I managed to nip over to the Brecon Beacons yesterday for a little tramp through the murk and the clag. I wasn't feeling wonderful so didn't go to far, but I did feel like a kid going back to school after the summer holidays, with all my shiny new clobber.
I recently bought a Mountain Equipment Kongur jacket to replace my old ME Makalu, so that got a run out along with a new pair of waterproof overtrousers (Berghaus Deluge, £45) and a new pair of gaiters (TrekMates Cairngorm, £30). So I looked very shiny and new as I set off up the hill side towards Fan Fawr. Overall everything worked very well, the only disappointment being the chest pockets on the Kongur. They are Goretex lined and sealed with waterproof zips, yet my phone was decidedly moist when I took it out, and had to be put on the radiator when I got home to get it even vaguely working properly. I don't think this was external moisture, more trapped perspiration (ewww!), anyway, makes me a bit nervous about storing anything in them...
Never trust clothing manufacturers' claims about waterproofness. Everything lets water in.
ReplyDeleteI keep my phone in an Ortlieb A5 document bag wrapped inside a cotton hankie. This is because when the warm air in the bag with your phone inside cools, due to the dreadful weather and plummeting temperatures you are walking in, the Relative Humidity of the trapped air rises dramatically, with water condensing out onto the contents.The hankie absorbs any dampness from the air cooling inside the bag so the phone always remains dry even in the coldest & foulest of weather.
Works for me!