Spur Strap Light
Spur Strap Light
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Royal King Leather Spur Strap Hand Tooled Basket Stamp – Black, Dark & Light Oil $15.95 |
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Royal King Leather Spur Strap Hand Tooled Basket Stamp – Black, Dark & Light Oil $15.95 |
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Royal King Leather Spur Strap Hand Tooled Basket Stamp – Black, Dark & Light Oil $15.95 |
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SHOWMAN Hairon Clear Stone SLVR Cross Spur Strap Light $18.99 |
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SHOWMAN Mens Stud Leather Spur Strap Star Buckles Light $19.50 |
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Royal King Basket Stamp Spur Strap-Light Oil $20.99 |
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Royal King Floral Stamp Spur Strap-Light Oil $17.99 |
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Royal King Floral Spur Strap Buckle Set-Light Oil $25.95 |
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Royal King Basket Spur Strap Steer Concho-Light Oil $23.95 |
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Royal King Ring Spur Strap-Light Oil $14.95 |
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Royal King Leather Spur Strap – Youth-Ladies – Light Oil $14.95 |
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Silver Royal Leather Show Spur Strap-Light Oil $17.95 |
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SHOWMAN Hairon Clear Stone SLVR Cross Spur Strap Light $25.00 |
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Light Oil Western Spur Strap Flecked Hair & Silver Dots $19.95 |
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SHOWMAN Mens Stud Leather Spur Strap Star Buckles Light $25.00 |
What Gear to Take: Scrambling by The Outdoorshop
It was my birthday recently and a friend sent me one of those Patagonia ‘Live Simply’ T-shirts. It’s classic Patagonia: nice cotton, simple picture, brief but powerful message and a good colour. It got me thinking though, as I sat dropping crumbs from my birthday carrot cake down it, how difficult it actually is to live up to that message nowadays. That’s why I love scrambling so much. A small rucksack, a well planned itinerary and some good technique gets you into some unbeatable situations and lets you cover a lot of ground. It’s a brilliant way to explore the mountains and get off the beaten track.
But what you take and what you leave behind is what makes all the difference. On a multi-pitch climbing day you’ll often leave your sack at the bottom whereas when you’re scrambling you’re usually best just lugging it around with you. Take too heavy a rucksack and you’ll soon make Cniefion Arete feel more like the Walker Spur! Over the years I’ve pared down my kit and it’s made a big difference to how much I can do and how much I enjoy doing it. Here are some equipment ideas for your next ‘scramble simply’ adventure.
Boots
As with most mountain adventures boots make a big difference. Fortunately, when you’re scrambling you can just take one type of footwear and it can be whatever you normally head for the hills in. A friend of mine spends all his time in the mountains wandering about in Inov8 trail shoes and it works for him. I’m more in the lightweight boots with supportive ankle support and reasonable waterproofness camp. Any walking boots with a grippy sole, reasonable sole stiffness and edging capability, decent ankle support and comfortable fit will do the job. For a more specialist boot consider something like the La Sportiva Trango S Evo, which I’ve been using over the last few months.
La Sportiva Trango S Evo RRP £225 available from The Outdoorshop for just £175.
The La Sportiva Trango S Evo has an upper made from Cordura with Lorica reinforcements. Lorica is a fully synthetic material that looks and feels very much like leather. Apparently Lorica means ‘body armour’ in Latin and it’s certainly proving to be very durable. After extensive use these boots still look in perfect condition. To help with waterproofing they also have a Gore-tex insert.
The Evos are light – my pair of size 8s weighs under 1500 grams. The sole unit is quite stiff due to the 7mm nylon insole. When this is combined with the Vibram sole unit the boot is exceptionally good for edging. The toe profile is also quite narrow and they wedge in cracks beautifully.
The sole has a good tread pattern and, although I’ve heard people say they’ve found these boots slippy on some surfaces, I have found them to be as grippy as anything else I’ve used. The sole is quite thin which gives it a precise feel when climbing but another comment I’ve heard is that they wear out quickly. I haven’t found this so far and after a lot of excursions the sole is showing only minimal signs of wear. I suspect that if you regularly walk longer distances the stiff insole and thin sole unit combination will cause it to wear but I don’t see this as a general purpose walking boot anyway. The boot can be resoled too.
La Sportiva are known to have a fairly narrow last but, if the Trango S Evo fits you well, I am sure you’ll think they are worth every penny of the £180-£200 investment. For their targeted activities of scrambling, via ferrata and general alpinism they are awesome. They will also take a crampon which may be useful for winter excursions. I think you’ll be hard pressed to find a better specialised scrambling boot.
Rucksack
Rucksacks suitable for scrambling should be light, compact, have a secure fit, allow non-restrictive head movement (including allowing you to tip your head back when wearing a helmet) and have a simple uncluttered design. It’s also really useful if the sac can be stripped of superfluous straps and gadgets when needed.
I like to fit all my scrambling kit and clothing into something around 30-35 litres and I’ve used models like the Deuter Guide, Black Diamond Speed and Gregory Juxt which all do a great job. I’ve also been a big fan of Podsacs for many years and some of their new lightweight Lux range are really interesting. The Lux 35 combines all the key attributes of a good scrambling rucksack while being very light and well constructed.
Clothing
Your normal hill clothing will work just fine for scrambling and everyone has their own preferences and budgets. As kit gets lighter there is always a trade off between weight, durability and cost.
Waterproofs are just as vital for scrambling as they are for any day in the British mountains. In fact, scrambling is a popular poor weather activity as you can scramble in any conditions if you’re confident enough. However, rough rock will be tough on superlight fabrics like Paclite. How you climb is also crucial. If your climbing technique keeps you well positioned you’ll scrape over the rock less than if you tend to thrutch your way up routes. I use lightweight materials as they are light to carry, comfortable to wear and easy to move in – but I get through several pairs of waterproof trousers and at least a couple of tops each year. The choice is yours.
For lightweight jackets I seem to be in a small minority as I love smock style pullovers despite many manufacturers not making them. They tend to be very light, are usually simple and uncluttered in design and they work brilliantly when tucked into a harness. I was delighted when Rab released their Demand Pull On Smock (review by Viv Scott here) and the one I’ve had has been performing really well. Similar weight models I’ve used in a jacket style include the Patagonia Stretch Element (review by Jon Griffith here) and Mountain Equipment Particle.
I also rate lightweight fabrics for waterproof trousers despite their drawbacks. Wearing a pair of suitable mountain trousers that will cope well with some moisture means you don’t always need over trousers so I don’t want to be lugging heavy pants around in my sack. Having said that, if it’s a full on monsoon day where I think I’ll be in them all the time I’ll choose something that’s heavier weight. For lightweight models I really like Berghaus Paclite Pants.
A good pair of mountain trousers are well worth the outlay. All the main brands make well cut, comfortable models nowadays. I love my Patagonia Alpine Guide Pants (review by Charlie Boscoe here) which have a great fit and, considering they are made from a reasonably light fabric, seem to wear really well too.
Everyone has their own preference for base layers. I’ve long been a fan of Patagonia Capilene (news item here) and I tend to use Capilene 1 for scrambling at most times of the year as, if you are operating efficiently, there shouldn’t be too much waiting around. For scrambling in the colder months I use Capilene 2.
Fleece insulation is always a talking point. Most of the time I like a lightweight fleece such as Patagonia’s R1 hoody. If I’m expecting cold weather I also take either another lightweight fleece layer or a lightweight vest such as Patagonia’s R1 vest. On some days I carry a lightweight insulating layer like Patagonia’s Nano Puff Pullover (review by Jon Griffith here). Loads has been written about these so I won’t go over old ground – except to say this is an awesome item that is, in my opinion, well worth the cost.
I often wear gloves when I’m scrambling. This is frequently because it’s cold but can also be to protect my hands from the rock and when using the rope for things like direct belays or short roping. I love Petzl Cordex gloves for general use. They are well fitting and thin enough to be dextrous. I’ve also been using Beal’s Assure Max recently and these are great too. Both of these are durable leather gloves but both get quite water logged in wet conditions (although proofing them with a good wax helps). In wet conditions a more water resistant glove like Mountain Equipment’s Randonee is good as it will provide a decent amount of insulation even once water’s got in. For the walk ins on cold days I like a simple pair of Powerstretch gloves.
About the Author
The Outdoor Shop supplies equipment for a wide variety of outdoor activities including rock climbing, backpacking, mountaineering, hill walking, trekking and many other types of adventure travel.
