Lawrence Clark from BushCraft Ventures will set up camp outside our doors this Saturday in Aboyne.  Lawrence is a bushcraft expert who plied his trade with Ray Mears and was only one of three people in the UK  to receive the prestigious ‘Ray Mears Instructors knife’ -an acknowledgement of his highly developed skills. As part of his work he spent time in the Arctic living with the Psami (Lapps) peoples of Northern Sweden.

On display will be clothing and equipment used in bushcraft and wilderness survival, including; clothing made from cotton, wool and furs, and cutting tools.

Demonstrations will take place on traditional fishing hooks manufacture, fire lighting , wood carving and simple steam bending.

Many bushcrafters are aware of Hilltrek Ventile products such as the Braemar Smock  and the Ventile poncho. Our staff will be on hand  to discuss the properties of Ventile and some of our new innovations including Cotton Analogy.

The summer solstice has come and gone, the count down to winter is on.  Not that the skiers on Cairngorm Mountain were waiting, they were out in force yesterday.  Still cool enough for the need for an outdoor ski jacket for some, though a kilt was seen on the slopes too.

Congratulations to Sylvia Tasker of Arbroath, who won a Paramo Camino Shirt donated by Hilltrek, for her photograph (above) taken during the Ballater Walking Week in May.

Ballater’s annual walking festival has been running since 1998, and we’re told that this year has been their most successful Walking Week yet.  Its programme is devised by a team of professional mountain guides, rangers, and local residents, and accommodates walkers of all ilks, from the occasional ambler to the seasoned munro-bagger.  For details of past and forthcoming events, visit the Royal Deeside website: http://www.royal-deeside.org.uk/RDnews/walkweek.htm

I am starting the planning for my walk up Ben Avon this week.  The weather forecast is where I usually start my preparations and things are looking promising for Tuesday onwards.  About this time last year I walked to the summit of Ben MacDhui and it was a hot day in the hills, so thoughts on what jacket to bring were more along the lines, will I need an outdoor jacket at all?  Of course the answer is always yes.  This year the weather is a lot cooler, the freezing level reported at 1200m at the weekend past, that is cold enough for snow on the summits in the Cairngorms.  It is going to be 20 mile walk so that is going to be a bit of an energy spend and the hike up the steeper slopes will no doubt keep me warm.  So what jacket to wear?  Two things, one the need to keep the rain off and two, to keep the wind out but I suppose thirdly, but not at the price of overheating.  For me that means, the outer shell of my winter ski jacket with a breathable shirt below and a further t-shirt below if warmth is needed.  If some warmth is need and the weather is dry I’d go for just the inner lining of my ski-jacket with the outer shell packed in the rucksack.  Given those choices I was looking around the hilltrek online store and selected the following items:

Gairn Windproof Smock for those cooler summer days when the rain and wind is likely.

Naturally Páramo Reversible shirts Explorer Light Pull on with the new lighter weight materials this versatile jacket provides maximum flexibility for cooler to warmer day use.

Made to Measure Braemar Single Ventile Windshirt for those that want want exact fit comfort and performance.

In many ways choosing a summer outdoor jacket is a harder job than a winter one but for sure one should be packed in a rucksack.

Heriott Watt fashion technology student Alison has recently completed a year’s work placement at Hilltrek.  Here’s what she has to say about her experience:

“To gain necessary hands-on experience within the technical clothing industry, I was placed by my university in Hilltrek’s Clachan Yell workshops.  Aboyne might not be the most obvious hub of technical clothing innovation, but it was there I cut my teeth gaining practical knowledge of new fabrics and cutting patterns, developed my sewing skills, and – as well as manufacturing garments - worked on a diverse spectrum of repairs which came into the workshop. I doubt any big brand companies would have been able to provide as varied an experience; one day I’d be repairing tents and flysheets, the next adjusting school bags and motor biking gear!  The team at Clachan Yell also involved me in the cutting stage of many of Hilltrek’s garments, which allowed me to become more experienced with an array of popularly stocked fabrics.  I picked up various new techniques involved at the preliminary stages of garment design, and, as well as familiarizing myself with Hilltrek’s patterns, I even helped to produce new ones:  see the Kintail Ventile shirt http://www.hillgear.com/acatalog/Kintail_Ventile.html for an example of my work!

I would like to say a big thank you to everyone at Hilltrek who helped me throughout the year; from my experience at the Clachan Yell workshops I gained indispensable knowledge and vastly improved my skills and confidence in garment manufacture.”

Scotland has plenty of hills and now with services like Twitter, there is plenty of tweeting going on in the hills too.  While you can look at weather forecasts and maps nothing beat listening or reading the stories from those out actually in the hills.  George Henderson tweets at the popular WalkScotland twitter account and even the guys at Cairngorm Mountain are keeping us up to date with condition in the Cairngorms.  So, before heading out in the great Scottish outdoors, remember to check out the latest from the tweeters.

The Hilltrek shop is located in Aboyne in the heart of the river Dee valley.  This means walk up a local hill for an hour and you will get a view from the source of the river in the Cairngorms to the coast where it joins the North Sea. Yesterday allowed for a great view of the hills but a rain shower clouded the view to the sea.

Dee Wading Jacket modelled by Bryan

Here is a ‘sneak’ preview of our new Dee Wading Jacket which we exhibited at the recent Scottish Game and Angling Fair in Edinburgh.  Susan, our designer, has been working hard over the winter months to perfect the jacket based on an original design spec from a customer.

We received an excellent response on the jacket at the Fair from both anglers and ghilles. The jacket is now being modified slightly based on feedback and it will receive further testing by a well known ghille who works on the River Dee.

We wanted to create a high specification wading jacket fitting for the River Dee, one of Scotlands top salmon fishing rivers, which flows past our village. The River Dee has international prominence as a spring salmon river rising in the high Cairngorm plateau to flow through majestic countryside past the Royal Estate at Balmoral. To find out more about the River Dee follow this link.

The jacket uses Cotton Analogy, which consists of a Ventile outer and Nikwax Pump liner inner. The aim was to develop a high specification wading jacket which is highly breathable, has excellent waterproof capability and is tough enough to withstand the rigours of game fishing on Scottish Rivers.

Dee Wading Jacket Side view

Features include two chest pockets, a rear outside pocket, several inner pockets, detachable hood,  front storm flap, d-rings, storm cuffs.

What is next?

After testing on the river and final tweeks, it will then be reviewed by Nikwax Fabrics and tested by Leeds University in their Rain Room -a minimum four hour resistance to 3cm of rain per hour.

If you want to be kept informed about availability please email your details to sales@hilltrek.co.uk

Watch this space.

We are one of the first Páramo retailers to have full colour and size ranges of the new lightweight Vista Jacket in stock. The Vista is the latest of Paramo’s new lightweight range complementing the Velez Smock, Velez Trousers and Quito jacket. 

Want to  find out more see our website

Striking a catalogue pose whilst road testing the Patagonia R1 Fleece on Bennachie

There is a saying that goes along the lines that a girl can never have too many hats, bags and shoes… I work on the principal that you can never have too much outdoor gear!
With the day light hours getting longer and as we are move closer to spring, now is a good time to head to your local outdoor shop and snap up some bargains.

At Hilltrek we have several excellent promotions currently running.

Paramo are offering a free Torres Gilet in Moss (worth £77) with every Men’s green Alta II jacket or Ladies Alta II jacket in lentil/moss purchased.

You can buy a Velez or Velez adventure smock and we give you two cambia base layer tops free.
Alternatively buy an Explorer pull on and get an Active Travel shirt for £5, a saving of £46!

We also have a range of Patagonia shell jackets which we are offering as buy one get a Patagonia technical fleece free, whilst stocks last.

You may have been thinking of getting a soft shell, then come and look at our Helly Hansen range.

Bill, Bryan and I would love to see you, please call in we really enjoy hearing about your outdoor adventures and if you are really lucky we might even have the kettle on!