Alex’s Top 5 Best Items of Gear in 2024. This years equipment choices have been based around a winter road trip to Utah and Arizona in the USA and lots of Mountain Leader training and assessment courses. Cold and dry conditions in the American South West deserts and then the usual mixed weather in the…
Our equipment reviews and tests have always been a very popular feature of our website. Everyone loves outdoor kit and here at Beyond the Edge we are all secret gear freaks and we get very excited by a new bit of equipment to try out. Our instructing and coaching team use their kit in the worlds…
Five Road Trip Essentials One of the greatest traditions and pleasures of the outdoor life is the road trip. Sleeping on the back seat of your car or bivouacking on the side of the road. Or the ultimate road trip luxury of a camper van or RV. What’s important isn’t what you accomplished, it’s how…
How to Buy a Down Jacket The longest night has now passed and we move slowly towards the Spring. In the remaining winter months we reach for our insulated jackets. We have two choices: down or synthetic. Both options have pro and cons. Synthetic is cheaper and more forgiving in wet conditions ie synthetic will…
Rab Mythic Ultra Down Jacket First Impressions The timing of the arrival of this jacket couldn’t have been better. The forecasters had been warning of arctic weather arriving throughout the UK and as the temperature plummeted the Mythic Ultra down jacket was delivered by a chilly looking postman. My first thoughts were how light the…
Rab Solar Ultra 1 Sleeping Bag First Impressions The Rab Solar Ultra 1 Sleeping Bag is very well made lightweight and high performance synthetic sleeping bag. Perfect for spring and summer bivouacs, tarp camping and mountain wild camps. My first sleeping bag had a synthetic fill and I used it for all my early hill and mountain…
Choosing Gloves and Clothing for Scottish Winter Walking and Mountaineering As we head out into the hills this winter either for trekking, walking, mountaineering or climbing we need to make important decisions that will impact both our enjoyment and safety. We will check the weather and the avalanche forecast. We will prepare our maps and…
The cold season is very much upon us, if last weeks weather is anything to go by. My transition from autumn to winter has been very much eased by the Rab Womens Xenair Alpine that I have been given to wear and review over the winter. I haven’t had it for long enough for an…
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…
The clocks have gone back and suddenly the hills feel a little bit more intimidating. It’s colder, the winds bite more fiercely and of course it gets dark earlier and earlier as we approach the winter solstice. But careful planning and packing can enable us to safely enjoy the hills right through the winter months….
A review of the best gear I’ve used in 2020. I haven’t bought much equipment this year because of COVID, so the gear mentioned below is not necessarily new kit but are the items that have been most frequently worn in 2020. All the items have been well used and tested in variety of tough…
This is a up-dated version of a post on clothing and equipment for Scottish winter walking and mountaineering first published in 2017. Not much has changed but some brands have some new kit that I have now included in this up-date. BootsPossibly your most important items of clothing and equipment for Scottish winter walking and…