Bluelounge strive to create problem solving products by introducing innovative ideas to simplify and improve everyday life, one of their more recent designs is the Bluelounge Backpack. I was immediately impressed that the backpack was made from 100% PET recycled materials and solid aluminium, your basically walking around with a load of old plastic bottles on your back.

When you think about hammocks the first image that comes to mind might be a large net hammock hanging between palm trees on a sun kissed beach but lately it has become a growing trend to exchange the traditional tent for a sleep hammock. Norwegians have a wonderful relationship with their countryside and camping is very popular out there so when we received the Norwegian designed Amok Draumr 3.0 hammock I already had high hopes and I wasn’t disappointed.

This British company started out creating body warmers in the 70s but truly made a name for itself when they started making lightweight and low pack size sleeping bags, still made in a Yorkshire mill today Snugpak prides itself on creating high quality sleeping bags for all kinds of conditions. The Softie Elite 4 is a 3-4 season sleeping bag meaning you can use it throughout the year into early winter (something a bit warmer might be necessary for mid-winter conditions), suitable for up to -15°c.

Sleeping bags are where it all began for Rab and to this day they are still the core of the brand, hand filled in Derbyshire they take pride in using high quality European goose down. The Andes 800 uses 800g of goose down and is suitable for 8000m altitude or on exposed belays, in temperatures as low as -22°C.  Rab have also just been RDS certified for sourcing all of their goose down ethically from Europe, this is a seal of approval and a massive plus to them as being transparent with their down production.

Nestled in amongst the awe-inspiring Italian Dolomites is the small village of Ziano di Fiemme, this village is home to a modest sized factory run by 150 people which at first could be mistaken as nothing special. However this is in fact home to La Sportiva Italy an outdoor footwear company that has continually raised the bar when it comes to high performing mountaineering footwear.

The Rab Batura Jacket isn’t your average, walking the dog on rainy evening, type of jacket, this is specialist jacket, designed for expedition use in high altitude and polar environment. The narrow box-walled baffle is chock full of that special 800FH hydrophobic down that is more water resistant than normal down, and also retains loft better and dries faster than traditional loft.

The Oakley Flak 2.0 XL is the next generation of Oakley’s bestselling Flak Jacket XLJ. Straight out of the box you get a hard protective case, a scratch proof Microbag, nose pads and the glasses themselves. The first impression from handling these glasses is how light they are - the frames are made from Oakley’s trademark O-Matter, a superlight and flexible plastic, with Unobtanium® (a rubber material to you and me). Earsocks and nosepads keep the glasses firmly in place even getting more grippy with perspiration.

The Motion XL from Thule has big boots to fill as we gave exceptional reviews to his brothers the Carrier (Aug 15 issue) and the Carrier (Sep 15 issue) so we were excited to test this roof box.

Reef was established over 30 years ago by two south American brothers Fernando and Santiago Aguerre, their vision, to produce a high quality active lifestyle sandal. The Rover XT sandal isn’t the typical socks and sandal, dads on holiday kind of footwear, these are all action sports sandals (yes there is such a thing). Featuring thick multi-cross straps across the top of the foot and another around the ankle, lined with a soft slightly padded material that feels comfortable against the skin even when wet.

Have you even been put in charge of tea duty whilst out in the wilderness, only to turn you back for a second and then find the whole thing has tipped over? The Primus Lite+ stove features a unique locking system and a lower burner that makes the whole system much more sturdy than the usual camp stove.  There are so many great little things about this stove, firstly it packs down to a really compact little bundle, if you are using a 100-gram gas cartridge, that and all the accessories can be safely stored inside the 500ml cooking pot.