Not buying McVities fig rolls that’s for sure. They come in a plastic tray to make it look like you get more. The Sainsburys ones a) come in a cardboard tray and b) you get loads more

Stick with 1×10 and treat yourself to a Saint shifter :)

If you’ve got time before you go, get hold of the Jim Duff book (‘Pocket First Aid and Wilderness Medicine’) and give that a read before buying any kit.

SAM Splints are brilliant, just about every rucksack I own has one or two stuck down the back.

Don’t just end up with a massive booboo kit – plasters are a nicety, but an Israeli dressing can save a life. That said steristrips and superglue weigh next to nothing.

Things people tend not to think about until it’s too late:
– keep gloves accessible (not buried) and in the right size(s)
– have some plain gauze for soaking up assorted liquids
– pen/sharpy and paper handy

You don’t need to use saline for cleaning wounds, bottled (or definitely clean) water is fine with an empty syringe for irrigation.

Go for the newer quikclot/celox gauze (if you’re that way inclined) rather than powder as compressing a wound is still the most important thing. Just watch that Cedric Gracia video 8O

As above be wary of prescription meds unless above-board. Don’t underestimate simple paracetamol and brufen for pain relief.

Carry a roll of duct tape.

I have a Hubba HP – I’m 6’2″ and it’s fine length wise, it’s also quite tall so not too coffin-like. If you get the ground sheet then you can pitch the fly only which is pretty spacious and a good compromise between tarp and tent.

Biggest downside is that the poles are quite bulky and awkward to carry without a rack.

gobuchul – I don’t think that applies to the FlexDirect account, you only have to pay in £1k a month and that’s it. So you can earn 5% on £2.5k from the current account, then keep shuffling £500 a month into the savings account

I built my Escapade, wanted something between their gold and silver options so went with 4700 Tiagra and BB7s. As above tubeless Schwalbe G-Ones are awesome, mine are on WTB Frequency i19 rims. I think Cotic do WTB wheelsets, or Hope 20Fives, so might be worth talking to them.

Bird Tubeless Tape

^ works very well. Like it says you can do any rim width really if you triple wrap

Fourth Chilli Bean

Catches everything a longboard could, but saves me needing a second board for bigger days – rare on Anglesey

I have the Hubba HP which has a deeper tub on the inner for more weather protection. Still packs into a 5L Alpkit dry bag though (including the footprint, but not the poles obviously). As above it’s fine to sleep in, and plenty tall enough to sit up in (I’m 6’2″), just not much room for admin.

I thought I’d have my road-ish bike reasonably upright to watch the world go by, but I found that I was just hunching forward onto the hoods. A bit more space to stretch out was actually more comfortable.

My Fargo is comfortable upright, but I think that’s because it’s designed to be, with a mahoosive headtube to place the drops at about the same height as a flat bar. Getting an actual road bike to that sort of height would just be daft.

Bumpity bump. I built up a rigid frameset from spares, and while it’s great fun to ride I’ve still hung onto my old 26″ hardtail for trail centres.

Now thinking about doing a tactical n-1 as for the price of a fork, headset cup and nicer wheels for the Ramin, it seems I could have a very capable bike that ticks a lot of boxes: tapered, 15mm, tubeless, dropper compatible. The future is here!

Anyone using a Ramin as their main-ish bike? Anything better than a 120mm X-Fusion Slide for <£300?

I’ve done this before. You have to be logged in BEFORE you use the code otherwise it is ‘used up’ :(

The US supplies a lot of their kit (Iraqis at least), but few helmets for some reason.

They just hate wearing the stuff too, even if they wear body armour chances are it won’t have plates in.

I have heard various arguments about religious fatalism, same as for firing without looking down the sights. I suspect it’s a mixture of factors, including simply not knowing better.

2″ Schwalbe Duremes on my Fargo, very good indeed

Awesome stuff! Any thoughts on the French Divide route bike-wise? Seemed to be a bit of everything at the start line. I’ve nabbed the GPX files and fancy giving it a go slow-time next year.

I’ve had one since they first appeared, I think they’ve changed the name now but it’s the same thing. Bit heavier and more expensive than a Jetboil, but imo MSR have more of a mountaineering pedigree. It’s blumming quick to boil, and comes with a canister stand and cup/mug.

Seen a fair few (well, two) Jetboils go up in flames, and I know people working in shops who are forever complaining about returns due to the igniter failing (which Jetboil won’t warranty).

More RAM and an SSD definitely. I’m still using a 2009 MacBook Pro and it is fine on El Cap. The next version of OS X seems a bit more fundamental so I’ll probably stop there.

When I called sjs this morning they didn’t know middleburn had gone :/

Well they do now – just doubled the price of all the cranks they had left!

Spooky. Was just thinking about an Incy crankset

Comfort/Limit/Extreme are all ratings they are obliged to give. Mountain Equipment have their own ‘good night’s sleep’ temp that they say is more relevant/real world so that’s the one to look at.

Fwiw I have a Starlight II and it is a very good bag, not given me any reason to doubt the temp range on it

Second the Finium baskets! MSR sell a branded version for nearly 3 times as much

Can anyone answer my question that is why do they suggest 24mm rim tape to tubeless a 19mm wide internal rim?

WTB suggest 24mm tape for their i19 rims too, guess that’s normal

pull our socks up, pull together as a nation, and work to make the best of it ‘OUR’ country

But if you now have to ‘pull your socks up and make the best of it’, that implies that you are likely to lose something through the decision and therefore probably didn’t vote for it in the first place. People who voted out based on empty concepts of ‘sovereignty’ and ‘taking back control’ are still going to be reliant on the realities of jobs and the economy.

Assuming (most) people didn’t vote against their own interests, then the folk who are going to have to ‘make it work’ in terms of foreign markets, funding etc. will by definition be those who voted to remain.

I don’t mean this in any disparaging way, but it seems that the key demographic(s) behind the exit vote are far more likely to rely on jobs created by others.

Any disadvantages or pitfalls to going 11sp? I was looking at 10sp as I have a couple of spare cassettes, but 5800 does work out a fair bit cheaper

Glad I asked now, wouldn’t have known that about the 4700 cable pull! The ‘exact actuation’ thing seems a bit more appealing now

Lindarets Roadlink and an 11-36 or even 11-40 cassette might be the simplest option

22/32/44 and 11-34 on my Fargo has winched me up a few cols in the Alps, more importantly for touring I was able to spin up them and didn’t really feel the need to factor in any recovery. Mixed SLX/XT drivetrain with Dura Ace bar end shifters have yet to miss a beat – shifting in friction mode is amazingly intuitive despite my reservations.

That said I’m currently looking at double options for short and fast(er) weekend jaunts with STIs and lighter wheels. Road compact and 11-36 could work but is already maxed (minned?) out at both ends in case it gets tough. The Middleburn Incy option looks grand but you certainly pay for it, and the 22/40 they suggest seems like a big jump. A 28/40 Shimano SLX double is a fraction of the price but I’m not entirely sure how far up and down you can go if swapping out the chainrings.

That looks great. Is the Plug the answer for me? I have a Fargo in bimbly plush touring mode (MTB drivetrain, bar end shifters etc) but want something a bit nippier for shorter tours with soft luggage and the odd road ride. A Shand Stoater seems like the gold standard but is a lot of money for an n+1, while the Cotic Escapade seems quite expensive for what it is.

1L bottle of Fenwicks concentrate from Merlin, made up in an empty Mucoff spray bottle

I was going to suggest Duracell – reasonably priced but still reputable. I’ve got some for both my DSLR and compact and they’ve both been fine.

I got a Behringer UCA202 for my Raspberry Pi. While it appears cheap and cheerful, if you Google it there is a big review from some audiophile type who found it superior to more expensive DACs.

I felt a tangible drop in tension when he revealed himself.

For a film that paid so much homage to the original trilogy, it seemed odd that they couldn’t come up with a big ‘I am your father’-esque unmasking moment. The fact he didn’t need the mask was a brilliant bit of misdirection, and Han calls him out for doing it to idolise Vader, but it was a bit of a damp squib in the end. It should have practically written itself even: Ren ‘killed’ Ben who was also a student of Luke. The grief drove Han and Leia apart. All signs point to a revenge showdown between Han and Ren, but when the moment comes he instead tries to turn him back and that’s the big reveal. The rest of that scene was perfect as is. Instead we get Han and Leia (awkwardly) playing the concerned parents of a moody teenager like they think he’s on drugs or something.

Sounds similar to what happens when you accidentally lace 2x instead of 3x…so I’m told

Kylo Ren should have killed Leia in a flashback or something

They could have done something a bit more enigmatic with Luke too. I don’t think anyone would really have believed he was dead, but the ‘we just don’t have the map to his seaside retreat’ thing was a bit clunky.

Loved it. Think the trailers promised a little bit more however, which is why it was a bit of a shame to see Phasma brushed aside so easily in favour of the nostalgia and old characters/plot.

For the one I was looking at recently (215j) it was cheaper to buy the enclosure then your own WD red drives (from Amazon) than the bundle (also from Amazon)

The MSR Hubbas are very good, I have the one man version. The green ‘HP’ models are designed for UK/European use and have a deeper bathtub on the inner, plus if you buy the footprint they can be pitched inner first.

Second AKU Pilgrims – lightweight fabric boot up top, but with a stiff sole and huge rand to take a beating.

It’s hard to go wrong with the usual Altberg/Lowa/Meindl selection mind you, in my experience they all just fit slightly differently. Hanwag are my holy grail leather boot.

You can’t buy the Chinese-made boots direct so you’ll be fine there