The older you get the more rubbish Christmas becomes, until you have your own kids and you can see the delight on their faces (so I'm told). Anyway, I decided to recreate the fun of Christmas as a kid, by buying myself some outdoor gear for my West Highland Way walk. Today when I arrived home, I had 3 packages on my welcome mat and a neighbour knocked on my door a few minutes later with more. The picture above shows some of the things that arrived.
- Caldera Keg-F
- Inov-8 Terroc 330s <--I used a Valentines Day code to save £10
- Icebreaker Merino Mid Hiker Socks
- Rab Powerstretch Gloves
- Icebreaker Merino Boxers
- Montane Terra Pants
- iPod/iPhone Battery Extender
Most of these items people will be familiar with. The bargain among them has to be the Terrocs for £48.50 including delivery from Wiggle. The Terra Pants are replacements for the ones I have worn almost to destruction for 3 years, although the new ones look very dark blue (supposed to be black).
The only thing that's a bit different, is the iPhone Extender/Charger. This was briefly mentioned at the end of the recent review of GPS devices in TGO Magazine. It was only £7.99 + P&P so thought I'd give it a try. Unfortunately on my way home I charged my iPhone in the car, so I'm now sat driaining my iPhone battery with the GPS turned on to give it a test. I can say it was recognised by the iPhone and started to charge it.
The other thing I bought over the last few days was the Memory Map app for the iPhone. I found it by chance on Sunday night, they hadn't at that point made an announcement. The price I think is ridiculous at £20, when you consider the Windows Mobile version I've used for a couple of years is free and has more features. I thought about it for a few hours and decided to give it a shot. There are some very negative reviews on the iTunes store. I intend to give the app a test at the weekend and will write a review afterwards which will compare it to the Outdoors app I used in the Lakes with Phil (after our detour). I had no problems transfering a map to the app and like the Windows Mobile app I can transfer 1:10k scale maps which I use for work purposes. It's a litttle known fact that you can use the maps you buy direct from the Ordnance Survey for GIS software within Memory Map.There are a few screen grabs above, the top right one displays a 1:10K map, which can be handy when navigating streets at the start of walks.
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