hilltrek

Have been meaning to write to you for ages just to say how wonderful the Greenspot double ventile jacket I bought this time last year has proved .I have used lots of different “waterproof ” jackets for cycling over the last 20 plus years years ranging from Gore Tex ones ,to the old racing cyclists PVC “boil in the bag ” and have never had such a good one . The quality is superb, I wore it a huge amount during last years wet summer and carried on using through the winter and it looks completely unworn, apart from a few oil stains. The pocket layout is great, being able to have mobile phone and wallet easily accessable is a big plus against just having the normal cycling rear pockets . The jacket being equally good for ordinary  ”civilian ”  use as on the bike.

I  have number of cycling jackets at moment and except for racing and proper training yours is by far the best and most versatile and the only one I wear regularly off the bike. Hilltrek jackets a secret the cycling magazines see to overlook for some reason.

Thanks ever so much for a product which is true value for money

Patrick Hayes

Last year I picked up an old Bertram Dudley Greenspot Jacket on ebay, not quite an original but a Ventile version which  we think may be circa  1970′s

It has taken a litttle time to make a comparison between old and new but now here it is…

The old …

Bertram Dudley Greenspot Jacket

Single Ventile, gaberdine inner, studded cuffs with two poppers, zipped chest pocket, inner pocket, two waist zipped pockets, waist adjustment. No hood.

The new….

Hilltrek Double Ventile Greenspot Jacket

Double Ventile, two zipped chest pockets, two waist pockets, two map pockets on rear, scooped hem, velcro cuffs.

Optional hood.

Our popular Alligin Ventile Jacket is now available in double Ventile, therefore extending the range of the design to fully waterproof  use.

The Alligin Double Ventile Jacket is priced at £235 in standard sizes and £265 Made To Measure

To order see our website

Several  non-standard options are available for the Alligin including:

- reinforced elbows £20

- reinforced shoulders £25

- additional compass pocket on chest or sleeve £15

-large zipped poachers pocket £35

-detachable hood in place of integral hood £30 extra.

Delivery of standard specification and sizes 6-8 weeks currently

Delivery of Made To Measure and standard sizes with non-standard options is 10 to 12 weeks

The Alligin Jacket shown has a navy outer and red inner layer

What is Cotton Analogy fabric?

Cotton Analogy® combines a robust cotton Ventile® outer with a synthetic inner Nikwax Analogy® Pump Liner which pushes liquid outwards to keep you warm and dry inside. The result is a highly breathable, waterproof and tough fabric suited to cold weather mountaineering, field sports, game conservancy, bushcraft and outdoor photography.

Cotton Analogy® functions in a similar way to Nikwax Analogy®, well proven by Páramo in their highly successful range of Directional Waterproofs, by mimicking animal fur in providing both insulation and water-shedding.

All Cotton Analogy® Waterproof Clothing has been approved by Nikwax Fabrics and have also attained stringent standards – a minimum four hour resistance to 3cm of rain per hour – tested in the independent Leeds University Rain Room.

We have designed a range of technical outdoor clothing using the Cotton Analogy®  concept.

Analogy is a trade mark of Nikwax Ltd

Ventile is a trade mark of  Talbot Weaving Ltd

A made to measure Dee Cotton Analogy Wading jacket has been won Richard Ashby from Peterborough who caught the second heaviest salmon on the Glen Tanar Estate on the River Dee in Aberdeenshire in North East of Scotland.

Richard, who has been a regular visiting angler to the Estate for the last five years, caught a 25lb salmon on the Craigendinnie beat in May. 

Richard was just beaten to the first prize by Mark Slight  who caught a 25.3 lb salmon.

Glen Tanar Estate wildlife manager, Colin McLean, said : “Thank you to everyone who took part in Glen Tanar Estate’s heaviest salmon competition and congratulations to our three winners. Salmon fishing on the estate has always been very popular, and the anglers seemed to enjoy the added good natured competition.”

All fishermen who cast their lines on one of the Estate’s four beats at Headinch & Cambus O’May, Deecastle, Waterside and Ferrar and Craigendinnie were eligible to take part in the competition.

Made at our workshop in Aboyne, the Dee Wading Jacket uses Cotton Analogy fabric to keep the salmon angler dry and warm in the worst conditions on the river.

Our Cycling Double Ventile Jacket has been renamed the Greenspot Double Ventile Jacket reflecting its heritage.

The Greenspot Super Nomad jacket was originally made in the 1950s by Bertram Dudley & Son Ltd of Yorkshire  from gaberdine.  It was a general purpose outdoor jacket widely used for cycle touring.

We get many enquiries from fans of the Greenspot Super Nomad who have been searching for a source of the jacket.  Hopefully the new name will enable these fans to find the new Greenspot jacket more easily.

Photos are courtesy of Archival Clothing. See their website www.archivalclothing.com/

Early this year we were tasked with designing and making a Ventile flying Suit by biplane owner, Sotirios Koutsoukos,  who also flies gliders at the Aboyne Gliding Club. Sooty wanted the flying suit to be  functional and in a 1930′s  style which looked appropriate to the biplane. 

He recently sent us an email and photograph of the flying suit in action:

‘As promised, here is a photo of the ventile  flying suit you made for me in action. I wear it for flying  the little biplane in the background. I am very happy with it, it is very windproof, big enough to wear over heavy insulation  or on its own in the summer and it looks just like I wanted it’

Sooty

The flying suit style is similar to the famous Sidcot Flying Suit firstly developed in 1917 and used by the RAF until the 1950s. To find out more see the Imperial War Museum website.

Susan Griffiths, who designs and manufactures our outdoor clothing, talks about working with Ventile

‘I was very lucky enough to complete my apprenticeship at Hilltrek in Aboyne in the 1990′s and I have continued learning working with the fabric. When we first started out using Ventile there were not many other companies making outdoor clothing with the fabric. This was in the days before the internet and our Ventile clothing was mainly supplied to customers in the North of Scotland. With the introduction of our website in 2004, sales took off globally and have been continuing to grow ever since.

My skills and knowledge of Ventile have grown alongside Hilltrek and every day working with the fabric brings a new challenge. Many of our customers ask for slight alterations or additional features on our standard designs and these designs have subsequently evolved over the years. The first bespoke design that I produced was an Exploration Jacket for a customer who intended on using it in the Antarctic, which was a challenging design with many features. I also designed our ‘Wee Trekker’ range of Nikwax Analogy clothing for children and developed our clothing designs in Cotton Analogy, which combines Ventile and Nikwax Analogy.

Ventile as a material is in a class of its own and working with it involves a higher skill than other fabrics as there is no room for error– any mistakes show and there is no way to erase them! For this reason you have to be 100% confident working with the material. Such a good quality material stands for itself but it’s important that the style and quality of the garments we produce reflects the quality implied in the name‘Ventile’.

Understanding our customers is also fundamental and, being a small company, I have maintained first hand contact with the people who are using Ventile every day for a variety of outdoor pursuits. Although I feel sometimes that I’ve heard most uses of our Ventile clothing, there are always surprises!

Customers requests and feedback shape my knowledge and experience and I think this has been the key factor in producing some of our best garments yet. We have made clothing for a wide range of people from all over the world and our appreciation of individual requirements has resulted in many returning customers.

 I continually strive to ensure that people associate the Hilltrek brand with the same quality and respect that Ventile has earned for itself and, at the end of the day, I have to be personally satisfied that each garment is of the quality that people have come to expect of Hilltrek.

 As the Hilltrek Brand continues to grow, and we continue producing these quality garments, each day I’m reminded that no matter how many years experience we have in this type of work….we’re always learning.

Our new  Liathach Cotton Analogy Extreme Smock has now been approved by Nikwax.

The Liathach is our top end Cotton Analogy Smock combining an outer of Ventile® with a Nikwax Analogy® Pump Liner

It is based on our popular Foinaven Cotton Analogy Smock with several new features:

• Reinforced  back of the arms & elbows and shoulder areas for increased wear resistance
• Wider cuff with velco adjustment to enable cuffs to slip over large gloves and mittens
• Side vent zippers for ventilation adjustment and easy removal(optional on Foinaven)
• Two inches longer length than the Foinaven Cotton Analogy Smock
• Pocket insulation to give additional handwarmth

The Liathach Smock is priced £325 in standard sizes and £365 made to measure. It is available in L24 Ventile and optionally in heavier L19 Ventile for an additional £40. 

For the history of the smock read the story of its development  and earlier trial smock in the Arctic. 

The Modified Foinaven Smock is featured on 3D photography company Outsphere’s website.  Look for the image of the orange jacket.