Apologies for the couple of days delay in announcing these winners, Sawyer were pretty inundated with entries and we had to take a little time to sift through them all.
So, the 5 winners of a new Sawyer Squeeze SP129 pack are:
Dean Gerstel, Konrad Meurer, Cody Bartz, Andy Champion and David Meschke.
Konrad Meurer was decided to have the most original reply so will also be the proud recipient of the Sawyer Water Bag and filter adapter. Sawyer, however, inform me that there has been a slight delay in new stocks of the adapter arriving so Konrad, they will send the Squeeze pack out asap and will keep you informed on the bag, with their apologies.
Many thanks to all those who took part, Sawyer will contact each of you directly to arrange shipping etc. I’m sure it will live up to expectations and hope you all get out there to enjoy it.
Oh yeah, other stuff . . .
I’m behind with reviews but hope to have the latest on RouteBuddy mapping software, Salomons Synapse 20 litre pack, an incredibly light Multimat Superlite Air mattress which I have high hopes for and some Salewa MS Wildfire shoes, a cross between a climbing approach shoe and a hiking shoe with an ingenious adjustable insole.
I have just watched an excellent documentary based film on The Pacific Crest Trail called ‘Tell it on the Mountain’. There’s a teaser below and link to order should you wish but I’ll get you all a review very soon with the chance to win a free download:
There’s a guest blog post by David Lintern coming which is guaranteed to make for great reading, and hopefully he’ll show it all off with some of his photographic genius as well. I’m still putting together interviews with Andrew Skurka, Rand Lindsley of Trail Designs, Chris McMaster from ULA and Ron Bell at Mountain Laurel Designs amongst others.
Check out the ‘Great Blogs & Latest Posts’ section of the website (over to the right hand margin and down a bit). There’s some great bloggers out there at the moment and the hiking blogging community continues to go from strength to strength, We all have something to say, pictures to show you, opinions to share and ideas to put forward. These are all great bloggers and the new additions to the blogroll such as Marks Walking Blog, Sticks Blog, Northern Pies, Blogpacking Light, Dean Read, Backpackingbongoes and Pete McFarlane are well worth a look.
I love a good review! Check out what Blogpackinglight had to say about The Last Englishman HERE.
Even though I dropped out of the TGO Challenge this year I’ve got some exciting plans, albeit a little off the hiking platform. I’m cycling from Lands End to John O Groats (basically the length of the country) this summer. 1,000 miles in around 7 days is one hell of a challenge but the 6 of us attempting this lunacy I’m sure will spur each other on. I hope to send reports from the ride with video etc.
I’ve also signed up for a marathon at the end of September. I’ve attempted 26.2 miles 3 times in the past and have unfortunately been injured on each occasion through training before the actual race itself. I have a different approach this time, changing my training, bringing in more cross training and strength work and also a diet overhaul. All, I hope, will see me at the finish line on my 4th attempt.
I’m also experimenting with my hiking style, delving into drastically reducing my pack weight and walking longer distances each day. No cooking equipment, a simple tarp, tyvek groundsheet, Multimat and sleeping quilt set up, minimal clothing and re-supplying as I go. Why I don’t really know! I’m not usually into the mechanics of hiking, or anything else, but I’m becoming more fascinated with a longer distance and lightweight approach. Maybe this is a sign of things to come on future thru-hikes, for the time being I’ll be testing the theory out in the UK with some national trails over here doing 30 to 40 mile days and hiking long and light.
I may even go off on a tangent sometimes. Yes, this is a hiking blog predominantly but my interests in running, cycling and why I’m changing my diet to being virtually vegan may even make an appearance. It’s all loosely connected, just bear with me . . .