View from my tent

Away today and tomorrow in Yorkshire Dales. Beautiful warm day.

Brazilian Tarp Hat

What you ask me are one of those? Well a cool looking bush hat made from recycled tarpaulins from trucks that travel the red dust roads from Southern Brazil up to the Amazon Basin in the North.  Each hat is hand cut and stitched from old tarps by Brazilian villagers in the Amazonian region of Brazil with every one being unique in terms of shading and patches around the hat.

I was asked by Charlie Abbot from the Amazonas Real Brazilian Tarp Hat Company to road test one of his hats. Charlie’s wife is Brazilian and was born in a small village in the Amazon Rainforest near the border with Bolivia. They now live in England.

I was very pleased to have the opportunity to test this out as I am rather fond of my Aussie leather bush hat, but it is rather too hot to wear I find when walking and backpacking.  I have taken to wearing a Columbia bucket hat, which is cool to wear  but not particularly cool – looking!

My Brazilian Tarp hat arrived very shortly after giving my hat size and address. It was an immediate hit with my wife and my youngest son and I was in danger of losing it straight away to one of them.  William my son instantly recognised that it was the same type of hat that Woody Harrelson wore in the Zombieland movie, so it had instant cred with him.

Having wrestled the Tarp hat off them, I was impressed by how light the hat was, weighing 160g and how cool it looked with it’s bleached tarp and the patches on it.  There are two holes each side for ventilation and can be used to attach a wind strap to prevent the hat from blowing off in the wind.

Brazilian Tarp Hat

What it says inside my hat

I must say that the hat is extremely comfortable to wear and has a wide brim to protect you from the sun. It is a little early in the year to see how it performs in hot weather, but I would say that it is going to  be much cooler to wear than other Bush hats I have worn.  The company claims that the hat is waterproof – I will test this out when we get some rain. There has been very little of late!   As you can see this is very much an early review and I will update you on how I get on with it in due course.

The Tarp hat is available on line at The Amazonas Real Brazilian Tarp Hat Company  and costs a very reasonable £19.99 and comes in a variety of sizes.

Review of Fizan Compact Trekking Poles

Fizan Compact Trekking poles

After one of my Leki Trekking Poles basically fell apart, I looked around for some new ones. I decided on a pair of Fizan Compact Poles, attracted to both the claim that they are the lightest 3 section Trekking pole in the world and some good reviews on the product.

As I have suffered with knee problems in the past (I am glad to say that with a lot of work in the gym they bother me less and less) I find a pair of poles an essential tool for walking and backpacking.

Fizan, have been making ski and trekking poles in Italy since 1947 and were supposedly the first company to use aluminium in their products.

Specification

Made from Aluminium alloy 7001 – same as lightweight tent poles

Folded length is 58 cm ( 23”)

Maximum length 132 cm (52”)

Weight of each pole 158g (5.6oz)

EVA grip with a Neoprene strap

50 mm Trekking baskets

My experience with the Poles

I purchased these back in October 2011 and I have used these on all my walks both locally and out on the hills and fells since.  The poles are incredibly light to hold, to use and on occasions to carry. They are a joy to use and the weight means there is no fatigue when swinging them forward for hours at an end.

Despite being so lightweight (80-90g lighter than carbon fibre) they are strong being made of 7001 aluminium alloy and will take my weight (73 kg or 158 lbs) swinging on them.  They grips are comfortable as well as the neoprene straps attached to them.

The three section pole is easy to adjust.  They do not have ferrules, as the jointing mechanism is completely inside the pole. The only slight issue is the paint is easily scratched but this does not really worry me.

EVA grip and Neoprene strap

50mm Trekking baskets

Conclusions

Overall rating: 4.5/5

Price:   RRP £55.00 per pair.

What I like:  Great weight and price. Fatigue free use.

What I don’t like: Nothing other than the poles scratch easily.

A new addition to the family

I was asked to post up a photo of my eldest son’s new Labrador pup for the dog mad Chrissie  from Chrissie Dixie blog . The pup is 14 weeks old and is called Bramble. Here she is with my Jack Russell dogs.  James, my son says he would like to take Bramble on some walks with me, which is good – it is a few years since we have done some backpacking trips together.  I don’t take the Jack Russell’s on backpacking trips because they are too mental !!

From L-R Digger, Scooby & Bramble

I think WordPress is playing up

Just noticed on my last post – Alport Castles, that my original draft was published rather than my edited version. I apologise if you read the first version as there was probably quite a few errors in it. I have up dated this and re -posted it. It should make more sense:)

Alport Castles

Walked -11th March 2012.  Distance 10 miles (16km). Total ascent 2368 ft (722m). Time taken  4 hours 45 minutes.

Route taken: Fairholmes car park-Lockerbrook Farm- Alport Castles- The Tower-Alport Farm-Snake Pass-Upper Ashop-Blackley Clough-Hagg Farm- Lockerbrook Farm-Fairholme car park

My jet lag from my recent trip to the West side of the USA coupled with 3 nights of interrupted sleep when I got home courtesy of my eldest son’s new Labrador pup meant that I have been feeling a bit jaded to say the least. Bramble as we call her howled through most of the first three nights.  So I decided to take it easy and do a short 10 mile day trip in the Peaks.

I parked up at Fairholmes car park, before the crowds arrived, surprisingly I saw very few people all day, with most I think happy to meander around the reservoirs near the car park.  It was a beautiful warm early spring day as I left the car park making my way up through a Beech wood and then a conifer plantation cloaking the hillside running down to Ladybower Reservoir.

The plantation is being gradually felled and the warm sunshine streamed into the clearings allowing glimpses of the surrounding landscape.

Clearing the forest I walked along the track towards Lockerbrook Outdoor Centre, and then up onto the moors following the easy track towards Alport Castles.

Whilst the sun shone brightly, there was a cool northerly breeze on the tops which justified wearing my Paramo 3rd element jacket with the sleeves removed and my Cioch trousers. When it was warm in the valleys and forest I could easily vent these trousers to keep cool.

I arrived at Alport Castles in time for an early lunch.  This has got to be one of the gems of the Peak National Park and almost looks as if it belongs to the Western United States rather than Derbyshire, a fantastic place to spend time just sitting and staring at the view.

After a leisurely lunch I made my way down towards the River Alport in the valley, crossing the river via a footbridge near Alport Farm.

I passed Alport Farm and made my way down the access road turning left at the bottom onto a short stretch of footpath to emerge on the busy A57.  Crossing the road quickly to avoid being mown down by the motorbikes that race along this road I dropped down the river and crossed using the shallow ford.

The track beyond led me to following a culvert until I reached Blackley Clough where I crossed the A57 again and headed up a very rough  bridle path near to Haggs Farm Environmental Centre.  After  shutting the gate to this track, I had to jump up on to a high bank next to the track as two mountain bikers narrowly missed me as the came down the track at break neck speed.  Despite nearly running me over there was scant recognition of the fact.  I have increasingly found of late the dangers of walking in some areas of the country  by a certain element of the mountain biking community, who seem neither to care or do not recognise other users when out biking.

The steep rough track emerges near to the Lockerbrook Activity Centre and from there I walked back through the forest to the car park at Fairholmes.

An enjoyable walk through some beautiful scenery, for large sections of the walk I saw no-one, quite surprising considering how popular the area is.

New page added to my blog

Whilst I am still in US mode, I have finally got around to publish a trips abroad page.  First up on this is a family trip to the Western part of the USA a few years back. I have some more to complete on it and will post up when I have time.  Can be found here Trips Abroad   or click the tab on the Home page of my blog.

Back to things UK.  Looking to go out tomorrow and I have lots of gear stuff to post up on.