On the Heysen Trail with Brittany Brittany has now been on South Australia's Heysen Trail since August 16.   The Trail normally takes about 60 days to complete. The Trail is named after Sir Hans Heysen OBE (8 October 1877 – 2 July 1968) a German-born Australian artist. He became a household name for his watercolours of monumental Australian gum trees. Heysen also produced images of men and animals toiling in the Australian bush, as well as groundbreaking depictions of arid landscapes in the Flinders Ranges.  The 1200km Trail, is a multi-grade one-way hike that provides something for every walker,...

With many people taking to the streets for vital fresh air and exercise we thought it useful to source some advice for those who may be considering expanding this activity (whenever lockdowns ease) into some serious hiking. So ArmaSkin invited John Feeney, the owner and main guide of The Hiking Society to provide some advice for new hikers.   If you’ve only ever been a casual walker where your typical trail has been around your local streets & reserves, the step up to a 10km hike might seem a little daunting. And that feeling would be completely normal too. But the good news is that...

Future directions As well as being just cute, the above image provokes thoughts on many levels. After the isolation of the Covid situation passes and as the grip of climate change becomes tighter what lies ahead?The time horizon when things might return to "normal" is definitely quite a long way away.How that future will be handled by the currently active generations as well as handed across to those who right now are just wide eyed girls and boys wondering about the marvels of life will be a stark new chapter in human history.This sunrise scene came to us from Bernadette.  ...

For centuries, plenty of remedies for blisters have been tried but as evidenced by the high number of options including double layer socks, blister prevention concoctions, tapes, low friction pads, lubricants etc however, no single solution has taken hold. Maybe the human condition and environmental conditions being so varied means no single solution will ever be identified for everyone. But that could very well be changing with the unique design of the ArmaSkin anti blister sock. The most common response to blisters by hikers and runners has been to use, sadly often as first aid, tape on their feet. "Tape" can be in the form of...

ArmaSkin Face Mask Options Now that the use of Face masks in the current pandemic is becoming more common place it is worth reflecting on the assortment of masks that are now available.The features and performance of masks varies quite a lot.At the top of the range there are N95 masks which are laboratory tested as suitable for high risk areas such as medical environments where the prevalence of the Covid 19 in the air can be high and importantly suspended in the air for sustained periods. N95 indicates at least 95% protection.The vast majority of masks on the market, including the...

In our April blog we discussed the top four reasons for wearing a face mask. They were: • The mask acts as a barrier to droplets passing between one person and another.• The mask prevents the wearer from touching their nose and mouth• The lower the dose (inoculum) of virus which you might be exposed to by wearing a mask, the better chance your body can mount a defence• The mask is a visible signal to others that virus transmission prevention is a priority and is becoming a social norm in the current circumstances. In this new blog we reinforce...