New TGO - winter backpacking & cartridge stoves

The February issue of TGO is just out. My backpacking column is very appropriate at present as it’s about winter hiking and camping. In gear I’ve reviewed ten cartridge stoves, looking at how heat exchanger models compare with standard ones. Elsewhere John Manning reviews gloves, also apposite in this cold weather. (It’s -2 outside at present, with two feet of snow on the ground. I was outside earlier cutting firewood wearing an old pair of Extremities Guide Gloves, made from Windstopper fleece with a leather palm and fingers, as these are excellent for handling the saw and axe). And Eddy Meecham looks at insulating mats and why they aren’t always as warm as the R-values suggest, which is also useful information for snow camping. Other features in this TGO include an ascent of the high points in each country of Europe, dawn in the Arran mountains, Helvellyn in winter, the Welsh 3,000s, Jim Perrin on stravaiging (one of his best recent pieces), a profile of Outward Bound, and Paddy Dillon on the changing face of the Pennine Way.

Photo info: A winter camp in the Glen Affric hills. Canon EOS 350D, 18-55@41mm, 1/640@ f8, ISO 100, tripod, raw file converted to JPEG in Lightroom 2.6