygon and Lop Nur test sites, in Kazakhstan and China, is woefully inadequate.

DO-RA can provide the accurate information required to keep field researchers safe but also, as importantly, that same information can be accessed remotely by human geographers, conservationists etc. exploring the impact of long-term exposure on local populations, flora and fauna.

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Google and Samsung are already taking an interest in DO-RA for their modular smartphones, so we can rapidly expect to see it integrated into mainstream technology as well as the current standalone devices.

Tellum Mobile LTE Stations http://www.ranberry.net

Ranberry was founded in 2010 by a small group of fellows from the Russian Academy of Sciences who were frustrated by the limitations of existing communications infrastructure, especially in remote locations. In 2012 the company was awarded a grant from the Skolkovo Foundation to develop advanced, self-organised LTE small cell technology.

The first product, the Ranberry B1000 4G/LTE Network-In-ABox, has just come to market, and they’re working on a variety of integrated options to deliver an optimised satellite backhaul alternative for remote areas.

In layman’s terms, the B1000 lets you set up broadband communications and mobile CCTV anywhere in the world. The box is lightweight and small enough to fit into cabin baggage, and from opening the case to being up and running takes less than five minutes.

Airbus Group is one of the early phase partners, no doubt having identified the potential of the product in a market worth $2 billion,

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Cutting Edge: DO-RA, Tellum Mobile & the Wicron Webot

but the product is also relevant for first responders and disaster relief missions. Advanced RAN sharing support enables CAPEX and OPEX reduction in multi-operator deployments, and when demand for bandwidth is high, you can boost the signal and reduce interference with additional LTE small cells.

Image Above Courtesy of Tellum Mobile

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Cutting Edge: DO-RA, Tellum Mobile & the Wicron Webot

Wicron Webot http://www.wicron.com

Teleporting is a popular fantasy for adventurers sick to death of hanging around in airports. Until it becomes a reality, the ability to see and interact with a remote environment in real time may just be the next best thing.

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Want to attend a Mongolian wedding when you’re sat in your flat in London? How about survey three archaeological digs on three different continents, all in an afternoon? Check out the Wicron Webot.

The Webot is a telepresence robot. You log-on to the Wicron website from anywhere in the world, and control it over the web.

You see what it sees, and hear what it hears, enabling you to move around, look about and engage in conversations almost as if you were there in person. The cameras and microphone are set on a Image Below, Courtesy of Wicron

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Cutting Edge: DO-RA, Tellum Mobile & the Wicron Webot

turret, enabling you to have a regular view our your environment, you can rotate the ‘head’, and the robot moves at the speed of a man.

The Webots had their first major public outing at CeBIT in Hannover, enabling users to check out the expo remotely. They’re currently deployed at the Central House of Artists in Moscow, so you can enjoy exhibitions and have a chat with the artists and curators too. Possessing your own exploration Webot (or army of Webots) is already within reach: small numbers are under construction with a lead-time of one month. You can also get them on trial.

Image below: Dmitry Suvorov, Co-founder,Wicron. Courtesy of Wicron.

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"The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it."

Elbert Hubbard

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Flashback: Mountaineering Boots The development of high-altitude expedition boots

Malgosia Skowronska Image Courtesy of ASOLO

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Flashback: Mountaineering Boots The Development of High-Altitude Expedition Boots

It has been more than 90 years since the first attempts to set foot on Everest. The 1920s brought several expeditions, including Mallory and Irvine’s 1924 endeavour, to climb the third pole of earth, as Everest is also known, but it wasn’t until 1953 when the mountain was finally conquered by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

As the dream to climb the Goddess of Earth (or Sagarmatha, according to its Nepali name) grew in the imaginations of mountaineers from across the globe and across generations, so too the gear required has developed from a simple leather boots to state of the art expedition footwear.

The Leather Fetish

For a long time, leather was the material of choice for boot makers.

Climbers tried to conquer the highest mountains in boots made from goat, deer or opossum leather. Those boots had more in common with today’s trekking boots than with high altitude mountaineering footwear, but at the time when they were made, they were the best option available to climbers.

The Early 1920s

Members of the 1924 British Everest Expedition approached specialists in their respective disciplines: manufacturers, tailors and boot-makers such as Benjamin Edgington, James S. Carter, and Silver and Co. Sporting Outfitters. The design for their boots drew heavily on George Finch’s extensive polar knowledge. Calfskin was used over a thick wool felt boot with a 10mm felt mid sole. Next to this was a 3mm leather sole with built-in nails that were attached only as deep as the felt mid sole. This design stopped heat from being conducted from the feet by the metal.

There really was very little to these earliest boots: what mattered to them was not the technology or special features but the weight of the summit assault boots: each pair weighed just 1.6 kg. For comparison, the modern-day Millet Everest boots weight in at 2.8 kg. Even the 1953 British Everest expedition boot weighted 1.9 kg in total. As it was pointed out by Harold Raeburn, who was responsible for the equipment during the 1921 British Everest

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Flashback: Mountaineering Boots The Development of High-Altitude Expedition Boots

Expedition, and a year before attempted to climb Kangchenjunga, “As regards weight, it is often not realised what a handicap heavy footgear is. A calculation shows that, given a difference of two pounds between the boots of two climbers, A and B, making the ascent of Nevis from Fort William, the heavier shod drags off the ground more than nine tons more than the lighter. ”

Mallory and Irvine’s boots were simply the lightest piece of footwear ever to be used on Everest. As Mallory pointed out himself, “My intention is to carry as little as possible, move fast and catch the summit by surprise.” But he wasn’t the only one who opted for lightweight boots for the summit push. In 1950, Herzog and Lachenal, two French climbers known for the first ever ascent of an 8,000m peak, Annapurna (8,091m), also used thin leather boots to minimise the weight. That decision resulted in severe frostbite and the subsequent amputation of the climber’s toes.

Everest 1953

Despite the tragic fate of Mallory and Irvine during their 1924 attempt on Everest, many expeditions remained determined to tackle the highest peak on earth. The 1930s saw several British Everest expeditions, and for their footwear technology they relied on the knowledge and skills of Robert Lawrie. The leading shoemaker of the interwar period, and enthusiastic climber and mountaineer in his own right, Lawrie came up with a new design for general climbing boots, the total weight of which was 1.7 kg.

Lawrie was tasked with supplying boots for the 1933 expedition, and he was then commissioned to deliver general climbing footwear for John Hunt’s 1953 Everest expedition. Lined with opossum fur, sandwiched between two layers of leather and with a woollen felt inner sole (similar to the one used in 1924), but with a very thin rubber sole, the boots proved to work well for the conditions at the lower elevations. Small issues did appear, however, as expedition member Charles Wylie observed, “This thin vibram sole proved rather too thin and started coming away at the toes.” The matter was quickly resolved by another team member, Wilfrid Noyce, who had spent three days with Lawrie training in shoe repair before setting

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Flashback: Mountaineering Boots The Development of High-Altitude Expedition Boots

off for the expedition.

The summit boots were a totally different game, however. The challenge was to create footwear that would balance weight and durability. The 1953 Everest team believed that high altitude boots did not have to be that durable, as they would be needed only for the few weeks during which the summit push was made. At the same time, though, they did have to be strong enough to take crampons and to kick in steps in the snow, and warm enough to get to the end of the expedition without suffering from frostbite.

Furthermore, a good level of waterproofness was desirable to prevent the boots from getting wet and consequently freezing up.

So, with this simple and straightforward idea in mind, the expedition members approached SATRA, a technology centre based in Kettering, and left them with the task of creating boots that would take the 1953 British team to the top of Sagarmatha.

SATRA’s Director of Research, Harry Bradley, had to come up with a revolutionary design far removed from the thigh-length, bulky deerskin cocoons commonly used at that time by climbers. He was tasked with preparing four pairs of prototype boots less than a year before the expedition, and so his team got to work pretty quickly. A lightweight, flexible leather with a good level of water repellency was desirable for the uppers, and glacÊ kid was chosen for the task.

Once sprayed with latex (an added twist), the uppers would give good protection when trudging through wet snow.

Right next to the uppers (which were deliberately designed to be a bit wider to accommodate insulation), was a thick layer of insulation made of kapok fibres. Kapok, also known as silk cotton or Java cotton, refers to a tropical tree and to the fibre it produces.

With its resistance to clumping and a cellular structure which does a great job in trapping air, it is proven to be a perfect insulating material. Originally used for stuffing toys, life jackets and WW2 flying suits, kapok gradually lost its battle in favour of polyester stuffing.

The inner lining of the 1953 boots was a rubberised fabric. When combined with the rubberised leather insole, all the seams of which

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Flashback: Mountaineering Boots The Development of High-Altitude Expedition Boots

were sealed with latex, it created a kind of inner boot, which worked as vapour barrier. This innovation prevented the insulation being dampened by sweaty feet, which could have adversely affected its efficacy. Wet feet would not be a problem so long as they were kept warm, and so the climbers’ feet were further protected against the cold by adding a 10mm high-grade felt under sole and an outsole of the same thickness. The outsole was made from a microcellular resin rubber with hand-cut lugs.

To offer additional protection against the snow, the boots supplied with removable rubberised stockinettes. However, they weren’t strong enough for the task. As expedition member Charles Wylie wrote, “The thin outer covers proved too weak over this period, and developed tears and holes through which snow entered and wet the boot. The Swiss system of a detachable gaiter, as worn by Tenzing… would be better”. Nevertheless, both the climbing and the highaltitude boots were designed with a low cut, as this would make it easier to slip your foot into a frozen boot. Even the lacing holes were eliminated in favour of ‘D’ rings, as it would make the tightening of laces easier with frozen fingers.

The boot tests were conducted in the Swiss Alps during December 1952. With a total weight of 1.9 kg, they were a kilo lighter than the boots used by the Swiss on earlier expeditions. The innovative design of the SATRA boots not only helped the mountaineers to conquer Everest, but also saved them from getting frostbite.

Conquering K2 in Deer Fur

A year later, in 1954, the mountaineering world was a witness to yet another incredible achievement: the ascent of K2 by an Italian team.

The summiteers, Compagnoni and Lacedelli, wore Dolomite kneelength, high-altitude boots that were made from deer fur with opossum liners. Equipped with Vibram soles, the boots gave them a better grip on icy and mixed state surfaces.

Just as the history of mountaineering is full of fascinating stories, so too is the development of the gear which aided climbers in their pursuit of the world’s mountain summits. And the development of

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Flashback: Mountaineering Boots The Development of High-Altitude Expedition Boots

the Vibram sole is one such story.

Italian mountaineer Vitale Bramani lost six of his friends in a climbing accident in 1935. This horrific accident was partly due to the climbers’ unsuitable footwear, and so Bramani set himself the goal of improving the grip of climbing boots.

It took two years of research and close cooperation with the Pirelli automobile tyre company before the first Vibram sole was born.

Like the tyres, the sole used vulcanised rubber technology.

Designed to provide good grip in all conditions by preventing the snow from sticking, the sole featured cross-pattern lugs and had a thick base over a thinner bearing surface. Bramani’s determination led him to create soles that nowadays are used in almost any high performance boots designed for extreme environments and are recognised by a yellow, lozenge-shaped logo.

The Fantastic Plastics

It took nearly 25 years to change the design of mountaineering footwear. Leather boots gradually gave a way to new boot technology: plastic mountaineering boots. In the early 1970s, ski boot makers started to experiment with plastic boots for high altitude use, but it wasn’t until 1978 when Koflach of Austria created plastic shelled mountain boots. Ed Viesturs, an American climber who used Koflach boots on all of his 8,000m peaks, wrote in his bestselling book No Shortcuts to the Top that, “The old leather boots that climbers favored for more than a century are vastly inferior to plastics, because leather absorbs moisture, which then freezes. It’s a natural recipe for frostbite.”

A British climber, Andy Parkin, also used both leather and plastics.

In an email conversation he pointed out that, “My first big boots were in leather, so heavy and they could get wet. In 1982 I went to the Karakorum and had plastic Koflach boots and they were much better, though not so warm. In 1983 I used them on Broad Peak and on summit day cold feet were a problem. The same year on K2 I climbed to 8,000 meters on a new route and they were okay.”

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Flashback: Mountaineering Boots The Development of High-Altitude Expedition Boots

Known also as double boots, they were built of a plastic outer shell and had an insulated inner boot. They were first produced with felt liners which were later swapped for closed cell foam inners. These were named after the sole itself, Alveolit. Having a removable inner boot allowed for its replacement when it had been used and abused after years of climbing, and the stiff plastic shell was tough enough for kicking steps in the snow.

Climbing Everest in ‘Wedges’

While plastics were gaining popularity in Western Europe, climbers from Poland came up with yet another footwear design. During the first ever winter ascent of Everest in the 1980, Polish mountaineers Leszek Cichy and Krzysztof Wielicki used boots with a 5cm cork outsole. Cork seemed to be a perfect insulation from the cold, but it made climbers feel like they were walking on wedges. The boots were the brainchild of expedition team leader Andrzej Zawada, and nowadays can be admired in the Museum of Sport and Tourism in Warsaw.

State-of-the-Art High-Altitude Boots

Technological progress over the last few decades has led to creation of the warmest mountaineering boots currently available on the market. Known as the ‘triple’ boot or ‘single boot system’, they have been designed from scratch for expedition use, which should be read as plodding in the snow rather than technical ice climbing.

As Andy Parkin told me, “The thing is the boots used now are specially built for the cold with better materials. The problem with them is that some are not so rigid for hard climbing.”

There are a number of companies specialising in the production of triple boots, including Asolo, Millet, Scarpa, La Sportiva, and Lowa.

Their all-in-one boots tend to have similar designs, with an overboot extending to a built-in, knee-length gaiter and a removable inner boot.

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Flashback: Mountaineering Boots The Development of High-Altitude Expedition Boots

Asolo Manaslu GV

For the last 30 years, Asolo has been developing footwear solutions for various types of mountain boots. The Asolo Manaslu GV has been created to aid mountaineers in their pursuit of climbing the highest peaks in the most extreme conditions.

The sole system is built of a Vibram Mulaz outsole, which provides excellent durability and better traction, whereas the dual-density, microporous rubber midsole has PU inserts (front and back) to fit crampons. Rigid carbon and fibreglass lasting board, and 400g of Primaloft insulation located under the footbed (designed to stop the cold from getting in through the sole), together with Manaslu felt and cambrelle (a synthetic fabric that absorbs perspiration), creates a sole system which gives a solid base for the foot.

The outer shell provides the first point of protection from the elements. Its upper part, a gaiter which runs up to knee height, is constructed from a highly abrasive-resistant Cordura. The gaiter is further reinforced with additional Cordura and Kevlar laminates.

The inner lining of the gaiter is composed of a Gore-Tex Extended Comfort Footwear membrane, Gore-Tex being the best waterproof material currently available on the market. The shell below the gaiter is also built of Cordura, with 2mm of felt. This is then lined with 4mm polyester, with an added aluminium layer plus velveteen.

Additional protection from crampons is also possible thanks to the rubber rands running around each boot.

The climber’s feet are additionally protected by an inner boot made from breathable polyester and microfibres. 200g of Primaloft insulation provides a powerful barrier against the cold. The textured outsole of the inner boot gives better grip on the outer boot and when inner boots are used alone on a quick pop outside the tent.

Overall, the boots’ design makes them easier to put them on and take off, especially with big mittens on. Instead of laces, the outer shell has a zip covered with a Velcro strap which runs through the entire length of the boot on its side. The inner and outer boot double lacing system has been simplified for an ideal fit.

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Flashback: Mountaineering Boots The Development of High-Altitude Expedition Boots

With a total weight of 3kg, the Asolo boots are a great match for high alpine pursuits and were used by doctors and scientists on the Xtreme Everest 2007 expedition, when they reached the summit to carry out medical experiments on hypoxia.

Looking back, we might well think that boots from the early 1920s were not suitable for high-altitude climbing, as no modern-day mountaineer would survive in such basic footwear. When examining the development of high-altitude boots over the last century, however, it is easy to get carried away with our criticism of the early Everest expeditions. Indeed, many climbers have expressed their disbelief at Mallory and Irvine’s possible achievement. In 1980, an Italian climber, Reinhold Messner, who that year soloed Everest and two years earlier was the first to climb Everest without supplemental oxygen (together with Habeler), expressed his doubts that Mallory could have ever reach the top with such a poor equipment. Conrad Anker, a well-known American mountaineer, who in 1999 found Mallory’s body and, later, set out to conquer Everest dressed in replicas of the 1920s gear, concluded that, "It’s phenomenal that they were able to get to 28,000 feet [8,530 metres] in what I would basically call clothing you’d wear to walk through the forest.”

As the design, fabrics and technology for making high-altitude boots have improved over the decades, the one thing that remains unchanged is our desire to achieve the almost impossible, to climb the highest mountains. And if anyone is wondering why that might be the case, Mallory’s words sum it up well: “Because it’s there.”

Ascent Boots: The Asolo Ascender GV Women

While mountaineering boots are specifically designed to perform well at high altitudes, the footwear required for an expedition approach trek is of a rather simpler build. The Asolo Ascender is a perfect match for such a trek as its lightness (770g per boot), makes them comfortable in warm temperatures, whilst the rigid design gives a good grip on rocks and difficult approach paths.

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Flashback: Mountaineering Boots The Development of High-Altitude Expedition Boots

Featuring the new Vibram sole with Dual Integrated System (DIS) technology, these boots absorb impact better than earlier models and hold well while braking on rough terrain. The sole system is reinforced with a dual-density, microporous rubber midsole which include DIS PU inserts so you can use semi-automatic or automatic crampons if you need to trek across a glacier or difficult snowy parts.

I really like the rubber rands around the boot, which protects the leather from crampon cuts or being damaged by sharp rocks.

The uppers of the boots are made from high-resistance polyamide fabric (an innovative textile used to minimise the weight), and 1.6– 1.8mm of suede. The tongue expands out, so it’s not necessary to loosen the laces all of the way down. This makes the boots very easy to put boots on and take it off.

Once tightened, the slightly higher uppers give solid ankle support and force the heel to stay in the same place, preventing it from lifting up when trekking. With Gore-Tex Performance Comfort Footwear, inner lining offers superb waterproofness and breathability, a crucial feature of any trekking boot. Although that they look and feel stiffer than any other hiking boots, the fact that they are so light makes them the right shoes to use for Via Ferrate in Italy, or winter climbing in Scotland (albeit with extra socks).

The Ascender has a rather narrow cut, which is perfect for my petit feet. However, even when I tried them on with a heavy mountaineering socks, there was still enough room at the front. This is especially important when hiking on a terrain with a lot of elevation gain. Going downhill can be rather painful for your toes, as the foot tends to slide towards the front of the boot, pushing on the toes. I didn’t have this issue with the Ascender.

And the most important piece of the design, these are women’s boots and yet they are purple! No more pink!

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On Location: Siberian Field Test

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Sophie Ibbotson & Max Lovell Hoare

Images © Maximum Exposure Productions

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What We Tested

Sophie Ibbotson

Height: 5’5 Build: Small

Base Layers: SmartWool Mid 250 Crew (S); Odlo Revolution Underwear

Jackets: Fjall Raven Sarek Winter (XS); Odlo Cocoon X Jacket (S)

Trousers: Fjällräven Winter Pro (29”); Jack Wolfskin Rainfall Pants (38)

Socks: Rohan Climate - Cool & Cold (UK 6-8); Baffin Merino (M)

Boots: Baffin Sno Goose (US 9); Bogs WS Tacoma Tall (US 9)

Gloves: Baffin Gauntlet (S); Gushlow and Cole Full Palm Mitt (One size)

Accessories: Icebreaker Merino Flexi Chute (One size);

Max Lovell-Hoare Height: 5’10 Build: Medium

Base Layers: Baffin Base Layer (M); Mountain Warehouse Asgard (M); Rohan Merino 150 Leggings (M)

Jackets: Baffin Polar Parka (M)

Trousers: Baffin Polar Pants (M)

All-in-one: Canada Goose Riggers Coverall (M)

Socks: Keela 300 Series (UK 9.5-12)

Boots: Baffin Ice Breaker (US 12); Bogs Classic Mid (US 12)

Gloves: Baffin Polar Mitt (M)

Accessories: Outdoor Research Sonic Balaclava (One size); Snowline Chainsen Pro Ice Spikes (L)

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On Location: Siberian Field Test Sophie Ibbotson & Max Lovell Hoare

On Location: Siberian Field Test

There is inhospitable weather in inhospitable places, and then there is winter in Siberia. If you are going to trial extreme weather gear, from boots and socks to base layers and insulated jackets, there can be no better - nor more beautiful - part of the world to go to. The polar regions may score lower readings on the thermometer, but no one actually has to live there. In Siberia, it’s an entirely different story. There is a human population - more than 6 million people with a desire to live, work and play outdoors as well as inside, and in order to do so safely and comfortably, they need to be properly equipped. If a product can stand up to the climatic challenges here, it will stand you in good stead anywhere warmer in the world.

For the first On Location field test we picked Lake Baikal, the world’s largest lake by volume of water. Just to the east of Irkutsk in south-central Siberia, the upper portion of the lake freezes completely solid for six months of the year, when it becomes a winter sports hub. There are ski resorts overlooking the lake; the Irkutsk Ski Marathon takes place here each March; and in between you can try your hand at ice driving, husky racing, snow moiling and ice fishing. A few crazy souls even have a go at ice cycling.

There is therefore ample opportunity to test out clothing in all manner of different, real-world scenarios, really putting it through its paces.

The field test took place in mid March 2015, the tail end of the Siberian winter, though the lake is still well frozen. Our thermometer registered a balmy -27 Celsius in the early morning, and there was a clear sky and bright sunshine for much of the time.

Uncovered fingers burned with the wind chill, as did the ends of our noses, but at the same time it was possible to get quite warm inside all the layers once you were running around. We were therefore looking to establish which items could keep the cold at bay, whilst not overheating the body parts inside.

The Boots

Between us we tested four pairs of thermal boots, the Baffin Ice

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On Location: Siberian Field Test Sophie Ibbotson & Max Lovell Hoare

Breaker Baffin and Snow Goose, and the Bogs WS Tacoma Tall and the Bogs Classic Mid. Loosely speaking, the Baffin boots are serious work boots, designed for polar expeditions and mining camps in the back end of Alaska, and Bogs cater to the more fashion conscious end of the market: these are boots you could wear out and about at home, as well as in the wild. That said, the Bogs Classic Mid are still temperature rated down to -40 Celsius, so our field test was well within their capacity.

The Baffin Ice Breaker are designed for men and they are bulky: packing them into your luggage would leave little space for anything else, so I [Max] wore mine on the flight out from London to Moscow, and on my domestic flight too. Inside and in ordinary temperatures, my feet were certainly rather too warm, though to give them their due, the boots did breathe. What surprised me most, however, is that in spite of their size, these boots are remarkably light. They don’t feel heavy when you are wearing them: the weight is no greater than that of a regular pair of hiking boots.

The Baffin Ice Breaker has a thick, rubber sole that gives grip and also a substantial degree of insulation against the cold of the ice. The grip on these boots was superior to that on the other three pairs we tested. The upper part of the boot is a mixture of leather and synthetic panels. The Ice Breaker is wide across the arch of your foot and on the calf, so it’d certainly be possible to wear multiple pairs of socks or padded trousers with them, though in my view the boots are warm enough already without these additional layers of insulation. The lacing at the front at first looks to be cosmetic (you don’t need to undo it to get the boots on) but in fact means that you can tighten or loosen the top part of the boot to accommodation thick trousers or to keep a draft at bay.

The closest women’s option to the Ice Breaker is the Baffin Sno Goose. These boots are a little smaller and lighter, but still good down to -70 Celsius, so you’ll have no complaints on that front. I [Sophie] perpetually suffer from cold feet, and so the thought of being stood out on the ice for days on end filled me with dread. I needn’t have worried. Not once did I feel the cold in the Sno Goose, and I’ve gone on to wear them about the house too!

Image Opposite: Fjall Raven Sarek Winter and Fjall Raven Winter Pro

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On Location: Siberian Field Test Sophie Ibbotson & Max Lovell Hoare

The lining of both the Baffin Sno Goose and the Ice Breaker has two interesting features worthy of note. It looks like a honeycomb, trapping physical pockets of air, and there are also layers of silver foil, reflecting the heat back it. You can take out the linings to clean or replace them (Baffin sells the replacement liners) but it would take a great deal of wear for this to become a necessity: they seem pretty indestructible, and providing you wear them with socks, shouldn’t start to smell too bad.

The Bogs WS Tacoma Tall (image opposite, bottom) is a good looking boot, especially in red, and although it is modelled on a wellington boot, it is far more fitted to the shape of the calf. The rubber outer skin makes it completely waterproof, but inside that there is a layer of thermal insulation, ensuring you remain warm as well as dry. Recognising the challenges of pulling on boots whilst wearing gloves, Bogs have included a handle on the side of the boots so that you can get a grip. It’s a simple but smart design feature that really helps numb hands.

The rubber sole on these was not as thick as on the Sno Goose, but it gave ample grip on snow and where there was a snow coating on top of the ice. Slippage only occurred on sheet ice, which is fair enough. The combination of the Bogs WS Tacoma Tall with the Baffin Merino socks worked particularly well: the socks didn’t slip down inside, and my toes stayed toasty warm.

The Bogs Classic Mid (image opposite, top) are a shorter, stockier boot that would work as well on the dairy farm as out in the snow.

They come in two versions, mid-calf length and knee-high, and in this instance we tested the former. Again, they have the side handle for ease of getting them on and off, but there is one notable difference between these and the Bogs WS Tacoma. In the Bogs Classic, only the bottom part of the boot is made from rubber. This includes the sole, and the section up to ankle height. Above this, the boot is made from very thick neoprene. This means that it is a lot more flexible than a rubber boot, whilst still having sufficient structure to hold its own. It is still waterproof, though you would be a little concerned about scratching or tearing it if you were tromping through spiky undergrowth.

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On Location: Siberian Field Test Sophie Ibbotson & Max Lovell Hoare

Having fallen several times on the more slippery patches of ice, I [Max] did also try the Snowline Chainsen Ice Spikes. These metal spikes, which come in a plastic case small enough to fit in your pocket, can be stretched across the soles of any boots. They were a better fit with the Bogs Classic Mid than the bulkier Baffin Ice Breaker, but in both cases did certainly give me additional, welcome grip. The ice was very solid, meaning that I needed to stomp rather than step in order to scratch into its surface enough, but on thinner ice, or a mixture of ice and snow, this would not have been necessary.

Outer Layers

Canada Goose has devised the ultimate onesie: the Canada Goose Riggers Coverall (image opposite). If you are a self-respecting adult male, but still see the appeal of a baby grow, this is the outfit for you. You can step outside wearing a down sleeping bag with a furry hood, and no one will think any the worse of you for it. This Canada Goose is cool.

Aesthetically, the Canada Goose Riggers Coverall is pretty pleasing.

It’s not too bulky, at a distance it looks like you’re wearing a matching jacket and trousers, and the colour is sensible: not everyone wants to look like a colour blind snow boarder. The Canada Goose logo on the pocket is large enough to tell everyone around you that this is the real deal, but not so huge that it screams “brand” at them from a distance. It’s a strip of real fur on the hood, which although not to everyone’s taste, at least doesn’t sweat and itch, unlike its synthetic equivalent.

The drawback to the Riggers Coverall is getting it on or off. I [Max] found that it was too hot to wear with anything other than base layers underneath, and so when I wanted to put it on, I had to strip down to almost nothing. This was ok the first time when I did it inside, but changing outside on the ice later on in the day meant that I was temporarily absolutely freezing, with drafts in all the wrong places. You also have to remove your boots to get your feet in, and the legs of the trousers were too snug to go over the outside of the boots, but too bulky to fit inside. An elasticated panel down the

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On Location: Siberian Field Test Sophie Ibbotson & Max Lovell Hoare

side, or some other way of adjusting the width of the trouser leg, would help in this regard.

The men’s alternative to the Riggers Coverall was the Baffin Polar Parka and Pants. Designed primarily for polar expeditions, as the name suggests, it’d be fair to say that you could sleep out under the stars in this get up, at least for several hours, and still not feel the cold. The jacket and pants are bulky (they took up almost an entire Eagle Creek duffle bag on their own) but they are not heavy: most of it seems to be fluff. You can pull the hood as tightly around your face as you like (on occasions it is tempting only to have your eyes showing), and there are ample pockets with zips. Another zip and poppers on the side of the trousers legs means that you don’t have to take off the trousers to get your boots on, which is an advantage over the Canada Goose offering.

The only downsides of the Baffin Polar Parka and Pants are the way that they make you look. It’s not a pretty sight (image opposite)!

Even a moderately sized person is going to look like the Michelin man, and the products only come in orange (marketed as gold). It is not an outfit for the vain, but if warmth is your only priority, it will certainly meet expectation.

Neither of the above outer layer options are available for women (you’d have to buy the Small size and puff up your chest), so I [Sophie] opted for the Fjall Raven Sarek Winter Jacket and Fjall Raven Winter Pro Trousers, which are made from the same rustcoloured, slightly canvasy fabric. The jacket is padded and with a faux-fur trim, but there’s no insulation in the trousers, so I also chose the Jack Wolfskin Rainfall Pants as an interim layer between the Winter Pro and my base layers.

This outfit has style. The jacket and trousers are both well cut, with sufficient room to accommodate the layers beneath, but not so much that you end up looking misshapen. The fabric is water and wind resistant and there are a good number of well-situated pockets, which is not always the case with women’s clothing. There’s a substantial-sized zip pull on the main zip, which is advantageous as it means you can do the jacket up (or undo it) without having to

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take off your gloves or fiddle too hard with cold, numb fingers.

In the bright sun of midday, the Sarek Winter Jacket was warm enough: I’d estimate it’d good to around -20 Celsius. Later in the day when it was more overcast and the wind picked up, however, it wasn’t quite as warm as I’d have liked. I therefore added the Odlo Cocoon X Jacket as a mid layer, and this seemed to be the ideal combination. The visor from the latter does look a little odd, though it can be folded back under the hood. The Odlo Cocoon X packs away to almost nothing, so would easily fit into the pocket of the Sarek Winter Jacket if the day became fine and you no longer needed the extra insulation.

Base Layers

For comparison purposes, we both tested two sets of base layers.

For men, the Baffin Base Layer comprises two parts, top and pants, and they have a stream-lined look akin to cycling or rowing lycras.

The fabric is synthetic and fits close to the skin, but surprisingly it doesn’t sweat. It’s available in a women’s version too. There was a

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On Location: Siberian Field Test Sophie Ibbotson & Max Lovell Hoare

brief period around mid day when the air temperature was warm enough to strip off my jacket, and then I [Max] could just about get away (for a few minutes at least) with wearing the top on its own.

The Mountain Warehouse Asgard, a zip neck top, doesn’t have an equivalent long-john part, so I twinned it with the Rohan Merino 150 Leggings. Both these products contain a component of merino wool, making them gloriously soft. They’re noticeably thicker than the Baffin Base Layer, but you feel cosy, and I’d certainly consider wearing the Asgard as a top in its own right in slightly warmer climes.

The two women’s options were the SmartWool Mid 250 Crew; and the Odlo Revolution Underwear. In terms of warmth, the SmartWool slightly has the edge, but as I only had the top half, not the leggings, that might only be 50% of the story. The Odlo Revolution Underwear comes in several variations: I had the longsleeved, crew neck t-shirt and the leggings, both in bright pink (the other option being mid grey). The cut of these is unusually flattering for base layers, and the top would work as a t-shirt, though it was too cold on this occasion to try that. The fabric certainly kept me warm, and was comfortable all day long, but it did develop slight sweat patches, which didn’t seem to be an issue with the SmartWool.

Accessories

We had two criteria for gloves in Siberia: they had to keep your fingers and hands warm; and they had to enable you to carry out basic tasks, including doing up zips, opening bags etc. There’s little point in having gloves on if you lose the use of your hands. Between us, we tried three pairs of gloves and mitts: the Baffin Gauntlet, the Baffin Polar Mitt and the Gushlow and Cole Full Palm Mitt.

There are two major contrasts between these products: the target market; and the materials. Baffin is an extreme weather brand, and the Gauntlet (gloves) and Polar Mitt are purposefully designed for expedition wear. They are padded, made from synthetic materials, and have rubberised sections to give you added grip. Far removed

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Image Opposite: Sophie wearing an Odlo Cocoon X Jacket

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Image: Baffin Polar Mitt

from this is Guslow and Cole, a women’s fashion firm working predominantly with sheepskin and shearling. The Full Palm Mitt has a thick sheepskin exterior, lined and trimmed with a longer fur.

So how did they stand up in our test?

From a warmth perspective, all three products did very well indeed.

The Baffin items are much bulkier, and possibly had the edge in terms of toasty finger tips, but it was a fine line indeed. The Gushlow and Cole Full Palm Mitt felt cosier, and you could always scrunch your fingers satisfactorily against the furry lining.

The challenge came in terms of dexterity. Both pairs of mitts were immediately out: you had to take them off in order to be able to anything other than lifting an object or hanging on to the handle of a dog sled or skidoo. That only left the Baffin Gauntlet, of which we had one pair between the two of us. The smallest size these come in is a Small, which was just about ok for Max (usually a size Medium) but too large for me [Sophie]. Even in these, there was no chance of doing up a button or anything similarly fiddly. We concluded that the best option would have been one of the pairs of mittens but with a thinner pair of gloves inside so that your hands still had some protection once the outer layer was removed.

The final two items in the trial were the Icebreaker Merino Flexi Chute and the Outdoor Research Sonic Balaclava. The functionality of these two items is the same - they keep your neck

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On Location: Siberian Field Test Sophie Ibbotson & Max Lovell Hoare

warm by excluding drafts - but the shape is a little different. The Flexi Chute rolls down into multiple layers around your neck (though could probably be pulled up at the back to cover your head) and the Sonic Balaclava is designed to fully cover your head and sides of your face, as well as your neck. Being made of merino wool, the Flexi Chute is nicer to the touch and more breathable, but if you didn’t have the jacket hood up, it tended to ride down and leave you with an inch or two of vulnerable neck just below the hairline. There was no such problem with the Sonic Balaclava on account of its shape.

Conclusion

If we could only walk away from this field test with one item each, we’d choose the Baffin Sno Goose and Baffin Ice Breaker boots.

They were, quite simply, superb. They performed exactly as we needed them to, they were exceptionally comfortable, and they didn’t sweat. What is more, both styles are incredible value for money: specialist kit typically comes with a hefty price tag, but these cost no more than a good pair of hiking boots. If you’re planning an arctic expedition, a solo trek across Siberia, or simply want to sit indefinitely on a glacier, watching the view but without losing your toes to frostbite, these are the boots to buy.

With the clothing, proper layering was key. None of the items we tested are designed to stand alone, and you shouldn’t expect them to. The natural fibre base layers feel best against your skin, and also seem to be better at wicking away sweat quickly. Using the Odlo Cocoon X, the light, insulated jacket, as a mid layer worked well, and when combined with the Fjall Raven Sarek Winter jacket and Vidda Pro trousers, the complete outfit was ideal for the climate.

On a future occasion we’d also be inclined to try the men’s version the slightly heavier weight Fjall Raven Kyl Parka - as this would seem to be a good (and possibly slightly more flexible) alternative to the Canada Goose Riggers Coverall.

For individual item reviews, which include our star ratings, prices and where to buy them, see the Ripcord Adventure Gear Guide Listings.

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Nuala Moore

Image: Nuala Moore (left) and Anne-Marie Ward (right).

Courtesy of Nuala Moore.

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In Full:

Mullion Aquafloat Superior Jacket & Trousers

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In Full: Mullion Aquafloat Superior Jacket & Trousers Nuala Moore

Every review in the RAJ Gear Guide is written by a World Explorer after extensive field testing. But the ratings you read in the listings only reflect a tiny proportion of this work. Why did they give the product the ratings they did? How good does something have to be to earn five stars? What expertise and experience does the tester they have that makes them a credible reviewer?

In Full is designed to give you all the details, and in this first issue we’ve asked extreme swimmer Nuala Moore to give us the lowdown on her Mullion Aquafloat Superior Jacket and Trousers.

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So, who is Nuala Moore?

I am an ice swimmer and extreme swimmer, but I also spend a lot of time in Zodiacs and exposed to all the elements of nature. I swim in temperatures of zero degrees Celsius, swimming multiple times in one day and I also swim for as long as 23 minutes in ice. I’m one of very few swimmers in the world to have competed 1000m at Zero degrees, twice. I have swum in ice in Siberia-Eastern Russia when the air temperature was 40 below; and I swam from Russia to USA across the Bering Strait in relay, and also off the southern tip of Argentina.

My safety and survival depends on my body's ability to maintain its body heat and also to recover between swims. Clothing is everything. For many adventurers, they wrap up when it comes to air temperatures this low. I have to remove all my clothing and expose my body to life threatening temperatures, and then recover.

I have worn the Sioen range since 2006, starting with the Immersion Flotation suit (which is a one-piece) and then moving onto the twopiece Mullion Aquafloat Superior Jacket and Trousers which I review below:

Mullion Aquafloat Superior Jacket and Trousers Aesthetics: 4/5 The jacket and the trousers both give the appearance of bulk and masculinity, but the moment you put them on, they look so appropriate (and the material is so soft) that they do not seem bulky Image Opposite Top: Bering Straits. Courtesy of Nuala Moore.

Image Opposite Middle and Bottom Courtesy of Mullion.

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at all. The colours are excellent, and the design really gives them a sense of purpose. The pockets are perfect and they really fit into the extreme environment.

Functionality: 5/5 This equipment is amazing. My priorities are protection from the elements, and also the ability to reheat my body and to protect it from hypothermia. The ability of the jacket and trousers to withstand the highest levels of moisture and wind is colossal. I was sitting exposed in 80-knot winds in the middle of the night in the Bering Strait on a Zodiac and I was 100% comfortable.

In Siberia, I stood in -33 degrees Celsius for hours without ever feeling cold. The material does not allow the external elements in and the thermal properties keep the body temperature optimal.

You don’t overheat at all.

You can wear the jacket and trousers indoors also

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In Full: Mullion Aquafloat Superior Jacket & Trousers In Full: Mullion Aquasport Superior Jacket & Trousers Nuala Moore Nuala Moore

without getting too hot. In my sport of ice swimming, maintaining body temperature as I stand around before my swims, and then reheating my body immediately afterwards, is integral to my safety as much as it is to my success. Clothing must be able to withstand the body moisture as it reheats, and it is possible to pull the trousers on immediately for recovery without the insides becoming too damp. I would never leave home for my ice swims with anything else.

The pockets in the jacket and trousers are brilliant. They are fleecelined for your hands. The ankles and sleeves also have closures to prevent draughts. My favourite aspect is that they come equipped with reflectors, which allows me to be visible at night. The hood is bright yellow and reflective.

Durability: 5/5 I have travelled around the world with my immersion suits and my jackets on multiple expeditions in extreme conditions. The material has never torn, frayed, or even shown signs of abuse. I lie on concrete and I sit on the wet floors of boats and still the material does not show signs of wear. My fleece and my immersion suits are eight years old and still my favourite suits. I roll and bundle the material, but it bounces back to perfection.

Comfort: 5/5 I would sleep in it. I was once in an extreme casualty situation after swimming for 40 minutes in 3 degrees Celsius water at altitude. The weather took a turn for the worse and the team bundled me into my immersion suit. When the rescue services arrived, the winch operator stated to the medics that “her core temperature was preserved by her survival suit”. Resting in this suit is perfect.

Value for money: 5/5 I have paid much more money for much less value. The jacket is marketed for £149 and the trousers for £99, and their durability makes them a supreme investment for any person engaged in an outdoor life connected with extreme weather.

Total Score: 4.8/5 (RAJ Gear Guide Gold Star)

Give it the gold star!

Image Opposite: Nuala Moore in the zone! Courtesy of Nuala Moore.

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Part TWO

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Best of...Base Layers Ben Maxfield

Best of...

Base Layers

So base layers are the garment closest to your skin. They can range in price from £4.99 to £49.99, so what’s the difference? What makes base layers so special?

Well, the first thing I always hear people say when they are giving advice on base layers is don’t wear cotton. But why? What is so bad about the material we wear most as a nation? Firstly, let’s look at what a base layer is supposed to do: it should wick the moisture away from your body and dry quickly when wet.

The clothing on your skin should also act an an insulator when the air temperature is lower than your body temperature. With cotton, moisture collects in the fabric holes and stays wet. As a result, it will become heavy and make you cold. Despite this, some polar explorers used to swear by it, but ensuring it didn’t get wet. I guess they didn’t sweat much.

Wool also fails to wick moisture away and traps sweat, but it is the only fabric which will still insulate when wet. Be warned though: it can retain over 35% of its dry weight in water! Merino wool, which is like regular sheep’s wool but without the itchiness, has come a long way though, and it is definitely my preference now.

Silk is often used for base layers. It is obviously very comfortable, dries quickly, and is very thin. Silk base layers don’t always last that long and, to be honest, they can start to smell quite quickly. Before I dared talk to anyone about it, in my teenage years, I used to think I was allergic to it because it made me smell so bad. I thought I was different… It turns out I’m odd for different reasons!

Ben Maxfield

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Jack Wolfskin Passion Trail Seamless LS

Aesthetics: 5 Comfort: 4 Durability: 5 Functionality: 5 Value for Money: 4 Total Score: 4.6 (RAJ Gold Star)

There is no doubt about it, Jack Wolfskin have really done something special here. I tested this over a period of tough climbing days and the seamless design is incredibly comfortable. It doesn’t suffer from the odour problems that many base layers do, and it always seems to feel dry. If you’re into comfort, this could be the base layer for you.

Smartwool Next to Skin (NTS) 150 Crew

Aesthetics: 4 Comfort: 5 Durability: 4 Functionality: 5 Value for Money: 4 Total Score: 4.4

Smartwool is a brand name many people won’t yet have heard of, but they have produced a very snug fitting base layer that we tested in Russia. The base layer not only has 100% Merino wool, but also a UPF50+, which reduces the amount of UV rays the top will absorb. On top of this, they have added shoulder panels for extra comfort.

Everything seems to be covered in this design.

Image Courtesy of SmartWool.

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Best of...Base Layers Ben Maxfield

Paramo Grid Technic and Long Janes

Aesthetics: 3 Comfort: 5 Durability: 4 Functionality: 4.5 Value for Money: 3 Total Score: 3.9

It’s obvious that Paramo has gone all out to produce a top of the range pair of garments. The top and leggings allow fantastic freedom of movement, and are very warm with great wicking abilities. The zip (which allows extra ventilation) is covered by material to stop the cold metal from hitting and irritating your chin. The thumb holes are great for anyone serious about layering. The top has a generous lower back length, which is ideal for snow sports. It doesn’t seem to matter what build you are, these base layers fit really well.

Odlo Revolution Underwear

Aesthetics: 4.5 Comfort: 5 Durability: 4 Functionality: 5 Value for Money: 4 Total Score: 4.5 (RAJ Gold Star)

Odlo’s Revolution Underwear is a good example of silk polyester material and is really soft to touch as a result. They fit slim people particularly well. In our test they were warm all day in an area of snow and ice, and the reviewer didn’t overheat or sweat.

Interestingly, these base layers must have breathed well as we got away with wearing them for several days straight without needing to wash them in between. The downside is the care you need to take washing them: it has to be a cold wash.

Image Opposite: Courtesy of Odlo.

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Best of...Base Layers Ben Maxfield

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Best of...Base Layers Ben Maxfield

Ice Peak Bianka

Aesthetics: 4 Comfort: 5 Durability: 4 Functionality: 4 Value for Money: 3 Total Score: 4

Base layers aren’t just for walking, so we tested these the Ice Peak Bianka whilst riding across the countryside. They worked well in the layering system and there was no rubbing on the seams despite six hours in the saddle each day. Overall, these base layers were lightweight and comfortable, very warm, and were quick drying too. Whilst there is a limit to how attractive thermal underwear can be, this set is actually quite stylish. Please note, though, that these are made from polyester, so the top could not be worn for more than one day at a time without developing a distinct aroma!

North Ridge Merino Convect

Aesthetics: 4 Comfort: 5 Durability: 5 Functionality: 5 Value for Money: 5 Total Score: 4.8 (RAJ Gold Star)

North Ridge has really stepped things up this year with garments such as this base layer entering the market with a reasonable price tag and great performance. The North Ridge base layer was tested in Iceland by a team of mountaineers who all rated both the tops and bottoms highly, using them for the duration of the expedition and choosing not to change into anything else. The fit under the arms is comfortable and the sizing is forgiving. For its price, I would recommend this base layer for sure.

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Best of...Base Layers Ben Maxfield

Baffin Base Layers

Aesthetics: 5 Comfort: 5 Durability: 4 Functionality: 5 Value for Money: 5 Total Score: 4.8 (RAJ Gold Star)

With seamless sides for comfort, this set of base layers looks particularly stylish. We found this base layer performed well in the sun as a long sleeved top, and were impressed with the body mapping system. Just be careful you don’t snag the top.

Ice peak Beni

Aesthetics: 5 Comfort: 4 Durability: 5 Functionality: 5 Value for Money: 5 Total Score: 4.8 (RAJ Gold Star)

This is the cheapest set we tested. The garments have short arms and legs, but these layers do work really well in cold conditions. The stitching in the pelvic area is uncomfortable for some, but over all it would work well for the day walker. Note that you will have to wash these layers after each day of use.

Interesting fact‌ Merino wool fibres are about 1/7 the thickness of human hair!

If you want a warm base layer then my advice would be go for Merino wool. But the best advice I can give you you is remember that a good layering system is the most important thing when it comes to performance.

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Best of...Insulated Jackets Ben Maxfield

Best of...

Insulated Jackets

So what do we look for with an insulated jacket? What is an insulated jacket even for? Why are there so many different types?

Well, an insulated jacket can be a down jacket (a jacket filled with duck or goose feathers), or it can be a synthetic alternative.

Historically, down jackets have always been warmer and the preferred outer layer for serious mountaineers in Alpine conditions.

They pack down small, they’re lightweight, they will keep you extremely warm, and they’ve come on a lot in the last few years, so they aren’t even all that bulky.

However, synthetic jackets are particularly popular in the UK where the cold winters are damp. If your down jacket gets damp then it can collapse and won’t be as warm. A synthetic jacket can withstand the moisture, and if it gets wet it will still perform.

Although they are typically heavier than their down equivalents, they are a little more versatile with layering systems, and can go over or under your waterproof shell. Never forget that an insulated jacket of any kind should never be a replacement for a waterproof shell.

We are seeing more and more people using these types of jackets for every day use, and even wearing them to work on cold winter days.

So what is best for you? Put simply it’s this:

Dry and cold days: A down jacket will keep you warmer and more snug.

Damp or wet cold days: Wear a synthetic jacket.

Ben Maxfield

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Best of...Insulated Jackets Ben Maxfield

Odlo Cocoon X

Aesthetics: 4 Comfort: 4 Durability: 3 Functionality: 4 Value for Money: 3 Total Score: 3.6

Odlo is a serious outdoor brand, but with the Cocoon X they straddle the worlds of outdoor clothing and fashion: it’s a jacket likely to be picked up by image-conscious urbanites as well as those wearing it for what it was intended. The down is exceptionally light-weight and warm, though the outer fabric does feel a little too delicate. The hood has an integral visor, which is a nice touch and keeps the glare off your face, though this can be folded back inside if it’s getting in the way.

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Best of...Insulated Jackets Ben Maxfield

Jack Wolfskin Argo

Aesthetics: 4 Comfort: 5 Durability: 4 Functionality: 4 Value for Money: 4 Total Score: 4.2

This is a high quality 90/10 goose down jacket and it’s key feature is it’s lightweight design. At 220g for a size large. Thin material and an 800 fill power, this is a great jacket for some Alpine hiking or perhaps a mid-layer on a damp winter day. Make sure you have a good waterproof jacket to go over the top when using in wet climates.

Baffin Polar Parka

Aesthetics: 3 Comfort: 4 Durability: 4 Functionality: 4 Value for Money: 3 Total Score: 3.6

This is a probably a little more like a traditional down jacket at first glance, and the word ‘Parka’ in the title gives you some idea of the length of the jacket. It is a great 800 down-filled walking jacket or for someone who works in the outdoors and has to stand around for a while. It was used by one of our testers in Russia and it is fair to say slightly longer jackets are often a little more restrictive, it does have a good adjustable hood and a decent waterproof two-way zip. I think it would be rude not to mention the bright yellow colour which really stands out for those wanting to be seen.

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Best of...Insulated Jackets Ben Maxfield

Berghaus Ramche

Aesthetics: 2 Comfort: 4 Durability: 3 Functionality: 5 Value for Money: 4 Total Score: 3.6

This is not only one of the warmest, but also one of the cleverest, pieces of gear in the range. With 850 down fill, this jacket is warm, and you can see that when looking at it. However, Berghaus have tried really hard to make this more water repellent and with a little bit of success: it does bead well, but as with any down jacket, you need to be cautious of this. This is early technology. Perhaps something to focus on is where they have filled the down. They have focused on the shape of the human body when it is active, and even which parts of your body need more insulation, so with good arm movement and focused insulation, this jacket is actually wellsuited for some serious mountaineering.

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Best of...Insulated Jackets Ben Maxfield

Quechua Forclaz 700

Aesthetics: 5 Comfort: 5 Durability: 5 Functionality: 5 Value for Money: 5 Total Score: 5 (RAJ Gold Star)

This jacket is pretty sleek and could be confused for a synthetic jacket. It is only 700 Down fill but is very affordable. It has a really nice stitching pattern. It keeps your neck warm, but this is predominantly a second layer which would not be suitable for extreme conditions. A nice jacket on a cold winter day.

Keela Belay and Munro

Aesthetics: 4.5 Comfort: 4 Durability: 4.5 Functionality: 4 Value for Money: 3 Total Score: 4

The Belay and Munro are designed to be worn separately or together, so you can think of this as a two-part insulated jacket with a waterproof skin: that sets it apart from the other, non-waterproof jackets in this selection. The black and blue colour combination is attractive, and the fabrics used are strong. Both parts are welldesigned and versatile. The only downside is that because you need to buy two jackets rather than one in order to gain all the benefits, the Belay-Munro combo comes in at the more expensive end of the range.

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Best of...Insulated Jackets Ben Maxfield

Ice Peak Eliana

Aesthetics: 5 Comfort: 5 Durability: 4 Functionality: 4 Value for Money: 5 Total Score: 4.6 (RAJ Gold Star)

If you are going skiing and want to look good on the slopes, then this is the jacket for you. It looks brilliant, although the bright pink is possibly a little too garish for some. The panels look sleek and the snug cuffs are a thoughtful touch. We really rate this jacket highly, and although we wouldn’t recommend it for serious mountaineering, it is well-suited for a spot of cold climbing or hiking.

RAB Nebula

Aesthetics: 4 Comfort: 5 Durability: 4 Functionality: 5 Value for Money: 4

This is a great jacket and tested by an avid skier who knows what the cold is like. The jacket’s best features are that it packs into its own pocket, and the hood is fully adjustable so you can wear a helmet underneath it. The jacket is very versatile and, like most RAB down jackets, you can see they have spent some time on the styling. It fits well and drops slightly lower than most at the back.

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Toal

Top Tip

In the climbing world, insulated jackets are great for putting on and off to belay someone between pitches. They are durable and will warm you up quickly.

Best of...Insulated Jackets Ben Maxfield Personally, I would add these to my winter layering system and make sure I have a waterproof shell which can be put on over the top. The trick to any layering system is to anticipate and predict: you don’t want to be caught out with your down jacket on the outside of your waterproof.

For climbers: helmet hoods are your new best friend!

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Best of...Hiking Boots Ben Maxfield

Best of...

Hiking Boots

As a mountaineer who has worked with adults and children, I have quite literally seen it all when it comes to boots. I’ve come to the conclusion that people don’t always ask the right question when they pick their footwear… So here it is, the big question:

What boot is relevant to the area you will be using them in?

Yes, comfort is important and we all like to wear something we like the look of, but it comes down to where you will be walking and what the terrain is like. After this, ask yourself, “What fits well?”

So from lowland boots to 3- and 4-season boots, what’s the actual difference? Well, firstly the mid sole. The mid sole twists, and the more it twists, the more flexible the boot is, which is good for uneven paths. You also have to take into account the stiffness: mountaineering boots are very stiff so they can fit crampons, whereas a lot of lowland boots are so light and flexible that they can feel like you are wearing trainers.

I would say that for walking, leather boots will last longer. When I get boots fitted, I always look for good grip and check that the width is correct. This is really important when walking up and down hills. I know which brands make a slimmer boot which fits me well.

Many brands have invested a lot of time and money into making boots waterproof yet still breathable. If you can find a waterproof boot which doesn’t make you sweat, feels snug when you put it on, and is light with every sturdy step, then you have found the perfect boot…for you!

Ben Maxfield

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Best of...Hiking Boots Ben Maxfield

Berghaus Men's Explorer

Aesthetics: 5 Comfort: 4 Durability: 5 Functionality: 5 Value for Money: 5 Total Score: 4.8 (RAJ Gold Star)

This is a fantastic pair of boots, designed for maximum comfort, especially with the attention to detail in the shaping around the heel.

Berghaus have started using Opti-Stud outer sole technology, which gives great grip on terrain. These 2-3 season boots are fairly flexible and good for a walker who may also encounter wet weather.

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Best of...Hiking Boots Ben Maxfield

Berghaus Women's Fellmaster GTX

Aesthetics: 5 Comfort: 5 Durability: 5 Functionality: 5 Value for Money: 5 Total Score: 5 (RAJ Gold Star)

These have always been a trusted pair of boots and since the Berghaus/Brasher merger, they have been upgraded with a softer upper. There is no doubt these are comfortable boots with a memory foam cuff, a snug tongue and the recognisable toe protector to protect against these unsuspecting rocks that weren’t there when you last looked. These are lightweight boots that would suit a beginner to intermediate hiker in the UK lowland areas.

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Best of...Hiking Boots Ben Maxfield

Mountain Warehouse Peak Extreme IsoGrip

Aesthetics: 4 Comfort: 5 Durability: 4 Functionality: 5 Value for Money: 4 Total Score: 4.4

Mountain Warehouse describe these as a high-performance boot for hiking and challenging treks. This may lead you to believe that they are capable of doing slightly more than they are able to withstand.

They are a comfy day walking boot, lightweight and good for dog walking. The grip isn’t great but they do guarantee it won’t wear for 5,000 miles of walking.

Mountain Warehouse Etoile Women's Waterproof Mid Boots

Aesthetics: 4 Comfort: 4 Durability: 3 Functionality: 4 Value for Money: 4 Total Score: 3.8

These boots are very low on the ankle which works well for some people. This is a great boot for someone doing some light hiking or rambling. Mountain Warehouse have created a great cushioned feel which suits a lot of walkers. If you’re in to light walking and are on a budget, then these could be ones to try.

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Best of...Hiking Boots Ben Maxfield

Quechua Forclaz 500 Aesthetics: 3 Comfort: 4 Durability: 4 Functionality: 5 Value for Money: 5 Total Score: 4.2

Quechua has aimed this boot at mountain walking in the UK. That’s OK, but please be aware that these are not mountaineering boots.

They do, however, give good support and have suitable grip.

Quechua has focused on making these boots waterproof, which seems to have worked. All in all I quite like this boot.

Columbia Women's Redmond Mid Waterproof

Aesthetics: 4 Comfort: 4 Durability: 3 Functionality: 3 Value for Money: 3 Total Score: 3.4

These are a very affordable pair of boots. They’re light and comfortable, which is perfect for day hikes. Although Waterproof and Breathable guaranteed, these are not in the same league as some of the others such as the Berghaus boots. The boots do have good traction, however, which means these are a good, lightweight day walking boot.

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Best of...Hiking Boots Ben Maxfield

Asolo Ascender

Aesthetics: 5 Comfort: 5 Durability: 5 Functionality: 4 Value for Money: 4 Total Score: 4.6 (RAJ Gold Star)

These are by far the most technical boots we tested, and as far as mountaineering boots go, they are comparable with some of the best. Asolo have worked hard to balance tough winter-capable boots with comfort, ranging from good tongue movement to the molding around the foot. As you’d expect on this type of boot, the grip is deep and strong. If you are using crampons then fear not, Asolo have ensured your crampons don’t damage the leather when in use with a clever little rubber band.

Arcteryx Bora 2

Aesthetics: 4 Comfort: 4 Durability: 5 Functionality: 5 Value for Money: 5 Total Score: 4.6 (RAJ Gold Star)

This is a unique-looking technical hiking boot: it’s high, solid and, as with all Arcteryx gear, they’ve made it look a little different.

There are replaceable Gore-Tex liners, which are well-worth the faff. There are several similarities with mountaineering boots, although it’s worth noting that performance in severely wet conditions is yet to be proven.

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