Craghoppers Altitude Soft Shell - Review

The ideal outdoor jacket for urban use?

As an outdoors person who lives in a city, sometimes I come across obvious crossovers where a piece of outdoor clothing is well suited to an urban environment. In terms of jackets and everyday casual use, I was keen to find something hardwearing for the cooler months with a good degree of suitability for a range of conditions. i.e. something that would serve me well for commuting, shopping and pubbing in the city through the autumn/winter, survive the odd rain shower and look ok.

Having been a keen buffalo user for many years I have long been a fan of pile linings. Warmer than fleece, good wicking properties and lightweight I think pile is underused in modern clothing. So I decided that a pile lined jacket would be ideal. Pile lined jackets like Buffalo's belay jacket or the Montane Extreme Jacket (I won smock versions of both), whilst both great pieces of kit, are not ideal for urban use as pertex, although wonderful, is susceptible to things like cigarette burns in busy London pubs, and are also both not really styled for urban use.

Having also used a few softshell jackets over the years, good windproofing, water resistance, breathability, stretch and a hardwearing face have impressed me. However unless being active have not tended to find softshells very warm. QED a softshell face with a pile lining struck me as an ideal jacket for urban needs (and the odd cragging trip and stroll in the country).

Looking at what is available there didn't seem to be a lot available in softshell with a pile lining. However a random trip to Field and Trek for a browse revealed the Craghoppers Altitude soft shell. This is precisely what i was looking for, softshell with a pile lining and a cut suitable for town use (even acceptable in the office).

Having worn this as my main day to day jacket for 6 months here are my thoughts:

What I like

• Hardwearing - The jacket seems well made and have had no issues from this perspective
• Weatherproof - The jacket has coped well with the odd shower, seems windproof and fairly warm.
• Styling - It looks pretty good and certainly not scruffy like an old fleece! Cut is fairly atheltic but not enough so to negate non sporty use.
• Pockets - Pockets are well placed and a good size.
• Cheap - Available for £50 to £60 which is not bad for this type of jacket although not a premium brand.

What I don't like

• A bit stiff - The fabric is fairly stiff for a fabric and not that light. Almost neopeney. This makes it less comfortable than a more flexible jacket, i.e. you can feel you are wearing the jacket in contrast to say a light down jacket which makes you feel warm without you even knowing it is there.
• Not that breathable - This jacket actually has a waterproof membrane. I think the jacket would be better without this as softshell fabric tends not to hold water so could still be showerproof. A waterproof membrane on a jacket with no hood is fairly pointless imo. Breathability is also worse than fully waterproof Gore tex, Conduit and other membrane jackets have used
• Brand - Not that bothered but not really keen on association with a certain Mr Grylls (nothing personal but programs are about entertainment not genuine outdoor ability imo).
• Pile not as warm as comparable types. My Buffalo for instance, which is thinner and lighter, is a warmer beast altogether.

Summary - 6.5/10 - Stylish, well priced and robust, just not quite comfortable enough

Essentially this jacket has performed quite well for my purposes and offers a pretty good choice for an urban softshell IMO.
If it was stolen would I buy it again? Probably not, whilst there is a lot to like about the jacket and will happily use it for coming years it just isn't as comfortable to wear as I would like. You are just a little too conscious you are wearing it and a lack of breathability just detracts from from feeling you are wearing a really great bit of kit.
I think removing the membrane could possibly be enough to fix this and it that case could be a great jacket.

Cotswold Way - 5 Days

The Cotswold way is one of Britains best known long distance trails and one which is well achievable with just a weeks holiday unlike longer treks such as the Pennine way or Coast to Coast.

Orignally I had intended to walk the latter route during a period off prior to starting a new job. Sadly the 10 days, minimum, required for the coast to coast were not available to me so I was looking for an alternative target. After a swift bit of Googling I settled on the Cotswold way.

Stretching some 100 miles, from north of Cheltenham, to Bath, the Cotswold way has become one of Britains most popular long distant routes. With 5 days to spare I had to cover 20 miles per day, and whilst this seems a fairly modest target it did prove fairly challening.

Choosing to camp or bivvy would ensure an economical way of covering the route although it is certainly true to say that this route is not massively well catered for from a camping perspective. However with 1 nights bivvying aside the rest of the route did provide suitable camping spots, which also offered good character.

I split the route as follows:


Chipping Campden - Winchcombe: Sneaky bivvy for the night.

Winchcomber - Coopers Hill: Say hello to Rosemary if stopping here for a tea at Coopers Hill Haven. And yes the famous cheese rolling hill looks desperately steep.

Coopers Hill - North Nibley: Grand camping at the house

North Nibley to Tormarten: Slightly surreal but friendly camping at the Best Western Compass Inn.

Tormarten to Bath: Some would say the least interesting stretch but actually very pleasant.

Pubs along the route proved very friendly and a cost effective way to stock up on much needed carbs.

More useful information when get a chance.

BBC Click looks at open source software

Nice to see the BBC news 24 Click program doing a feature on open source software. Long being a fan of open source software it's good to see it getting some mainstream coverage. At my old company we even ran the office on Linux and software like Open Office.

Open Office

Open office is a brilliant Microsoft Office alternative which offers pretty much the same set of features as the costly alternatives + a few more such as easy and relaible PDF creation. Cross compatibility with Office is pretty good with only some minor formatting issues found so far.
Open office site


Inkscape

Inkscape is a free vector graphics program in the mould of Adobe illustrator. The interface can sometimes seem a little unintuitive but the progam is stable and great from doing all manner of design and vector graphics work such as logo or web layout design.

MSR Hubba HP 1 Man Tent First Impressions

Have just taken delivery of a shiny new MSR Hubba HP so here are the reasons I made this choice and my first impressions.

Having been looking for a tent for long cycle tour next year my main criteria were, ease of pitching, lightweight, twin skin, robust enough to survive at least a few months on the road and preferably free standing. Hubbas are often recommended for these purposes.

Ease of pitching - Generally I prefer a tent which pitches outer first as this makes life so much easier when it's raining. My trusty Vaude Spider, much like a the current taurus, is fantastic in this respect. The hubba pitches inner first although this is a pretty quick process. The singular pole system is quite a clever means of creating a freestanding tent with only one pole connection. Essentially a long central pole with twin prongs at each end and in the middle, all interconnected with elastic.

Quality - Intitial impressions are good. Welded strong points at the corners of the fly look robust and all general finish is to a high standard. A waterproof zip on the fly is chosen in preference to a storm flap and time will tell if this is as effective as the simpler but slightly heavier flap. The inner is a pretty soft and silky fabric which is very light and looks to offer good ventilation for a non mesh. Mesh ventilation panels are in the apex of the roof and side walls. Pegs seem light and fairly robust although will probably swap them for my Vaude pegs which are just as light and with a broader V shaper will hold better in softer ground.

Weight - At 1.3kg this is a pretty lightweight tent considering the twin skins and a usable vestibule. There aren't many lighter that fit this criteria without some compromise in robustness and consequently more suited to mountain marathons than long trips.

So overall initial impressions seem good but will report when has been put through the paces. Now real criticisms, would prefer a green to yellow colour for more subtle camping! Also the pegs seem fine but as I say I prefer the uber strong alloy v type peg,

Reclaiming a Bike removed by TFL when chained to railings - London Cycle Commuting

Well the bike is reclaimed and London is once my my pedalling oyster. Have to admit wasn't optimistic at first however thought it would be useful to share the process of getting the bike back in case any other of London's cycling brethren suffer a similar fate. i.e. Having your bike removed by TFL when changing railings. Earlier posts indicate initial seething rage slightly better!! The bike was legally parked on an unmarked railing by the way.

Upon establishing my bike was missing, and ascertaining that shiny new railings and a busy street implied some scally teenager was not to blame my first stop was the local council. Local councils tend to have an emergency line where you can report problems with council related things after hours. After chatting to the guy on the Wandsworth council emergency line I secured a direct line to the roads department.

As it was after hours I left a message with them and rang again the next morning. On chatting to the person at the end of the phone it became apparent they weren't from the roads department so they promptly put me through to the correct lot.

It transpired as the road is a red route the "street furniture" is actually maintained by TFL so I then secured a number for the TFL transport line. 0845 305 1234. TFL Roadworks page

Chatting to a friendly guy named Zinny I was initially told after he contacted the contractors that nope no roadworks had been carried out there, junction of Battersea rise and Northcott Road. Upon getting more insistant and mentioning that this was effectively theft he tried again with the contractor, Ringway Jacobs.

It popped to the Ringway Jacobs guys mind that in fact a street decluttering scheme may have been responsible for removing bent railings so maybe this was responsible. I was given a number for a Ringway Jacobs man.

Having chatted to this bloke whilst initially told it was illegal to chain bikes to railings, not true if we go by a 2008 lords ruling, I was told he would ring me back and later, lo and behold, I did get a call telling me my bike would be available for pick up from the Bow depot. Not the most convenient. However I should ring back for confirmation later.

On ringing back I was told the bike would actually be available for pick up from the Tulse Hill depot, and given a number. Whilst I couldn't seem to get through to them on the phone I was told by the lads at Bow depot that I could pick up the bike from Tulse Hill this morning. Far more convenient as I live in Brixton although still not the happiest to have to travel about to pick up my property which was unlawfully removed from my possession. However after a couple more calls to confirm that if I turned up this morning I could pick up the bike.

Lo and behold this is what I did and even better did get my locks back which was a result. Was planning an official complaint to TFL to claim the cost of locks back if that had not been the case so one less hassle!!!

So to summarise if your bike does get removed by TFL when attached to street furniture

• Decide who you should contact. Red Route = Transport for London. Number: 0845 305 1234.
• Other = Local council
• If you are not getting a satisfactory result be persistant and threaten the police or legal action if your bike was legally parked.
• IT IS LEGAL TO LEAVE YOUR BIKE ATTACHED TO STREET RAILINGS.
• The contractors seem to think they are acting correctly so need clarification from TFL. Probably not worth getting angsty with them as they are doing their job, or at least think they are, so were helpful.