Mountaineering Accessories | Cotswold Outdoor

Customer Review

Jetboil

Zip Stove

£70.00

Overall Rating (5 out of 5)

Reviewed By Matthew, 28 Apr 2012

My best bit of kit!

Versatile, reliable, compact - I can't recommend this product enough... and you don't even need a lighter or matches as it comes with an igniter. The triangular shaped foot plate in this updated design has sorted out the balance issues. I have used this for everything from winter mountaineering to heating baby food on a long walk. A must buy!

Versatile, reliable, compact - I can't recommend this product enough... and you don't even need a lighter or matches as it comes with an igniter. The ...

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Customer Review

Wayfayrer

Main Meals

£4.00

Overall Rating (3.8 out of 5)

Reviewed By Alex, 07 Apr 2012

Good grub.

These are a lot heavier than dried food, but they taste quite good. A few tips are to make sure you get them really hot (they taste pretty bad when cold or warm), use a long spoon so as not to end up wearing most of your meal and stick to the spicier options as they taste less of the bag (take tobasco to add).

These are a lot heavier than dried food, but they taste quite good. A few tips are to make sure you get them really hot (they taste pretty bad when c...

Reviewed By Claudia, 26 Mar 2012

Taste great but quite heavy and expensive

I am currently doing my Duke of Edinburgh Gold award. I took these on my silver practice and qualifying expedition and found them really tasty. They are however quite expensive and weigh a lot more than freeze dry food but I believe they are more filling.

I have eaten them both warm (cooked on a trangia)and cold for lunch, both times they were very nice despite it not sounding very tasty.

I have had chilli con carne, meatballs and pasta and beef stew and dumplings. I also intend to take these on my gold practice for both lunch and dinner so I will be taking 7 in total.

Reviewed By Ella, 23 Feb 2012

Yummy yummy yummy! :D

I have has these a few times, and they are great! After a long days walking, all you want is some hot food, and these cook so fast! They come in pouches you just stick in some boiling water, heat it, then eat it out the pack - so no washing up either!! only thing is i do find the chicken they put in their meals is not like you would think and i didn't really like it! But all the others are lovely and yummy! :D

Reviewed By Mike, 06 Jan 2012

Tastes like ---- but it will keep you alive

Crocodile Dundee said all that needs to be said really. It's expensive, not really much of a weight saver adn takes to long to heat up - but it can be eaten cold in an emergency.

Reviewed By simon, 18 Aug 2011

Home comfort food under the stars

I have been in the Army for six years and eaten many different types of things that keep you going after a long day. I have also been camping since a child and when some friends and I went camping over Scafell pike it was amazing to sit down under the stars to a decent curry and the pleasure of a geat breakfast in the morning. It warmed the soul to know there is good food to eat which inspre me to carry on.

Reviewed By , 23 Jun 2011

Awesome Camping Food !

I am a Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme Trainee Leader, and have completed all three levels myself (Bronze, Silver and Gold).

After going on my Bronze practice I realised what a pain it was to have to attempt to cook food, meant for an average kitchen, on a camping stove. I also grew increasingly annoyed with the amount of time it took to cook in the decreasing light !

Then I found Wayfarers, needless to say since then every expedition I have gone on, ranging from Black Mountains (Wales) to Yorkshire Dales, I have chosen Wayfarers as my nutrition.

They are available in several flavours, though I would personally recommend Chilli Con Carne (which provides a lot of inner body heat, for those cold nights !) and Beans and Sausages for a good breakfast !

Can be eaten at any temperature, even cold, depending on your tastes and patience levels !!

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Customer Review

Primus

OmniLite Ti Stove

£175.00

Overall Rating (5 out of 5)

Reviewed By Richard, 02 Mar 2012

titani-yummy!

Fantastic stove! I'm not a fan of the current "stacked" stoves with pot over burner over cannister, they're so unstable its a hazard, hence updating my old Primus Easyfuel 2 with this.
The stove itself weighs 219 grams, pump is 103g and supplied fuel bottle is 87g. The stove is smaller than the old Omnifuel and now fits nicely inside a 1 litre pot (Primus/ Optimus etc) to keep it tidily packed.
Having done some calcs it seems the stove burns Primus power fuel and gas at the same weight per minute (using correct jetting) and each fuel is almost identical in efficiency for boiling water, with gas using 2.4g/min and powerfuel/white gas using 2.49g/min.
In terms of overall pack weight, with one 250g gas cannister it weighs 600g (new cannister weighs 380g!) and using a full fuel bottle weighs 707g, although with the bottle you get 300g of fuel rather than 250, hence on anything more than an overnight trip where you'd take a 100g gas cannister it is more space, weight, cost and time efficient using liquid fuel - and the liquid fuel doesn't suffer depressurisation slow-down like gas cans do, as you just give it a few more pumps on the handle.
Overall a fantastic, light and efficient stove, not to mention the titanium grin factor!

Fantastic stove! I'm not a fan of the current "stacked" stoves with pot over burner over cannister, they're so unstable its a hazard, hence updating m...

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Customer Review

TravelLunch

Travel Lunch Main Meal

£5.50

Overall Rating (4 out of 5)

Reviewed By Tom, 09 May 2012

A mixed Bag

Pros
- Very, Very light and packable. Ended up being the lightest section of my bag.
- They taste reasonably good. This does vary from one to the other however. (Chilli Con Carne is Very good; Beef Stroganof is not so good, imagine beef jerky stew)
-Very simple to prepare. Simply pour in your hot water, stir well and leave for 5-10 minutes. I would personally recommend leaving it for the longer time as otherwise it does not rehydrate as well.

Cons
- The rehydration can be a bit iffy. Think slightly crunchy rice/ beans. Not to bad for a dehydrated meal though
-It can be difficult to judge the amount of water to add to the bag.
-It needs to be stirred extremely well, or you end up with a layer of concrete like mush at the bottom of the bag.

If you want a lightweight, easy to prepare hiking meal you cannot go much wrong with these. Just be sure to judge the amount of water you need to add correctly, and you will have good tasting hot food ready in 10 minutes.

Pros
- Very, Very light and packable. Ended up being the lightest section of my bag.
- They taste reasonably good. This does vary from one ...

Reviewed By Alex, 07 Apr 2012

Excellent for wildcamping and expeditions.

These weigh very little, making them great for multi-day trips, and taste OK. The trick is to put enough water in as they can end up like a stodgy brick if you don't keep adding water and stirring (the water sits on top of the powder at first and can fool you into thinking you've added enough water).

Reviewed By Bethany, 29 Mar 2012

Travel Lunch Main Meal - Beed Stroganoff

Just come back from the DofE Gold and found that this meal was very satisfying after a long day of walking.
I would highly recommend this meal, I'm sure you will enjoy!!

Reviewed By Mike, 06 Jan 2012

Light and fast

Not great cuisine but ideal for a 3 nighter away due to weight. Also has the advantage of only needing one application of boiling water rather than waiting 8 minutes for the bag to be boiled in the pan, which minimises gas usage and again cuts weight.

Reviewed By , 28 Aug 2011

easy to carry meal

found it tasty & easy to prepare.

Reviewed By Peter, 26 Jun 2011

Excellent food for hiking

I recently used these products for a Duke of Edinburgh silver expedition and i thought they were excellent. They are so light that they add very little to the overall weight of the pack yet they are still very simple to prepare and taste delicious. I would definately urge people to choose this product over the wet food varieties and especially this brand.

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Customer Review

Petzl

Tikka 2 Head Torch

£35.00

Overall Rating (5 out of 5)

Reviewed By Cath, 05 Apr 2012

Head Torch moves to top pocket item!

Remember when head torches were bulky and heavy, lived at the bottom of your ruck with the first aid kit and were one of the reasons why your Scottish winter pack just seemed so huge? No more! This one comes with a pull out, self reloading elastic string rather than head band, meaning it is so compact it can live in the top pocket of your rucksack with the compass and the whistle, ready to deploy swiftly when that route just takes a bit longer than you planned. Beats emptying out all your kit in a hooley on the Cairngorm plateau! If that's not your bag, be assured this torch, compact as it is, provides all the power you need to navigate and the economy setting is more than enough for any general task. Easy to use and well designed, this is great product.

Remember when head torches were bulky and heavy, lived at the bottom of your ruck with the first aid kit and were one of the reasons why your Scottish...

Reviewed By Nigel, 04 Nov 2011

Excellent torch

Just been out through the forest as dusk fell, and it certainly exceeds my expectations. On economy setting it provides more than enough light, and there is the higher setting available. It produced enough light for two people to be able to walk safely. The dog didn't need it; all I could see was two silver orbs blinking occasionally amidst the trees.. No idea about battery life yet, but the excellent man in Durham told me he was still on his initial set of batteries after three years!

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Customer Review

Petzl

Tikkina 2 Head Torch

£20.00

Overall Rating (4.5 out of 5)

Reviewed By Simon, 30 Apr 2012

Excellent value head torch

Having bought Petzl head torches before I chose the Tikkina 2 because I expected it to provide good quality for the very reasonable price and I can certainly say I wasn't disappointed. The batteries were easy to load, it was comfortable and gave a good output for use in a tent and wandering around the campsite at night.

I also tried it out on some night navigation and found it excellent for close up map work, as well as for surveying the area as we checked for features to navigate by. Given it's low cost I was impressed by the distance of visibility the torch gave on its main beam setting. The economic setting was also more than adequate for reading maps and other close work, and had less impact on my night vision when used to check the map so it took less time to readjust once the torch was off.

Having bought Petzl head torches before I chose the Tikkina 2 because I expected it to provide good quality for the very reasonable price and I can ce...

Reviewed By Ross, 31 May 2011

Quality basic head torch

In terms of light output this torch surpassed my expectations. From the 23 lumen output quoted in the description I assumed it would be good for nothing but map reading, cooking and use inside the tent. In use however the full power option is more than sufficient to light the ground ahead when walking and even illuminate objects several metres away. This will not replace a more powerful handheld torch such as a LED Lenser Police Tech Focus in terms of range or light output but it compliments it very well.

As you would expect from the Petzl brand, the build quality is very good. It feels sturdy and well made. It is one of the lightest head torches I have used and as a result is very comfortable to wear. I did worry that the single strap wouldn't offer adequate stability but it actually works very well and the torch is held securely without the strap needing to be excessively tight.

Overall, as a basic head torch to compliment a powerful handheld torch for general use around camp and when walking I would very highly recommend the Petzl Tikkina 2. It isn't the brightest or most featured packed on the market hence only a four star rating but for £20.00 it is an ideal budget option.

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Customer Review

Primus

Express Spider Stove

£45.00

Overall Rating (5 out of 5)

Reviewed By , 23 Jun 2011

Sturdy, Fast & Light

Good quality unit from Primus.

Stores easily and good mid range price.

Very happy with item.

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Mountaineering Accessories (149 Products)

Mountaineering Accessories (149 Products)

My best bit of kit!

Good grub.

Taste great but quite heavy and expensive

Yummy yummy yummy! :D

Tastes like ---- but it will keep you alive

Home comfort food under the stars

Awesome Camping Food !

titani-yummy!

A mixed Bag

Excellent for wildcamping and expeditions.

Travel Lunch Main Meal - Beed Stroganoff

Light and fast

easy to carry meal

Excellent food for hiking

Head Torch moves to top pocket item!

Excellent torch

Excellent value head torch

Quality basic head torch

Sturdy, Fast & Light