RRP: £80 Weight: 235g per pair (small) When is a mitt not really a mitt? With the Rab Blizzard, the mitt outer conceals a glove-shaped inner supposedly to give the best of both worlds; I’ve been testing it over the winter. This is a gauntlet-style mitt with box wall construction in a pre-formed shape with single finger inserts. I found them to be close fitting – the women’s small really is small, particularly in width and unlike normal mitts the finger inserts mean there is little extra room inside. However the fit is well-designed, giving good articulation and being comfortable…

Osprey Hydraulics Reservoir RRP: £34 Weight: 21g (2 litre) I switched to using hydration bladders over bottles about 10 years ago and despite the faffing involved with cleaning and drying I wouldn’t go back. I drink more, find the reservoir is more comfortable in my rucksack, and they are generally easier to fill from streams than bottles. In recent months I’ve been testing a 2 litre Osprey reservoir and as it’s been winter, the optional insulated tube and bite valve cover that goes with it. The resevoir is made from BPA and PVC-free flexible thermoplastic polyurethane, which despite feeling thin…

Years back all we had were dented Sigg bottles in our rucksacks, but of course times move on. We now have a whole array of different ways of carrying water in the hills. The thing that mixed it up and moved us on was plastics giving us bladders with drinking tubes and new bottle designs but metal hasn’t been left behind, stainless steel bottles have become the standard and the durability and easy-cleaning nature of one of those could see you use the same bottle for life. I take my hydration very seriously on both day walks and on backpacking…