This review closely follows my look at outdoor hats, and no sepia-tinted journey involving your Mum ramming a home-knitted bobble hat on your head is complete without a pair of colourful mittens linked with a length of string. Similarly,  no monochrome winter mountain journey is complete without at least one pair of decent gloves. Gloves divide people – there are those that prefer a single thick glove, those that like a selection of liners with a waterproof  outer and those that opt for those half-finger gloves with a flap that turns them into mittens. My personal approach varies according to the…

Whilst the urban myth that most of our body heat is lost through our head was debunked by scientists in the winter of 2008 (don’t let your kids see this), a warm hat remains an essential item of equipment for hillwalkers in Scotland all year round. Even in the height of summer the Cairngorm plateau can be a pretty inhospitable place; when the wind picks up and from October to April I’ll generally carry a spare hat in case of loss; a balaclava is a good option for the coldest weather. As with all items of outdoor equipment there are…