Walsh Ultra Fellsman

La Sportiva Nepal for winter or group-work (where you often end up standing around for ages with cold feet). Otherwise Walshes for everything else in UK, including scrambling (Aonach Eagach, Inn Pinn), scree running (Sgurr Alistair Great Stone Shoot), climbing up to MVS 4b (Nightwatch) and even a 3 day fast-and-light  across the Cairngorms over New Year. I've used PB's and Raids and haven't really noticed any difference in performance though the studs on the PB's are crucial if you are a fell-runner but I'm not. The success of these shoes for me lies in the compound used for the sole, it is the original sticky rubber before anyone thought of such an appealing marketing line and they have carried me confidently over wet rock, steep wet grass and snow, in fact anything except water ice and slime.

The uppers are quick drying but smell like a disease after a while. These shoes are the closest you could get to running about barefoot in the mountains (why would you want to do that?) or realistically the closest I'll get to the stealth and minimalism of a native American moccasin. So here's my old Raids before a dose of impact adhesive, the laces snapped on Skye and I had to be careful not to trip over the flappers but there's life in them yet.

You can't really turn up to take a group looking like that and whilst they don't look out of place in the ODG the smell alone might ruin your chances of thumbing a lift back to the start of a ridge. Enter the Walsh Ultra Fellsman - all the benefits of the Walsh stud sole (think Crib Goch in the wet with your hands in your pockets) and you don't look like a hobo's dad. One piece leather upper and Cambrelle lined, hand-made in England (not that I am imperialist in any way but I like to support efforts to keep some manufacturing skills alive in this country, one reason for choosing Buffalo over Paramo or Montane). The EVA midsole is shock-absorbing without raising the foot atop a bed of sponge ready for you to roll off and twist your ankle like you did last summer. After-all they were designed for fell running and considering the state of finishers in a fell race you can only whince and imagine the punishment the footwear gets. At 700g they are lighter than any lightweight boot listed in Cotswold and lighter than many approach shoes. They won't dry as quick as shoes but it will take longer for water to soak through to your socks so your feet should stay drier, though the tongue is only bellows to half-way. After a lick of dubbin you could walk off the hill and comfortably order a dram in the Torridon Hotel. 

They are not a stock item anywhere, even at Pete Bland's but you can order them direct from Walsh, tel: 01204 393333. No menu's, no hold music, one of the blokes making the shoes will answer the phone and make them to order, mine took 2 weeks. The price: £85 including postage. Err on the side of large, I am 43 or 44 so ordered 44. I will update on the performance after thrashing them in due course.

PS. Obviously I don't wear jeans on the hill but equally I don't prance around at home in North Face.

Update June '15

These lasted no longer than the trainers, failing where the leather meets the sole at the balls (pronation?). They looked smarter, stayed dryer a bit longer but took longer to dry and smelled just as bad after bog-trotting. 

Had another pair of innov8s since, just to remind me why I h8 them, not as grippy, ugly, don't last any longer and it's like walking around on bath sponges.

Love Merrel Barefoots for general duties sockless, especially around camp but the sole not aggressive enough for the mountains. Rate La Sportiva Boulder X for all summer mountaineering but drawn back to the minimalism of the Walshes.

Considering ordering some PB Racers for when not with clients but meantime here's pics of dead Ultra Fellsmans.

Buffalo Tips

On the winter ML last year everyone wore gortex. Everyone was wet. Everyone was cold. Apart from Paramo Man. After 2hrs digging a snow hole he reckoned he was dry/comfortable enough to sleep in his gear. I researched the 'no shell' approach and decided to go back to Buffalo and concur with the glowing testimonials on http://www.buffalosystems.co.uk/. Buffalo is for filthy weather - goretex is for High Street Mountaineering.

• always wear buff next to skin
• do rucsac belt up through handwarmer pocket
• always put the belay jacket on for tea-breaks
• buy mardale bivi-boots to boost bottom end of 4s outer buffalo bag: http://www.mardale.com/
• pay the extra £18 or get busy with a sewing machine and put arm zips in the 4s outer for cozy camping
• stop whingeing about the extra weight/bulk of the buffalo bag and ditch your 800g goretex bivi bag
• if you still can't carry a buffalo bag ditch your heavy sac (1.3kg) and buy a golite (700g) then trim off the ice-axe loops and the inside back panel
• now you've saved 1.4kg sleep in the 4s outer in the (damp) salopettes and mountain shirt (and belay jacket) and wake up warm and dry
• line the inside of your rucsac with your karrimat (or thermie) and stuff your gear down inside
• get rid of the daft little stuff bags that manufacturers supply to make their products look compact in the shop
• dachstein mitts £23 from http://www.needlesports.com/ - bomb proof even when iced (in fact they are warmer when iced or caked in snow) - keep your hands warm enough to buy sufficent bare-hand time to get crampons on, use a compass or set-up a belay

Helsport Lavvu Review

This review is for the Helsport Porsanger polyester single-skin model with no groundsheet, all-in weight around 5kg.

Overview
An ideal communal space for 4 people valley camping. Simple and robust with the added attraction of being designed to burn a fire inside.

Fabric
The fabric of the Helsport lavvu is flame-retardent waterproofed polyester. The inside walls can run with condensation but because the tent is so big I have not found this to be a problem.

Groundsheet
I prefer grass to a groundsheet. I like that closer connection with the outdoors, why go out to get with nature then seal yourself off from it in a plastic shell? The idea of sitting in wet grass might not be very appealing but it's never as wet as it seems. Grass allows any spills to drain away and is safer when using a beantin fire, in fact all food prep is less of a worry without a groundsheet. The groundsheet for this model is available from www.tamarackoutdoors.co.uk, it weighs 1.3kg and costs £95, two more good reasons to stick with grass.

Erection
Easily erected by one person, putting a time on it is worthless as the reality of getting it up in the wind and rain or in the dark never compares to a speed test in the back garden. With the door closed and without the pole, peg it out in what you guess will be the final shape. Don’t fuss at this stage as just about every peg will have to be adjusted/moved. There is only one pole, so when you have it pegged out open the door and get the pole up. Now go round and adjust the pegs to perfect the shape – I judge this by looking at the shape of the hole in the top, it should be a circle.

If you pitch it with the door downwind then you can stay connected to your environment by leaving the door open. If it gets nippy you can half shut the door so that you can still see out whilst remaining cosy next to the fire.

Guys, intermediate pegs and a rock/snow skirt all contribute to keeping it stable in bad weather. You rarely know what the weather will do in the night and on several occasions have gone to sleep in still cloudless high pressure conditions then had to run around at 2 in the morning in my pants pegging guys out and getting big rocks. The cone shape naturally sheds weather but it is a big tent, so for peace of mind I would recommend making it bombproof by guying and putting rocks or logs on the pegs and snow skirt. Mine withstood a real howler that blew an awning clean over the top of a caravan, though that did involve nocturnal underpant retro-pegging.

Top Hat
There is a top hat to cover the hole in the top but I rarely use this, and have stayed dry in light rain. If it starts to chuck it down then you simply drop the pole, plonk the hat on, pole it back up then attach the cords so that you have the opening the facing downwind.

Space
The 4-6 man is 4m across and 2.5m high and you can stand up comfortably in it. It is absolute luxury for 2 or 3 people and I have camped 3 adults and 2 kids in it easily. With 2 or 3 people you have enough room to even have a pile of wood in there with you so that if it’s evil outside you are self-contained.

Weight
At 5kg it is not a backpacking tent but I have been happy to carry it over my shoulder or under one arm for up to 2km, even when camping solo.

Inner
The inner is sold separately and would make the tent warmer in winter but not sure how compatible it would be with a fire. The beantin fire disperses midges adequately and I have a midge proof cover for my sleeping bag.

Fire
I use a catering sized baked beantin,  for warmth and some cooking see beantin or wild wild camping. Move the pole off-centre, put some big rocks down or a pile of soil or upturned sod to protect the ground and you can happily have a beantin fire inside this tent. The open cone shape acts as a chimney and when the flames are good smoke is cleared effectively through the hole. If the timber is damp or you smother the fire or manage it badly then the smoke can be difficult, and probably bad for your health in the long term. There are only 2 solutions: manage the fire so it burns bright (not always easy) or get a stove with a flue. Loafing around a roaring beantin, looking at the night sky with a nip of single malt is really what life is about. The inside and the pole are fairly caked in smoke deposits but this hasn't been a problem as it doesn’t transfer to anything else.

Drying/Airing
If you put the tent up to dry on a lawn then moisture from the grass condenses inside, so best  to leave the door open, choose a windy day or hang the tent up. This may take a couple of days, in autumn/winter to be thorough.

Summary
This tent is all about communal cooking and socialising, everyone around a central fire looking in. This tent is twice as heavy as the average two-man backpacking tent but it has more than twice as much room. Without a groundsheet you are free of the usual worries about bringing muck in so you can laze around with your boots on or kick them off and sooth your toes in the cool grass. The door is big, so getting in and out is not the faff-on on your knees that most tents demand, no shuffling past people, just stand up, walk out and drag some more wood in.

I usually put all the cooking stuff in the middle, put other bits I might need behind me then sit/lay on my karrimat using my rucsac as a backrest with my sleeping bag and spare clothes inside it. I prefer a karrimat to a thermarest when using a beantin fire because sparks and £60 worth of li-lo is not a good combination.