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At the moment, licenses are not needed in Scotland, but the Scottish government has said they intend to introduce licensing. I spoke to the local firearms licencing people late last year and they said no implementation date was set. BASC anticipate it this year or next year. See their helpful...

Did the Ben last summer: up via CMD arete, and down by the 'tourist route' - though as mentioned, this terminology is slightly frowned upon by many. There is no doubt that the CMD route is stunning in terms of the views. The more exposed bits of the arete itself can be bypassed by a path to the...

I guess that 3 months down the line adestu might have already bought something by now! I've had lots of binos over the years, having now ended up with Zeiss Victory 8x42FLs. They are good but not cheap. FWIW, my advice for anyone wanting general purpose binos is very simple. Buy a pair of...

I see the original poster is in Manchester. So assuming you are planning on being out in the Peak District or Cumbria, I would second the Keela Munro suggestion. About £125-ish if you shop around. Very waterproof, robust, proper mountain hood, available in a discreet green/black for wildlife...

Coastal wildfowling is not expensive but there is a learning curve. If you join BASC you can get the wildfowling booklet that lists all the clubs, and membership is fairly cheap. In Scotland there is still free wildfowling without need for a permit on some Crown foreshore. Some nature reserves...

Like many conservationists, I'm not too keen on the Alladale initiatives: -it's not rewilding, it's zookeeping - the fences inhibit access (which should be unfettered, according to the land reform act) - the fences detract from wilderness. I agree we should be having a proper debate about wild...

I suspect Scottish wolves would preferentially predate on deer rather than sheep, because that is exactly what happens in Europe and Scandinavia. Losses to farmers in Italy run at about 0.35% of the flock. That sort of loss (probably much less than foot rot, scrapie and all the other things...

The Alladale 'rewilding' is not what most people understand by the term. There is, however, a strong case for reintroduction of Eurasian Lynx, and possibly the wolf to Scotland. At the moment we have a serious problem of too many deer preventing native woodland regeneration. A lot of the...

The Tecsuns are Chinese made but you get a lot for your money. What can you get on shortwave? Any SW radio will receive broadcast stations such as BBC World Service, China Radio International, Voice of Turkey, etc etc. There are fewer of these than there were, but there is still plenty to...

A little thread resurrection. Have been using the badger brush and Arko shaving soap for years - cheaper and more earth-friendly than aerosol cans of gloop. But I recently switched from the usual cartridge Mach 3 to a double edge razor. Apparently the multi-blade razor cartridges cost about 5p...

Another Professionals line went: Arrested criminal: You guys aren't cops! Bodie: No. We're worse. Much worse. Yep. we'll miss Lewis Collins.

If you want wilderness you may have to go to Scandinavia, but at least here in the UK we do have 'wild land' where the imprint of man is light, perceived wildness is high, and the area is remote. Most of these places are in Scotland. They are shrinking fast. The proportion of the country without...

Wayland, if you've not already read it, have a look at Running Blind by Desmond Bagley. Classic British thriller from the 70s. It's set in Iceland and remarkably well observed in terms of both landscape and people, with a few Norse references thrown in. Look forward to the pics on your return...

Had a newsletter email from the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, with this at the bottom: And finally... We're not endorsing Bear Grylls, or his next TV programme, but we've been asked to pass on this appeal for people interested in taking part. Do you think you could survive as a...

The GB SFA is very nicely made, but I'm not convinced it's the best choice for typical British use. If you're traveling in boreal forest on foot, and need to fell small trees for shelter and long log fires, it's great - not too heavy and the narrow bit takes out big chips. I can see why RM...

There's obviously little point in carrying antivenom unless you have the skill and equipment for intravenous access, and the ability to treat anaphylaxis or other reactions to the antivenom. In the UK European viper venom antiserum is available. I have never used it in 27 years of medicine...

Useful online tutorial on navigation in mountain country: http://www.mcofs.org.uk/navigators-dozen.asp

I'm very impressed with Alpkit customer service. The battery case lugs sheared off my Gamma head torch after about 2 years use. I posted it back to Alpkit on Wednesday at 4pm. At 9am on Saturday it was back, as good as new. Very impressed with the company. The kit is good, the prices are...

Excellent trip report, Copperhead. I'd not heard of this trail before. We're lucky in the UK to have plenty of cracking long distance paths, but I've never been able to get time off work for the big ones like the Pennine Way or the South West coast path (over 500 miles, IIRC). It's good to see...

We've had a few civilised and well-informed debates on 're-wilding' on BCUK. For anyone interested in the subject, I strongly recommend this book. It's probably the best book on this subject to date. I've done a review on the Amazon website...