What is a Rucksack Cover?
They are usually made from lightweight, waterproof, ripstop fabric and are secured around your rucksack with elasticated drawcord. When not in use they can be packed away into their own little stuff sack.
Trekmates Backpack Covers are available in small, medium and large to fit different sizes of rucksacks. Small fits 20-45 litre rucksacks, medium fits 45-65 litre rucksacks and large fits 65+ litre rucksacks.
Do I Need a Rucksack Cover?
The purpose of rucksack / Backpack covers is to protect your rucksack from the rain, but are they really necessary?
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On the 14th of January I wrote about Hayley Shephard’s solo kayaking trip around South Georgia. She is taking on this adventure to raise awareness of the plight of the Albatross. An enormous threat to this magnificent sea bird is due to long-line fishing practices. Fortunately, simple changes can be implemented which dramatically reduce Albatross fatalities. The RSPB and BirdLife International are working with the international fishing industry to bring about these changes. This is taking time but the results so far are encouraging.
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At 1,344 m, Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in Scotland and the UK. As such it is a very popular mountain for people to climb. It is often attempted by inexperienced hikers who have no idea of the scale of the task or of the potential dangers involved. Many people attempt the summit of Ben Nevis without taking proper outdoor gear.
Ben Nevis Escape Route
If you are planning to walk up to the top of Ben Nevis the first thing you need to know is the escape route from the summit. Regardless of the weather in the valley or on the mountain tops when you start your hike, by the time you reach the summit the weather may have closed in, resulting in near zero visibility. This has happened to me.
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Have you ever been climbing, mountain biking, kayaking, skateboarding and found a great new place for some exciting action? Perhaps you’ve found a place that’s not the best but its close to home and offers the opportunity to get a bit of practice in, just to help keep your skills up to speed? Or maybe you’re going somewhere new and looking for the best place for some extreme sport action? If you want to share your favourite places or find something new then one place to look is Extreme Sports Map!
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Isle of White Coastline. Source: Wikimedia Commons by Barbara Murdter.
If someone asked you where the best place to go walking or hiking in the British countryside is, whereabouts would you think of? In the UK we have lots of beautiful countryside and we are certainly spoilt for choice. The first place that I would think of would be one of our National Parks, probably the
Lake District, or the
Highlands of Scotland. For countryside which is less rugged, possibly the White Peak or the South Downs would come to mind. One place that would probably not spring to mind is the Isle of Wight. Yet the
Isle of Wight walking festival is advertised as “The UK’s Largest Walking Festival.” As of 2010, it is in its twelfth year and with around 300 walks over two weeks there is certainly plenty of opportunities to do some walking. Indeed, some 24,500 people took part in the 2009 festival!
The Island has over 500 miles of well-maintained and signposted footpaths around 30 miles of Heritage Coastline, while more than half of the Island is recognised as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
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A Pothole. Cyclists watch out!
About a year ago I was cycling home from work and came a cropper when I hit a pot hole in the road.
The road in question is in the countryside, just on the edge of the city. There are no street lights and it was a dark, rainy winters night. I have a Cat-Eye Power Opti-Cube LED bike light, which I am very pleased with. It provides enough light to see where you are going when it is dark, but when faced with the glare of the headlights of on-coming traffic it is impossible to see the road surface.
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Google is constantly seeking new information which it likes to share with the online world. One of the best examples of this is mapping. Satellite images are available for all to see on Google Earth. Google Maps not only features maps and aerial views, but for many parts of the world we can see what it looks like at street level with Google Street View. An immeasurable number of miles of roads in western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the USA have been photographed at road level. This is done using cars with 360 degree cameras mounted on the roof. The Google cars simply drive around filming our roads and streets.
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In August last year we wrote about Birdfair and Birdlife International and their conservations campaigns, including the Save the Albatross Campaign. The Adventure Blog has reported that in February 2010 New Zealander Hayley Shephard will attempt to sea kayak solo around South Georgia Island in order to raise awareness of the threat which the Albatross is currently facing.
South Georgia is home to a number of Albatross species and to attempt a solo sea kayak journey for the Plight of the Albatross can only capture a fascinated audience to encourage protection of one of the worlds most precious of seabirds.
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Gorple Rocks on Black Moor in the Pennines.
It was a chilly winters morning in December when I was at a loose end in Burnley, East Lancashire. I could have mooched around the town centre shops attempting to procure some Christmas presents. No thanks. A spot of
walking in the bleak
Pennine moors to the south east of the town was a much better prospect. So I headed up to the picturesque little village of
Hurstwood on the edge of the moors, since the map showed that there was a car park.
The plan was to walk past Hurstwood reservoir and join the Pennine Bridleway, following it eastwards across Hameldon Moor up to Black Moor. Then I would make my way back to Hurstwood across Worsthorne Moor past Cant Clough reservoir. It pretty much went to plan.
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There are plenty of excellent countryside walking routes in the UK. Source: Flickr by eamoncurry123.
When you fancy going for a hike or walk there are plenty of route planner websites on the internet that can provide help and inspiration. Whether you are going to a particular part of the country for the first time or looking for a hidden gem in your own backyard, there are plenty of on-line walks to chose from. But which is the
best walking route planner to use? The amount of detail,
advice and number of walks in a particular region vary from website to website. Here at CheapTents.com we have been examining the various walking route planner websites to find out which are worthy of being your walking guide and which you would not rely upon to give you directions to the house next door.
There are several criteria by which the walking guide websites have been judged, as follows:
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