Tag: Bivvying

Review: The SOL (Survive Outdoors Longer) Emergency Bivvy

by Alison Ingleby on April 11, 2017 in Outdoor Gear • 0 Comments

SOL-emergency-bivvi
Emergency kit is a tricky thing. It’s like an insurance policy – you’re spending money on something you hope never to have to use. But I’ve spent enough time in the hills to know that accidents can happen however prepared you may be. And come the day that you do need it, you’ll be really glad you spent an extra few pounds on a product that could, quite literally, save your life.

For years, the traditional foil survival blanket filled the role of emergency protection against the weather or at least tried to. Foil blankets are all very well when it’s a reasonably warm, calm day. But on a rain-lashed mountainside, they’re about as much use as a toothpick on an ice field. And the good old law of sod says, that if you’re ever going to need an emergency bivvy, it’s not going to be on a beautiful summer’s day.

That’s where the SOL Emergency Bivvy comes in. It’s not much bigger or heavier than a foil survival blanket, but it has a much higher chance of keeping you warm and dry. A foil blanket is unlikely to save your life – this piece of kit could.

The SOL Emergency Bivvy

I bought the SOL Emergency Bivvy some years back when I was after a super-lightweight emergency bag for running mountain marathons. Even I, trying to get my pack weight down as much as possible, couldn’t begrudge the tiny 3.8oz weight. It has been my constant companion since; happily snuggled at the bottom of my rucksack ready for the day it will be needed.

The SOL Emergency Bivvy pretty much does what it says on the tin. Unlike other SOL bivvy bags which are designed to be used instead of a sleeping bag, this is very much a keep-you-alive, last resort option. So don’t expect to get a good night’s sleep if you’re using it on its own. (Respect to Tom and Craig from Hikeordie, who slept in a field for four days as part of their test.)

SOL Emergency Bivvy specifications

The SOL Bivvy works by reflecting your body heat – up to 90 percent according to the manufacturer, though it’s a bit unclear as to how this is measured. The outside of the bag is a bright, ‘help me’ shade of orange, which will come in handy if you’re awaiting rescue, though not if you’re stealth bivvying in a farmer’s field.

The bag is made from polyethylene, which has some stretch, so unlike your foil blanket, it shouldn’t rip when you’re getting in and out. With seam-sealed edges, it’s completely waterproof and windproof, but bear in mind it’s not breathable. If you’re wrapped up in it for a while, you’re likely to get some condensation inside.

Unwrapped, it’s 84 inches in length, long enough to be pulled over the head of even a tall person (for evidence of this, check out this video). It’s also pretty wide, so if you’re skinny you could probably fit two of you in it to help keep warm. (No, I’m not kidding – sharing body heat is a tried and tested strategy for warding off hypothermia. Choose your hiking companions wisely!)

Often emergency survival kit is designed to be single use. If you’ve ever tried to fold a foil survival blanket back up, you’ll know that it’s an exercise in frustration. Fortunately, the designers of the SOL Bivvy took this into consideration. The bivvy comes with a nice stuff sack that’s twice as large as the rolled-up bivvy. While it does take about ten minutes to get it rolled up tight, it will fit back in the stuff sack after use.

What to use it for

Although it’s termed a ‘bivvy’, the SOL Emergency Bivvy is not intended to be used as a regular bivy sack. If you’re after something to use for lightweight bivvies on a planned basis, check out the SOL Thermal or Escape Bivvy. But as an emergency piece of kit, it beats the old foil blanket hands down, and at £17, it’s an insurance policy you can’t afford not to take.

Have you used the SOL Emergency Bivvy? Let me know how you rated it!

10 Things to Do With Your Extra Hour of Daylight

by Alison Ingleby on March 28, 2017 in Misc • 0 Comments

Extra-hour-daylight

British Summer Time is here! With promises of long, warm summer nights, sunny evenings at the crag and weekends packed with adventure from dawn to dusk. Admittedly, we’re still in March, which means for every day of sun you get one of rain with the additional bonus of the occasional hard frost, but hey, that’s what living in the UK is all about.

I love this time of year. Finally, the dark days of winter are behind us. There’s no longer the agony of staring out of the office window, knowing that by the time you get to leave work, the sun will have slipped away. And let’s face it, it’s much easier to get motivated to go for a post-work run when it’s still light outside.

If you’re itching to get outside, but lacking in inspiration, here are ten fun things to do outdoors with your extra hour of evening daylight.

Take a Different Route Home From Work

If you cycle, walk or run to work, winter commuting can be a punishing experience. Every day becomes a battle of your will versus the weather. Whether you have your head down, pedalling into a headwind, or you end up fighting with your umbrella as you get soaked by a passing lorry, the shortest route home is usually the preferable one.

The reward for your perseverance, is the warm, dry summer evenings, where commuting becomes a pleasure rather than a chore. So now you have a bit more daylight, why not choose an alternative route home and explore more of your local area? Use the CycleStreets planner to plan a longer route home on quiet back roads and cycle paths or swap your road bike for a mountain bike and go off-road.

Go Bouldering Outside

It may not be quite light enough to justify getting your ropes and trad gear out just yet, but there’s plenty of daylight for a quick bouldering session after work. With roadside venues such as Almsclife (Yorkshire), Bonehill Rocks (Devon), Burbage (Peak District) and Dumbarton Rocks (west of Glasgow), you can be parked up and have your bouldering pad out before most of your work colleagues have driven home.

If you’re new to climbing and have been training indoors over the winter, now is the perfect time to test out your skills on real rock. Just remember that bouldering outdoors can be quite different to indoors; check out these tips from the good folks at UKClimbing.

Get Out in the Garden

If you need some outdoor time, look no further than your own back garden. Gardening is relaxing, creative and can be pretty hard work! The combination of spring sun and rain means that everything is starting to grow, so it’s time to get the lawnmower out, tidy up the garden and start planting out those seedlings you’ve been nurturing in the greenhouse. Follow the RHS’s guide for jobs to do at this time of year.

Go on a Microadventure

Have you spent the winter snuggled up at home reading, planning and dreaming of adventure? Now is the time to get out there and have some! I know, I know, you need to ease yourself into this adventuring malarky. After all, the grey drizzle spreading over the M25 is quite different to the hot, wild African plains. But this is where microadventures come in.

Microadventures are pint-sized adventures. They’re not about taking on some huge daunting challenge that you need to raise thousands of pounds for. And there’s no need to go to your boss and beg for six months off work. Microadventures are simple, local and cheap, but most importantly, fun. Whether it’s cooking dinner over a camp fire, a mid-week overnight bivvy or even camping in your garden, microadventures are exactly what you want to make them. For more ideas and lots of tips check out Alastair Humphreys’ excellent blog.

Try Orienteering

If you’ve never tried orienteering (and if not, why not?), now is a great time to start. Most orienteering clubs put on friendly summer evening events at local parks and woodlands. These are ideal for beginners, and they’ll usually be someone around to show you the ropes. Check out this newcomer’s guide to getting into orienteering, and find an event near you on the British Orienteering website.

Take the Kids on an Adventure

I’m going to be a bit controversial, but hear me out. Spring is here. It’s time to turn the TV off, put the iPad out of reach on the top shelf and limit access to the Playstation. It’s time for a family adventure.

Now the evenings are lighter there are loads of (free) outdoor activities you can take advantage of. Cycle along a canal towpath, go on a treasure hunt or feed the ducks in the park. Go in search of the Gruffalo, roast marshmallows on an open fire or build a den in the woods. Your kids will have a great time and will be so tired, you’ll all get a great night’s sleep.

Get Fit with an Outdoor Bootcamp

Fed up of sweaty gyms? Give yourself plenty of arm-waving space by taking your work out outdoors. There’s also the added bonus of being able to breath fresh, unfiltered air. If you like being shouted at, British Military Fitness run classes at all levels across the country. UK Outdoor Fitness also offer nationwide classes (possibly with less shouting) and there are plenty of local trainers around if you’re looking for some one-to-one training.

Go to an Open Air Cinema

If you’re looking for something a little less active, then take a seat at an open air cinema. You can usually take along a picnic and drinks and they’re hosted in venues from castles and stately homes to rooftop gardens and cobbled streets.

If a spot of theatre is more your thing, then get along to a performance at Regent’s Park in London, Grosvenor Park in Chester or the stunning Minack Theatre in Cornwall.

Enter some evening running events

If your weekends are packed full of family commitments, opportunities to enter running races can be few and far between. The good news is, that as the evenings start getting lighter, there are more opportunities to compete in events after work. There’s a pretty comprehensive list of events here.

If you’re lucky enough to live near the hills, then there’s no excuse not to try out some of the local fell races. The
Fell Runner website has a full list of FRA registered races and you can search by region to find events in your area. Want to have even more fun? GO ORIENTEERING. (I’m not going to tell you again.)

Take a sunset walk

One of the nicest things about this time of year is that the sun sets at a perfect time for evening sunset walks. It’s not so early that you’re stuck at work, and you have plenty of time to get home for a late dinner afterwards. Take a stroll through your local park, woodland or fields. Close your eye and breathe in the sounds and smells of nature. Relax and enjoy the swathes of colour across the sky as the sun dips below the horizon. Be at peace.

What’s your favourite way to use the extra daylight we have in the evenings? Get in touch on Twitter and let me know, or drop a comment in the box below. Happy adventuring!

Sleeping Wild: a 5-to-9 Microadventure

by Alison Ingleby on September 27, 2016 in Microadventures • 2 Comments

Walking down across fields in early morning light

Early morning – the most beautiful time of day

Ever find you get so bogged down in the day job that you limp through the week focused only on the shining beacon of light that is the weekend? Somehow the ‘9-to-5’ has turned into an ‘8-to-7’, but it’s just not humanly possible to get through the work in eight hours a day. Or perhaps you start the week full of good intentions and exciting plans which, come Tuesday, you’ve fully given up on.

I will hold up my hand and answer yes to each of these questions. When I escaped London to move to Yorkshire, I was determined to leave the late-working nights behind and make the most of having beautiful countryside on my doorstep. Every night I’d be out climbing, running and cycling. Then life – and work – got in the way and I settled back into monotony, resigning myself to occasional bouts of freedom at the weekend.

But there is another way. A way you can deal with the realities of having to work late (sometimes) and still have a life of adventure. Let me introduce you to the concept of microadventures.

Now, I’m not a huge fan of categorising ‘adventures’. I mean adventure is adventure right? And it will mean different things to different people. If you’re never been out of a city, then your first visit to the countryside, or up a mountain will be an adventure. It doesn’t all have to be about cycling across continents, or exploring polar wastelands.

But I do quite like the concept of microadventures, and in particular 5-to-9ers. These are really quite simple. Rather than focusing on the hours of work (9-to-5) focus on the adventures you can have outside of this time – between 5pm and 9am the next day. However much you have on at work, you just need to leave early one day a week to have adventures and experiences you will never forget.

Inspired by reading Alastair Humphreys’ excellent book, Microadventures and panicked by the realisation that summer was pretty much over, we decided enough was enough. It was time to say ‘sod it’ to everyday life for a night. It was time for an adventure.

The Plan

Our plan was simple. Leave home, jump on the train north for a couple of stops, walk up to the conveniently marked pub on the map for dinner and then head up onto the top of the moor to sleep out for the night. No tents, just sleeping bags, mats and bivvy bags. Next morning we’d get one of the first trains back home, shower and go into work. The great thing about simple plans? They rarely go wrong.

The first step

We left the house just before six. It was pretty strange heading out in walking boots with a pack on at this time in the evening. Even the first steps along a familiar road felt somehow different. Adventurous. The excitement of not quite knowing what was to come put a spring in my step.

On the train we checked over the map and glimpsed at the other passengers. People heading for a night out, or home from work. I felt almost sorry for them, going back to their normal, everyday lives. But each to their own – sleeping under the stars at the end of September isn’t for everyone!

Is that the sound of the pub calling?

The light was starting to fade as we hiked up the hill and across fields to the pub. A chill in the air reminded us that winter was just around the corner. In the pub I overheard a man asking his wife how far she thought we’d walked. “Ooo, they must have done ten or twelve miles,” she replied. More like one. You don’t have to walk far to have an adventure.

Into the wild

Feeling rather stuffed, we dragged ourselves away from the warmth and light of the pub and headed out into the night. It was almost dark, but a bright moon helped light the way, so we left our headtorches in our bags. Which was great – until the springy grass field unexpectedly turned into a bog.

We headed onwards and upwards, until we were high above the valley, looking out over a sprinkling of orange lights. It felt a world away from home, the office and real life. After a bit of exploring we found a flat spot that was sheltered from the bitter wind, and laid out our mats, sleeping bags and bivvy bags.

Sleeping under the stars

Snuggled down inside my sleeping bag, cocooned by layers of down, I stared up at the clouds sweeping across the sky. The only noise was the occasional plane taking off from the nearby airport; the only light that of the moon and the soft orange glow of the city in the distance.

One thing about sleeping out at this time of year – you go to bed early. We were tucked up and ready to snooze by quarter-past eight in the evening. If we’d have stayed at home, we’d have probably still been eating dinner.

At some point in the night I was wakened by the wind blowing across my face. Though we’d picked a sheltered spot, the wind had changed direction in the night, and was now blowing straight across us. I buried myself deeper into my sleeping bag, pulling the bivvy over my head to shelter me from the cold. And slept.

Awakening

The alarm on my phone woke me – an unexpected jarring sound in this wild place. Alarms are associated with home and with getting up early for work. Not with adventure. But we had a train to catch, and that meant getting up before sunrise.

Walking home as the world awakens

It was cold in the pre-dawn darkness, so we lost no time in packing up our kit and making our way back down to the train station. As we walked the sky began to lighten. The world was waking to a new day. We passed houses whose occupants had not yet stirred, sheep still lying in the fields and a few early morning joggers.

It is these moments – at the very beginning of the day – when I feel closest to nature and most at peace. I love my sleep and normally struggle to get out of bed early, but when I do make it out first thing in the morning, I never regret it.

At the station we joined commuters on the platform, dressed in suits and smart shoes. I wondered what they thought of us in our hiking clothes and muddy boots. It was hard to believe that today was just another ‘normal’ work day and that soon we’d be joining them for our morning commute.

Back at the train station – refreshed after a night of sleeping out under the stars

Back to reality

Back home we quickly unpacked bags, showered and headed out the door to work. I got to my desk before nine, and sat down with a coffee and breakfast to deal with the morning’s emails. Just like any other day. Except that bubbling inside of me was the excitement of our secret. And thoughts and plans for the next adventure. Because when it comes to microadventures, the next one could be just around the corner.

How to have your own microadventure

All you really need to have your own microadventure is, well, a sense of adventure! Add a sprinkling of imagination and you’ll quickly come up with a dozen potential plans.

To wild camp you need a basic sleeping mat, a warm sleeping bag and a bivvy bag (you can pick up a basic survival bag for a couple of pounds). Technically it is illegal to wild camp in England and Wales (though legal in many parts of Scotland) – you can either seek permission from the landowner, or find a remote place and go by the ‘leave no trace’ principle*. Everything you take in, you take out and leave no scars on the landscape.

For more microadventure ideas, check out Alastair Humphreys’ website. Be warned, you may get lost for hours dreaming of adventure!

*disclaimer – we would always suggest you get permission from the landowner. For more info on the safety and legalities of wild camping, check out this useful blog post.