Hiking, Scrambling, Mountaineering, and Climbing

How about the traverse of the Jura?
Geneva is quite easy by train.

That looks interesting, will look into some more detail.

Late reply, I’ve only just found this thread but I have a lot of experience with all three of those axes if you still need advice.

All good now, my wife very kindly bought me some BD Fuels for my birthday! Been having a lot of fun trying out some top-roped ice and mixed climbs this season. Not the best year for it in the alps but just about enough for a beginner like me to have fun!

1 Attachment

If you can find an on-sale Patagonia Torrentshell 3L, grab one. I don't think there's a better deal on a rain jacket. Fit is excellent, pit zips, highly adjustable hood, incredibly waterproof, not too boil in a bag feeling, really tough fabric, a genuine lifetime warranty...

I have https://eu.patagonia.com/gb/en/product/mens-slate-sky-waterproof-rain-jacket/195699360617.html in green in size small if you're interested, barely worn (5x?), very nice but ultimately a bit small for me. Happy to sell for £80 + a bit for p&p

Just had my sports pursuit keen nxis boots delivered. They're oos now but feel I've gone a size too small. Kinda bummed.

Cheers, I think I'm looking for something a little less lightweight than the Helium or Frog Toggs

Rab Kinetic or the Patgonia Torrentshell that @jb suggested both look ideal but a fair bit over the budget from what I can tell and you don't often get the sales in popular sizes from what I can see. Will have a look at the Haglofs stuff.

@sidewinder unfortuantely I think that would be too small for me as well.

Any use?

https://www.thenorthface.co.uk/shop/en/tnf-gb/mens-quest-hooded-jacket-a8az?variationId=JZI&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwMqvBhCtARIsAIXsZpYaKplRgvBZuj0sOOmah1xj3Gnf7uEZ8NwOl4jnpVuf20sHqdg33g0aAkpOEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

That's 2L, not 3, which I wouldn't recommend irrespective of its sale price unless its for a very specific reason i.e. I have an ultralight 2L waterproof that I use as a glorified wind jacket in the high Sierra in the summertime just in case. For actual waterproofs its gotta be 3L. @Aggi, I get that its a bit out of budget and out of budget is out of budget, but keep an eye out for a Torrentshell on sale or used regardless. Maybe its just in the U.S. but the decent colours go on sale quite regularly. Can be had for like $100. Could genuinely be the last waterproof you ever need to buy.

Could really go into the whole laminate thing but I won't. Suffice to say GORE-TEX is a total con.

Look for something second hand on eBay or fbmp. Your looking for more than your budget allows really.

Please do...

I didn't say it had to be Gore-Tex :) I just said that 2L is meh. I myself am suggesting buying a non Gore-Tex jacket. I own nothing made of Gore-Tex.

OK fair enough, assumption on my part, apologies.

Torrentshells are great but even with the pit zips open they're pretty clammy. Keep an eye on HUKD.net, you might get lucky with sizing.

Cold-weather bargains, FYI:

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/141129/?offset=7575#comment17338988

1/3 the UK price for some nice warm things.

Also interested in the laminates debate! I don’t think they work long term. Once the coating - whatever it is - degrades and the jacket starts to wet out, reproofing never seems to work. My current strategy is to buy a really good jacket when on sale and I usually just go for whatever has the biggest discount. This I keep for best and only use for trips to the mountains to hopefully make it last longer. Current jacket is mountain equipment goretex pro shell, can’t remember model name. For everything else, it’s a cheapy Alpkit job, slightly waterproof, not very breathable, probably about 7 yrs old.
Am nikwax/paramo curious, would be interested to hear opinions and alternatives.

People are doing interesting things with SilPoly rainwear nowadays which is permanently waterproof. If you acknowledge the fact that the fabric does not breathe - period - it may suit some use cases. Here's a good review: https://sectionhiker.com/lightheart-gear-rain-jacket-review-silpoly/

https://lightheartgear.com/collections/rain-gear/products/rain-jackets-new

If I lived in a wet part of the world and not California, I'd absolutely buy one of these.

It's about the CFCs in DWR. Most modern jackets bead like shit and go to shit quick as they have C0 (zero fluorocarbon) DWR which don't work good. Older jackets and behave C6 which works. If you reproof you can decide if you get a C6 reprofer or C0. C0 stuff needs washing and proofing a lot more often.

I took have a bomber top line jacket that I rarely use and a daily beater. Smart.

https://youtu.be/uPUUA9AOe5A?si=gf63tRSj7ILP3hxn

I'd like to book a week off end of may/start of June to get out of attending a bachelor's party. I'm keen to do a multi-day hike, ideally somewhere warm. Does anyone have a suggestion for some easily accessible routes (ideally fly>train/bus>hike) where I can head off on a 4/5 day hike?

I'd like to camp, and ideally I would pack light so nothing too extreme in terms of elevations.

A section of the GR20? Some of the Jura traverse? Anywhere in the alps might be a bit of a risk for the weather at that time of year. I'm sure there are some nice routes in Girona area that Skinny might be able to point you too.

@ACRe19 GR91 seems to fit that bill quite well - start from Grenoble (train from Paris, bus or hike up to Saint Niziers), 4 or 5 days of easy hike in a nature reserve down to Die (no, mr Bond…) or Crest, return to Paris by night train. Camp or sleep in mountain huts.

Maybe on the shorter side depending on your pace, throw in an ascent of the Grand Veymont if you’re making good time :-)

edit: here are a couple of pics I took three years ago: https://www.lfgss.com/comments/16089189/

You could also check eBay for secondhand jackets. Just message the seller first and ask if and how they washed it (no fabric softener, or bio liquids).