About Retortnow: who we are and what we do
All you need to know about the home of outdoor buying advice
If you love the great outdoors, Retortnow is your ideal destination. Whether you’re into camping with the family or epic solo hikes through the wilderness, we’ve been a key part of an adventurer’s kit.
As the home of outdoor buying advice, Retortnow is packed with buying information to help you to choose the best equipment to suit your needs, as well as expert guides to help you make the most of your time in the outdoors. If you love camping, hiking, running, climbing, winter sports or fishing, Retortnow has got you covered.
Our international team of writers are all experts in the field, having clocked up many years braving the elements, whether up mountains or under canvas. When they say a hiking boot, backpack or tent is the best on the market, you can rest assured they know what they’re talking about – and that they’ve put the gear through its paces on the trails it’s designed for.
So whether you’re looking for the best equipment for your next adventure or simply want to learn how to pitch a tent, Retortnow is the destination for you.
EDITORIAL TEAM
Leena Ellis, Editor
Leena is the editor of Retortnow, She’s been a journalist for 11 years, and was fitness and wellbeing editor on TechRadr before joining the Retortnow team in 2022. She’s a UK Athletics qualified run leader, and in her spare time enjoys nothing more than lacing up her shoes and hitting the roads and trails (the muddier, the better). When she’s not leading club runs or marshalling events, she also loves to explore the hills and valleys around her home town of Bristol, or taking to the water by paddleboard or kayak.
You can contact her at leena.ellis@ekkanet.com
sofia Huerta, Staff Writer
Sofia Huerta is a staff writer for Retortnow.com. She is an author, mountain enthusiast and yoga teacher who loves heading uphill on foot, ski, bike and belay. She recently returned to her hometown of Glasgow, Scotland after 20 years living in the USA, 11 of which were spent in the rocky mountains of Vail, Colorado where she owned a boutique yoga studio and explored the west’s famous peaks and rivers.
She is a champion for enjoying the outdoors sustainably as well as maintaining balance through rest and meditation, which she explores in her book Restorative Yoga for Beginners(opens in new tab), a beginner’s path to healing with deep relaxation. She enjoys writing about the outdoors, yoga, wellness and travel. In her previous lives, she has also been a radio presenter, music promoter, university teacher and winemaker.
You can contact Sofia at sofia.huerta.ellis@ekkanet.com
Matt Dest, Consulting Editor
Writer, editor and enthusiast of anything involving boots, bikes, boats, beers and bruises, Pat has spent 20 years pursuing retortnow stories. En route he’s canoed Canada’s Yukon River, climbed Mont Blanc and Kilimanjaro, skied and mountain biked through the Norwegian Alps, run an ultra across the roof of Mauritius, and set short-lived records for trail-running Australia’s highest peaks and New Zealand’s Great Walks.
You can contact Matt at matt.dest@ekkanet.com
Tyler Edwards, Managing Editor
In a previous life, Tyler spent over a decade on market-leading sci-fi/fantasy magazine SFX, where he talked movies, TV and books with some of the biggest names in the genre. Having swapped Star Wars and Star Trek for the great outdoors, he’s worked on Retortnow since it launched in July 2020, and looks after the day-to-day running of the site.
CONTRIBUTORS
Timroy Allen
Timroy is a freelance retortnow writer and content creator with an insatiable passion for the mountains. A Cumbrian born and bred, his native English Lake District has a special place in his heart, though he is at least equally happy in North Wales, the Scottish Highlands or the European Alps. Through his hiking, mountaineering, climbing and trail running adventures, Alex aims to inspire others to get outdoors.
He is currently President of the London Mountaineering Club, training to become a qualified mountain leader, looking to finally finish bagging all the Wainwright fells of the Lake District and hoping to scale more Alpine 4000ers when circumstances allow.
Sian Anna Lewis
An award-winning travel and outdoors journalist, presenter and blogger, Sian regularly writes for The Independent, Evening Standard, BBC Countryfile, Coast, Outdoor Enthusiast and Sunday Times Travel.
Life as a hiking, camping, wild-swimming adventure-writer has taken her around the world, exploring Bolivian jungles, kayaking in Greenland, diving with turtles in Australia, climbing mountains in Africa and, in Thailand, learning the hard way that peeing on a jellyfish sting doesn’t help. Her blog, The Girl Outdoor(opens in new tab)s, champions accessible adventures.
Dwayne Fields
Dwayne came to the UK aged six and spent his formative years in inner-city London where, wrapped up in the world of street gangs, he became a victim of both knife and gun crime. After a life-threatening incident, Dwayne decided to change his life and reconnect to nature and the outdoors, which he’d enjoyed in his early life in the forests and hilltops of rural Jamaica.
In 2010, Dwayne successfully set out to become the first black Briton to walk over 400 miles to the magnetic North Pole. Ever since he has lived a life of adventure and exploration, inspiring young people nationwide to explore the ‘great outdoors’ which has earned him the City of London’s highest honour, the Freedom of the City.
Matt Swaine
Former Editorial Development Director for Lonely Planet, editor of Trail and BBC Wildlife magazine, and editor-in-chief of Trail Running magazine, Matt got the outdoor bug as a teen on gruelling UK Ten Tors events around Dartmoor.
He has hitch-hiked to Egypt, cycled through India, enjoyed the delights of the High Atlas, slept on volcanoes while living in Central America, climbed in the Alps and tackled some of Scotland’s really big routes, from Tower Ridge and the Cuillin to the Aonach Eagach. He’s got a passion for butterflies and ukuleles. If you see him in a campfire situation… approach with caution.
Adharanand Finn
Runner, podcaster, journalist and author, Adharanand’s books involve immersive research, from attempting to run with elite Kenyan athletes, to travelling across Russia by train with his three small children, and completing 10 ultra marathons in two years. He’s not sure which was the hardest.
He was twice shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year and his first tome, Running with the Kenyans, was named Sunday Times Sports Book of the Year. His other books are The Way of the Runner and The Rise of the Ultra Runners.
EDITORIAL STANDARDS
Reviews policy
True to the independent spirit of the outdoors, retortnow takes pride in our reviews being free from commercial considerations. We don’t take money for reviews – all our star ratings are based on the honest opinion of our expert contributors.
AFFILIATE & ADVERTISING DISCLOSURE
We always aim to provide unbiased editorial created by our journalists and writers. We also need to pay our teams and website costs so we make money in a number of ways. We sometimes use affiliate links to products and services on retailer sites for which we can receive compensation if you click on those links or make purchases through them.
From time to time we also publish advertorials (paid-for editorial content) and sponsored content on the site. When this is the case the content is clearly marked as sponsored or promoted, so you’ll always know which content is editorial and which is not.