We spoke to Ian Elliot, the British brand’s co-founder, to find out how they build their watches. We came away pretty damn impressed. — When you’re forging the identity of a brand, you need to be clear about exactly who you are and what you want to be. But it’s just as important to know what you’re not — and that’s something about which Elliot Brown are unequivocal. Elliot Brown are not like other…

Marrying traditional Japanese craftsmanship with modern functionalism, Snow Peak’s unique outdoor lifestyle products are designed for forward-thinking adventurers who appreciate heritage values — Snow Peak was truly born in the mountains. One mountain in particular was the cradle for the brand’s earliest beginnings. That peak was Mount Tanigawa — a craggy, crested ridge with multiple summits that rises some 1,977m (6,486 ft) along the border of Gunma and Niigata Prefectures in Honshu, Japan…

Let me paint you a picture of a perfect outdoor scene: the campfire pops and crackles as you throw on another log, and a shower of sparks explodes into the night sky. You watch each drifting ember spiral upwards and die out, one by one, and feel the heat on…

For experienced hillwalkers in search of an adventure, the Welsh 3,000s is a classic mountain route that links all 15 of Snowdonia’s biggest peaks. Words by Matthew Jones, photography by Matthew Jones and Ellie Clewlow From the footpath that skirts the north-east fringe of Llynnau Mymbyr, I gazed up the…

What do most professional footballers do on their summer holidays? Well, unless there’s a major international tournament on, they normally take a well-deserved break. Thanks to Instagram, we know that Liverpool’s Mo Salah likes to fish for mahi-mahi and United’s Anthony Martial loves the wonders of ancient Egypt, while former…

Ignore the hipster reputation and all that online snobbery from so-called ‘knife nut’ YouTubers: just take a good look at these badass blades It was the British designer William Morris, leading light of the Arts and Crafts movement, who said: ‘Nothing useless can be truly beautiful.’ It’s a mantra that…

A dozen moving and motivational life lessons from the outdoor greats, beginning with the one and only John Muir — John Muir The ‘Father of the National Parks’, Scottish-American writer and naturalist John Muir was an early advocate for the protection and preservation of wilderness. In 1903 he even managed to drag President Theodore Roosevelt out on a three-night camping trip, bending his ear about the importance of Yosemite to…

In a nutshell? It’s an extremely rugged waterproof shell for keen mountaineers who demand full-function, four-season protection. The Tupilak is one of Mountain Equipment’s flagship technical climbing shells, which the brand describes as ‘ideally suited to alpine and expedition climbing on the steepest lines and biggest faces’. So, definitely overkill…