Author Archives

Jools

UK backpacker, striving for lightweight while body gets increasingly heavyweight. Completed all of the UK national trails while fitting in local day hikes and other multi-day trails both in the UK and overseas. Walked across mainland UK on five month 2500 mile 'Three Points of the Compass' hike in 2018

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National Outdoor Expo 2022, Birmingham NEC

Billed as the first, the 2022 Outdoor Expo was a welcome back to pre-Covid times. Some two hundred exhibitors gathered to show off their products and services aimed at the outdoor community. Three Points of the Compass went along to the second day of the weekend exposition to see what was on offer to the lightweight backpacker.

beer trail

Trail talk: a (sort of) Birmingham Beer Trail

The 2022 CAMRA Winter Beer Festival in Birmingham failed to take place due to worries over Covid restrictions. However Three Points of the Compass has a pretty good knowledge of some decent pubs in the city. After a little further research putting together a tour of some of the best, I rang my brother and booked a hotel. In February 2022, we met up for a two-day'ish pub crawl. Life can be hard sometimes, someone has to make the effort!

map measurer

Map measure of the month: the Hugh Rees “Regent”

The Regent map measurer, sometimes referred to as a map gauge, was a simple and quite robust tool sold by London bookseller Hugh Rees Ltd.

Trail talk

Trail talk: the Gritstone Trail

Backpacking along the edge of the Peak District, with hills to my left and the Cheshire Plain stretching far off to my right. It snowed, rained and (occasionally) shone brightly for this three day February trip. The Gritstone Trail went up, it went down, very rarely was it flat. Regardless of the gradient, mud was a frequent companion.

Gear

Gear talk: Salomon Soft Flask XA filter

Salomon have paired up with HydraPak to produce a handy lightweight water filtration set up for runners. It is also an ideal choice for backpackers looking for a lightweight solution to filtering water on trail.

map measurer

Map measure of the month: the Minerva Curvimeter C-01

The Minerva Curvimeter, model number C-01, is a beautifully crafted Swiss made map measure with one of the smoothest tracking mechanisms to be found on this type of instrument. This is unsurprising, considering this measure was made by a company skilled in producing high-quality watches.

Gear

Favourite gear: the Katadyn BeFree water filter

The Katadyn BeFree filter has been a favourite piece of gear for the past five years. Unsurprising as it is light, compact, easy to use and has been successful in preventing me from getting sick on trail

Gear

Favourite gear: Katabatic Gear Elite and Flex quilts

Katabatic Gear make some of the best down quilts available. Three Points of the Compass is fortunate enough to own two of their range. They have been used for hundreds of nights while backpacking and each is amongst my favourite pieces of gear. They are superb. I take a look here at the Katabatic Palisade 30°F and the Katabatic Flex 15°F quilts

Cooking

Gear talk: fitting the Edelrid Hexon stove to the Trangia Stormcooker

The Trangia Stormcooker is old school efficiency. Many people now fit a gas burner or multi-fuel stove inside it. Installing an Edelrid Hexon multi-fuel burner is easily done with a handy little adapter.

Trail talk

Trail talk: the Miner’s Way

The Miner's Way is a now largely forgotten trail that loops around the East Kent countryside, visiting the former collieries of the short lived Kent Coalfield. Once heralded as a fitting tribute to the miners who came to toil, live and die in brutal working conditions, local authorities now seem to be doing their best to ignore this trail.

Gear talk

Gear talk: the Zebra F-701- is this the perfect EDC pen?

What is an Every Day Carry (EDC) pen? Simple. It is the pen that you have with you every day. A pen that is reliable. A pen that you like. Something affordable. Possibly even a pen that fulfils some other purpose- double duty. For many, the Zebra F-701 may fit the bill. And recently, it has got even better.

books

Three Points of the Compass

Long Distance Trails, lightweight backpacking and gear, map measures and anything outdoorsy

Author Archives

Jools

National Outdoor Expo 2022, Birmingham NEC

Trail talk: a (sort of) Birmingham Beer Trail

Map measure of the month: the Hugh Rees “Regent”

Trail talk: the Gritstone Trail

Gear talk: Salomon Soft Flask XA filter

Map measure of the month: the Minerva Curvimeter C-01

Favourite gear: the Katadyn BeFree water filter

Favourite gear: Katabatic Gear Elite and Flex quilts

Gear talk: fitting the Edelrid Hexon stove to the Trangia Stormcooker

Trail talk: the Miner’s Way

Gear talk: the Zebra F-701- is this the perfect EDC pen?

Trail talk: Harvey maps

Map measure of the month: the Panerai Nautical Curvimeter model PAM00302

Gear talk: Nalgene bottles- hydration, hot water bottle and more…

Knife chat: which to choose- scissors or pliers? Why not have both, with the NexTool Mini Flagship multi-tool

Gear talk: the search for a pillow for a restless side-sleeper

Knife chat: The Wenger Esquire and derivatives

Trail talk: the ‘one in every village’ wall box scheme

Map measure of the month: W&HC navigation dividers

Trail talk: Facilities on the Great Glen Way