I do like Mountain Equipment stuff. I have a lot of their base layers, mid layers and down jackets.
That was a major factor in it. I’ve never had a bad piece of equipment made by Mountain Equipment and if something goes wrong Cotswold have a very good returns policy if you’re not happy.
Where I may have made a mistake is ordering two 100l bags when I know I don’t need more than 70l for personal kit but it gives me the capacity to bring extra things back if I feel so inclined and, as I said before, I don’t pay the excess baggage charges