We now have the excellent Marmot La Grave softshell jacket in stock. I tested it out last season and here is a brief run down taken from our website.

I used a La Grave jacket on holiday last season and was very pleased with it. The first thing I noticed was how warm it was for a softshell jacket. Other softshell jackets I have used like the ME G2 and the Marmot Moran jacket are great when you are moving but not warm enough for standing about in. The La Grave is a bit less breathable than those style of jackets but much warmer and totally wind resistant, much more suited to the stop/start nature of alpine skiing and boarding. The La Grave is a membrane softshell jacket so the membrane is waterproof and breathable but it is not fully taped so cannot be called a true waterproof. On the other hand it’s about 10 times as tough as a waterprof which is handy for when you throw yourself at the floor! I detached the hood and kept it in the pocket but found the high collar great if you were being chilled by the wind on a chairlift, if you hunch your shoulders you can almost get inside the collar. The La Grave jacket is a bit on the heavy side for a multi purpose mountaineering and skiing jacket but fantastic for those that will mainly use it for skiing and boarding.

The first Petzl Ultra Belts will not be available until November 2008, but you can order one now for earliest delivery, we will not charge your card untill dispatch. However when the Ultra Belts arrive they will come with the smaller ACCU 2 battery as the ACCU 4 battery will not be available until March 2009. With the Ultra Belt will be a voucher which you immediately send to Petzl UK (Lyon Equipment). Lyon will add you to a database of people who will receive a free ACCU 4 battery when they come out AND you get to keep the ACCU 2 battery you already have. This is a pretty good deal if you want an Ultra Belt. PLUS they send you a free Petzl Signal light when you send in the voucher just because they would like to! By buying early you get a free battery, but don’t think that there is no point buying a standard Ultra. Please bear in mind that the Ultra Belt comes with a fixed long power cord and so you cannot head mount the battery without tying this up. If you want a head mounted battery then the standard Petzl Ultra is still the best one to get. You can also convert an Ultra into an Ultra Belt but not the other way round.

We have had our first delivery of Petzl Ultras, so all you torch geeks out there it’s time to get the brigtest outdoor headlamp in existance!

I got a demo Ultra Belt a little while back and after testing the Ultra on several night runs I can say that it lives up to expectations. It is more than bright enough for all situations, in fact for running on smooth tacks and easy ground the economic setting was fine but for rough broken ground the optimum setting was best. In fact the most powerful setting produced too much back glare and hurt my eyes! The tilting head unit meant you can get the light just right and the light did not bounce around. The switch is great, one of the best bits of design on the Ultra. The beam pattern on Ultra is excellent with plenty of wide peripheral light to complement the 120m beam, this really helps when looking for track junctions and the like. I have a HID light for my bike and the Ultra is the next brightest light I have seen. The Ultra costs 40% less than the HID and does not have the fragility or the battery size of the HID. The ACCU 4 battery that I have lasts over 9 hours on optimum power so I have still not exhausted my battery with my runs. I had the battery in a bumbag which worked well and did not notice the weight of the light unit on my head. Now for £250 or £300 depending on the model you kind of expect everything to be right, but I have to say that it was. I can’t wait to start night riding with it!

I recently tested my new Mountain Equipment Pro-Lite jacket on a rainy night by going for a long run. I have had XCR and Paclite jackets in the past but was genuinely surprised by the peformance of the Pro-Lite. Now you expect Gore-Tex to be 100% waterproof and it was, but what was amazing was the breathability of the ProShell fabric. There were several showers during my run and I was working aerobically so lightly sweating the whole time and the jacket stayed completely dry on the inside and very comfortable. It did not stick to my skin inside in anyway and was completely dry to touch at the end of the test. Mountain Equipment did not design the Pro-Lite for mountain marathons or fell running and it would be a bit over the top for most events but for the long high fell races like the Mountain Trail and OMM, where you may actually want a decent waterproof rather than just passing the kit check then the Pro-Lite would be a very good choice. The Pro-Lite has a fairly short cut, a couple of decent pockets and a good hood but keeps the weight to under 400g. My new Pro-Lite jacket is only 40g heavier than my old Paclite jacket but twice as tough with heaps better breathability. The Pro-Lite takes up a tiny bit more space in my pack but if definately worth it.

Facewest Complete Satisfaction Guarantee
At Facewest we realise that £350 is a lot of money to spend on a GPS watch especially over the phone or internet. This is the 3rd incarnation of the Suunto GPS watch. The X9 was not that good, the X9i was good but a little slow and now we have the X10. We have tested this watch and it is significantly faster than the X9i with a better battery and case which were the only things that needed improving. However you do not have to take our word for it as we are offering a Complete Satisfaction Guarantee. If you buy the X10 and you are not happy with it, simply return it to us, complete with all the packaging within 14 days and we will give you a full refund including your postage. Now we know that you need to wear the X10 outside to test it out and it might get slightly marked or dirty in the process but as long as it’s all there and you haven’t smashed it up unreasonably then we will give you a full refund. Our logic is simple, we are pretty sure that the X10 does everything it claims to do and it has in no way be oversold or hyped. The key to satisfaction is understanding what the X10 is. It is not a stand alone GPS receiver which is larger, heavier and has more room for longer antenna, bigger screens and buttons. The X10 is a GPS, altimeter, digital compass and watch all in the body of a chunky watch. The X10 offers most of the features of a stand alone GPS with comparable GPS performance plus the barometric altimeter and compass, but the physical size of the X10 means that the screen is compact and the X10 needs 5 multi function buttons and numerous menus to function properly. If you struggle with a mobile phone then it’s probably not the right GPS for you, but if that sounds OK then the X10 is a fantastic outdoor tool.

The NEW Suunto X10M is the latest upgrade for the Suunto wrist top GPS unit and is a direct replacement for the Suunto X9Mi. The Suunto X10M offers about 30% quicker fix than the old X9Mi and is comparable with hand held GPS units with longer antenna. We got the first one we had out of the box which to our knowledge had never been used in the UK and under pretty optimal GPS conditions it had it’s first fix in 94 seconds. The GPS receiver also tracks better in difficult conditions like heavy foliage and will hold it’s signal longer. The other main area of improvement is the battery life which again offers a 30% improvement over the X9Mi. The size, look and functions of the Suunto X10M are unchanged from the X9Mi. The only other real change is that the watch facia has been redesigned into one piece to make the X10M physically stronger.

This NEW Suunto watch is in stock and available on our website, just click the photo.

The standard X10 (non military version of the same watch) should be with us within a week or so but we are taking forward orders now if you wish to reserve one. Either order one on the website as usual or give us a ring.

I have in my hands a demo version of the new Petzl Ultra. The Ultra is Petzl’s new 350 lumen super LED torch. Using a lithium ion battery which comes in a choice of 2 sizes and either belt or head mount.
I will give it a through test out over the next couple of weeks and let you know how it performs.

The move to the new unit is completed. Everything seems to be goig fine and all services are up and running.

Our new address is

Facewest Ltd
Unit 1B Pegholme
Wharfebank Business Park
Otley
LS21 3JP

Phone is unchanged at 0870 755 7555 and fax 01943 850001

Thanks for your patience whilst we were shut for those couple of days.

It may seem a bit quiet on the Facewest blog but rest assured we are not slacking off in the summer sunshine.

We are moving, in the next couple of weeks to a new larger unit which will ease congestion here and lead to an even more efficient service for you. The downside is that we will be unable to dispatch next day deliveries on Thursday 14th August and Friday 15th August but will be back up and running as normal on the Monday.

Apart from moving unit we are also preparing the website for all the winter 09 stock which arrives in September and October. You will see products on the site (Dakine luggage for example) that have some colour options in stock and some due in the autumn. These are the new winter colours.

So although there is not much going on the outside there is plenty happening behind the scenes.