Gear Reviews

Introduction I made the decision to buy a Garmin Tactix Delta after borrowing a Fenix 6 earlier in the year for review purposes. Much as I love my Garmin Instinct, it was a little hard to go back to it after a few weeks with the Fenix’s big full-colour screen, detailed health-tracking functionality, weeks-long battery life, and advanced navigation features. …

I recently found myself on an overnight camping trip with a group, many of whom hadn’t done a lot of camping before. Despite it being a warm day, the temperature dropped significantly at night and some people were extremely cold and uncomfortable. In the morning, amidst cheerfully-shared stories about lying awake shivering all night, a few people expressed surprise that …

Between us, James and I have owned and worn a lot of different hiking footwear over the years. Classic leather boots. Chunky, rigid, water-proof boots issued by the army. Light-weight trail shoes. And of course modern, high-tech, waterproof boots. I recently bought a new pair for some winter hiking in the UK, and ended up pondering a question that I …

Introduction COROS are a relatively new contender in the sports watch arena and they’re definitely worth considering if you’re in the market for a serious upgrade. Admitedly, the Apex is aimed squarely at triathletes with a claim of being, “The best watch a triathlete could ever own.” But don’t let that put you off – this COROS Apex review is …

Treksumo was created with hiking and trekking in mind, but from time to time we step off the well-beaten hiking routes in order to explore and review gear we think should have a place in your packing list. A good example of this is the hiking boot alternative category as today we’re going to be walking through a quick Altra …

The last few times I’ve bought insulated jackets I’ve tended to go for real down. It’s warm, compressible, and it just felt like the ‘superior’ option versus artificial insulation. Fleeces aside, my only synthetically insulated jacket prior to buying the Rab Cirrus Flex was the very lightweight Arc’teryx Atom LT. However, on a trip to the Cairngorms a couple of …

Introduction The Garmin Fenix 6 is, essentially, Garmin’s top-of-the-range activity watch (with the debatable exception of the almost-identical Garmin Tactix Delta). It has ended up at the top of the food chain in almost every category: not only is it their most fully-featured hiking and navigation wearable but also one of their only watches with true multisport functionality for triathletes, …

Introduction PreTents is a new arrival on the tent scene, but with some serious pedigree behind it. Though information is currently fairly sparse online, the brand is a new venture between Hong Kong-based cottage outdoor gear designed Tara Poky and well-established Chinese tent manufacturer The Free Spirits. In the UK, PreTents can be purchased from Valley and Peak, who kindly …

I’ve already carried out some side by side comparisons of satellite communicators and navigator devices, but finally decided to get a Garmin InReach Explorer+ review out there for our readers. Jake, the co-author of TrekSumo, and I have a huge amount of experience using GPS and navigation devices. I’m ex-military, with 10 years service in the British Army, and Jake …

Introducing the Osprey Atmos 65 My Atmos 65 was both a very last-minute and, as it turned out, a very fortunate purchase.  Back in 2018 when I went to Seattle to spend a few days hiking Section J of the Pacific Crest Trail, the rucksack I had taken with me was a Vango Contour 60+10; a decent but by no …