Search results for:

Never used one but I am intrigued by what you might be doing...

I would say it would be constricting, sweaty, noisy - a solid 7 on the Shit Night's Sleep scale. Maybe an 8 if it rains or bugs eat your face.

Well good to hear about the shoes, that's twice the lifespan I'm getting. If I see them in a shop I'll give them the twist-test.

Regarding cleaning I give them a scrub every time I wear them, and wash the insides out until the water runs clear (which can take a disgustingly long time). I used to apply Grangers G-wax when water stopped beading on them, a thin coat helped to soak in with a hairdryer - but they are now so abraded that water never really beads, so I just do it occasionally.

They definitely won't last ten years though - boots really suffer if they're saturated with water then freeze overnight (especially so if you defrost them over the stove).

The boot fitting sounds like great value. I only wear the boots in winter now which is very varied and stop-start (kick steps, rest, scramble a bit, crampons on, crampons off, rest again, kick more steps and so on). In my experience it's the long-distance hikes that really beat up your feet, and moreso on flatter terrain, I suppose it is the repetitive movements. I wear the trail runners for this sort of thing anyway.

Check out the Hiking, Scrambling, Climbing and Mountaineering thread.

Nice. The full rubber rand is great for protecting against scrapes on scree or moraine fields - I wish my Asolos had them as they are pretty scuffed after 3 years, and have developed some suede-like patches from crampon-strap-rub too.

How do the shoes feel? I started hiking in trail runners couple of years ago and except for big off-track mountain routes, or winter, I wear them all the time. However one issue is durability - been through two pairs already (Montrail and Salomon... can't remember the models). The second issue is that neither pair were very stiff, so they twist/curl around my foot on sidles or thin edges (grasping the heel in one hand and the toe in thge other, with a little effort i can twist the shoe so the sole is facing skyward). So I am looking for something sturdier and stiffer.

I had a bit of a chuckle at 'proper hiking socks'; very middle class annual weekend in the peak district! I have always used cheap plain wool socks from any old shop, but then again I seem to be resistant to blisters.

http://Www.opentopomap.org

Or the walk highlands website

Incidentally this all went into a 55l pack, although we did share a tent and billy between two. The key is to not take too many clothes - no duplicates!

12 days of food

Backpacking websites are good for planning lightweight meals. The longest unsupported/no resupply trip I've done was 10 days (on foot). Breakfast of porridge with powdered milk, butter & sugar and instant coffee. Lunch of trail mix and a flapjack or waffle. Dinner was a few blocks of instant noodles with butter, dehy vegetables and beef jerky, and chocolate for dessert.

I had a dehydrator but it broke - since then I have just used the oven and it's fine. You can buy those little hotel-breakfast-sized packs of butter for extra calories; they don't seem to go off even in hot weather.

What are you doing about water?

I suppose I am teaching you to suck eggs here as you seem to have it sorted. Make sure to give us a proper trip report!

I commute every day by bike but drive probably 500 miles most weekends, so I selected car. My fault I guess.

Screened out eh?

You have to pay in a grand per month, so you can take it out again the next day, along with the interest earned from the previous month.

There are a lot of accounts like this, but the problem is if you've already got a lot saved, there aren’t enough accounts available. This is why having three Santander 123s is so useful, even with the new crappy interest rate.

I guess savings accounts are only useful if you need instant access e.g. house deposit. I am thinking of putting some money in a 1-year fixed bond since I think rates are more likely to fall than rise in my expected house-buying timescale. Not sure though.

Well in my first month... it's gone up a tenner, down a tenner, then down another quid. Let's see what September brings.

Rain - the galv coating isn't thick. Undo any moisture-prone galv nut and you'll see rust on the mating surface (and on this example, the spanner flats).

I got my partner a new Brompton about two months ago.

One thing that has annoyed me is the inconsistency of the fasteners used. The front brake mount uses a stainless nyloc nut, but the mudguards use galv plain nuts. After a week they were rusty and loose. The stem bolts had factory threadlock but the rear brake mount had none. Neither did the factory-installed derailleur, which fell off.

I have been round the bike and replaced all fasteners with stainless ones, nyloc where possible and threadlocked where appropriate. It's nothing major and the dealer is also partly responsible, but it could save new owners a fair bit of bother if the appropriate fasteners were specced at the factory.

Stonehedge. Or anyone really.

Oh and er, hurry up with those photos.
Was it an expensive trip, if you don't mind me asking?

You can drown in a mid-thigh river though, that's when you need the most secure foot placement, which is why I always keep footwear on. A friend of mine was knocked off her feet by a river only just past her knees, which was a tense moment.

Yeah, running or walking on flat terrain uses different muscles to running uphill, or so I've been told.

Been reading various Scots hillwalking reports. Why do they all take their shoes off to cross rivers? It's better to have wet feet than to risk slipping. Besides, if you're wearing full leather boots, trousers and gaiters actually keep the water out, for a few minutes at least.

Quit and move closer, that's what I'm trying to do.

Your trips always sound so much fun.

I lived abroad for a few years and upon my return my insurance had doubled, even though I had zero no claims bonus when I left.

The shittest thing is that if you're unemployed, your insurance is so high it's often unfeasible.

Nah Dunedin is significantly more arse-end than Newcastle.

It's more like comparing London to Aberdeen, except Aberdeen is fancier.

It's hard to find a job. It took me a month to get a crappy gig as a graphic designer and then six months to find work as a design engineer. Nobody responds to CVs, you just have to talk to people. Wages aren't great, but then again, it's incredibly cheap to live in Dunedin.

There are loads of pros to NZ, although this is purely from the perspective of living in Dunedin:

• Completely unpretentious, nobody cares what car you drive or what brands you wear
  
• Ordinary working folk can buy a 3-bed house in their 20s
  
• Good weather, coming from the UK
  
• No traffic jams, ever
  
• You know your neighbours
  
• In fact, you know everyone - I suppose this is what a community feels like
  
• Ordinary people can help effect change in their community
  
• Everybody leaves work at 5pm
  
• Otago is incredibly safe, I remember hearing on the radio that it has one of the lowest violent crime rates in the world
  
• You can go on real adventures to truly wild places
  
• Stunningly beautiful on a daily basis, even just riding to work
  
• The roads are really wide and there are no potholes
  
• You can buy some cheap land, build a holiday cabin on it, and the government won't stop you
  
• People have a can-do attitude
  
  

Some or none of these may apply in other places in NZ. Some of them apply in some places in the UK.

Can people stop replying to this thread? It is making me want to go back.

Looks good at that price. Heavier and probably less breathable than the Precip, but probably more water-resistant. It's a do-it-all hardshell from a decent brand so you won't really go wrong.

The only thing that would put me off is the limited colour choice. White's no good, it'll disappear in bad weather which is when you least want to lose sight of your partner. That leaves you both wearing green jackets, and having matching gear is totally confusing (if I can't buy non-matching gear I'll draw big fat stripes on one item with a permanent marker, but I guess you wouldn't want to do that to an expensive jacket).

Whatever you buy I'd still recommend a cheap water-resistant softshell, they are so much more comfortable and breathable (and quieter) and perfect for intermittent light rain.

My hardshell is a Marmot Precip which was (the equivalent of) about forty quid. It's a 2.5-layer jacket with a decent hood.

It's waterproof for a little while in heavy rain. It's waterproof all day in light rain. It packs down to the size of a small grapefruit and doesn't weigh much, maybe 400g. It's breathable enough to wear on my ride into work (massive armpit zips). It's cut short, which means it's lighter/more packable (which is good because it spends 90% of its time in my pack).

Given that I've tramped all around the west coast of NZ, one of the wettest places in the world, with the setup I described above, I'd be confident wearing it in Japan. I'd go with a heavier 3-layer hardshell jacket, with a longer cut, for Scottish winters - basically if I expect to be wearing it continuously I'd want something burlier, but for intermittent heavy rain it's absolutely perfect.

Waterproof jackets aren't actually waterproof, they just have varying degrees of water-resistance. Your jacket selection is a tradeoff between how many hours of rain it can withstand, versus how many hours you're going to be carrying the thing in your pack.

Anyway look here, they're on sale:
http://www.climbers-shop.com/10903795/products/marmot-precip-jacket.aspx?origin=pla&kwd=&currency=GBP&gclid=CP_H-57wuc4CFUITGwodTY0AMg

You don't really want to be walking all day in a hardshell jacket, you'll be soaked through with sweat in 20 degree heat.

I wear a very thin merino longsleeve top and a water-resistant softshell over that (a Sierra Designs one, it's also very thin). Water seeps through the shoulders a bit in prolonged rain, but that's okay. For drizzle or those annoying rain-sun-rain-sun days it's perfect.

Polypropylene or capilene tops will keep you warm when wet, moreso than merino, plus they dry much faster - but they absolutely reek to high heaven if you sweat in them. So not good for extended trips or if you're planning on a pint in the pub afterwards. I only wear them as thermals at night.

The hardshell stays in my pack unless it's really hammering down.

Having landed back in the UK after 3.5 years in NZ, observations:
Pros of the UK:

• I can buy four or five delicious continental cheeses for the same price as a housebrick of NZ's "Tasty".
  
• When I go out to a restaurant they serve food that I want to eat, at a reasonable price.
  
• My house is waterproof and keeps us warm. I don't need to put on a puffy jacket to go into the kitchen.
  
• My friends and family are dispersed around the country, but because there are motorways, I can actually go and see them without having to book time off of work.
  
• I got three decent job offers in a week, my partner the same.
  
• There are hobbies and activities that don't involve physical discomfort or danger.
  
  

Cons of the UK:

• It feels very busy, even in a supposedly quiet town, even at the quietest time of day.
  
• Hot pies are not ubiquitous.
  
• It's really flat, even the "Peak" District. Scotland and Wales appear normal.
  
• Consumerism is the norm.
  
• Sadly it's true that British people, on the whole, are really quite negative.
  
• There are a lot of homeless people, or people on the edge of society. It's bad place to be poor.
  
  

We've spent a lot of time in Scotland, which feels a lot like NZ in a lot of ways, and have decided to move there.