Spring issue of The Great Outdoors: Waterproofs, Hilleberg Akto & a new Mountain Equipment sleeping bag

The Spring issue of The Great Outdoors - between the April and May ones - has just been published. In it I review eleven men's waterproof jackets (the wet winter has been good for this test, unfortunately) and Judy Armstrong reviews six women's ones. I also look at the story of the classic Hilleberg Akto tent and try a new Mountain Equipment sleeping bag, the Firelite. Also in the gear pages there's a discussion of layering from Outdoor Gear Coach.

The opening spread of this issue is a lovely moody picture of sunset over the Mourne Mountains from Tyrella beach by Brian McCready. Ten writers describe their perfect springtime walks, including Alex Roddie on the Coire Lagan Round on Skye, Hanna Lindon wild camping on Dartmoor, and Ronald Turnbull on the Jurassic Coast Path. Colin Henderson combines sea kayaking with hill walking on a trip to Ladhar Bheinn in Knoydart while on easier terrain Andrew Galloway walks the Sandstone Trail in Cheshire.

Far from Britain Alex Nail visits the dramatic Drakensburg Escarpment in South Africa. Some spectacular photos illustrate this piece. Carey Davies goes far afield too in his Mountain Magic column, walking in Andalucia.

In the first of a new series called Hill Walk & Shop Talk David Lintern goes scrambling in the Lake District with Paul Casey from The Climbers Shop in Ambleside.

In his regular column Roger Smith looks at a new report on land use from the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England. Roger also reviews Nicholas Crane's interesting-sounding  new book The Making of the British Landscape while in the Hillwalkers' Library Jim Perrin considers the poems of Edward Thomas.

The Hill Skills section looks at Bushcraft for Hillwalkers with some useful stuff on plants, navigation by the sun, natural shelters, responsible fire-lighting, safe water, and more.