Hi folks, my first posting here.
Apologies if 1st posts asking about Ventile is like going into a guitar shop and playing Stairway to Heaven
I try to get out and about quite a lot and am interested in Bushcraft, particularly in learning to forage better in my surroundings.
My experience to date has been camping in various locations, simply out under the stars in quite a lot in national parks in the states and in the UK I attended one of the Life Support Training Services short expedition skills courses up in the lake district where we had a lot of fun rigging bashas, making fire's with magnesium blocks, filtering our water with Millbank bags and then it got energetic on our simulation with one of our rather heavy instructors playing casualty and we had to carry him over a lot of rough ground and through rivers.. my knees took a couple of weeks to recover from that
I have also done a LOT of hillwalking and when I was younger I was a keen climber which has given me some additional experience and caution.
Anyway, I digress. I'm also a Geocacher and it's a great way of getting me to go to locations that I wouldn't have thought of. I'm happiest when I'm really pushing through thorns and twigs and generally getting the scent of the woods on me. I find that green smell that sticks to you after a long walk with a lot of this kind of activity to be fantastic and it all adds to the sense of calm and satisfaction later.
So, I love being out in the woods and the thicker the woods the better which brings me back to the jacket.
I ruin jackets in no time. I wore out a North Face HiVent jacket in about 2 months.. even after treating it with TX Direct (or whatever the Granger reproofing stuff is) it's basically a sponge again after a couple of my outings.
Somebody mentioned that Ventile was a great material and I sense there are a few fans around here? I'm guessing some of you probably know the pros and cons of the garments that seem to be available in the UK so I would really appreciate some pointers.
You see the usage profile that I'm talking about and I guess that a single layer Ventile jacket is probably adequate for me in most cases.
I do get a little more demanding in the winter when we go to Scotland because I don't get a chance to walk until the kids go to bed. This often means nighttime walks on the hills and moors in snowy conditions in the dark.
Maybe I'm looking for a totally different set of clothes but with the right jacket perhaps just layers are the answer.
So, I was pointed straight at the West Winds Tempest by one of the Park Rangers from the Peak District National Park over on the Live for the Outdoors site. He loves his Ventile gear and I believe this is what they issue to their folks.
I notice that Snowsled have a Wilderness Jacket that looks the same.. perhaps a few extra options to pick from in configuration of cuffs (and P9 or Ventile for the inner layer - would definitely go with Ventile if I went with that).
Those were the contenders for the two layer that I was looking at. Now the single layer ones that I'm guessing are actually more appropriate.
The West Winds Cairngorm? Nasty meshy lining but you can't have everything.
The West Winds Airedale? More of the same?
It looks like BCUK did a jacket (with West Winds?) that looks better and has a nice wired hood and none of that horrible elastic stuff.. is this still available??
One last thing, have a little concession towards being articulate would be great. I don't shy away from reasonably serious scrambling and it would be great if the jacket doesn't ride around.
So, that's as far as I've got and I'm still a little undecided. It would be nice to hear from happy customers or otherwise that own and know these garments warts and all. Other garments suggestions would be great too but I would say my preference at present is pro jacket and anti smock. Perhaps this is unjustified but I like to have the freedom to have the thing open from time to time.
Any comments folks?
Kind regards,
Andy Smith
Apologies if 1st posts asking about Ventile is like going into a guitar shop and playing Stairway to Heaven
I try to get out and about quite a lot and am interested in Bushcraft, particularly in learning to forage better in my surroundings.
My experience to date has been camping in various locations, simply out under the stars in quite a lot in national parks in the states and in the UK I attended one of the Life Support Training Services short expedition skills courses up in the lake district where we had a lot of fun rigging bashas, making fire's with magnesium blocks, filtering our water with Millbank bags and then it got energetic on our simulation with one of our rather heavy instructors playing casualty and we had to carry him over a lot of rough ground and through rivers.. my knees took a couple of weeks to recover from that
I have also done a LOT of hillwalking and when I was younger I was a keen climber which has given me some additional experience and caution.
Anyway, I digress. I'm also a Geocacher and it's a great way of getting me to go to locations that I wouldn't have thought of. I'm happiest when I'm really pushing through thorns and twigs and generally getting the scent of the woods on me. I find that green smell that sticks to you after a long walk with a lot of this kind of activity to be fantastic and it all adds to the sense of calm and satisfaction later.
So, I love being out in the woods and the thicker the woods the better which brings me back to the jacket.
I ruin jackets in no time. I wore out a North Face HiVent jacket in about 2 months.. even after treating it with TX Direct (or whatever the Granger reproofing stuff is) it's basically a sponge again after a couple of my outings.
Somebody mentioned that Ventile was a great material and I sense there are a few fans around here? I'm guessing some of you probably know the pros and cons of the garments that seem to be available in the UK so I would really appreciate some pointers.
You see the usage profile that I'm talking about and I guess that a single layer Ventile jacket is probably adequate for me in most cases.
I do get a little more demanding in the winter when we go to Scotland because I don't get a chance to walk until the kids go to bed. This often means nighttime walks on the hills and moors in snowy conditions in the dark.
Maybe I'm looking for a totally different set of clothes but with the right jacket perhaps just layers are the answer.
So, I was pointed straight at the West Winds Tempest by one of the Park Rangers from the Peak District National Park over on the Live for the Outdoors site. He loves his Ventile gear and I believe this is what they issue to their folks.
I notice that Snowsled have a Wilderness Jacket that looks the same.. perhaps a few extra options to pick from in configuration of cuffs (and P9 or Ventile for the inner layer - would definitely go with Ventile if I went with that).
Those were the contenders for the two layer that I was looking at. Now the single layer ones that I'm guessing are actually more appropriate.
The West Winds Cairngorm? Nasty meshy lining but you can't have everything.
The West Winds Airedale? More of the same?
It looks like BCUK did a jacket (with West Winds?) that looks better and has a nice wired hood and none of that horrible elastic stuff.. is this still available??
One last thing, have a little concession towards being articulate would be great. I don't shy away from reasonably serious scrambling and it would be great if the jacket doesn't ride around.
So, that's as far as I've got and I'm still a little undecided. It would be nice to hear from happy customers or otherwise that own and know these garments warts and all. Other garments suggestions would be great too but I would say my preference at present is pro jacket and anti smock. Perhaps this is unjustified but I like to have the freedom to have the thing open from time to time.
Any comments folks?
Kind regards,
Andy Smith