Thursday 22 October 2009

Running your self ragid

Water is an important issue if your a busy little bee!. Camping, Picnics, family days out hiking and school trips etc.
It's The young ones in the family you have to worry about getting dehydrated.
Sigg Bottle's have a brillaint range of childrens drinking bottles. Some designs are 'Sponge Bob and Patrick', Winnie the pooh, Spiderman and many more. With great designs on the bottles it should encorage the kids to drink more and keep there fluids up so the don't get dehydrated!.

Wednesday 23 September 2009

Sweaty Betty in the Jungle!

Trekking through the Malaysian jungle of Borneo last month with one set of clothes to walk in and one to sleep in may have been a weight saving plan but by gosh did we stink.
Life venture all purpose soap was the only escape, if I didn’t have that stuff I think I would have gagged on my own stench.

Deet for all those nasty bugs was also a life saver, although I found the spray a lot more easier to use than the roll on which I originally bought, this was mainly due to the fact if you got a leech you couldn’t roll the thing, the spray on the other hand worked perfectly for this, Deet umm!.

By Jess Pike, member of Storm Outdoors

Thursday 27 August 2009

Bog of Death!

As this was my first time taking my parents to Dartmoor, we were only walking around the edge and climbing tors near are campsite such as Yes Tor. Later on in the day we were having issues crossing the river.

Although I know it’s VERY dangerous crossing a large river with no rope, buoyancy aids etc, we managed to find a semi safe place to cross. We managed to rock hop without anyone falling in which was a plus, but as we got to the other side we discovered a mega bog, which some how my boyfriend and father manage to run across without getting stuck. As we eyed up the bog of death we decided to run across, three… two…..one…shit! Quite literally probably, I was semi stuck and my mother up to her waist!

This was very amusing to my father and boyfriend who were standing on the side perfectly mud free until I got out - mawhahaha!.

Gaiters rule so always wear some to stop mega death bogs attacking you!.

Crazy wet summer

Who's got wet this summer being outdoors?
Soon I will be giving some tips to stay dry for wild camping to walking the Cotswold Way..

Tuesday 26 May 2009

10 Products - Less than a Tenner Each!

Everyone loves a bargain and thats why we regularly hold sales here at Storm Outdoors!

We've got the top ten products all under a tenner each! When these camping bits and pieces have gone thats it! So grab yourself a bargain over at Storm Outdoors camping equipment website.

10 Quick Tent Tips that work!

One of our customers just came in and helped give out much of his wisdom on tents, putting them and keeping them up, here's just a few of them:

1) Pegs should go into the ground at a 45 degree angle away from the tent. Pretty obvious but the amount of tents we've seen come loose in windy gales has come down to just badly positioned tent pegs.

2) Limit your tent's exposure to Ultra Violet by camping as much as you can in the shade. UV is what kills a tent in time.

3) Keep the plastic lids off any Pringles. Sewn in ground sheets can get pierced and damaged by table and camping chair legs, place the lids underneath them to spread the weight. GREAT TIP!

4) New tent? Add coloured tape to code the tent poles to help working out what goes where next time you put it up.

5) Take your new tent and put it up in the garden (if space). Practise a few times taking it down and putting it up till you are confident, better learning at home than in a gale on a rainy campsite!

6) Try to purchase a tent that pitches outside first, nothing worse than a soaking wet inner.

7) In bad weather really make sure that none of your tent's inner or outer skins are touching, if it is try to find a better spot out of the wind. If thats not possible turn the side of the tent with the largest space gap between the outer and inner into the wind.

8)Remember that camping near a river is lovely but check you're not on a flood plain with a river that can quickly rise and burst its banks.

9)Clean your tent of mud (and other detriment) when you get home and put it out to dry. Storing a damp tent will quickly lead to its early demise.

10) Having the biggest/lightest/most technical tent does not make you a hardcore adventurer. Many tents are available at a great price, don't spend hundreds on a tent if you never intend to take it up a serious mountain, its not worth the price.

Camping Stoves continued...

Ok so in our last blog we discussed the types of fuels for camping stoves, which ones offer the best performance etc etc. Today we're going to list the types of camping stoves one might use whilst outdoors. Its not a huge list so it won't take long!

Camp stoves come in several shapes and sizes and can be somewhat categorised into three different types:

Mountain Stoves

Generally considered top of the line camp stoves they provide users with an extremely fast boil. They also have to be lightweight, reliable and strong. This type of camp stove comes at a price though.

You'll find many mountain stoves use liquid fuel as this gives the most efficiency in high altitude mountainous terrain and conditions. A true mountain stove makes use of a detachable fuel source that can be easily carried onwards to your next camp together with a burner that generally sits low to the ground.

You may find gas canister mountain stoves however in our experience they do not work well above 4000 feet (so you may get away with using one in the UK mountains).

Backpacking/Hikers Stoves


The generic of camping stoves, no really. Used for pretty much any outdoor activity they are simple to use and can be carried. They may not be the lightest in your rucksack but they'll be sturdy enough for most. Generally you'll see one of these types of stoves powered by a small gas canister or methlyated spirits. They're pretty good value and if looked after you'll get many years use out of them. Abuse and fail to look after them and you could find it being tossed within a couple of seasons (not very good at all).

Family Camping Stoves


Weight is not considered a major issue with family camping stoves as these types are generally kept back at "basecamp". You will want your stove to be easy to use and safe especially around kids (as much as humanly possible). Most types of this stove generally use gas canisters and come with a "domestic" looking hob and some even complete with a grill. It is not the sort of stove you would want to be carrying around, they can be bulky (which admittedly does give you more room to cook on).

Wednesday 20 May 2009

Camping Stoves - Which fuel to use?

Types of Camp Stoves and Fuel Available

With such a bewildering array of different stoves you can use when camping the decision on which type of camping stove and its associated fuel suits you best just gets harder and harder.

So let us help you – down below is a detailed breakdown on the most suitable types of fuel and stoves for your needs, whether its high mountain walking or just chilling out with the family under canvas.

From experience we always ask customers what type of fuel they would prefer to use (i.e. to create a flame or generate heat) with their camp stove.

The most common fuel types are:


Gas Canister Stoves

Gas canisters are extremely easy to use providing a decent level of performance though they can perform poorly at high altitude or in very cold weather conditions (they affect the pressure inside the canister reducing performance). To light a gas camping stove is very simple, you switch on the stove, light it and that’s pretty much it.

Downsides to using this type of fuel are having to dispose of the empty canister (when it runs out) and they can be quite expensive to buy, particularly at campsites (in our experience).


Petroleum Liquid Fuel Stoves

Stoves like these need a method of pressurising the fuel commonly via the integral pump and then need priming to pre-heat the petroleum fuel and convert it to a gas state to burn efficiently. Liquid fuel stoves can take extra effort to light but once you are used to it you’ll never really look back.

Camping stoves using liquid fuel tend to cost less to run and perform better in a wider range of weather and atmospheric conditions, using fuel more economically so you can carry less (important if you are backpacking).


Methylated Spirits (“Meths”) Stoves

Generally considered safer, meths based camping stoves tend to not be as explosive when starting and burn at a lower temperature (which make cooking times longer). Traditionally these types of stoves rely on the methylated spirits to be poured into a small container that allows the meths to emit vapour which is then burnt to heat up your pots and pans.

A common type of stove that uses meths is the Trangia stove which is particularly popular amongst youth groups such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and the Air Cadets.

Solid Fuel Stoves

These are usually very simple stoves which fold out allowing you to burn a tablet or gel to generate heat. Solid fuel is considered safe, lightweight and cheap but they have a serious downside in that they offer very poor adjustability in temperature.

Our next post will be about the types of stove best suited for your planned activity.

Monday 27 April 2009

Family Camping Tents worth buying?

We're all having to review our holiday spending for the forseeable future, cutting back on those luxury hotels abroad with a/c rooms and tropical pools. Shame.

BUT we can take comfort that family campsites across the UK can give us enough to keep the kids entertained and us rested in reasonable and highly affordable comfort.

Because of this, camping with the family in large tents has become as the “In thing” to do.

Many families have opted to camp this year in the UK (tent sales at our shop seem to indicate this), and we do not see this trend of family camping on a budget ending anytime soon. According to the industry the sales of family tents have skyrocketed during the first few months of 2009.

Choosing a Good Size Family Tent

  • Give yourself ample room to move around, especially on a rainy day. Kids in the tent under your feet means you should have got a bigger tent.
  • There are also tents with privacy flaps to insure total privacy.
  • Get a tent that is light enough for you to manage and store safely in the car on your next trip.
  • Make sure you purchase a tent that you will be able to set-up and take down. Although most family camping tents are simple to set up, some are a little harder than others.
  • Know how to put your tent up, setting up a tent for the first time in bad weather is not fun!
  • For a variety of 4-persons, to 7+-persons tents, visit Storm Outdoors Family Tent Sales and find a Family Camping Tent for you and all the family.
Family Camping is a great way for you and your children to have a great holiday at a far lower cost than spending time in hotels.

Monday 23 March 2009

A blog favourite of ours!

http://www.summitandvalley.blogspot.com/

The above blog comes highly recommended for camping equipment reviews, we're certainly new fans of it!

Monday 23 February 2009

10 Favourite National Parks

We love this link! Find out more on the Top 10 national parks (as voted by US National Park retired employees).

Chuffed to see Snowdon is mentioned!

Tuesday 20 January 2009

A very sad loss in the climbing world

We were saddened to hear of the loss of one of the Uk's up and coming climbers and adventurers recently.

We followed Rob Gauntlett's progress from a distance and admired such talent, skill and tenacity at a relatively young age.

Rob sadly died in an ice climbing accident in the French Alps together with his climbing friend, James Atkinson, on the 10th January 2009.

From the Times Online:

Mr Gauntlett’s family spoke of their devastation at their son’s death, adding that their only consolation was that he died while “doing something that he loved”.
We at Storm hope both of you though lost whilst climbing are continuing your quest and passion for adventure in the next life. You'll be missed by many.

Monday 19 January 2009

Vampire Camping? Bite me!

Whilst I was surfing the web I found this little gem of a camping website over in Bulgaria, it made me chuckle and I thought I would share it with you!


www.vampirecamping.com

If anyone does go and stay let us know at Storm Outdoors how you got on!

Impeding Life all the way to New York City

Food for thought:

America's Yellowstone National Park long known to be a volcanic caldera long overdue to violently explode has since the 26th December 2008 experienced 250 tremors, something that to some scientists is rather worrying.

If Yellowstone did erupt it is forcast that there would be enough sulphur dioxide to drastically affect the American Mid West where a lot of farming is done. Its reported it could destroy crops and impede life all the way to New York.

When you see the expected magnitude of this volcanic explosion it does leave one with a somewhat dry mouth and the feeling that this recession is nothing compared to the calamity and likely extremely severe losses Americans would face.

We as humans tend to easily forget the power of mother nature.

More here:

http://www.wariscrime.com/2009/01/11/news/yellowstone-volcano-a-threat-to-the-entire-usa/

Would be a damn shame to see Yellowstone go up in flames and ash too, its certainly a gorgeous part of the world.

Sometimes you gotta think out of the bra!

Yup we like a good survival story and this is a great example of a young American lady who didn't think out of the box, more thought out of her bra!

Whilst hiking in the Bavarian Alps a solitary female hiker slipped and fell 18 feet in bad weather. Suffering injures sustained from the fall she managed to hang out her highly coloured bra on a cable used to send logs down to the valley below.

Luckily for her a logger spotted the bra, heard a woman was missing and contacted the emergency authorities. Within a few hours the young hiker had been rescued by helicopter under difficult circumstances. Its great to hear she is going to make a full recovery.

A couple of things we would recommend is don't hike in mountains alone if you are not experienced, instead go as a group so you have others around to help with your survival in the event of an accident.

If you are experienced enough to hike alone then leave a route map with someone and a time you expect to be back by and a time for them to contact emergency services if you have not made contact. Ensure you have enough food to last at least 24 hours (seems like this lady only had a small amount of biscuits and water).

The young lady mentioned above kept calm and used what she had available to attract attention but in 3 simple words:

She Was Lucky!

The REAL "Best Job in the World"

Heh its great so many people have submitted their details for the "Best job in the world" - a 6 month post paying $100,000 (USD) to somebody to hang out on a tropical island and work a few hours a week.

Tasks involved are to blog about the island once a week, walk around the beach, snorkel the crystal blue sea waters and explore other islands along the same reef. Sounds strenuous!

But there is another Best Job in the World! And thats here working for Storm Outdoors giving customers the best advice on camping equipment. You don't think so? Well we like it and thats the main thing we guess. We've all got the potential to have the best job in the world as long as we have the right mindset and the passion. More on the best job in the world here

Winter Camping Guide

Ya know we just love winter camping and we were all prepared to bring you a detailed report but seeing as we found this one we thought we would share it with you, its well written and produced by someone who knows what they are doing.

Some great tips are included in this guide to winter camping so don't miss out, its a real eye opener!

Monday 5 January 2009

Plans for Walking Holidays this year!

Welcome to 2009 Storm Outdoors fans!

I always look forward to this time of year, the clear blue skies, snow and fresh, crisp (but cold) air changes the view of our towns, villages and more importantly hills and countryside. The Storm Outdoors store is busy both offline and online, in fact we received online orders on Xmas Day (a first!) and Friday the 2nd January was an extremely busy in the shop keeping us all very busy.

What we're really excited about is planning our walking holidays for this year. We're always great fans of The Lake District and regularly visit to relax (and secretly I get to test new camping gear and equipment).

There's loads of places to stay in the Lakes, from campsites, to caravans through to wonderful cosy cottages in the villages and towns like Ambleside, Grasmere, Keswick or Windemere. To help you out here's our favourite websites for staying in the Lake District:

For Lake District Campsites we recommend the Great Langdale campsite found at the head of the majestic Great Langdale and the National Trust Wasdale Head campsite (great for access to Scafell Pike or Great Gable).

For caravans we like the quiet peace of Langdale's Greenhowe Caravan Park - great value though a bit of a walk to the pub but its a pleasant enough stroll on a summer's evening.

But our favourite place to stay is in a Lake District cottage and really get a flavour of how life was years ago. Its also preferred especially when you return from a walk where the weather has been atrocious, its so great to sit in front of a wood fire and get warm.

We use the following websites and all have come highly recommended from our own personal experiences (though we won't admit to which cottages we regularly book unless you email us!)

www.cumbrian-cottages.co.uk

www.lakelovers.co.uk

www.heartofthelakes.co.uk

These 3 Lake District holiday cottage websites all have an extensive list of properties to view and book online. We've used them all in the past and would happily book again with any of them.

Let us know how your holiday goes this year, we'd love to hear where you're headed!