Thanks to Roman — I’d not sen this before.

The Henry Shire’s Tarptent Stratospire 2 — dual vestibule, dual entry, inner tent — 1.1 Kilograms.

TGO Challenge? Don’t know. Summer camping – certainly!

Earlier this year I wrote about the Mysterious Disappearance of eVent, one of the most effective and breathable of hard shell material for jackets, etc. The subsequent discussion of my post was illuminating.

eVent is under pressure on two fronts. Firstly, there are new m,aerials which while not as breathable are cheaper. Secondly, at the higher end of the scale Gore Tex is spending a lot of cash on promoting its new Active Shell fabric which is their most breathable yet.

eVent though remains a superb fabric. I am the proud owner of a Montane Quickfire jacket which is sadly no longer available. The minimalist Quickfire was very light and effective in bad weather. By some degree, this is the most breathable jacket I have ever owned. At its peak eVent was pushing Gore Tex hard and it seemed a shame to see it disappear.

However, this week I’ve seen my first reference to a new eVent material. Ron Bell — at Mountain Laurel Designs — has just announced the purchase of the new material on the MLD Facebook page. Ron is a man who thinks hard about materials and only uses those that perform to the very highest standards. According to Ron the new 3 layer eVent fabric that he has bought in is 10% lighter that its predecessor and even more breathable. Given the lightness and performance of the old eVent this new stuff must be very exciting (indeed Ron seems very excited by it).

I think Montane and Rab are still using eVent on mainstream products. This new development suggests that eVent will remain a serious consideration for lightweight hikers for some time in the future. I hope so.

This was going to be a long term gear review of the Paramo Velez Adventure trousers, but somehow that didn’t seem simple enough or right. I’ve been using these trousers for the last couple of years and I reckon I’ve spent about 60 days walking in them, most of which were on multi day walks and backpacking trips. My original review of the trousers can be found here. One of the issues is that although I’ve walked about 60 days in these I have, in fact, used two pairs of these trousers.

My original review comments on the quality of the stitching on the trousers. I quickly found that others had many of the same issues. On the other hand, these are great trousers for the cooler UK months. The Velez trousers are significantly more comfortable than the heavier Cascadas and I’ve walked in them during quite hot days without any problems. They do work and are as good as any other Paramo Analogy rain wear.

I liked the cut of the legs of these trousers but the rest of the fit was not that good. The guys at Cunningham outdoor in Betws-y-Coed reckoned that it was always a good idea to buy a size bigger than you thought you needed. As I was preparing for a TGO crossing of Scotland — 2 weeks — I decided to buy a second pair. Across Scotland the trousers worked just as well, although in many ways this pair were too big as the previous pair might have been a title tight. I spent much of my time pulling the things up, trying to avoid what we technically call in the UK an ‘ohh.err misses Carry On moment”.

A month or so ago I was preparing for another week in Scotland. The weather forecast was dreadful and so I dug out the Velez trousers. Inspecting them I noticed that the stitching was coming apart in exactly the same place as it had on the first pair. These had done precisely 18 days walking. To be fair some of these days involved clambering over deer fences and such. But I’m sure the fences weren’t the problem.

My ‘dilemma’ came about at the end of the recent trip. The weather was absolutely dreadful and two of us swam down Glen Afric, picked up the car and hydroplaned into Cannich and the Slater’s Arms. the two of us were so wet that we decided to change in the pub. I hung my Velez trousers up on a hook by the door. When we left I picked up my pack and forgot all about the trousers. By the time I realised what I had done we were well on our way South. I phoned the Slater’s Arms three times and yes they had the trousers. I told them I’d pay a decent sum to have them posted back but the trousers have never arrived and I guess I’ll never see them again.

So, what to do now. Do I get the first pair repaired and put up with the fit or do I try a second pair? Or do I go for something else?

These are fine trousers in terms of performance on the hill. But they should be more robust than they are. It’s not the lighter external fabric that is the problem but the stitching which is very fine and which features a very narrow seam — far too delicate for walking trousers.

Some of suggested that Paramo’s quality control is not as good as it once was, or as good as it should be. But they are very convenient in wet weather.

To replace or not? What would you lot do?