R.I.P Rohan Shorts

R.I.P Rohan Shorts- The Twins (Sept 1997 – Jan 2010) Aged 12 Years

After many years of robust service in the Joseph household, the bush, construction sites, four wheel driving, and tramping in New Zealand, it is sad to announce the passing of the twins.They pass on to meet up with 2 pairs of bags and one pair of hot bags that have gone before them to Rohan heaven.They are survived by Olfio Sweater (b. 1985) – semi retired; Pampas Jacket (b.1985) – Still going strong; a heavy winter fleece jacket “Fred” (b. 1987) and Warm Pants (b. 2002).

Recent additions to the Rohan family are three pairs of bags, 2 pairs of shorts and a fleece sweater (all b.2008).

My 1985 Olfio is getting thin & worn on the seams but is still alive & kicking down here in New Zealand. My wife won’t allow me to wear it in public but it still goes out in the rucksack in the hills and was worn on the World Classic “Tongarario Crossing” a few years ago.

The Olfio was a great companion to a pair of Hot Bags for many years in the Peak District walking & climbing with Scouts & Derby Mountain Rescue Team.

Sadly the Hot Bags were savaged & torn apart climbing a barb wire fence during a night search for a missing person.

I agree with others – BRING BACK OLFIO.

For the ABSOLUTE BEST in outdoor / travel clothing then buy Rohan.

Richard, Auckland, New Zealand.

Rohan on the CDT

“It gives me great pleasure to introduce the third guest post for Rohantime from Chris Townsend.
I really appreciated and enjoyed the first and second post from Chris. From your feedback many Rohantime readers enjoyed them as well. A big thank you Chris.”
Sarah Howcroft.

Rohan on the Continental Divide Trail

Chris Townsend

Three years after completing the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) I set out on a longer and more adventurous undertaking, the Continental Divide Trail (CDT), which runs for 3,100 miles down the Rocky Mountains from the Canadian border to Mexico. Back in 1985 there really wasn’t much of an actual trail and few people had hiked the route, making it a serious and exciting venture. The number of Continental Divide Trail signs I saw on the 51/2 month 3,100 mile walk could be counted on one hand. The route was a mix of trails, old dirt roads and long cross country sections. Sometimes I was route finding in dense forests on steep mountainsides, at others treading narrow rock ridges high above the forest. For the last 500 miles in New Mexico, where the Rocky Mountains dwindle away I was mostly in open desert country with little shelter and across which swept strong dusty winds. Overall the weather on the CDT is wetter, cooler and stormier than on the PCT. For several weeks in the Colorado Rockies and then again for the last week in the Mogollon Mountains of New Mexico I had heavy snowfalls to contend with while throughout the walk thunderstorms were a hazard. I learnt how quickly I could run with a heavy pack when caught in the open with lightning flashing all around! Even more than on the PCT my clothing needed to be capable of dealing with a huge range of conditions including freezing cold, hot sun, high winds and heavy rain. Added to the weather was the fact that the first 1,000 miles or so was in grizzly bear country, which meant not cooking or storing food in my tent, regardless of the weather. I carried a small tarp to erect as a cooking shelter in rain but was dependant on my clothes to keep me warm. I couldn’t rely on my tent or sleeping bag for warmth. You really don’t want your sleeping bag to smell of food in grizzly country!

In the years between my PCT and CDT walks Rohan had developed new designs and introduced new materials, most noticeably a light, thin synthetic fill for insulated garments. Because Rohan didn’t make warm clothing in 1982 I’d carried a pile jacket and a down vest on the PCT. On the CDT I took Rohan’s new synthetic insulated Sohao Jacket and Wild Vest, a combination that was lighter and more compact than the PCT clothing and just as warm. As the garments were shelled with polycotton they were also windproof, unlike the pile jacket, and quick drying and reasonably warm when wet, unlike the down vest. These properties were important in the Rockies, especially when cooking and eating outside. Worn together the two synthetic tops kept me warm in below freezing weather whilst I was sitting outside waiting for the dinner to cook with no need to protect them from wind or rain.  Today similar garments are found in every outdoor shop. It’s only in the last decade they’ve become popular though, twenty years after Rohan first made them.

As on the PCT I wore a wicking Cool T throughout the walk but with a new wicking shirt called the Jekyll over it in cooler weather and the polycotton Moving On windshirt when it was breezy. Only in very cold weather did I walk in the Sohao. On my legs I wore Shorts or Bags, depending on the temperature and the mosquitoes, while in rain I wore a new Rohan Gore-Tex top called the Master Jacket. This set of clothing was light and compact and gave me a variety of combinations for different weather conditions. I was never too cold, too hot or wet so it all worked well. It all proved durable and lasted the whole rough and rugged walk.

The CDT was a wilderness adventure, a much wilder and more arduous walk than the CDT. But the reward was months spent in spectacular mountain country from the snowy peaks of Glacier National Park to the spouting geysers and bubbling mud pots of Yellowstone and the red desert cliffs of New Mexico. The walk was a magnificent time of my life and one I will never forget. I came back to magazine editing and writing and the direction of my life was set. Rohan was an essential part of that, both with the clothing and the encouragement and support of Paul and Sarah Howcroft. I will never forget them either.

Rohan clothing used on the CDT with weights in ounces.

Cool T 4
Jekyll shirt 9
Shorts 7
Bags 12
Moving On II 10
Sohao jacket 24
Wild Vest 14
Master Jacket (Gore-Tex) 21

Photos : Chris Townsend in early Rohan Clothing 1979 – 1985

Latest Rohan Swaps

The latest Rohan Swaps on the Rohantime Forum are very interesting. Now might be the perfect time to sort through your Rohan wardrobe to see if you have any potential swaps. Rohan Bags or Rohan Bags Shorts in spiffy colours wanted in return for some great Rohan garments. Take a look below or see all the Rohan swaps available and wanted on the Rohantime Forum.

The latest Rohan Swaps:
“Some things folk might want… in return I’m open to offers in men’s medium (‘A’ for the vintage stuff!) 32″ waist and 40″ chest (or come to think of it stuff in the old Kids’ range that would fit 8 yo). Not really interested in waterproofs, unless it’s the cycling one. If anyone’s got Bags or Bags Shorts in spiffy colours that would be particularly good and since my wife has now stolen all of my Tropic Waffle shirts one of those would be most welcome too…

Essential Trousers, dark grey, MM, used but not excessively and not much obvious wear, I’ve just never got on too well with the cut of the legs.

Uplanders, MM, several models ago, olive green, very light use, I thought I’d give them a try but came to the conclusion I like stretchy legwear better.

Women’s Backpacker Trousers, WM, navy, unused, wife just never got on with the cut and pockets, we never did find the Round Tuit to send them back.

Action Jacket, M, pale green outer, olive lining, actually the only reason for sale is I got a blue one with a smart reflective wash I like better on eBay so this one isn’t used much now. I took the external belt out but the slots and channel for one are there if you want that 80s look to it!

Explorer (I think) windshirt, XL, a nice bluey green, dates from my preferences for Super Baggy and is just plain too big for me. The wee catch to roll the hood is slightly ill but works with suitable care.

Moving On, MM, blue and mulberry. The colours have faded a fair bit and the waist belt has been trimmed back to get rid of excess tape but it is otherwise fine”

That’s a lot of great items. Thank you. So get into your wardrobe and see what you are not going to use again. No kidding yourself that you will get into that pair of trousers again one day, or just maybe, you will wear that jacket again.

Some guidance notes to make swapping on the Rohantime Forum simple and easy:

• Register on the forum.
• An email confirmation will be sent to you.
• Follow the instruction in the email.
• Log into the forum with your new users name and password.
• Reply to any topic’s of interest.
• Put your own topic’s on the forum.
• When you need to make  direct contact with a forum user to arrange postage etc use the private message facility. Not a good idea to disclose your email address or phone number to the world ( see send PM at the bottom of each listing on the forum). The FAQ’s answer a lot of questions. If you still have questions contact Rohantime any time

Bags of Fun

It’s good to learn that the new Rohan Bags colours are doing well  – keep the feedback coming please.  This great Rohan Bags story and picture has just come into Rohantime from Denis a long time Rohan Bags fan. Thank you Denis.

30 Years of Rohan Bags

My very first purchase from Rohan was an ‘original’ Grey pair of bags in 1986, and it was a sad day when they eventually wore out. So when I recently received the information about the new ‘Bags’ colours, I was very pleased to purchase a new Original Grey pair. In the mail shot, I was also interested to learn that bags have been around for 30 years, and that some enthusiasts own six or seven pairs. Well if you see the attached photo, you may wish to revise this figure for any future marketing.

The photo shows my current wardrobe of Rohan Bags, which I still wear, shown in the approximate order of purchase from the left; starting with an ‘original’ Original Grey pair of ‘Warm’ Bags (my second purchase from Rohan). They were bought in the winter of 1986, and are still wearing OK.

I got a little ‘Bag crazy’ over the years, and my first pair of carbon bags wore out some years back, but there are still three pairs currently in use, plus the carbon ‘winter’ bags (circa 1989 for a skiing trip) still around and in good nick!

Later I bought a pair of short bags, but the legs aren’t sexy enough and I decided to keep such exposure to a minimum; continuing the line-up to a Clay pair and finally the new Original Grey pair.

So with four unseen pairs just a memory:- the first ‘original’ Grey pair; a carbon pair; a cream pair (a bit see through when wet); and a fern green pair; together with the current line-up of thirteen strong, that’s my bag story so far!

Don’t even get me started on all the other Rohan stuff I have, I’m sad enough as it is!

Denis Pounds

(I suppose a bit of an enthusiast as well)

Sustainability through Longevity

Pacific Crest Trail

This is the second post from Chris Townsend. Thanks Chris. Looking forward to number three.

Rohan and Chris on the Pacific Crest Trail.
On my spring walk from Land’s End to John O’Groats in 1978 I discovered how good Rohan’s stretch Super Strider breeches and polycotton Pampas jacket were and how much I enjoyed long distance walking. Wanting to experience bigger, remoter and wilder places I decided to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs for 2,600 miles from Mexico to Canada through the deserts and mountain ranges of southern California and then the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains. With an altitude range from 140 feet to 14,505 feet and terrain from the hot Mohave Desert to the wet arctic-alpine Cascades clothing would need to be versatile. Sometimes I’d be walking in shorts and t-shirt, sometimes in full waterproofs. As I’d be carrying most of my clothing some of the time and my load would be heavy as I’d often be carrying food for a week or more (I carried 23 days supplies at one point plus snowshoes, ice and crampons) clothing would need to be lightweight too. Reluctantly I decided that the Super Striders and Pampas were too heavy, as they would probably spend much of the time in my pack. However just before I set out on the trail in 1982 Rohan introduced a range of single thickness lightweight polycotton clothing. It looked ideal and I chose Shorts, Knickers (a name that was fine in the US as that’s what Americans called breeches), Rohan Bags and a minimalist version of the Pampas called the Action Jacket. Rohan had also started using a wicking fabric called Dunova and I took a mesh t-shirt called the Cool T and a long sleeved shirt called the Long T made from this. Other walkers looked at my apparently flimsy clothing and sneered – “it’ll never last”, “you’ll freeze to death”, “you need good old tweed and cotton for a walk like that”. They were wrong. The clothing was superb and lasted the whole trip, the only serious damage being to the Cool T, which came apart at one shoulder where the pack rubbed on the mesh. (A photo of me wearing this torn t-shirt appeared in my first book The Great Backpacking Adventure, leading one reviewer to hope the book made enough money for me to replace it!). The polycotton clothing kept off wind, sun and mosquitoes, breathed well and dried fast. There was only one problem with it and that was my fault. I had chosen navy blue garments on the basis that the dark colour wouldn’t show the dirt. This was a disaster for photographs, the clothing appearing as black smudges. Thankfully the Dunova shirts were pale coloured. The Action Jacket over the two shirts was warm enough while I was walking but not adequate for camp wear so I also carried a pile jacket as Rohan had not yet got round to making any insulated garments. That would have to wait for my next long walk. Rohan didn’t make any waterproof garments either but Paul and Sarah were experimenting with a soft lightweight Gore-Tex fabric and kindly offered to make me up a jacket and salopettes in this fabric, on the understanding that they couldn’t guarantee how long it would last. In fact the jacket just lasted the six month trip. The salopettes finished in good condition as I wore them rarely, finding polycotton on my legs okay in the rain. In fact the main use for the salopettes was as laundrette wear while everything else was being washed!

The Pacific Crest Trail was an amazing adventure, a fantastic wilderness experience and I returned home feeling refreshed and renewed and determined to do more long walks. First though I needed some work. It came to me. I’d barely recovered from jetlag when the phone rang. “You’ll be needing some work”, said Paul Howcroft. I agreed. He then said, to my huge astonishment, that outdoor retailers were reluctant to take the polycotton clothing because it was so light and flimsy looking so he and Sarah were going to take it round the country and sell it direct. Would I like to come along and tell people how it performed? I would. And did, in a series of roadshows that stretched from Bristol to Aviemore. These proved Paul and Sarah correct in thinking that the garments would sell if the public could actually see them and paved the way for the next episode in the Rohan story – mail order and the first shop.

List with weights in ounces of the Rohan clothing I used on the Pacific Crest Trail:

Cool T 5
Long T 6
Shorts 5
Knickers 9
Bags 10
Action Jacket 12
Gore-tex jacket 21
Gore-tex salopettes 16