The one thing that I don’t like about most sandals is that your toes are exposed to all sorts of nasty and horrific injuries. The Teva Dozer seems to have taken that into account and is a shoe that resembles a sandal but with an enclosed toe cover. There are plenty vents all around the dozer making it just as cool and pleasant to wear in warm weather as a normal sandal but with the added knowledge that you are not going to stub your toes on tree roots or worse.
The strap system on the Dozer, like most other Teva sandals involves a single velcro closure across the top of the foot making these as easy to get on and off as most other teva sandals. The strapping system actually gives a good bit of support too, feeling almost like a shoe, but not quite that strong. Still, reasonable outdoors use and walks shouldn’t cause problems. The Dozer also comes with a surface that is meant to eliminate the smelly sandal problem that afflicts some sandal wearers. (You could wear your sandals with socks to eliminate this too, but that kind of defeats the point of having sandals in the first place - and you’ll look like and extra from the Open University). I’ve used these Teva’s for a month now and so far, no problem with smelly sandals.

The sole of the Dozer is pretty grippy and also has a good bit of cushioning in it meaning comfort and security.

One possible negative point is that where my foot bends means there is a lot of wear placed on one of the stitching joints at the side of the Dozer. It doesn’t look like it’s reinforced in any way and I’m afraid that it might split there eventually.
I’ve owned simple Teva sandals in the past and in my view these are much better, especially if you want your toes protected.

Teva UK suggest the price is around £82 but the pair that were tested were under £60 from an outdoors shop in Perth.

This is a review of the Mountain Equipment Lightline Classic Duvet Jacket that can be found in a lot of outdoors stores at the moment.

I first bought this jacket for those cold and frosty mornings when something a bit warmer than a fleece is required. I’ve found that I’m wearing it a lot more than I anticipated as it copes with damp and light rain very well with its Drilite Loft outer.
I’m quite a tall person and this jacket was a good couple of inches longer in body and sleeve than a similar Mountain Hardwear down jacket that I tried on. The hood is excellent for wild weather, but I’m glad it’s detachable as I don’t use it in general day to day use.

Good points about the Mountain Equipment Lightline jacket - very warm, lightweight, packs small. Good sleeve length and body length. Excellent detachable hood. Fleece lined collar.
Negative points: Waist drawcord is flimsy and there is no snow skirt. You could live with one or the other, but with just a very thin bit of elastic and fabric at the bottom of the jacket holding it down and no snow skirt you’d think twice about using it in a skiing or sledging capacity. Wrist velcro could be a bit more substantial too. The only other gripe I have with the Lightline is the lack of zip pulls on the pocket zips. Try getting cold fingers to grip the tiny zip pulls on the main pockets and frustration ensues.

Altogether though the Lightline is a very capable jacket from Mountain Equipment and with many retailers currently discounting it, it makes a good buy. Full price £150.

Haglofs seems to be one of the ‘cool’ outdoors labels to be wearing this year and understandably so.

This women’s jacket, the Haglof’s Krypton Q is definitely cool. It’s constructed of Goretex 3 Layer Soft Shell fabric. The Krypton Q has water resistant zippers, 2 chest pockets and a sleeve pocket. It also has Recco® Avalanche Rescue System Reflector attached to the sleeve. The wired hood and stand alone collar are definitely imressive. Available in women’s sizes 8-18.
I must say though I am not a fan of these water resistant zips. I’d much rather have a decent double storm flap system in place to keep the weather out. Also, chest pockets are fine for storing stuff in, but what about hand warmer pockets? It’s a shame to see so many modern jackets forgeting about them now.

M and M Direct are currently were selling the hugely popular Berghaus Mera Peak Jacket at the shockingly low price of £149.99. I’m not sure if this is for last year’s colours or styles, or if they are just into huge discounting but this is a bargain in anyone’s books for a full blown 4 season Berghaus Jacket. They‘ve got had the XCR Trango version of the Berghaus Mera Peak too at the same price.

Update - this was posted in 1997 and they don’t seem to have this jacket any more. You could try this Berghaus 4 Seasons Jacket. It’s very similar to the Mera Peak.

As it now seems more like summer than winter outside in the northern outpost that is Love Outdoors, thoughts turn to swapping my well worn Merrell approach shoes for something a little more… summery. These Merrell Kahuna Sandals might fit the bill. More body to them than my old basic Tevas, and a good antibacteria footbed so they don’t start to stink too quickly. The sole is the standard Merrell pattern that is found on so many of their shoes. The Kahuna Sandal has pigskin leather on top, a Microban footbed and a air cushioned sole. Plus they look rather snazzy too, wouldn’t you say?
Price in the UK is around £55.

Berghaus say that this 200 weight Polartec Classic fleece jacket is styled to fit under jackets with a snow skirt comfortably. That could just mean that it’s cut short and is probably not that suitable for tall people. Just a guess though.

It’s got 2 hand pockets and a zip chest pocket and comes in 4 colours. Expect to see it around £65 in the shops.

Rab are know for their top-notch down jackets and sleeping bags. With the Rab Summit Extreme however they’ve taken a down jacket and enclosed it in a fully waterproof shell. Could this be the most cosy jacket on the planet? You would want to know that the outer fabric was going to be breathable enough that you don’t get a lot of condensation build-up to soak your down feathers. I’m sure with the Rab Summit Extreme this will have been tested to destruction though. The fabric Rab have chosen for the Summit Extreme is called Hyperlite Storm. The only downside is a price tag well over £300.

Orikaso have created a flat-pack mug, plate and bowl set. It looks ingenious and could possibly save some space when backpacking, though I always found that my spare socks fitted well enough into my regular mug that I don’t waste any space. Still, if you like everything neat and tidy then maybe the Orikaso Solo Set is for you. Costs around 9 quid in the UK.

Cotswold have the rather nice DMM Cirque Alpine Ice Axe on sale at the moment down from £65 to £45 ( out of date prices). Even at full price this ice axe would be suitable for most winter hillwalker’s activities. It comes with an ice axe leash in place too so you don’t have to shell out extra for this.

The Scarpa ZG65 XCR boot is one of the lighter-weight boots in the Scarpa range. It comes in both men’s and women’s styles and is a very attractive lightweight boot. A big toe rand should help keep the ZG65 materials safe from errant rocks, but this boot is never meant to compete with heavy mountain boots like other Scarpa’s. Instead it is probably aimed at trekking, day hikes and low-level walkers who want a lightweight Scarpa boot with a degree of waterproofing provided by the XCR Gore-tex.

You’ll find the Scarpa Zero Gravity ZG65 XCR selling in the UK shops at around £100.