Pair of Northwave Enduro Mid boots. Not quite what I was looking for. Northward Gran Canion would have been better, I bought a pair second hand which were too small (43/9.5 my usual size). So I sized up to 45 and they fit fine although label says 45/11! Just need to adjust cleats then ride.

A pair of Teravail Cumberland tyres in 27.5 x 2.8 flavour arrived for review. Not by usual type of tyre but they look like they could be very good for mixed conditions ... we'll see.

Ooh and some odds and ends for my supercharger came too.

Back from hols.

2 x 26 (hurrah) x 2.3 x Conti Mountain King MkIII.

2 x wool-filled pillows (for bed not bivvy to be honest)

10 x black poplar cuttings for potting up then guerilla planting next year down by the river.

You can get a reasonable bow out of Poplar Reg

RIP wrote: ↑Fri Aug 23, 2019 4:41 pm 10 x black poplar cuttings for potting up then guerilla planting next year down by the river.

I like the idea, any particular reason for poplars?

I’ve often thought planting a few trees along some routes

Ok have educated myself, ‘ rarer than giant pandas’ apparently. Well done reg

Ta. Yep - mega-rare. There's a bit of an enclave of them in the Vale of Aylesbury, and some other areas. Supposedly UK's rarest tree, or was. Make a bow out of them indeed, hah! Actually, I've bunged quite a few in over the years and the earliest ones are nearly 20 feet high now. I'll keep an eye on one for you Stu but it'll probably need another 20 years or so for your requirements . Installed quite a lot of oak trees, grown from acorns, down there as well, but you'll have a fair wait for one of those. My small attempt at carbon-offsetting my bikepacking train trips .

Yeah, I grow oaks from acorns and then plant them out Reg. Done some Scots pine too, I love Scots pine, a very underrated tree I find.

Nice one Stu . Since you've shown a bit of interest here's a pic of my current tree nursery down the garden . 12 oaks, a few ashes and hazels, even three walnuts. In fact you get two pics for the price of one, because in the top left corner on the shed is my patented MYOG bike stand. It's basically a T-shaped bit of wood. I made a hole in the side of the shed, added some brackets inside the shed along the wall, then slid the 5'-long tail of the T all the way into the hole. Time for bike maintenance - pull 18" out of the hole and rest the bike on top of the crosspiece. Yes I can tell you're about as impressed as Mrs Perrin was.

Reg's tree nursery

RIP wrote: ↑Fri Aug 23, 2019 6:57 pm pull 18" out of the hole and rest the bike on top of the crosspiece. Yes I can tell you're about as impressed as Mrs Perrin was.

I am impressed with the idea of gorilla tree planting, I may adopt it as an ace way to leave a bit behind for future generations. How long do you grow them on for before planting?

Aye it's very satisfying. Eg acorns, dunno about Stu but I tend to collect the acorns in Autumn, then stick em in a bag with some damp compost and tie it up. A fair number will have sprouted a root by early Spring (or earlier) at which point I put those in separate pots just below the surface of some compost/soil and keep them watered. Hopefully you'll get some shoots that summer with a couple of nice leaves striving towards the sunshine . Rather than a fixed number of years I usually wait until a sapling is about 18" high then plant it out, probably 3 years on average. Takes a bit of dedication I must admit. Make sure you use tree-guards - one year Mrs Perrin insisted I sited the nursery hidden near the river instead of in her garden, and some (presumably) deer promptly ate them all and nothing got planted the following year, sigh!

I currently have 4 horse chestnuts, 2 Scots pines, 6 geans ( wild cherry) and 2 rowans growing on in pots. Most are rescued self-seeded. Usually plant out along our field boundaries but might look at some guerilla planting.

An SMD Gatewood cape and some pegs. Sadly don't have a garden with grass anymore so will have to hammer nails into the living room carpet to test

Dave Barter wrote: ↑Tue Aug 27, 2019 1:39 pm Sadly don't have a garden with grass anymore so will have to hammer nails into the living room carpet to test

The number one requirement when I moved a few years ago was a level lawn for tarp/tent pitching, any property without it was struck off the list. You'll just have to move again

On a serious note, I saw velcro with loops on the end used to pitch a tent in place of pegs on carpet in an outdoor shop. The hook bit of the velcro obviously.

Dave Barter wrote: ↑Tue Aug 27, 2019 1:39 pm An SMD Gatewood cape and some pegs. Sadly don't have a garden with grass anymore so will have to hammer nails into the living room carpet to test

Is there a park nearby? It would be nice for such a communal space to have some righteous usage over and above being a dog poop/junkie/drunk kid mecca!

An SMD Gatewood cape and some pegs. Sadly don't have a garden with grass anymore so will have to hammer nails into the living room carpet to test

Your pole went in the post this morning. Summat in there for Holly too.

Jurassic wrote: ↑Tue Aug 27, 2019 2:45 pm

Dave Barter wrote: ↑Tue Aug 27, 2019 1:39 pm An SMD Gatewood cape and some pegs. Sadly don't have a garden with grass anymore so will have to hammer nails into the living room carpet to test

Is there a park nearby? It would be nice for such a communal space to have some righteous usage over and above being a dog poop/junkie/drunk kid mecca!

Yes but being Brixham it is at a 45 degree angle

Dave Barter wrote: ↑Tue Aug 27, 2019 3:21 pm

Jurassic wrote: ↑Tue Aug 27, 2019 2:45 pm

Dave Barter wrote: ↑Tue Aug 27, 2019 1:39 pm An SMD Gatewood cape and some pegs. Sadly don't have a garden with grass anymore so will have to hammer nails into the living room carpet to test

Is there a park nearby? It would be nice for such a communal space to have some righteous usage over and above being a dog poop/junkie/drunk kid mecca!

Yes but being Brixham it is at a 45 degree angle

I suppose that all the drunk kids/junkies and dog poop may have rolled down to the bottom at least! I can't wait for my Gatewood to arrive, not sure how long it'll take from Sweden. Do you intend keeping your Stealth as well Dave? I'm tempted to have a shelter overlap period to make sure I like it before putting my Stealth on the market (although financial guilt is pressuring me to sell it straight away).

Sadly the Stealth is somewhere in America. Long story will come out soon when I can get it all finished

Dave Barter wrote: ↑Tue Aug 27, 2019 5:10 pm Sadly the Stealth is somewhere in America. Long story will come out soon when I can get it all finished

Ah okay. I think mine will have to go, there's nothing wrong with it as such (in fact in many respects it's excellent) it just doesn't really suit me in terms of manoeuvring around the pole without touching the outer with my back.

A nice Bearbones pole and a donation from the clothes bank arrived today. Thanks Stu ;-)

RIP wrote: ↑Fri Aug 23, 2019 6:57 pm Nice one Stu . Since you've shown a bit of interest here's a pic of my current tree nursery down the garden . 12 oaks, a few ashes and hazels, even three walnuts. In fact you get two pics for the price of one, because in the top left corner on the shed is my patented MYOG bike stand. It's basically a T-shaped bit of wood. I made a hole in the side of the shed, added some brackets inside the shed along the wall, then slid the 5'-long tail of the T all the way into the hole. Time for bike maintenance - pull 18" out of the hole and rest the bike on top of the crosspiece. Yes I can tell you're about as impressed as Mrs Perrin was.

Reg's tree nursery

Gorilla planting that's made my day
May have to get into that

A small but perfectly formed bit of carbon to slightly extend my pole
Cheers stu
Shelter should be here tomorrow according to ups

middleagedmadness wrote: ↑Thu Aug 29, 2019 1:28 pm A small but perfectly formed bit of carbon to slightly extend my pole
Cheers stu
Shelter should be here tomorrow according to ups

Ooh I'm excited for you! My Cape is scheduled for delivery on 2nd September and BB pole has been ordered to go with it. Shame I have hardly any free time in September to get away and test it properly. Maybe I'll just do a local overnighter to try it out.

I'm thinking a local one on Wednesday ,other than that it's just practice in the garden till my trip end of September