‘Hard is Easy’ GriGri Videos Over the last few months I’ve had climbers on my Climbing Wall Instructor and Rock Climbing Instructor training and assessment courses mention the ‘Hard is Easy’ YouTube channel. The chatter especially mentions the Hard is Easy GriGri videos and in particular the videos on GriGri slippage and failure. Ben has […]
Hawke Frontier 8×42 ED X Binocular Review For the last few years my trusty Opticron Discovery WP PC 8×32 binoculars have given me enormous pleasure on the hill. They are a great travel option being pretty much the smallest, lightest 8x32s around and representing great optical performance for the money. However, as a big birthday […]
MSR Reactor Review A long term use review of the MSR Reactor stove system. An excellent gas stove for Alpine use, Wild Camping and Bivouacs. Food and drink preparation in an outdoor environment is a vital element of both our performance and enjoyment. We need fuel to stay warm, keep moving and feed our brains. For […]
Gloves for Scottish Winter Walking and Mountaineering When your hands are cold they don’t work well, so gloves are an essential part of your Scottish winter kit. Firstly, no one glove will work all day, in all weather conditions so you will definitely need more than one pair. We recommend thinking about your gloves as […]
Winter climbing partners never move fast enough! From my perspective I have just completed a lightning fast accent on a thin runout smear of ice then undertook the cleaning of iced up cracks with poise and precision to build a structurally satisfying anchor. All this done in record breaking time. Why then, is my partner […]
What are the Risks of Using a Portable Camping Stove? A portable camping stove is an essential item of outdoor equipment but there are very real risks involved in their use. All of us who have spent any time in the outdoors camping or on a bivvy will have their tales of near misses; They can […]
Clothing and Equipment for Scottish Winter Walking and Mountaineering This is a up-dated version of a post on clothing and equipment for Scottish winter walking and mountaineering first published in 2017 and then again in 2020. The principles are the same but I have updated some of the items to reflect my current preferences. Boots […]
Top Ten Gear and Equipment Reviews of 2022 We all love our outdoor gear and equipment; It keeps us warm, helps us enjoy the hills and mountains with increased safety and enables us to feed and fuel ourselves. Looking back through the stats these are our most popular kit blogs of the year and our […]
Alex’s Top 5 Best Items of Gear in 2022. It’s been a busy year of instruction here at Beyond the Edge. I’ve worked on Mountain Leader and Hill and Moorland Leader training and assessment courses. I’ve taught loads of rock climbing, including introduction and beginners courses as well as teaching lead climbing both trad and […]
I’ve never really been that into knives and multitools. I own a few Opinels and have always taken my Opinel no8 (the outdoor knife) out with me as it’s light, small and because of its plastic handle needs less care than my wooden Opinels. So it was a little overwhelming to receive a Leatherman Signal […]