MADE TO MOVE
Hike, run, scramble, climb, swim. This is how we test Shackleton kit.
MADE TO MOVE
We don't always need to travel far to test ourselves. Sometimes the challenge is closer than you think.
Some friendships are built in the mountains. Tait Miller and Tim Taylor’s is one of them. Between wild expeditions, changing routines and the quiet demands of everyday life, a long weekend in North Wales was less a holiday than a recalibration. It was a chance to move hard, cover ground, and remember what they're made of - something to make them feel tested. We had two new pieces that needed the same thing: the Erebus Active Insulation Jacket and the Hawkes Active Insulation Gilet, built for exactly this kind of terrain - multi-discipline, unpredictable, unrelenting - non-stop movement.
When we heard what Tait and Tim were planning, we asked if we could join them and bring the kit. They said yes. The brief was simple: move as hard as the terrain allows, for as long as it takes.
On a late Friday evening we loaded up the trucks and drove north.
NEW SEASON
Explore Active Insulation Range
MADE TO CLIMB.
We arrived in the Ogwen Valley close to midnight. By 2am, Tait and Tim were already moving - head torches on and the valley floor still dark below - they moved up through Sinister Gully, a Grade 1 scramble that gains 160 metres of near-vertical quartzite and slab in under a kilometre. The rest of us kept pace as best we could. By the time they topped out onto the plateau of Glyder Fach at 994m, the Carneddau were beginning to catch their first light.
What followed was the reward. Down from Bristley ridge they ran. The temperature had been climbing all morning - by midday, it had broken the record for the hottest day in May. They pushed north to Aber Falls, where the Afon Goch dropped 37 metres into an icy pool below. Tait went in first. A small crowd gathered on the bank - walkers who'd stopped to watch, curious what was being filmed and why.
After an impromptu plunge beneath Aber Falls, Tait and Tim then headed West across the Garth Straits onto Anglesey and down to one of North Wales’ best-kept secrets: Newborough. Set on the southwestern tip of Anglesey, this wide, unspoilt beach stretches for miles and offers an escape surrounded by an ancient Corsican Pine forest.
And so they set off. Sand Dunes. Trees. Tarmac. A labyrinth of pine, birch and sand. Tait and Tim had initially set themselves the challenge of running the length of Newborough and back to clock their miles for the day, but with the environment so captivating, they spent their entire evening pushing themselves through the neighbouring forests against the backdrop of Snowdonia.
MADE TO HIKE.
Day two began with a Cymric start and a strong coffee. Back into the trucks, then up into the ancient woodland above Capel Curig. Wet canopy, moss-covered rock - the quiet of a forest that hasn't fully woken up. Tait and Tim moved through unmarked trails at the foot of Moel Siabod, looking for terrain that would ask more of the Erebus and Hawkes than a clean path ever could. Branches, bracken, rock, damp undergrowth. The sort of place where kit gets brushed, snagged, scraped and worked properly.
The woodland gave them part of the answer, but not enough.
So they took the test further.
They wanted to test the garments on granite. And so they headed out onto the crag - technical and unforgiving underfoot, the kind of climbing that asks something different of your kit than a ridge scramble does: slower movement, sustained effort, arms overhead for longer. Then a long walk down through the Conwy Valley as the afternoon finally opened out.
Six locations. Five Activities. Almost no sleep.
THE KIT
Erebus Active Insulation Jacket
What an active insulation jacket is asked to do shifts constantly: warm you on a dark valley floor at 2am, manage moisture as effort climbs, keep wind off an exposed ridge. The Erebus handles that transition without requiring you to stop. Clo VivoOcean insulation bodymapped for movement - 80gsm at the torso, 60gsm at the arms - intelligently warms the core while dissipating excess heat as effort increases. Patented perforations deliver 30% better breathability. Articulated elbows and underarm gussets give the overhead freedom a scramble demands. On Bristley Ridge, working hard through shifting terrain, it required no adjustment. It simply moved.
Hawkes Active Insulation Gilet
For sustained aerobic output - long descents, trail running, anything that generates heat fast - the Hawkes makes a clear case for leaving the sleeves behind. The arms are the body's primary heat-release system; keeping them free keeps you moving. The same Clo VivoOcean insulation and windproof recycled shell protect the core, with identical perforated breathability and C0 DWR finish. Harness-compatible pockets and a two-way zip mean it earns its place on a climb as readily as on a run. The best kit is the kit you don't think about. Neither piece required a second thought.
MADE TO EXPLORE.
Anyone can say their products are field-tested. We prefer to show you the field. Six locations, 994 metres gained, 22 hours outside - the Erebus and the Hawkes put through everything North Wales had to offer, on the backs of two people who needed it as much as the kit did. That's what Made to Move means.
