Armenia and Global Issues

Last night I revisited the venue in Yerevan where Andy and I gave a presentation back in February. Common Ground is the project of a local NGO to provide an open forum for interested people from all backgrounds to discuss today’s issues and attend presentations in English. The organiser, an … Continued →

All Change

It’s spring again (in Armenia, at least — still snowing in England, I’ve heard)! The last of the ice melted away a couple of weeks ago, and all over the country grass and leaves are emerging from flower-beds and trees. Winter is finally behind me. Sitting in my standard-issue former-Soviet-Union … Continued →

MSR Dragonfly Multi-Fuel Stove Review

In the beginning, we used a butane Camping Gaz burner, until that ran out. Stuck for the night in a small French village, we procured some agricultural diesel and decided to put the MSR Dragonfly multifuel stove to the test. After worrying that the stove was about to explode, we … Continued →

Snugpak Elite 3 Three-Season Synthetic Sleeping Bag Review

For the first summer and autumn months in 2007, we slept practically every night in our Snugpak Elite 3 sleeping bags. We were never cold — until November in northern Turkey. On the first night of frost, we found ourselves uncomfortably cold. As the temperature decreased to zero and below … Continued →

Vaude Hogan Ultralight Stormproof 2-Man Tent Review

The Vaude Hogan Ultralight Stormproof tents have performed almost flawlessly for three years of regular touring use. The design is very well suited to a solo cycle tourer or a cosy couple, with a couple of minor drawbacks, which we’ll come to later.