What’s the best Insulation for cold weather?

 

As the weather gets colder, we are often asked what the best way to keep warm is, so after a bit of feedback on our Facebook page, here’s our guide to the different sorts of insulation out there for your mid & outer layers.

Sadly there is no “wonder insulation” that’s going to keep you warm, be breathable, pack down small, deal with snow & rain, save you from an avalanche and make you a cup of tea in the morning. We think it’s a horses for courses approach for your insulating layers, get the right thing for the right situation. So without further ado, let’s take a look at the three main types you can choose.

 

DOWN: Natures warmth, the fluffy stuff underneath a birds feathers.

SYNTHETIC: Synthetic fibres woven together to trap air and keep you toasty.

FLEECE: Another synthetic option that’s a fabric in it’s own right (rather than fibres that you put in to a jacket)

Now we’ve sorted out what we’re going to take a look at, let’s dive in and take a quick look at the good and the bad of our contestants.

 

Down Jackets & Vests

GOOD STUFF: The highest Warmth to Weight ratio of all the options here, goose down is fabulous stuff for trapping air and keeping you warm. It feels seriously sexy to wear, is incredibly lightweight, and packs down smaller than any of the other options here. Great to pull on after a hard day on the mountain, or when wandering out and about.

NOT SO GOOD STUFF: If down gets wet it doesn’t work, so it’s really important to keep it dry at all times. We reckon it works best in cold, snowy climates, or where you bring along a waterproof to stop it getting damp. A little more expensive than some of the other options and maybe too hot if you are doing energetic activities.

STUFF TO LOOK OUT FOR. Without boring you, down is graded according to fill power, e.g how much space a load of down takes up by weight, the range goes from 450 through to 900 odd, the higher the number, the warmer (and lighter) the down.

Synthetic Jackets

GOOD STUFF: Synthetic Insulation is best known with examples such as Primaloft or own brand examples like The North Face’s Heatseeker. Water resistant, it retains a lot of it’s insulating properties even if soaked through, and it’s less expensive than down.

NOT SO GOOD STUFF: It has a greater bulk and weight than down and is less breathable.

STUFF TO LOOK OUT FOR: A favourite with climbers and those who use their insulation out and about. It works best in wet environments, which apparently we get rather a lot of here in the UK!

Fleece Jackets & Vests

GOOD STUFF: Fleece has amazing breathability, and is an awesome choice if you are doing blood pumping activities in the cold. Fleece is water resistant, drys quickly and is great value for money.

NOT SO GOOD STUFF: Fleece is not usually windproof so unless you have some sort of shell layer over the top, the cold wind is going to go whistling through you and take that trapped air and heat away. Relatively heavy and bulky compared to some of the other options.

STUFF TO LOOK OUT FOR: The best known fleece fabric is Polartec, but there are many other own brand examples out there too. Fleece comes in a variety of different flavours e.g. lightweight, midweight & heavyweight.

So there you have our quick guide to insulation. We reckon you need to balance your budget, activity and whether you are wearing it during the day or at journeys end. If you are a backpacker for example, weight is perhaps the most important thing to consider. If you need to get warm at camp at the end of the day, we would suggest grabbing a down vest or jacket. Down is also great if you are just taking the dog out for a quick walk. Climbing and need a belay piece? It has to be Synthetic. Running or walking out in the cold? Grab a fleece to wear underneath your windshirt or waterproof.

What’s your favourite insulation piece when the cold come round?

Nameless Strangers – The Good Samaritan

On the road we meet many people. Some we will forget. Others will remain in our memories forever.

Travellers’ stories of hospitality from strangers are not uncommon. But that doesn’t make them any less memorable.

These chance encounters are often over with in a flash, but they will remain in the memory forever.

Whether it’s the tall grey-haired fellow who stops his red pick-up to tell you there’s a really scenic off-road route that will also avoid the steep hill and.then goes on to explain how to reach it.

Or the larger than life, jovial old chap from the farm you stopped at ons search for water, who tells of good spot to camp and later turns up there in his truck with wood for a fire, diesel to get it started and a thermos of hot water, on a particularly cold night.

Or the talkative man who asks interestedly about our journey over coffee in McDonalds one morning and tells of how he has damaged his car when he hit an elk in the way into town. And then as he says goodbye and wishes us well drops a $20 note on our table saying he’s sure we could use it for a meal or more coffees.

I never had a chance to ask these people’s names. As quickly as they entered my day, they left again.

But why is it that so often we don’t even know their name?

It’s because the stranger expects nothing in return. A purely altruistic act. (Except perhaps to feel good, if you believe in the selfish gene.)

And good samaritans don’t have names.

Not heroes with a name for whom fame usually follows.

(now since I rarely learn these helpful strangers names, it’s even rarer that I get a photo. So instead, here are a couple of photos of the kind of  places where these unlikely encounters sometimes occur…)

Can you really find a wild camp wilderness in the Peak District?

The Peak District. One of the most popular National Park anywhere in the world. 8.4 million visitors a year. 1437 Square Kilometres of protected area. Busy place despite the greenery on offer. We love our wild camping here at Webtogs, but we began to seriously doubt whether you could find a true wilderness wild camp spot in the Park itself. That was until I pootled along at the beginning of September to Terry BND’s now legendary Outdoor Bloggers meet up. Whilst chewing the fat with some lovely outdoor folks amongst the tents, talk grew to our favourite wild camp spots and whether you could actually find somewhere in the Peak District to get that feeling of real remoteness that those of us who love wild camping crave.

One conversation with James from Backpacking Bongos began to tweak my ears. Bleaklow. One of the remotest and most desolate moors in the Park, it’s legendary for it’s boggy character, and although nice and remote, I couldn’t recall any areas suitable for pitching up. James mentioned a small spot he had been to previously and along with Phil from Social Hiking who was along for his first ever wild camp, we set off to see if this was the wilderness nirvana I had been searching for.

The day did not begin well, leaving the car not 5 minutes behind us, the rain decided to make it’s presence felt in a major way and the steady trickle of water down from my  hood spoilt the view ahead. Spirits lifted however as we began the climb to Alport Castles. The naming of some outdoor spots frequently leaves you scratching your head, but Alport Castles is aptly named, the pillars of rock standing out like turrets amongst the landscape. Climbing past them to the top, the wind bustled between us threatening to take my hat away. Boggy ground also made an appearance and we quickly got our heads down in silence to the trig point on top of Alport Moor.

Slowly we began to relax. No signs of human habitation were visible and the paths were faint and indistinct, could this be what we were seeking? The wind became too much so we dropped down to the path halfway up Alport Dale. Immediately the winds absence made us feel more relaxed, and the seclusion of the dale dared us to dream of the spot we might hope to find. Strolling up, we began to ford streams making dents in to the hillside until we came to Grains in the Water. Nothing to the eye except moorland, wind and each other. Exchanging grins, we pitched up and settled down. We had found our wild camping wilderness in the Peak District.

A Beginners Guide to Mountain Biking by a Beginner.

Here follows a beginners guide to mountain biking by a beginner, and a few tips from some older, wiser, more experienced fellows.

Should you catch the MTB (mountain biking) bug then there are a few things that, in my opinion, you should look out for. Well, these are the things that have caught me out so far and it’s only been a few months so I hope that they might help prepare you for what may arise.

Choosing your bike.

Possibly one of the most exciting hurdles to hop over is the choice of bike. One of the things that hit me was the sheer volume of bikes that are available. There are hundreds of brands and then within the brands there are tens of styles and so on and so on. You get the picture.

Once you’ve decided to take the plunge and buy a bike, choose a top line price that you’ll be willing to pay. I say this because some bikes can cost as much as a brand new car. One thing I still find amusing is the amount of old bangers that you see being driven around with some top class bikes being proudly presented on the roof rack. Generally the bikes are worth a lot  more than the car, and also looked after much better! Don’t be alarmed if you see on a bike website that someone is willing to swap their bike for a car or vice versa. Pretty standard apparently.

Mountain biking covers quite a large area and within this are areas like downhill, cross country (XC), and all mountain. Each discipline now has a type of bike which is suited best for your choice activity. What you need to do is lay down what it is that you’re going to be doing most of the time and then choose a bike which is best suited to you. Don’t freak out if your bike says that it’s best suited to single track trails because I’m sure that if you want to ride it to the shops it’ll cope just fine.

Size

This took me by surprise. Bikes come in different sizes. They come as either XS to XL or they come sized in inches. This is the size of the frame and it relates to how tall you are. I know it makes perfect, logical sense, however it completely threw me off as when I was growing up it didn’t matter. As far as I was concerned bigger was better. I’m now 6ft and ride an 18 inch or a large frame and I’ve tried riding a smaller and larger frame but after a while you get pain in your legs and shoulders where you’re either over stretched or cramped up. Having the wrong size frame also ruins your energy efficiency making life rather tough when it should be fun.

Pedals

I thought there were pedals and that was that, you just hopped on the bike and off you went. No, there are different types of pedals and scarily enough there are ones which you can clip into. My advice would be to start on normal pedals, sometimes referred to as flatties, and then once you get used to your bike and your confidence grows, move onto SPD’s. SPD’s are pedals that you clip your shoes into, like the Tour de France riders. There are special MTB shoes and cleets which are more hard wearing and protective as you’re more likely to encounter mud and stones. SPD’s are beneficial because you gain more purchase and feel for the bike. It means that instead of only being able to pedal on the down you can push and pull to get more power and steam past others.

Pressure

In the UK it’s wet most of the time and so this means that tyre pressure plays quite a large part on how much grip you have while off road. If you have too much pressure then you’ll find that there’s less rubber hitting the ground which means less friction and more skidding around. I find that somewhere around 50 to 60 psi does the job perfectly when it’s a bit wet and of course if its dry then add a little more to decrease the friction and let you go a bit faster.

Chat to other enthusiasts

One thing that’s invaluable is other people and their input and experience. There’s a whole other world and dictionary for cycle chat, therefore finding out what other people use and think can save you some serious time and money. Recently I’ve had a few problems with my bike so I chatted to a few guys from work who helped me out and gave me some advice. I then went to the local bike shop to see what they would say and I came out flabbergasted at what they wanted to charge for what was to be a 10 minute job. Lesson learned though, chat to others before hand. Everyone is more than happy to share their knowledge, but of course remember to build your own knowledge base up because not everyone has the same wants and needs.

Fun

Fun, above all, is the reason to get on your bike. So get out, get muddy and as our developer Tim says, ‘look out for bears, you should always look out for bears.’

Plans Are Made To Be Changed

One of the best things about travel, is the part before you even leave home… the planning. Whether you are shortly off on your annual holiday, going away for a short weekend or even embarking on a ‘journey of a lifetime’, it’s great fun to pore over maps, peruse guide books and google away contentedly about your upcoming destination.

But the best thing about making plans is changing them. Sponteneity is the key. Especially on long trips. When life on the road is getting monotonous and dull, or just plain hard, that is the time to change your plans. Suddenly you will find enjoyment and a new interest.

Muddy Feet!

The original plan, for my latest trip, was to bike the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. But it seemed a shame not to see more of Canada before starting. So we added on a bike loop of Vancouver Island and British Columbia. A mere 2,000km extra! We knew we were already starting late in the season, but by the time we arrived in Banff for the start of the GDMBR, there were far more cold and rainy days than sun-filled ones.

Gravel roads of the Great Divide

We had a fun few days after leaving Banff, but both of us were looking forward to getting south as fast as possible, just so we could get to the better weather. And that just wasn’t fun. So, sat in a small cafe in Eureka, Montana, drinking coffee, delaying leaving…. one of us jokingly said, ‘why don’t we head to Idaho instead of Wyoming?’ and the other said, ‘Well, why not?’ This would mean no longer following the Great Divide, but it would mean heading to Boise where we could meet and stay with other cycle tourers. The idea of having somewhere to stay for longer than one or two days, was a big draw. In six weeks, we’d had only six rest days. We were both tired of cycling.

So we ordered another coffee, dug out the map, replanned our route. In twenty minutes we went from tired and unenthusiastic to raring to hit the road.

Welcome to Idaho

We are now in Boise, Idaho state’s capital; the biggest town since we started the trip. It was the right decision. It was a beautiful journey here and now it’s time to dig out the maps again and plan ahead.

Beautiful Horsehoe Hill, Idaho

Next up is Utah and Arizona. Let’s hope we pass through before the snow arrives!

The Great Divide will just had to wait for another time, when I can leave earlier in the year.

(if you would like to follow my journey, you can do so on my blog, Helen’s Take On…)

What everybody ought to know about Wild Camping

Wild camping is something we get asked about a fair bit here at Webtogs, and is one of our passions. The feeling of freedom and being able to camp on the hills is incredibly liberating, but some people are a little overwhelmed when thinking about heading out for the first time. We’ve been around the office to put together our top tips if you are thinking of heading out  for the first time.

1. Leave no trace – We think this is the most important guideline to follow, take everything away with you and leave nothing behind. That means no fire’s, take your litter home, and take sanitary products such as tampons and towels away with you too as animals will dig them up.  Toilet duties should always be done at least 30 metres away from any water source, and make sure you take a lightweight trowel to bury any number 2′s! Don’t be tempted to move rocks or logs for the perfect pitch, leave the place where you camp as you found it.
2. Where to camp and legal stuff – Wild Camping is legal on Dartmoor and in Scotland provided you follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. It is not legal in England or Wales unless you ask the landowners permission – which is usually impractical. Generally speaking though, wild camping is tolerated so long as you follow a few simple guidelines. Camp as high as possible. Don’t camp in fields with animals, camp away from human habitation and out of sight of roads, houses, farms or dwellings.  Finally, be prepared to move on if asked and always be friendly and polite.
3. Pitch Late and leave early – Part of leaving no trace means spending as little time actually pitched as you can. The only side note we would say is take note of sunset times late or early in the year as popping a tent up on a mountainside in the pitch dark is no fun. Don’t camp in the same spot for more than 2 days at a time to lessen your impact on the environment.
4. Blend in – That means don’t take a bright tent and camp as unobtrusively as possible. This has side benefits in that it  helps you avoid being spotted by anyone who might move you on, and lets others share in the natural beauty of the area you are camping in.
5. Don’t take the gang – A couple of tents at most is what you want, share a shelter if a few of you are going.
6. Take less stuff – Wild Camping is not about taking the kitchen sink, you are much better off taking as little as possible as you are going to have to carry it to your campsite. It’s also why you are wild camping as well, keep things simple and enjoy being away from the distractions and stuff of everyday life.
7. Sort the water -  Camp near a water source if you can, or remember to take enough drinking water with you. If you are going to pick up water on your trip, make sure you have a water filter with you, you won’t want to be getting ill away from civilisation.
8. Get the right gear –  Wild camping usually means being that much more inaccessible from civilisation so you need to make sure your gear is up to the task. The last thing you want to do is have a tent fail on you with the wind and rain coming down hard. Checkout our range of quality tents and sleeping bags to make sure you have a good time. Focus on lightweight gear where possible and ensure you have everything you need so if you do have any problems, you can sort them out yourself.
9. Small steps – For your first wild camp, consider finding a spot that you can get back from easily, that way if your gear fails or if you have any problems, a retreat won’t take you hours!

Follow these and we reckon you will have a great time, fire away in the comments with any questions, or, what are your top tips for a great wild camp?