you could get an ex-army bergen, tough as old boots, had mine 25+ years (olive green!). I’ve seen em for about £50-60 online.

Thts exactly whats I wanted to hear! Cheers.

Anyone got any idea of how durable the dark coating on the Seiko cases is? Been eyeing one up but it would have a rough n tumble life, so maybe plain stainless would be better….

All the mountains are still called the same names , their original Welsh names. Let the non-Welsh speakers call them the Beacons, let the Welsh speakers call them Y Bannau .
Just dont call them the Brecons.

Got hit square off my bike by an accelerating car who didnt see me, flew over the bonnet and roof, not a scratch but my whee l got buckled.
Hit a stone/ root and had an epic tank slapper at speed somewhere on the zigzags. Had to decide between hitting a big stone slab or a big tree, decided trees are slightly softer and hit it square on. Massive endo which I somehow managed to avoid turning into a faceplant. Unfortunately though, I then slid down the top tube of my bike where the oldschool braze on cable guides gutted the inside of my left thigh and left a vein dangling put of my leg.

As long as they spend it on things like roads or bypasses to alleviate the traffic caused by people passing through on the M4 on their way to their hols. The people who live in these areas get all the inconveniences but none of the benefit the holidaymakers bring. Try heading West from , say, Bridgend on a Spring / summer Friday evening, especially if the weathers half decent. Absolute nightmare.
I have zero confidence this will be the case though.

I use a Berghaus one from Go Outdoors, used it a few times. Was sceptical about the reviews si ging its praises, but it really is a very nice thing to sleep on.

Theyre showing stick a few miles down the road from me, i could pick it uo today if you want?

I would avoid button head bolts in applications where you might have to apply a fair bit of torque / areas where they are more likely to corrode. The hex socket is much shallower and more likely to damage in higher torque situations. They look nice but are a pain in the arse when the hex rounds off.

Are you pressing it in a forward direction or pulling it out with a slide hammer? Make sure the extractor tool is square and if possible fully seated against the inner race. If grip is a problem ie the tool is slipping out, try wrapping some wet and dry or emery paper around the inner race bore, so that the grit is facing the wall of the bore (the grit would be biting into tbe steel of the bearing, not the tool).
Once grip has been achieved, then a decent amount of penetrating oil to the outer race/ frame and leave for a bit.
This sometimes works, and has definitely got me out of the shit once when i had to extract a glassy smooth 5 ton bit of oil pipeline with no lifting eye provision when it fell out of a lathe chuck.
Also, what sort of diameter is the bearing? I have used pullers which are like little mini versions of real bearing pullers which fit into the lip of tbe outer race, but youd need some sort of strongpoint ie a shaft bracing against the frame, seat the pullers against.

I have tbat drill, well i think its tbe same one, came in a multipack with a impact driver/ wrench (same tool does both). First time I gave used Bosch, initial thoughts are that its much better than DeWalt, which I killed 3 of in a year in my ladt job.
Time will tell but so far Im happy with my purchase.
If its DIY then Lidls Parkside stuff is OK, 3 year no quibble guarantee.
If I had the money though, I would go Makita or Milwaukee every time. Very imoressed with the Milwaukee tools at my new job.

Yes mate, I have a Boardman FS 27.5″ in Large sitting in my house doing nothing whilst im waiting to buy a treat for myself. Few scratches, but a very nice ride, only reason I dont use it much is the amount of PSI it takes in the rear shock to cope with my heft.
PM me if youre interested, Id rather sell it here than on ebay.

The Cabana bar.

Gone but not forgotten.

Pound for pound GOAT of the choccy world.

Big shout out to coconut Boost, too.

I meant with a bench grinder, not a hand grinder, though i have honed carbide drills  with diamond hand “files”, but this isnt what i meant. The larger the wheel diameter, the better the results will be.

it takes practise, but you can get decent results by tack welding / gluing two hex nuts together to give you an angle of 120 degrees to act as a gauge. This is close enough to 118 degrees, with time youll be close enough by eye.

when the angle is right, next thing to check is that  both lips of the cutting edges ( the sloped bits) should be the same length.

once this is right, the drill still wont cut unless you have the rake ( clearance ) right. Difficult to explain in words, but essentially, when the drill is rotating, you need to ensure the leading edge of the lip is the first and only part of the tip actually touching metal. Any other part is rubbing not cutting and will cause heat by friction, and cause the drill to blunt quicker.

watch from about 3 mins in.

A lot of cobalt drills have a 135 degree split point design, which are much harder to hand sharpen than the 118degree point on a typical hss drill.

A drill will only cut well if its sharp. If you feel you will have trouble replicating the 135 degree split point design, you would be much better off having ,admittedly inferior, hss drill bits with the 118 point.

You can get very good results by hand sharpening hss drill bits, we used to sharpen the cobalts on specialist machines to get a good result.

Somewhere in Scotland most definitely, I like Wester Ross, missus likes the Cairngorms. We’d probably compromise and move to the Cairngorms.

Love my Ridgeback Expedition, meets all your criteria, 26″ wheels too. Plenty of change from £ 2k when I last looked. Super comfy ride, I love it.

Really not keen on the new Boardman FS bikes. Even in the flesh they have as much appeal as a cold cup of sick.

Room fan for us, the mrs has had it on every night for years. Took it downstairs to clean it the other day, really missed it.

Just looked at the Buffalo now, dont remember spending anywhere near that on it! Great bit of kit though, just like the smocks.

Have a Buffalo 4 season thing, had it years and years, i use it when the grandson stays over. Pertex and pile, warm and toasty, very washable, British made, not sure of price any more.
Not rectangular, quite tight if you have broad shoulders, but very comfy. Comes in 2 parts, a 3 season outer with another inner which adds another sseason to give you a 4 season system.
Dunno if tnis helps, but I have one, use it regularly, and I’d buy another, especially if washing and drying is important to you.

*edit. Just realised I had a Snugpak for a while too. The one with little ripstop hexagons sewn woven into it. Good quality, packed up tiny too.

Have you got access to the back of the bolt, ie can you see the non hex end of the bolt? Is it a through hole? If so this makes things much easier.
Using a drill smaller than the tapped hole, so that you dont **** the frame threads, drill the bolt from the back . Usually what happens is the drill bites into the bolt and the grip the threadlock has on the bolt is weaker than the bolt material, and the bolt spins outfrom the back ( hence tbe need for a smaller drill than the threaded hole!)
Make sure you use a sharp or brand new drill.
Used this method loads of times to remove broken or seized bolts on through holes.

Ramones – Leave Home.

Only used various knife type tin openers, such as the one on my work victorinox pen knife and the ones which i think are Canadian army issue. Never had a problem opening a can, plus you can peel an orange with them as well.

Had sleep apnea for years as a teenager , brought on by terrible scarring of my throat by constant irritation caused by the snoring. Never had CPAP, but a surgeon carried out a procedure where they removed my damaged epiglottis ( the dangly thing in my throat) and lasered off a large portion of my soft palate. The inside of my mouth, 20 odd years later looks bizarre, but the operation did work for a long time. Instant improvement in breathing, sleep quality, mental alertness, etc. Until the pain meds ran out.
But oh my god the pain. About 50 stitches the surgeon told me, but the time for the laser burns to heal was much longer than I expected. A few months minimum. Ironically, couldnt sleep for a few weeks following the op, but once the pain eased a bit the results were immediate.
The only disadvantages I had is that I sometimes choke on certain foods, like apple with the peel on, as the chunks get caught in between my throat and nose ( hard to explain). Also, have noticed the last couple of years that the gap behind my nose is closing (again hard to explain) and the breathing isnt as easy as it once was.
On balance, I dont know if I could recommend the op, but it did bring a huge difference to my sleep quality instantly. Over time this has faded and the post op pain was insane.

Took a punt recently on some Indian made Gillettes on ebay ( box is priced in Rupees). Very impressed, at least as good as my usual Feather blades.

Halfords Professional are great, I’ve had a set for, I think ,30 years, and theyre still going strong.
I think the Halfords Pro spanners are made by Draper, i have sets stamped up as both , and they are identical,apart from the stampings, and that the Halfords ones are chromed finish, and the Draper ones are a black finish.
The chromed finish is excellent, but the black finish wears away with daily use. They look slender and fragile but these things are up to proper use, they are excellent value.
Avoid the nice looking Clarke flexi heads from Machine Mart, the chrome on them is shite, it flakes off and gets stuck under your nails (v painful) and the heads fall off when you lose the tiny bolt which holds them together.

Im nearly 400 years too late ,if I was

Tulip Mania: 10 Facts About the First Financial Bubble

I mean, yeah, i could just wait for the bulbs to split and have exactly the same flowers in a few years, but its the curiosity of the “what if” of the seedling i like.
Same as apples, most are horrific crab appley things, but every now and then you get a Bramley or a Devonshire Quarrenden, purely by chance.
I just wondered if anybody had tried tulips and what they came out like, given that they have must have such varied genetics in their background.

If you do decide to go the stained glass route, an old mate of mine, Gar, does stained glass and is very good.
His company is called Lye Spectrum Design .

When youre taking a lot of wood off the tree, i was advised by an old time self sufficiency bloke (i read his books) , to try and split tbe task into three seperate years, taking a third of the wood off each year.
I had a very old , neglected pear tree which was under producing , took his advice, and the tree reinvigorated and started pissing out pears after the third year.

High Grant as Fletcher in The Gentlemen.

That or a GT Force built to fit me. Love them.

An early 2000s Cannondale Scalpel team bike. Im eas ily pleased, and waaay too shit of a rider to appreciate any of he super bikes mentioned.

Mate, i just went through the same thing with my 13 year old Westie, felt like Id lost my right arm. Following advice from folks on here and from the missus, i just picked up a new little mate day before yesterday, an 8 week-old Norfolk terrier pup.
Little lad has really lightened my depression, swore I’d never have another , but here we are. Little Eric is an absolute tonic and is settling in fantastically well.
I was worried that I’d forget my old boy if I had another dog in the house, but its not the case at all. I had reservations but I would say that the only way to fill the dog shaped hole in my life was with another dog.
Grieve, then consider the future, no way would your old mate want you to be sad.

For mild steel, brass, alu, or any other soft metal, a set of HSS and a bit of knowledge on how to grind them will see you OK.
If youre drilling anything with a hex head ( socket head bolt,countersink bolts, cleat screws, etc, ) or similar tougher material, then its Cobalt HSS all day long, dont bother with HSS.

Yep, think either the cable or charging port is dodgy. Ran the battery until the light extinguished, clearing all the charge it was delivered with, light will not charge at all.Have opened up a warranty query with Planet X, we will see how that goes, I’ve never bought from them before.
On a happier note though, the Moon light is back from the dead! Some strange shit happening in this house lately. It was absolutely dead, would not switch on at all, woukd not charge, and now , a few days later, its OK again.

Probably a bit overkill for what you need, but both the ex Swedish army LK35 pack and the Norwegisn army Ludvig pack have steel frames which allow an airgap between your back and the pack outer layer.
I use both on the bike for carrying gym kit, and the Norwegian one is the most comfy, its very comfy .

So, as a result of this thread, i bought the Planet X jobbies (with 15% discount, cheers whoever put the code up 🙌).
I got the most expensive ones front and rear ( still cheap jough!). No real instructions except a little bit printed on the box of the front one. Mentions a charging indicator but when I’ve put mine on to charge just now, no indicator light to be seen. Have I got a dodgy one? The rear has a little red power indicator when I charge it.
The button sequences are identical as the moon one which its replacing too, from what I remember.

@cougar
👏👏