Aimed primarily at mountaineering types, it features a comprehensive packing list for your next alpine expedition or hiking tour – including snowshoeing.  Simply compile your personal profile, select a packing list that has been checked already by a professional, specify the duration of the tour and invite your friends to join in.  A list of equipment is sent to your mobile phone device and you simply tick off items that you have packed.  You can also add items as and when you remember them to your list, and divide shared items like tents up between the group.

For the more adventurous among you, Mammut’s separate Safety App aims to help snow sport enthusiasts in assessing the local avalanche risk. It features a clinometer to estimate the slope angle, a compass to determine the slope exposition and an altimeter. Both apps are available to download free from www.mammut.ch.

To get started, just download the free mobiEXPLORE UK application to your mobile phone. You’ll then be able to view everything from street and transport maps (including the London Underground map) and search local ‘what’s-on’ guides. There are also lists of the best local restaurants and hotels, real time weather reports and instant discount vouchers – making just like a guidebook, only a little lighter!

Clipping the poles onto the tent exterior, I worried that they may snap and spear me as I curved them to fit. They were tricky to bend but assembly was quick (16mins). The interior is attached to the flysheet with its ‘wishbone’ exoskeleton, but can be unhooked. Only two guy ropes are needed if it’s not windy, but there are more should you find yourself in a gale. There’s decent head height (100cm): you can kneel comfortably near the good-sized front porch. The inner door has a full-size flyscreen and there are vents front and back, making this a good tent for warm nights. Inside there are pockets for your torch and books. It’s the heaviest of the six and the grey is a bit boring, but at least it won’t frighten the wildlife. Length 225cm (plus 90cm for porch), width 140cm tapering to 110cm, height 100cm tapering to 50cm.

Reviewed: Spring 2007 by Paul Miles

Weight 3.8kg. Pack size 38x19cm £149

✆ 01937 591101 or www.robens.co.uk

It was raining and dark when I put up the Octane, but all looked hopeful. There were clear instructions and two colour-coded tent poles. But things soon went wrong. The poles are pushed through narrow sheaths in the outer tent. Pushing the first pole, the fabric ripped. Then the poles kept coming apart. Finally, 20 minutes and much swearing later, I had the flysheet up… inside out. Start again. Finally, flysheet up correctly, I crawled inside to hook on the inner. Once up, it’s a comfortable tent with a large-ish porch, semi-flyscreen door and OK headroom at the front. There’s good air circulation – important when dealing with smelly walkers. Putting it down was even more difficult – extracting poles from their sheaths was like trying to push uncooked spaghetti through without it breaking. Length 220cm (plus 90cm for porch), width 140cm tapering to 95cm, height 100cm tapering to 90cm.

Reviewed: Spring 2007 by Paul Miles

Weight 2.3kg. Pack size 47x15cm £149.99

✆ 0800 665410 or www.blacks.co.uk

This is Millets’ house brand and for four tenners you get a tapering tunnel-design, two-person tent. The outer must be pitched first and then you’ll need to crawl inside to hang up the inner. It’s the lightest and most compact tent of the three I tested – great for the backpack, but only one person can sit up at a time (it tapers from the door end to 50cm in height at the foot end) and if you’re over 6ft it might be a squeeze lengthways as the 240cm length is only at a tapered point and hard to utilise. The foldaway ground sheet and small window in the porch area are a nice touch (and much appreciated by Molly the dog). Length 240cm (plus 55cm for porch), width 140cm, height 95cm tapering to 50cm.

Reviewed: Spring 2007 by Minnie Burlton

Weight 2.4kg. Pack size 45x15cm £39.99

✆ 0800 214890 or www.millets.co.uk

Garmin’s top-of-the-range models boast a 30 per cent bigger screen and five clearly-labelled buttons, making basic processes much quicker to complete. The big fourway curser button in the centre of the case, together with a dedicated ‘Enter’ button, is much easier to use compared with the fiveway click stick on the eTrex range. Although the case is larger and the unit a little heavier than other models, it is worth considering, especially if you don’t have great eyesight.

Reviewed: Winter 2007 by Simon Brown

Size: 15.5 x 6.1 x 3.3 cm

Weight with batteries: 213g

Aerial type: High sensitivity

Screen area: 21.3 sq cm

Battery/typical life: 2 x AA/18 hrs

Mapping capable? Garmin Topo only via micro SD card

Electronic compass/barometer? 60 CSx only

RRP GPSmap 60Cx: £349.99, GPSmap 60CSx: £399.99

Memory-Map commissioned mobile software especially for this product which sets it apart from almost every other device on the market. The Adventurer is stylish, waterproof and robust. Above all, it shows what walkers dream of: their position and movement on a real OS map. OK, the functionality is less than could be expected on an outdoor GPS, and you do have to conserve battery life; however, this is more than made up for by being able to navigate with a moving map in the palm of your hand.

Reviewed: Winter 2007 by Peter Judd

Size: 7.5 x 9.5 x 2.3 cm

Weight with batteries: 188g

Aerial type: High sensitivity

Screen area: 38.3 sq cm

Battery/typical life: Lithium-ion/4-5 hours

Mapping capable? Any Memory-Map map via SD card

Electronic compass/barometer? No

RRP £280 inc 1:50K National Parks mapping

The Satmap Active 10 delivers OS 1:25 and 1:50 mapping on pre-loaded SD cards in a compact waterproof unit with a high-quality screen, electronic compass and ultra sensitive GPS reception. Buttons are logical and the route-planning feature is easy to use. OS and custom-built maps will be available from retailers or online (when the website goes live). Note on battery life: Satmap claims 22 hours typical use, but I found the 3 AA lithium batteries needed replacing after four. Perhaps they were faulty. A rechargeable lithium polymer battery providing 35 hours is available at £45.

Reviewed: Winter 2007 by Peter Judd

Size: 13.0 x 7.5 x 3.0 cm

Weight: with batteries 215g

Screen area: 37.1 sq cm

Battery/typical life (see above): 3 x AA or Lithium polymer power pack

Mapping capable? OS maps via satmap SD card

Electronic compass/barometer? Compass only

RRP £299

In the main, these two models are the same as the Venture and Summit except for the big bonus of an extra memory card slot. With a 2GB micro SD card inserted (around £25), you can upload Garmin’s Topo mapping (bought separately) for the whole of the UK. Any walking data you create (waypoint, routes or tracks) are now shown overlaid on this map on the screen. This feature really does make GPS navigation much more visual as you see yourself moving along the path on the map.

Reviewed: Winter 2007 by Simon Brown

Size: 10.7 x 5.6 x 3.0 cm

Weight with batteries: 156g

Screen area: 14.2 sq cm

Battery/typical life: 2 x AA/25 hrs

Mapping capable? Garmin Topo only via card

Electronic compass/barometer? Vista only

RRP Legend HCx £249.99 Vista HCx £299.99