Saturday 30 August 2008

Brecon Beacons Online

We like the Brecon Beacons - its reasonably close to our camping equipment store so is easily affordable to get there quickly and get out on the hills. We surf the web (when we're not walking or sending our customer orders!) to find great informative sites on different areas which we like to share with our blog and website users. So here are the highly recommended Brecon Beacon websites we use to help us find our way round these great Welsh mountains!

Walks in the Brecons

Brecon Beacon Walks

Brecon Beacons Pubs - quench your thirst here after that almighty walk!

One of Britains BREATHING Spaces - official website to the Brecon Beacons

Did you know the Brecon Beacons "are named after the ancient practice of lighting signal fires on mountains to warn of attacks by the English" - taken from the Brecon Beacons page, Wikipedia

A little faster (well downhill anyway!) - Mountain Biking in the Brecon Beacons


If any of you have websites connected with the Brecon Beacons do let us know - we will happily post them here for you.

Thursday 21 August 2008

FREE Outdoor Landscape Desktop Backgrounds!

A customer of ours has kindly donated quite a few images in a large resolution format as desktop backgrounds. If you like what you see then please send an email to info@stormoutdoors.co.uk and claim your FREE outdoor landscape desktop background! No strings attached!

Have a look below:

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When you email just tell us which numbered image you would like and at what resolution and we will do the rest and send back a jpg for you.

Tuesday 19 August 2008

Camping Disasters - tell us yours!

We're going to share a few Camping Disasters that we've experienced with you in the hope you'll learn how to avoid making the same mistakes. Why not post yours and share with everyone else - we would love to hear from you!

Camping Disaster 1

Whilst wild camping on Dartmoor many years ago we camped on a flat river bank that was only covered in short grass rather than the heathery stuff above on the moor. It looked a great spot until a storm hit us at 2am in the morning and we awoke to find one tent floating downstream in the quickly rising water and the 3 other tents being battered into total submission, refusing to stay up in the screaming wind.

Ultimately we all moved into one large tent that we set up on higher ground in the dark and ferocious weather. After a mostly sleepless, cramped night we all awoke to find our tents below had (somehow) survived though the site looked like a bomb had hit it. Our kit was damp, soggy and strewn everywhere, this had to be one of our most miserable camping experiences.

Camping Lesson learned?

Don't camp near rivers or on flood banks even if they look more appealing than the land thats more undulating, further above.

Camping Disaster 2

We travelled all the way to the Lake District to spend the weekend up on Swirral and Stirling Edge's in the Lake District with a jaunt onto Helvellyn. We camped in the campsite above Glenridding much to the concern of one of our group who said we were in a highly exposed position and wanted to camp farther down the valley in a more protected spot. He was bluntly shouted down and we spent the night trying to keep our tents up against 70mph winds and driving rain. The next day one of our tents had a huge puddle at the bottom and the occupants found they were camped next to a small stream that flooded their tent as the water table rose beneath them.

Camping Lesson learned?

If someone thinks where you are camping is in an exposed position then reconsider your options. Do not just take the flattest ground you can find regardless of location... if we had moved down 300 yards we could have camped behind a large wall that would have protected us.

Camping Disaster 3

Getting plastered whilst camping seems like fun but not when in you're in a tent on your own. We camped near Simonsbath and whilst in the pub that evening it snowed quite heavily. One of our group decided earlier he would have his own privacy and camp on his own in sub zero temperatures. The alcohol helped him to sleep however when he woke the next morning he was not only hungover but also extremely cold. Even with walking for 4 hours his body refused to warm up and he spent a miserable day out on Exmoor.

Camping Lesson learned?

Take it easy with the alcohol when out camping. Being hungover can cloud your judgement and ultimately ruin your day as well as the others around you.

Camping Disaster 4

Wearing jeans I set up my tent in the dark at a commercial campsite in the Brecon Beacons. I had managed to bring my tent and plastic survival bag with me from the van. I got thoroughly soaked and couldn't be bothered to go back to the van to collect my rucksack, sleeping bag and dry clothing. I dived into the survival bag keeping my cold wet jeans on and spent an uncomfortable night shivering and praying I could dry my jeans out.... amazingly they did but not before they seriously lowered my body temperature which put me at so much risk up on Pen-y-Fan I was brought down by the leaders running the show as they initially suspected the onset of hypothermia... I was only 14 at the time.

Camping Lesson learnt?

Real campers don't wear jeans. Leave them at home and get some fast drying walking trousers instead. I also learnt to make sure that I get changed from wet clothing into dry clothing before hitting the camping sack!

Tell us your camping disasters - we'd love to share to help others avoid the same mistakes!

Monday 18 August 2008

Old fashioned Nav skills are NOT old fashioned!

We like GPS.

We really do. Its great for convenience.
But its a tool you should NOT come to rely on.

How many times have we met someone on the hill without a map or compass, usually in the wrong clothing relying on their new fangled GPS to help guide them round their route?

Quite a few.

All well and good until the batteries end up exhausted. Then what? Oh thats right they'll just leech off your skills to get them home safe and sound. Thanks!

Can you rely on the good old fashioned skill of navving by map and compass? From map to ground and back again? How about triangulation? Aiming off anyone?

No?

We suggest you get a lesson in "How to use a compass" so why not pop in to our shop and we'll happily show you how to use one effectively. We would rather have you back in our store safe in the knowledge that your skills in compass work kept you safe in a bad weather condition in the mountains...














For more information check out "How to use a compass like a Pro!" on the Storm Outdoors website.

If you have a compass tip you want to share feel free to post it here. We will give you full credit.

Technology is great and improves our lives but its no excuse for throwing away the traditional compass skills we've passed down the ages. Trust us on that one.

Our secret love affair with Lake Vyrnwy

Sshh don't tell our missus'


Well not yet anyway....

We admit we at Storm Outdoors have been having a somewhat secret affair and its not really with a mountain. Instead we've discovered a quiet lake away from the hustle and bustle of modern life.















If you want somewhere REALLY peaceful to stay then check out the following accommodation around Lake Vyrnwy (actually its a man made resevoir), hidden away in rural Mid Wales....


Brook Mead Caravan and Camping
Lake Vyrnwy Hotel

Cyfie 5 star Farm

Sshhh for now... lets keep this just between us!

(There's some great walking to be had on the hills surrounding the lake too)

Our new site for camping equipment!

Our website has been extremely popular for some time now and we felt it right that it was updated in look and feel to harness the current demand for contemporary design.

We've adjusted the look of the site to make it easier for users to find their way around and secretly we're pretty proud of how it performs.

If you think you can help us improve it to benefit you whilst you are looking at our new online camping equipment store then do let us know - we take all comments seriously and review each one in detail with our web design team.

So do enjoy the new look and feel of the website... we're sure it will be a success.

A Huff and a Puff onto Scafell Pike

Huffing and Puffing Up on Top


We know a lot of people we speak to in our camping store have walked up onto Scafell Pike from the Wastwater side but to be truthful it always looked (from the pub anyway) a trifle steep getting up to the top from this side.

So this year whilst staying in Elterwater we decided to try a longer but potentially easier route from Great Langdale up the path alongside Rossett Gill down to Angle Tarn and then climbing to the Pike.
















We made the right decision and thankfully started early - around 7-30am so that we would not be climbing in the heat of the day.

It was pretty easy getting up to Angle Tarn, a little steep on the old donkey track but we made remarkable progress. It was another story on the way up to Scafell Pike - it was a dusty, rocky and somewhat crumbly steep path up to the top. But boy, the view was certainly worth it!















Answers in an email please....

I was also out trying the latest camping equipment the boss had allowed me to take including a superb rucksack from Berghaus.















It took everything the good old British Summer weather can throw at it and then some. Its a great bag, comfortable and lots of useful pockets and other stuff to help you out on the day. Not bad for £70 either. It looks well made and will likely last me a lifetime... my old rucksack is still going strong after 20 years (!) though I have had to change it as the straps and padding are starting to wear and I'd rather it did not fail out on the hill.
















So after a bit of a short slog we got up on top and admired the view out to the coast whilst eating an early lunch, before turning around and heading back down in our usual race to the bottom.

I came down last as usual... slow and steady might not win the race but I prefer to come down in my own time and intact ready for the pub ;)

Happy camping!