A Look At The August Issue Of The Great Outdoors

 The August issue of The Great Outdoors has just been published. It features the Gear of the Year Awards. Producing these involved a great deal of work by the eight judges. We tested all the products on the shortlist and then had discussions as to the winners and runners-ups. In all we gave 32 awards to products in 16 categories. 

Also in the gear pages James Roddie and Will Renwick revew six three-season, two-person tents, and Fiona Russell and Peter Macfarlane review eight midlayers. 

The main features begin with Sarah Jane Douglas describing a Knoydart weekend of mountains, camping, packrafting, and a fresh start after becoming cancer free. David Lintern accompanied her and took the excellent photographs.

In the Lake District James Forrest circles Great Gable on two historic traverses. 

Much further afield conservationist Katy Ellis walks the length of Europe's first Wild River National Park, the Vjosa in Albania, and Alec Forss returns to the Swedish wilds after two years away for a camping and packrafting trip.

Artist and climber Tessa Lyons is Creator of the Month. The Comment column is by Mary-Ann Ochota on the important question of what to do about takine a dump in the wilds. Trail of the Month is the Beara Way in Co.Cork, described by Alex Roddie. In New Books Francesca Donovan reviews In Her Nature: How Women Break Boundaries in the Great Outdoors by Rachel Hewitt and Megan Carmichael reviews Finding Hildasay by Christian Lewis, Jim Perrin looks at Hergest Ridge in his Mountain Portrait, and Emma Schroeder re-enters England on her round Britain coast walk.

The ten Wild Walks in this issue run from Shetland where Ian Battersby visits Esha Ness to Cornwall where Tom Gent visits the Ding Dong Mine and Chun Castle. In between these far ends of Britain Alex Roddie climbs Beinn Damh in Torridon, James Forrest climbs Ben Vane in the Arrochar Alps, Vivienne Crow strides out along the Ettrick Horseshoe in the Southern Uplands, Andrew Galloway makes a circuit of Glaramara, Rosthwaite Fell and Bessyboot in the Lake District, staying in the Lakes Norman Hadley climbs Hindscarth and Dale Head, in Eryri Francesca Donovan wanders up Cnicht, in Pembrokeshire Fiona Barltrop walks the coast from Strumble Head to Trefin, and on Exmoor Roger Butler walks Cheriton Ridge and The Chains.