Summit to Eat Freeze Dried Meals: Review, NOW WITH UPDATES!

With three hundred days to the start of the fortieth Great Outdoors Challenge - you will have spotted the new countdown clock over to the right, I'm sure - my keyboard has once again been pressed into service.

Prior to this year's TGO Challenge, Lauren - an Outreach & Digital PR Manager - asked me if I would be interested in testing some free meals for her client, Summit to Eat. The meals didn't make it in time to take on the Challenge, and so there's been little opportunity for me to test them in the field / up a hill / on a mountain / in my beautiful Trailstar.

I had a bit of rotten news this afternoon that made me feel I'd been punched in the solar plexus and consequently didn't feel like spending time creating another culinary sensation in the kitchen - I'm sure that that Blumenthal fellow pinches all my best work - and so seized the opportunity to catch up on my promise to Lauren.

So, Heston - I know you're reading this - here's how to make a first class Salmon & Broccoli Pasta dish.

• Boil a kettle. That's not difficult.
• Pour 280 ml of boiling water into the pouch - there's an easy to see fill-line inside the pouch.
• Stir well. You need the exercise.
• Reseal the pouch and cover with a tea-towel to keep it piping hot.
• Wait ten minutes. The packaging actually suggests eight. Trust me on this.
• Lay the dining table. Pour some searingly dry white wine into a polished glass, and a little tap water. We don't want anyone getting squiffy.
• Serve in your best white china. Patterned stuff simply will not do.

For members of the congregation that are either illiterate or too bone-idle to read the instructions, I have provided an easy to follow illustrated guide below. 

RIGHT-CLICK TO OPEN TO A LARGE SIZE IN A NEW TAB

And how was it?

I've frequently found that dried meals taste pretty damn good when cooked in your tent. Mind you, it has to be said that I'm usually ready to eat a horse by the time I'm cooking on the hill. However, they don't travel particularly well when served at home. They too often taste like the horse I was about to eat one spoonful at a time. 

Summit to Eat's Salmon & Broccoli Pasta, on the other hand, tastes really, really good! You can actually see chunks of Salmon and large pieces of Broccoli in a beautiful creamy pasta sauce. Take a look at the second picture for the ingredients: Beautifully simple, with no added chemicals what-so-ever.

It's not over-seasoned and is utterly delightful! 

A point to note, that I only realised after I had licked the last of the food from the pasta bowl, is that the packaging is quite shallow, so if you are forced to eat one of the meals out on the hill - though Lord only knows why you would want to drag your sorry carcass up a hill to eat this wonder food - you won't get your knuckles covered in food.

My advice? Buy some and see for yourself. I still have another five meals (FREE ones at that!) to tickle my taste-buds and from what I've experienced so far, I'm really looking forward to them.

You can find out much more about Summit to Eat food by clicking the link below:

SUMMIT TO EAT

*****

UPDATE: 18th August 2018

On the hill I very often have a dehydrated pudding as a breakfast; you can only eat so many Granola Bars before your system screams for a reprieve. In another couple of my lazier moments this week I've had Summit to Eats's Custard Apple Crunch and their Chocolate Mousse with Cherry and Granola as midnight feasts.

I want you to keep this a secret - just between us, okay? - as I don't want hordes of hungry hikers besieging Summit to Eat for my top favourite midnight feast/breakfast of all time only to find that when I want to order it it has sold out: The Chocolate Mousse with Cherry and Granola was bloody superb! That's not to say that the Custard Apple Crunch was poor by any means - it was pretty srummy, actually.

The Chocolate Mousse was intensely chocolatey, and the cherries were bursting with cherriness! The Granola gave the pudding a bit of interesting texture, without making the dish feel too worthy. I hate worthy food... Smacks of hair shirts and vegan sandals to me. The CMwC&G is prepared with cold water, so if you're near the end of a trip and your gas is running low, this dish makes even more sense.

There's 416 calories in the CMwC&G and 447 in the Custard Apple Crunch. For a longish trip I would take a ratio of three CMwC&G to one of Custard Apple Crunch.

Buy!
Now!
But please leave some for me as I'll be ordering a fair few of these!

  

New Gear for the 24th Annual PreWalkDaunder?

I've noticed that quite a few Challengers have been splashing out on new rucsacs for this year's TGO Challenge. I am just as guilty...

This baby cost me the princely sum of two of Her Madge's pounds from a charity shop, and had it not been for another brand new rucsac arriving at Mission Control, might well have been coming with me this Thursday on the twenty fourth annual PreWalkDaunder. I carried an almost identical model in the Summer of 1970 on the Pennine Way. But that one had felt lining to the straps.There's posh! It had had a fair few miles under its belt when I was loaned it by my wonderful Scout Master, William Charles Kemp. Bless Him.

1970 was the summer of Mungo Jerry and 'In the Summertime', being buzzed by a pair of Avro Vulcans barely a hundred feet above our heads, (my legs gave way completely!) and us lads feeding Horlicks tablets to wild fell ponies, who amazingly came back for more!

Quite a while ago I wrote to Bergans with the photographs and Unique ID stamped inside the sack to ask if they could let me know when this chap was made. Sadly, they did not reply.

In the spirit of Old Mortality:

Postscript: I see now where Mad'n'Bad found the inspiration for his TGO Challenge string vest...

Forthcoming Attractions!

In a dramatic, yet temporary shift of emphasis, this blog will shortly feature some rare Gear Reviews! (Capital letters employed for added drama...)

NEW KIT!

Look. There are people out there who are addicted to this sort of thing. Admit it, you are too, aren't you, on the odd occasion? But it's okay; you can handle it. Alright, just this once then...  

A rare thing! Gear review: G-Works Gas Saver R1

We've all got one. A cupboard of shame. 

Open the door and stuff spills out over the floor. Stuff you haven't seen for quite some time. Back then, a long time ago, there was a reason why you put it in the cupboard. It's just that right now you can't remember what it was.

Two pairs of very expensive, but bloody useless, walking poles. A bag you can strap around your waist in case your rucsack and trouser pockets aren't big enough. Make that two bags. A dozen multi-coloured nylon stuff sacks - all with holes or pulled stitching. A rucksack. (Where on earth did that come from?) Two hydration systems - both bloody useless. Three anoraks. A dozen mis-matched merino socks. Six (yes, SIX) pairs of walking trousers that have barely seen the light of day. And so on. And on.

And then right at the bottom of the cupboard, rolling around like wild things, are these boys:

Eight cans of gas. All with varying sloshes of gas inside. Some are virtually empty, some half full. But: Eight of the blighters. Each could tell a story of a trip, a few dimly remembered, others as vivid as a nuclear flash.

Much to everyone's surprise, Lord Elpus recently had a dalliance with Social Media. It didn't go well. He has now closed down his Facebook account. Miss Whiplash tells me the night sweats have now stopped and he is once again back in his happy place. 

But this post celebrates the wonder of social meeja. For it was on twitter that an enterprising fellow walker put up a link to the little chap below:

And here he is again:

He comes from Korea (South, not North. The North's the place with soldiers in extraordinarily big hats) and weighs in at just over an ounce. And now instead of eight canisters of gas of varying sloshiness, I am the proud owner of two completely full tins of gas, and six empty tins that can finally be tossed away. The spreadsheet below (there has to be a spreadsheet or it isn't a proper gear review, right?) shows what can be done.

It comes with absolutely no instructions. At all. Once upon a time I was an Engineer and so I worked out what to do by myself. There are a few Youtube videos, in various languages, to help as well. These give you a steer, but have varying degrees of oh-so-wrongness about them. Indeed, some offer potentially dangerous advice. But I'll let you work that out for yourselves. It's more fun that way.  But here's a tip: Don't heat up the top canister on your stove. There's a love.

I paid for this with my own money, just before Sterling went into freefall. It was about twenty quid plus a bit extra to tie it to the foot of a carrier pigeon.

I love it.

And now, in the spirit of Old Mortality, some music: (But please read my important edit below the music!)

IMPORTANT EDIT! (Added 28th October 2016)

It *is* possible to overfill the receiving gas canister. This is NOT a good idea. I've seen a chap on one Youtube video saying he overfilled a canister by some 20% (and was mightily pleased about it) to then find that the concave bottom sprang outwards.

This, is definitely NOT GOOD!

Okay. As you were...

posted from Bloggeroid

Review: Hi-Tec Trek Plus Activity Tracker

Years ago (and I do mean many years) I bought myself a Silva pedometer, as I had an idle curiosity about how far I walked every day (I had an outdoor job with a hefty commute to London every day for three years) and the fascination stayed with me for about a month or so, until eventually it was put in a box of precious things for safe-keeping, never to emerge in anger again.

And then, those awfully nice chaps at Mustard PR and Hi-Tec got together to ask me if I would like an early birthday present. As a sucker for presents I accepted with alacrity and so a couple of weeks back I received in the post a "Hi-Tec Trek Plus Activity & Sleep Tracker + Smartwatch with Heart Rate," to give it its full title, that is printed on the box it came in. It is a far more jazzier version of my old Silva pedometer; That's a bit like comparing a Typhoon fighter with the Wright Brothers' aeroplane, really...

It looks like this:

HI-TEC TREK PLUS

Recently I have noticed that quite a few of my friends have devices called 'Fitbits' and they regularly post on Facebook about how many steps they manage each day/week/month/year. It all seems highly competitive (but always in a good fun sort of way) and having once been a competitive sort, I thought it would be interesting to compare notes, from the sidelines, using my own data collector - for that is what the device is.

As you will have noted from the device's name, once strapped to your wrist, it tracks the number of your steps, converts this to distance (using your height and assumed stride length - which I'll get onto later), the calories you've burned walking this distance (it also takes into account your weight), the cumulative time you have been 'active' and, as long as you remember to tell it to do it, how long you have slept for. And on top of all that it connects to your smart phone (which may be buried in your jacket pocket) and vibrates on your wrist when things like emails and phone calls come in, which, surprisingly, I have found to be a very useful feature. Oh yes, it also measures your resting pulse during the day and lets you know the following day what it was - which I'll talk about later.

Ah - I have forgotten to let you know that it also tells the time and date: Handy, as it's on your wrist.

How do you extricate all these data from the thing? It's connected by bluetooth (I'm at the ragged edge of my techno-geekery here, I hope you'll understand) to your smartphone, when you remember to turn the bluetooth on on your phone.

I'll show you now in pictures what information it provides:

HOME SCREEN

So from here, if you tap the 'steps' button, up pops the following screen:

STEPS SCREEN

Haven't I been a busy boy! Now, swipe to the right and up pops how far you've walked; I've chosen to do this in kilometers:

DISTANCE SCREEN

Swipe again to see how long I've been "active."

TIME ACTIVE

It looks like I was a bit of a slug on Thursday - but the truth is I had forgotten to strap the watch on until late in the afternoon. (I am currently wandering about with a wristwatch and my tracker. I feel slightly over-gadgeted...)

And swipe again to see how many chocolate bars you have metabolised...

CALORIES SCREEN

And again:

RESTING PULSE

Quite what I was doing on the Sunday to have a resting pulse of over 90, Lord only knows!

SLEEP SCREEN

It appears that I have massively erratic sleep patterns... (More later)

If you now go back to home screen and swipe upwards, you will find this screen:

2ND HOME SCREEN

It is possible to link up with friends who have these Hi-Tec trackers to see how you compare to their efforts. But I don't have any friends. Well, none that have this device, so I'm a sad Billy-No-Mates who has no-one to trounce or be trounced by. Quite what the "Chat" is for, I am at a complete loss.

And that's a problem. This device came with the very bare minimum of instructions. All the written instructions tell you is how to charge it up, (it comes with a separate USB charging cable and adapter) how to do the strap up (which I find irritatingly fiddly) and that you have to download the Hi-Tec App to your phone. Of course, those brighter and younger than me will, in all likelihood, scoff at my dinosaur-like predilection for written instructions. But I struggled (yes, I know, we all have our struggles...) getting the device to do things.

Which leads me on to the sleep screen. Boy, have I struggled with this! I have deliberately chosen a week to display where I was moderately successful with the sleep function. Mostly, I am not. Setting this up to work seems to be a pretty random process. I have followed the 'tips' link from the drop-down menu at the top of the screen for instructions, but I have pretty random success with it.  I put the watch on in the morning after my breakfast & shower, and so the watch, sitting on my bedside cabinet, thinks I am blissfully sound asleep and gives me up to ten hours in the land of nod.

Other times, you will notice, I have not managed to turn the sleep timer on at all (even though I thought I had). If I were Hi-Tec, i would dump this pretty useless function. I can't make it work all the time and it is always only going to be accurate if you wear the thing 24 hours a day.

It's clear that the Steps, Distance, Time Active and Calories screens are identical in shape - only the vertical scale changes - which is to be expected, as all the results stem from the steps taken. Of course, everything comes down to your stride length. Hi-Tec estimate this for you, from your height. But you do have the ability to alter this manually if you know your real stride length. For my height (a smidgen under six feet) I have quite long legs (34" inside leg) and I'm pretty certain that it is underestimating my stride length. As an aside, Andy Walker, who has tiny little legs for his height has to walk zillions more paces than me to cover the same ground - He's a short-arse! Phil Lambert, on the other hand, is perfectly proportioned, or so Miss Whiplash claims. I need to be nerdy and go and count my strides over an exact known distance to work this all out. I expect the geeks amongst our congregation know this information already. I shan't tell. 

The Resting Pulse screen is interesting. Apparently the watch takes measurements when you are not leaping about being a mad young thing. However, the results are way higher than when I asked the watch to measure my pulse when resting - by about 10-15 bpm. It must choose moments to take the measurements when I'm swigging a gallon of coffee or staring at the internet of mad & crazy people doing and saying mad & crazy things. But, still, it is interesting to see that some days are obviously more stressful than others. I think a far more useful function would be a maximum pulse rate. That really would be thought provoking.

Battery life is about two days, which is a bit disappointing, as the blurb says it should last "up to five days between charges." Still - it's liveable and no big deal.


There is one niggle that I do wonder about: I've noticed a couple of times that I had an itchy rash under the wristband of the tracker. This only happened when I was changing the sheets of a bed - stuffing the bottom sheet under the heavy mattress and perhaps chafing my wrist. Another time I was carrying cardboard boxes around the place for a day. I had to take the tracker off and apply a cold flannel for a while to get the rash relieved. Could this be an allergic reaction to the plastic brought on by a sweaty wrist? I don't know, but am am now very conscious that it may be a problem.

So - the million dollar question: Would I buy this device with my own money?

I've worn it for over a fortnight now, (with some gaps when I forgot to put it on) and I am still interested to see how far I actually get around during the day. It would be far more interesting if some people I know had them and I could compare notes with them. Have Hi-Tec missed the boat here? Have Fitbit grabbed the market by the scruff of the neck? Who knows - only time will tell.

I shall continue to track my daily waltzes around the place, at least for a while. The Trek Plus won't be consigned to the 'precious things box' along with my Silva pedometer.

It's £80, all bar the shouting. There are cheaper versions, which you can find from Hi-Tec's site - click HERE to go there. I would probably go for the 'Hi-Tec Go', which doesn't bother with the pulse, but has all the other functions, at £60.

So, Yes: I would buy the Hi-Tec Go, but probably not the Hi-Tec Trek Plus. For £60, it's a good laugh and a bit of a motivational tool to get out more. Instead of sitting at home writing reviews, I would be out having a walk.

You can buy the Hi-Tec Plus on Amazon - see HERE for details - it's a penny below £80.


19th FEBRUARY 2016: UPDATE - DO NOT BUY!

It's been two months since I wrote this review and so now I have been living with the Hi-Tec Trek Plus for quite a while. I have to say that over time I have become more and more irritated with it. 

The reason for this is as follows:

• Certain functions have simply stopped working. The heart rate monitor has stopped - completely. I have no idea why, as there is not a web resource or email or phone contact  to find out how to fix it. The lack of this resource is a major flaw with this device.  
• The distance function is never correct when you connect to your smart phone (until the next day) and always lags behind the steps taken by a considerable margin. Again - I have no idea why as the calories burned and the time active *are* in sync. 
• Some days the device simply does not record any information at all onto the smartphone - even though during those days the device has been recording it all faithfully on your wrist.
• In sunlight the device's display is almost impossible to read. There is no way to increase the brightness.
• When tip-toeing along muddy footpaths in walking shoes I've noticed that the thing doen't record my steps. My guess is the thing isn't receiving the bump or jolt necessary to record a step. On a walk of eight miles - about half on muddy footpaths - it under-recorded by about one and a half miles. This alone makes it pretty useless.

So, to summarise, my advice after ten weeks or so of use is NOT to buy this device. It is unreliable and there is no way of sorting it out with Hi-Tec. All in all, very disappointing,

And now for something completely different…

 

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Gear review: Ecco Ulterra – First thoughts

Plimsolls, Sir? Plimsolls???

Yes. Back in July you would have found me stumbling along a part of the Greater Ridgeway with Lord Elpus. The weather was delightful – delightful enough to be lounging at the side of a pool in the cooling shade of an umbrella, with half hourly deliveries of Seybrews. But no. Phil had me toiling up and down chalk downs on iron hard prehistoric flinty/chalky tracks. My heavy boots made for hot work.

I was dreaming of plimsolls to lighten my load and cool my fevered feet. But there were none.

My previous forays with trail shoes had me tripping across Scotland in Terrocs (twice) and Raptors, and I was sort of a convert, but not quite so much so when the weather was cold and horrible. A compromise was required. And now, I believe I have found it.

ECCO ULTERRA – CLICK TO ENLARGE

So, that’s a very nice picture, but let’s get down & dirty, and have a little dig around these babies. Are there any naughty little secrets that need airing? What company do they keep? Are there any kinky little foibles you just have to know about?

But let’s start by channelling good old John Major. He was a thoroughly decent fellow and rather partial to getting back to basics. The naked basics. Here’s a picture of my beautiful bare feet. I know; You’ve seen them before, but not, dear reader, with Edwina draped over them staring lasciviously right at you through the lens of my camera.

I HAD TO HAUL EDWINA AWAY TO TAKE THIS PICTURE

Yes. As I may have mentioned before, any review of shoes should start with reviewer’s feet. What’s the point of reading all about the fantastic fit of these babies, if your own feet bear no resemblance to those of the reviewer? It has been said (I think it was an ex-wife who said this) that your feet are an expression of your character. Perhaps. My feet are slim, elegant and, oh yes, shallow. I have slim ankles and a reasonably wide forefoot, when I stretch out and wiggle my toes ~ which all good hikers do when sitting on a hot day beside a tinkling stream. Your shoes should accommodate your feet. There’s no point at all in trying to pretend there’s a match made in heaven if you are slopping about in cavernous shoes or squeezing your tootsies into plimsolls that are way-too tight. It will end in tears; Trust me on this.

So. Why did I choose a pair of Ecco Ulterras?

I had been mightily impressed by the build quality and thoughtful design of my Ecco Biom Hikes. They were made of Yak leather and Ecco’s own sole unit. The Ulterras are also made with Yak leather but with a Gore-Tex liner. Yak leather is over twice as strong as normal boot leather, which means it’s robust and can be made from slightly thinner hide, giving you a more supple upper. (Try saying “supple upper” quickly a few times, after a few Taliskers) The Ulterras also have a wonderfully aggressive sole unit, that’s good on roads, grass and rough tracks. There’s a lot of rubber beneath your feet, and from my first month or so of wearing them, I’ve found them very grippy and they appear to be very hard wearing as well.

Let’s have a few more pictures so you can see for yourself:

BUILT-IN ROCKER SOLE – CLICK TO ENLARGE

The sole has a natural rocker to it, which makes walking less of an effort. This is necessary, as the sole unit is stiffer than most trail shoes I have tried in the past. This stiffness gives you excellent protection from hard pointy rocks.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Although the Ulterras look like they have a thick squidgy sole, they do not. If you look carefully you’ll realise that your foot is cradled within that exterior moulding. I can’t find any information on the Ecco website about the “drop” from heel to toe of the shoes, but I would estimate it to be middling – not flats, but there’s certainly not a lot of drop, which gives you a more natural stride. I like this. There’s not a great deal of soft cushioning, which means that you have a better ‘feel’ of the terrain and the shoe is more stable. More on that in a minute. The tongue is comfortable. It’s padded and is of the bellows variety ~ sewn in so that you don’t get water or grit inside your shoe. Standard fare, really.

GOOD RUBBER TOE BUMPER – CLICK TO ENLARGE

 

ROLLED HEEL FOR COMFORTABLE HEEL STRIKE

 

I SHOULD HAVE WASHED THESE BEFORE TAKING THEIR PICTURE – CLICK TO ENLARGE

 

GENEROUS TREAD DEPTH – CLICK TO ENLARGE

The picture above shows the aggressive sole unit off really well. (I waited until the evening to get this shot, for the slanting sunlight, I’ll have you know!)

BEAUTIFUL HEEL CUP – CLICK TO ENLARGE

This picture shows a feature that  every Inov-8 wearer will lust after! A perfectly formed, beautifully smooth heel cup, with no sign of any stitching to grab your socks and fall apart after a few weeks’ use! Ecco really do think things through and the craftsmanship here is first class.

However! (Oooh! there’s a “however!”)

Like all shoe manufacturers, Ecco provide a textile and foam insert. Let’s be honest now. These are worse than useless. I expect every walking boot / trail shoe manufacturer knows that the first thing a hiker will do is tear out these useless bits of cosmetic nonsense and replace them with the insoles of their choice. They want an insole that will offer foot stability.

There are quite a few choices out there, but mine is, and always has been, Superfeet. I won’t bore you by banging on about these miracle insoles, apart from telling you that they hold your heel firmly in position, holding your fatty heel pad (yes, even I have a fatty heel pad!) so that it does not spread outwards on heel strike but retains it shape to give your bones natural protection, and stopping your foot sliding forward on long down-hills by providing a contoured arch support that holds your foot firmly at the back of your shoe. You’ll be able to see this clearly from the following pictures:

LOW PROFILE SUPERFEET – CLICK TO ENLARGE

 

LOW PROFILE SUPERFEET – CLICK TO ENLARGE

 

UNDERSIDE OF LOW PROFILE SUPERFEET – CLICK TO ENLARGE

Now then. (Sit up straight at the back – this bit needs careful attention!)

These babies have a Gore-Tex lining, and it cannot have escaped your attention that my low profile Superfeet have very sharp knobbly studs under the heel to cradle the heel cup and keep it in shape in your shoes. How, then, will these studs affect the Gore-Tex membrane?

I don’t believe it’s a problem, as I think the clever chaps at Ecco have thought this through: Lets take a close look at the inside of the Ulterras’ heel cup.

ULTERRA HEEL CUP – CLICK TO ENLARGE

You’ll see from this picture that the Gore-Tex booty does not extend to the heel cup. It has no need to be there, as you’ll have seen from the pictures, the heel cup is substantial, with no internal stitching. No water’s going to get in through the heel. This means that the studs of the Superfeet are sitting on the heel cup material itself, so it cannot puncture the membrane as it is further forward in the shoe.

For the gram counters in the congregation. These shoes, with the supplied insoles, weigh exactly 500 grams per Size 44 shoe. That’s not superlight, but they do feel like dancing shoes after a hefty pair of boots.

And finally, I was not too kind about the laces supplied with the Ecco Biom Hikes. These are lovely. Grippy and no stretch.

 

***

Now, to the price of these little beauties. Steady now. Hold on to something firm. On Ecco’s own web shop they retail at a cool £140.00  Yes. That’s a lot of money, whoever is paying for them (Look, it’s coming up to Christmas.) But I have found them elsewhere on the web in the UK for £119.95 HERE, for example.

There are quite a few trail shoes out there that profess to do the same as the Ulterras, but picking one randomly, say, an Inov-8 Roclite 282 GTX shoe (a good shoe but with a sole unit with less grip and a heel cup that will more than likely fall to pieces) found on offer at the moment HERE and you’ll see that that even this will set you back a hundred pounds.

My advice would be to get a much better designed & built product, the Ecco Ulterras, that will last you much longer for twenty pounds more.

***

In conclusion. I like these shoes. They are robust, comfortable, they have a fantastic sole unit and they come with all the care in design and manufacture from Ecco, using materials that will last and stand up to a good hammering.

More info on these little darlings can be found HERE.

Ecco Biom Hikes: A review after a long walk

I last wrote about these boots on 6th May, shortly before heading off for the TGO Challenge ~ a two week backpacking event across the Highlands of Scotland. These boots arrived less than a week before I set off for Scotland and I asked myself if I had gone mad taking a pair of boots that were brand new. Well, I am pleased to say it all went rather well!

I am always surprised when reading reviews of waking boots and shoes that we never hear about the testers’ feet. How can we possibly tell if the shoes that reviewers are writing about will suit us if we know nothing about the reviewers’ feet? So, before I let you know how I got on with these boots I’ll let you know about my feet.

If you are squeamish about feet, look away now.

These are my feet:

MY LEFT FOOT

 

MY RIGHT FOOT

Have you ever seen such raw beauty?

I have slim girly ankles, an averagely wide forefoot, a decent arch but quite a shallow foot. They are “low volume” feet. These feet are great if you want to buy proper running shoes (runners tend to be slim, low volume types), but are quite difficult if you are buying walking boots or trainers. It seems that even big fat bastards have taken up jogging and hill walking and so the average volume of feet for these activities is getting bigger these days. Us slim elegant types are finding it tricky to get boots that fit.

To help make boots and trainers fit a little better, for almost twenty years I’ve been using custom-fit Superfeet. I use them in my Scarpa Nepals (which I have worn for the last eight years) and I use off the shelf Superfeet for trainers. These insoles hold your ankle centrally in the heel cup and prevent your foot slipping forward on steep descents. I have nothing but praise for them.

After a couple of walks to town and back I settled on the combination of my off the shelf Superfeet combined with the lightweight leather/synthetic insoles that the boots are supplied with, that have no structure to speak of, but are useful volume adjusters. I used liner socks and medium weight Smartwool socks. I use a fresh pair of liners each day, and my Smartwools generally last three to four days before a change is required.

So, that’s my feet/sock combo and fitting adjustment dealt with. I’m sure everyone has their own methods of finding the best fit, but now you understand what a chap with feet like mine will have to do to get the best fit from Ecco Biom Hikes.

***

Now we can talk about the boots themselves:

Straight off, these are medium to high volume boots – hence the adjustments for fit I explained earlier. A pair of size 45 boots, with the supplied footbeds comes in at 1570g. They are not lightweight, but nor are they heavyweight either. They are quite a bit lighter than my Scarpa Nepals.

In the following pictures of the boots, the pictures with the pale cream backgrounds were taken when the boots were virtually brand new, and those with dark grey backgrounds were taken today, after the boots had done over 200 hard miles in Scotland. This way, you can see how the boots have fared over time.

NEW ECCO BIOM HIKES – CLICK TO ENLARGE

 

WORN-IN ECCO BIOM HIKES – CLICK TO ENLARGE

The uppers are made from Yak leather. No nasty Gore-Tex is involved, which can only be a good thing, as I have never understood the need for a water proof membrane combined with what is inherently a waterproof leather upper. This dual combination can only result in an over-hot foot and the inevitable failure of the membrane which will result in soggy feet that are slowly boiled inside your boots. Yak leather is a dense, robust and very waterproof leather, which means that thinner leathers can be used than is normal for the same leather of ‘water-proofness.’ I would estimate the Yak leather to be between 2.5mm and 3mm thick. The great thing about the Yak leather is that although it wets out quite quickly the boots remain waterproof. They also dry out very quickly – much more quickly than my Scarpas, which is a big plus-point on a long multi-day walk..

NEW ECCO BIOM HIKES – CLICK TO ENLARGE

 

WORN-IN ECCO BIOM HIKES – CLICK TO ENLARGE

The lining is made from a cream leather, which is padded around the ankle. This padding, happily, is not bulky and the leather lining covering it is mostly aerated, presumably to absorb sweat. The heel cup itself is sensibly nice and smooth. You do not want the heel of your boot to grip your sock at the back of your heel, as that’s a sure recipe for blisters. The padding has conformed nicely to the shape of my ankle, so the fit is secure.

The lace fastenings are made from a rust-proof alloy, with a locking hook over the instep, which means that you can have different tensions over your forefoot and around your ankle. There is a fairly hefty rubber rand around, and partially over, the toe box. The external heel stabiliser is made from a firmer rubber and is in a nice vibrant orange, that I quite like.

NEW ECCO BIOM HIKES – CLICK TO ENLARGE

 

WORN-IN ECCO BIOM HIKES – CLICK TO ENLARGE

The sole unit seems to be made by Ecco themselves. I really like this sole unit; It grips smooth wet rock really well, it does not clog up with mud, it has a deep tread and so is good in mud. It is really quite “squidgy”, which makes walking along roads and hard-track a very comfortable experience. You will have noticed when comparing the two pictures of the sole that there has been absolutely no discernable wear over two hundred miles. I am light on my feet compared to most walkers – I get two thousand miles from a pair of Scarpa Nepals with a Vibram sole – but I would suggest that these will be almost as hard wearing. Time will tell.

Your forefeet feel quite low to the ground, which feels good on rough ground as you feel in contact with it rather than teetering over it. It’s good for balance.

I was amazed at how comfortable these boots were straight from the box. They are very flexible and the sole unit gives you a soft ride on hard surfaces.

One thing I have noticed about these boots is the way that there is a lot of grip and rubber under the forefoot. Take a look at quite a few hiking boots, and you will notice that recently there‘s less and less rubber under the forefoot – the place that gets most wear. The same applies to the rear of the heel – these boots are solid rubber here, where a lot of the competition have far less rubber – it’s almost as if other boot manufacturers are building in a shorter life-time to your boots on purpose.

So - Absolutely full marks so far for these boots.

Is there anything I would like to see changed?

The laces. Let’s be honest, these laces might look gorgeous, with ‘biom’ emblazoned along the lace and lovely brass lace-ends, but these laces stretch. They stretch by a good 10-15% when under tension. This makes getting the tension right a real problem. The extra stretch, coupled with my slim feet means I have yards of lacing left over, so I have lace back down the boot before tying off. A bit of a pain, really. Ecco need to sort this out. I know Robin Evans has mentioned this in the past, and I agree whole-heartedly with him.

The fit. I would love it if Ecco could make these boots with a lower volume, as I had to faff around a bit to get them to fit, but I know that it costs a huge amount to do this – there would be a massive cost to doubling the number of lasts and it would add to stocking costs as well.

As it is, the boots ended up with slightly bulbous toes as I pulled the boot to fit around my slim feet. – not a deal breaker, but it did look a bit clumsy.

***

To conclude:

• Even with a slim low volume foot I found a way to make these boots fit me. This is highly unusual. I think it is because the Yak leather upper is very supple and conformed to my feet with careful lacing and volume adjustment under my Superfeet footbeds. These boots went through a week of incredible bogginess and rain on the first week of the TGO Challenge and never let a drop of water through to my socks. I am totally sold on Yak leather. It is a wonder material! Yak leather does not need a “waterproof membrane.” Well done Ecco!
• The leather lining and ankle padding could not be better.
• The sole unit is quite simply the best I have ever walked in – and I have walked in a huge variety of boots and shoes! The sole unit is built to last.
• The boots are supple and very flexible which means they are comfortable from the box. I have only ever experienced this from trail shoes – never from boots.
• The lacing system is superb.
• The laces are NOT good. Replace them as soon as you get them!

Would I buy them with my own money? – A big fat “yes!”

TGO Challenge 2014: New boots, or ‘Have I gone mad?’

 

ECCO BIOM HIKES: FIRST THOUGHTS

Just a couple of years ago I remember falling about laughing when, with less than a week to the Challenge, my mate WeeWillyWilky went out and bought himself some brand new boots for the TGO Challenge. I put it down to inexperience and suggested that he take lots of blister plasters and pain killers.

As it happened it wasn’t his feet that brought about Wilky’s demise, but his cotton shreddies, which did exactly what they said on the tin to his groin. The sight of your mate’s badly damaged undercarriage is not an image that is easily forgotten and indeed, Mr Walker has never fully recovered from the horror. He still wakes at night, screaming.

So, last Thursday my new boots arrived.

And I’m leaving for the Challenge tomorrow, on Wednesday.

Have I taken leave of my senses? Perhaps. But you see, I really quite like them.

Here they are, taken tonight under incandescent light, so the colour rendition isn’t great and the camera was hand-held:

PICTURE NUMBER 1: ECCO BIOM HIKES – CLICK TO ENLARGE

 

PICTURE NUMBER 2: ECCO BIOM HIKES – CLICK TO ENLARGE

 

PICTURE NUMBER 3: ECCO BIOM HIKES – CLICK TO ENLARGE

 

PICTURE NUMBER 4: ECCO BIOM HIKES – CLICK TO ENLARGE

 

You will see from the photographs that these boots seem remarkably clean. Quite so. So far I have walked a giddy seven miles in the beauties. Yes, just seven miles. Into town, twice, on pavements. One of the trips was particularly arduous as I got soaked on the way back by one of those horrid Spring Showers that are so inconvenient at this time of year.

I expect you’re wondering why a bloke who seems to be fairly experienced in this backpacking lark has suddenly taken leave of his senses and is risking his two week holiday with a brand new pair of leather boots. I’ll have a bash at answering that, if only to convince myself that I’ve not lost the plot completely.

I blame Robin Evans. I walked with Robin for three days in the Monadh Liath a few weeks back. He was wearing his Biom Hikes. I quietly noted that Ecco Biom Hikes are made from Yaks that roam majestically across the Scandinavian* Plains. And, like Robin it is fortunate that these beasts are blessed with an incredibly tough hide: Three times the strength of cow hide, I hear. And Robin and his friend the Yak also share the same quality of suppleness too. So hard and yet so soft, if you see what I mean…

However, here the similarities between Robin’s Bioms and my new little beauties end.

I have been fortunate in timing this just right, as these babies don’t have the horridly unnecessary-and-utterly-useless-for-long-distance-backpacking Gore-Tex membrane built into them. No Sir! These babes come with a sumptuous padded leather lining that seems to mould itself around my ankles and there’s no sign of a horrid-soon-to-fail-sweaty lining.

This will mean that should the boots get horribly saturated in the inevitable deep river crossings and miles & miles of relentless bogs and midge infested swamps, they should dry out much more quickly. It also means that in warmer weather my delicate girly tootsies are not going to be steamed to a pulpy mess. I heartily approve of this new design.

But Lo! There is more! Ecco have also changed the lacing fittings, so that the laces now run in ‘tunnel’ fittings in the lower section of the boot to give a more positive fit.

What can I say about the sole unit?

It feels like you could run a marathon in these boots. Don’t laugh! Honestly! There’s a wonderful squidgy bounce to the heel strike that seems to propel you forward. You can see that the tread pattern means business. It should provide loads of grip in my favourite boggy places. It seems to be made from a rubber compound that is almost like ‘sticky rubber.’ I can vouch that it grips well on shiny wet pavements! But, let’s be totally honest; that’s all they’ve encountered thus far!

The Danes are a bright, vibrant nation and wonderfully, are not afraid to play with colour. I adore the bright orange external heel stabiliser. And, did you notice the rather sexy colour-matched brass lace ends and top lacing fixings? Nice touch, Ecco; Other manufacturers – take note! Style Gurus enjoy accent colours!

I wear my trusty ‘Superfeet’ insoles inside them (not photographed) as I have come to love and trust these chaps since 1997 and would never, ever take the risk of being without them.

Today I am off for another ‘mini-adventure’ to the Post Office in town, to send my two parcels to Scotland. This will mean that before setting off, these little beauties will have done over TEN MILES under my very strict supervision. I think that’s quite enough, don’t you?

What do you think?

And for those in the congregation missing their dose of Borgen, here’s another picture of Danish loveliness:

* Look. It has been pointed out to me dozens of times that Yak are not habitués of the Scandinavian Plains and that they’re from the Himalaya. Perhaps these particular Yak were navigationally challenged? Perhaps they had walked off the edge of their print-outs? Leave it!

NOTE: These little minxes were provided free of charge to me by Ecco, in Denmark, for testing. I stipulated that I was going to be totally honest in the appraisal and Ecco were happy with this.