Search found 7834 matches

by whitestone
Thu Feb 15, 2024 12:10 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: End of an era - perhaps. UPDATE
Replies: 88
Views: 5305

Re: End of an era - perhaps. UPDATE

Cheery Thursday :YMPARTY: :YMPARTY: :YMPARTY: :YMPARTY:
by whitestone
Tue Feb 13, 2024 10:12 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Hot 1: hat 0 - what lightweight oven mitt?
Replies: 33
Views: 791

Re: Hot 1: hat 0 - what lightweight oven mitt?

Surely the answer is to get one's butler to do it :???:
by whitestone
Tue Feb 13, 2024 4:42 pm
Forum: Your Trips & Adventures
Topic: Todays walk
Replies: 49
Views: 11749

Re: Todays walk

Unfortunately the cafe we were heading to in Slaidburn had shut down, but a coffee and sandwich from the nearby post office was a reasonable substitute. Sad to hear about the café, there's a lot that's shut down in the last couple of years so things are getting a bit thin. Dunno what your route was...
by whitestone
Sat Feb 10, 2024 9:48 pm
Forum: Your Trips & Adventures
Topic: Bivvy a Month 2024
Replies: 387
Views: 18404

Re: Bivvy a Month 2024

Happy birthday youngster.

Someone else's birthday tomorrow :wink:
by whitestone
Sat Feb 10, 2024 3:39 pm
Forum: Your Trips & Adventures
Topic: Todays walk
Replies: 49
Views: 11749

Re: Todays walk

More Veloviewer tile grabbing... This time at the top of Waddington/Easington Fell I'd three squares in a row to visit. On the way up the long road climb I passed three cyclists. I was just getting ready to set off and one of them pulled up - John Allen of this parish! So a bit of a chat before I he...
by whitestone
Thu Feb 08, 2024 11:21 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: Lowest useable gear
Replies: 38
Views: 994

Re: Lowest useable gear

26/46 on the fatty here as well though TBH fatties are a bit different and their traction/stiction create their own effects. At the top end the angular momentum of the tyres lets you keep a higher speed than you'd otherwise imagine.
by whitestone
Thu Feb 08, 2024 11:03 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: 2.5kg too heavy for bar harness ?
Replies: 5
Views: 254

Re: 2.5kg too heavy for bar harness ?

I'd say 2kg would be around the maximum for a bar mounted bag but everyone's different, some might baulk at 1kg up front. If you are happy with it and it doesn't affect *your* handling/enjoyment then I wouldn't worry about it.
by whitestone
Thu Feb 08, 2024 11:00 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: Lowest useable gear
Replies: 38
Views: 994

Re: Lowest useable gear

godivatrailrider wrote: Thu Feb 08, 2024 10:43 am
And 30/11 is acceptable for the flatter/slightly downhill sections still?
Yes. By the time I'm spinning out I'm going fast enough that it's not a problem. It doesn't happen that often anyway, makes more sense to have something usable at the lower end.
by whitestone
Thu Feb 08, 2024 10:36 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: Lowest useable gear
Replies: 38
Views: 994

Re: Lowest useable gear

My lowest gear is 30/50 so 1.66 ratio.

I could go lower but I find I need a bit of resistance especially if the ground is rough and sometimes will actually be in a higher gear to give me momentum through rougher sections.

Everyone is different though and a lot depends on what you are used to.
by whitestone
Wed Feb 07, 2024 9:28 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Wildlife
Replies: 669
Views: 119896

Re: Wildlife

A couple of red kites whilst walling over at my brother's. Not seen them in the Lakes before.

Apparently the curlews are back from the coast already. Not heard any yet but if they are here then it won't be too long.
by whitestone
Mon Feb 05, 2024 9:38 pm
Forum: Your Trips & Adventures
Topic: Todays walk
Replies: 49
Views: 11749

Re: Todays walk

It was last a working farm forty or fifty years ago. By 2000, possibly earlier, it was derelict and was renovated in 2006. The walls of the in-bye fields are in a very poor state indicating a long time since they were worked. These would be the most likely to be kept in good condition. I Need to do ...
by whitestone
Fri Feb 02, 2024 2:39 pm
Forum: Classifieds
Topic: DD Superlight solo tarp - damaged but free! (Claimed)
Replies: 4
Views: 275

Re: DD Superlight solo tarp - damaged but free!

Phil, you could glue reinforcing patches onto it. Just need to determine if it's silnylon or silpoly. It's what I've done when I've made tarps but the tension is more across the material than at right angles to it though I have done ridgeline tie-outs that have held. Glue the patch (I used Sil-net o...
by whitestone
Thu Feb 01, 2024 8:34 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Bivvy curious
Replies: 20
Views: 867

Re: Bivvy curious

Back to the etymology :grin: I use "bivy" as a noun (contraction of bivouac) and "bivvy" as a verb. The doubling of a final single consonant when going from noun to verb is pretty common in English: trap -> trapping; etc. Anyway... I use a lightweight Borah Gear bivy, 170g, along...
by whitestone
Wed Jan 31, 2024 11:16 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: Liner, Quilt, or Better Bag?
Replies: 12
Views: 467

Re: Liner, Quilt, or Better Bag?

Also, what do you wear to sleep in? That's a very valid point: I'm guilty of going au naturel too often, and really ought to remember to make use of my old-school Helly Henson LIFA long johns and top. Remember that bag ratings are for the user wearing a lightweight base layer so you'll feel colder ...
by whitestone
Mon Jan 29, 2024 2:22 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Flttingford bothy
Replies: 16
Views: 596

Re: Flttingford bothy

Thanks both for that We could handle a short push ok We may even do kershopehead bothy and visit the downed Halifax which is nearby on glenghu hill but again is meant to be hard to access There is a visible path from the forestry road to the bothy, it's just easier to push than to ride so we're not...
by whitestone
Mon Jan 29, 2024 1:13 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Flttingford bothy
Replies: 16
Views: 596

Re: Flttingford bothy

As Phil says, easy apart from the last couple of hundred metres which is a bit of a push. We visited it in 2018, trip report here - https://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=169555#p169555 . I'd imagine the saplings around the place have grown a little in the intervening six years. T...
by whitestone
Sat Jan 27, 2024 5:46 pm
Forum: Your Trips & Adventures
Topic: Todays walk
Replies: 49
Views: 11749

Re: Todays walk

I headed up into the Dales to fill in some VeloViewer squares - any human powered activity can contribute and some of my missing squares are all but impossible to get to by bike. I'd a big block of seven contiguous squares at the head of Littondale. I parked at Halton Gill at the top end of Littonda...
by whitestone
Thu Jan 25, 2024 5:09 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: The post man's been ...
Replies: 11406
Views: 1893774

Re: The post man's been ...

Some Winter Event goodies because we weren't able to get down to Llanbrynmair that weekend.
by whitestone
Tue Jan 23, 2024 9:05 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Have tarps lost their popularity?
Replies: 36
Views: 1692

Re: Have tarps lost their popularity?

It's probably the perceived "faff factor" and tarps don't really fit in with the hipster/gravel scene as promoted by the bike industry, plus of course being able to sell a £400 tent rather than a £50 tarp might be a factor. Pretty much our first bikepacking trip was on a really wet and win...
by whitestone
Sat Jan 20, 2024 11:00 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: Exposure Joystuck
Replies: 25
Views: 1350

Re: Exposure Joystuck

Might be worth questioning the IP rating? Really not my forte in that side of things Although I am a user of exposure, it does put me off a brand that has ‘excellent customer service’ and is well known for it too. If the product is good, then how do people know this? Generally companies with a repu...
by whitestone
Fri Jan 19, 2024 8:10 pm
Forum: Your Trips & Adventures
Topic: Bivvy a Month 2024
Replies: 387
Views: 18404

Re: Bivvy a Month 2024

Nice one Sean. I did consider heading out for a hammock bivy the last couple of nights (well Tuesday and Wednesday) but the temps round here were well below what I've got hammocking kit for, I've only one UQ which is rated to -4C, I've been OK at -1C but haven't been lower than that. The stacking fo...
by whitestone
Thu Jan 18, 2024 11:27 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: Electric Socks
Replies: 19
Views: 899

Re: Electric Socks

On the two Rovaniemi trips I used a pair of Scarpa ice climbing boots that I already had (couldn't get, or justify, a pair of 45nrth Wolvhammers). i think they are an earlier version of these https://www.scarpa.co.uk/mountain-boots/phantom-tech-hd/ (I paid nowhere near that price BTW) The boots have...
by whitestone
Wed Jan 17, 2024 8:26 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: A wee whisky appreciation thread.
Replies: 38
Views: 1536

Re: A wee whisky appreciation thread.

Caol Isla and Ledaig have been our standard go to malts. Pretty much opposite ends of the spectrum! Cath did buy me a bottle of Kelpie - one of the annual specials from the Ardbeg distillery - sadly we've now finished it.

One that I've had recommended to me is Dalwhinnie.
by whitestone
Mon Jan 15, 2024 1:08 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: 8g meths stove help
Replies: 33
Views: 2612

Re: 8g meths stove help

https://www.bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/product/ultralight-22g-meths-stove/ This one? Does the mug/pot just sit on top? I've got a windshield. Yes. The flames come out of the side so you won’t extinguish them. See earlier in the thread for more details. The 22g stove suits something similar to the w...
by whitestone
Mon Jan 08, 2024 9:53 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: UK stamps for overseas users
Replies: 4
Views: 383

Re: UK stamps for overseas users

Bearbonesnorm wrote: Mon Jan 08, 2024 8:28 pm This Bob? https://send.royalmail.com/
That looks the ticket, ta. That site never appeared in the results of my searches.