Not so much the postie delivering but more a holiday pillage of various store sales. Came up trumps with Thermarest Uberlite (Regular size - 206g - R2). Half the weight of my aging Xlite and just as comfy but without the instant heat reflection of the Xlite.

Also found a Snowpeak caffetiere, Topeak MTN TT-G pump and some Dumonde Tech 'Cafe Dumonde' chain oil made from coffee - smells ace!

Had to restrain myself from going home with a Cannondale Badboy3 for 300 quid new. Need to start one out one in policy.

Greetz

S.

Scattamah wrote: ↑Sat Oct 19, 2019 3:32 pm Not so much the postie delivering but more a holiday pillage of various store sales. Came up trumps with Thermarest Uberlite (Regular size - 206g - R2). Half the weight of my aging Xlite and just as comfy but without the instant heat reflection of the Xlite.

Where did you buy the Thermarest Uberlite from? I was looking at these yesterday.

They were 25% or 30% off in a sale somewhere online recently

Postie delivered me a 4 man bothy bag, love orange goodness and warmth for 370g. Weighs the same as my 2 man non lightweight one (which has a window), also packs smaller. Wanted one to use with the kids for our forest of Bowland trip (and others!)

A copy of Into The Remote Places by Ian Hibell. It was only £17 off ebay which seemed a bargain as I've seen copies listed for over £100... but it does say £2.95 on the back cover but that was in 1984 which I don't think off as that long ago

Picked up the uberlite at REI in Albuquerque.

Greetz

S.

As droned on about in BaM my irreplaceable Rab Demand smock has finally become, well, replaceable after 7-8 years. A good innings I s'pose but the sleeves are starting to leak. Yes, I'm getting counselling and will hopefully pull through.

I look wierd enough as it is so don't want to follow the Outdry hordes. We know these 'WBM' shells conk out in fairly short order usually and never re-proof properly so there's no point spending a huge wedge, in fact they're not a very 'sustainable' way of carrying on really. I sometimes reckon the best plan is to re-use my ancient yellow plastic cape and sou'wester, or just sling on an old sack like shepherds used to do (still do?). But need something fairly solid for winter (with base and 1-2 fleeces) as already have the Berghaus condom for light duties.

After considerable research (half the fun of course) I've gone with.... tiny drum roll... a Marmot Essence. Only 190g, 15D 2.5 layer, YKK zip, claimed W10,000/B47,000(!), proper adjustable hood, armpit vents, good reviews, blah. And managed to get 46% off somehow. Stupid U.S. 'wrong side' zip - should've bought another Rab (had a Drillium before the Demand, great days)....

Right, now just need to arrange a proper respectful burial for the Demand .

Cut the sleeves off and make a waterproof gilet!

Hah! On the other hand that would work with my w/proof boxers .

Well done Reg... Great buy for the weight it seems. Hope it lasts 8 years and more

Some bits for my Brompton: new rear mudguard and all the gubbins to attach it, replacing the very heavy, unused and a bit twisted rear rack.

And brought 2 lovely sleeping bags... One for me and the kids... the other also for me and the kids...

Bag1: Sierra Designs with stated fill power of 650 but via trackmyDown its actually a 725 fp and 600g of it. Feels lovely and snug

Bag2: A Wynnster synthetic at a similar (stated) wieght. Mainly for indoor duties but you never know. Feels lovely (but not quite as snug) and nice. A lovely item from a lovely man (thanks Stu )

More details when the front wheel arrives

The grand unveiling will be tomorrow!

Just taken delivery of;

Sta-bil fuel stabiliser for the motorbike winter storage. Will hopefully remove the problem of gummed-up carbs I had this spring.

Lizard Skins DSP for the Amazon as it is about to undergo some major surgery.

Columbia Fairbanks Omni-heat Winter boots. I was alerted to these via STW as a potential warm, waterproof flat-pedal boot.

Every now and then I do a bit of browsing on ali express and buy some bits, then I get random things coming through the post that I forget about.

Various things from a silicon cup and packing cubes to elastic cord and plastic cord hooks. A few things popped through in the last couple of days
- picnic blanket. A bit like a groundsheet I suppose, it's just a piece of silnylon or similar with finishing on the edges, 2m x 2.1m, means I can go for a family walk without the picnic blanket for the lunchtime stop taking up much space in my pack!
- another bar extender. My last one broke after one too many bumpy descents, it did unfortunately give way part way through a fast descent on unfamiliar ground, thankfully still had my helmet light on, otherwise would have been an unplanned dismount
- tacticool style nylon pouch for sorting kit. This one is a bit heavy for bikepacking use, lobbing it in my bushcraft kit for storing things, this one might be a good size for the catapult and lead ammo

Have ordered a few things for the kids for more hillwalking. Makes them more excited about getting in the hills when they know they're carrying some useful kit in their bags. Same for me I suppose

And delivered an Ergon crank brothers cleat alignment tool, last Sunday I had a bout of knee pain, came on suddenly. I’ve never had anything quite like it before. Serious pain but on the top of the kneecap? Weird.
Admittedly it was a hundred miles but came on at around 65, I’ve ridden big mileages on the same bike and setup so can only put it down to poor cleat setup on my new boots.
They did feel slightly further back than i usually set them but I was under the impression that further back lessens the strain on the knees.

Steve - set the cleats as far back to bring the foot forward. You should be trying to get the cleat under the arch of your foot not the toes (exageration but you get the drift)

That’s the odd thing Steve, they are already set further back than I’d normally have them. Normally I set them with the ball of the foot over the axle, these new boots are about 10mm further back than that, theoretically that should give the knees an easier time.

70's BMX retro, turn your sound up and take a look at my new cheap and hard to sell on if robbed SS comutter

https://youtu.be/DEh_BGLhZOQ

Cheapo, but still only 65g, down balaclava; as down hat alternative. Also interested see if ameliorates slug-on-nose situations (we know the answer to that one don't we children). Only drawback is it's the size of a bloody bin-liner - I could almost sleep in the balaclava and leave my sleeping bag at home....

JohnClimber wrote: ↑Sat Nov 02, 2019 5:26 pm 70's BMX retro, turn your sound up and take a look at my new cheap and hard to sell on if robbed SS comutter

https://youtu.be/DEh_BGLhZOQ

I'll just leave this here John, Number 3

https://www.mbr.co.uk/news/moan-tain-biking-392003

I guess it makes it less desirable to scallies

And brought me a new saddle bag for my gnarmac bike.

Truth be told I'm not entirely convinced by it, I much prefer the weecog bag I was using but I can only fit one tube in that.

composite wrote: ↑Thu Oct 31, 2019 9:23 pm The grand unveiling will be tomorrow!

Still waiting for the grand unveil!

Yes, get on with it man!! Stop teasing us .

RIP wrote: ↑Mon Nov 04, 2019 10:46 am Cheapo, but still only 65g, down balaclava; as down hat alternative. Also interested see if ameliorates slug-on-nose situations (we know the answer to that one don't we children). Only drawback is it's the size of a bloody bin-liner - I could almost sleep in the balaclava and leave my sleeping bag at home....

tell us more about this down face binbag