The Gaslight Anthem

Lovely. Very nice

Thanks. Very helpful

Take up running, much more time efficient, and a lot less faff.

That’s what I did .. started trail running … but ended up entering an ultra which meant running for an hour after work 3 nights a week plus 5/6 hour long runs on a weekend which left me totally shattered and useless around the house ! :-)

I have the non HR version. Absolutely love it. It’s basically my every day watch.
I Wear it to work (handy for receiving texts etc) .. Step counter …. There’s a whole load of stuff it does that I’ve not really explored ..

I have used mine on the bike (subsequently sold my garmin 500) but I got mine predominantly for running. Was previously using a forerunner 10 but it’d be out of battery after 3.5/4 hours. I ran a 63 mile ultra in September and the watch was recording GPS for 17 hours and still had 18% battery when I stopped it.

Using the watch Day to day as a watch , with maybe the odd shorter run thrown in at lunch time / evening .. the battery lasts for weeks.

I suspect the HR version will get through the battery much quicker.

Yeah .. It’s great tho

2 dogs (labs) and 2 little ones here (toddler and baby). We have a Ford galaxy. We can get the dogs in the boot AND the double pram/pushchair plus other odds and ends if we go out. Middle set folds flat for more storage room or wife sits in it on long journeys between the kids. Previously had a yeti .. boot isn’t very big so the 2 dogs filled it straightaway. It was pretty useless space wise for us. Without dogs everything would be so much easier – they take up a lot of space.

Trips to the inlaws mean the roofbox goes on. Don’t underestimate how much gear you need to carry for even one night away with kids and dogs.

We had our dogs before the babies so we just get on with it but in your position I’d be holding off on that second dog for now.

Aww top notch! Indy says hi :-)

Understood muffin man .. I raised that concern with him so my sister will be briefed!

Indy … that’s what we called our fox red lab bitch.

TV is about 4 year old so I guess it’s getting on in Tv world ..

The Worst Journey in the World (Apsley Cherry-Garrard).

(Even if you only read ‘The Winter Journey’ chapter)

My wife spends far too much time on the chat forum .
She won’t visit the bike forum because ‘it’s all gobledegook’ but loves the assortment of discussions on the chat forum .

My wife left the car keys in the unlocked car all night a couple of weeks ago 8O

Thanks ML. Problem solved … You are correct in that Strava uploaded ‘moving time’ as opposed to ‘elapsed time’. Changing the activity from ‘run’ to ‘race’ resolved it.

Now I know where i can easily make up some time next year!

It was the big day yesterday – 63 miles covered. Have to say the UD race vest was spot on. I had quite a bit of kit in it but it felt bulky or uncomfortable. Expensive but well worth it for these kind of runs.

Question – I’ve recently started uploading my runs to Strava (well it’s done via Bluetooth) .. Strange thing is my garmin activity is spot on but Strava appears to have made me run it almost 2 hours quicker… Any idea why that it is? Can I resend it to Strava to try it again?

Sad news. Really sorry to hear it.

Loving my La Sportiva’s … Got a pair a few months ago after always running in Adidas Kanadia’s.
Kanadia’s are great shoes for not much cash. The La Sportiva’s have so far been worth the outlay.

Totally agree. Could do without the X factor type nonsense to try to inject some drama into it.

If you can put up with Greg Wallace I think he’s at the New Balance factory on BBC2 @ 8pm

Top news!

@stox – I think the 12 compacts down fairly well if you’re not using full capacity. I had the same hesitations about going smaller, although tried to balance that with my inclination to take too much stuff with me.
You probably /could/ get away with the 5, or 8.5 UD, but for winter running on these fair isles, the ability to take extra stuff and keep it dry, won me over, particularly during training runs.
I’m in Edinburgh, and happy to meet up, if that helps you.

Decision made, gone with the UD.

Just had a word with the retailer to gauge his opinion. He pretty much says the same – the salomon compacts down so it doesn’t feel like a big bag and he’d recommend it if I had plans to do runs longer than the 60 but the UD should see me just as well for what I’m doing right now. I think it’d be preferable to the salomon for shorter local runs too. I don’t plan to do more than that (I never had plans to enter a 60!) .
Plus the UD is £30 cheaper which I can’t ignore given the frightful prices of these things!

Thanks for everybody’s advice.
Thanks for the offer ml but I needed to get one ordered or I’ll continue going around in circles over which to choose.

I’ve got the s-lab 12,never use the bladder just the front soft bottle’s. Doesn’t ever feel big but fits full kit no problem when needed. Brother has 5 and regrets it,real squeeze and starts bulging out and misshaping when full. Use mine on the bike now and it feels better than any pack I’ve tried.

Ohh That might put me back in with the Salomon .

Mind me asking what size you went for vs chest size?
The sizing in these looks pretty straight forward compared to UD..
Thanks !

Thanks all… Very helpful. I appreciate it. I feared for this thread at the start :-)

CraigW – thanks for that. Yes bottom rib measurement I am 34 which puts in small or medium but I have a 38 chest so not quite sure where that leaves me. I think small would be the best place to start …

ML – everything you’ve said echoes my thoughts. The s lab 12 is exactly what I was going to go for. I’m just concerned that the 12l is overkill whilst the 5l looks like it might not be enough. It looks tiny on YouTube reviews.
I have a 60 mile trail run I’m training for. There are checkpoints with food, drop bags etc so I only have to carry the mandatory kit plus my ‘essentials’ – jacket, spare top, hat, gloves, map, small amount of food , the usual stuff really. I’m just not sure the 5l would be enough. I don’t want to be taking layers off and not having space for them…

Does the 12l feel big? There is no between which is why I’m looking at the UD 3.0 as that’s 8.5l which seems a Good compromise.

Dark plunger – I have, thanks..it looks a bargain BUT I want the bottles on the front to free up rear space and make refilling easy. I don’t want to put the bladder in the back – need that space for gear.

I’ve got an Ultimate Direction SJ Ultra Vest 3.0

Would you mind telling me what size you went for and your chest size?… The UD size guides overlap quite a bit

Good luck … Fellow lab owner. Fingers crossed for you all .

:-) well I’ve had a good chuckle

One of these …

NOT one of these… :-)

Clearly I’m barking up the wrong tree here !

Thanks. I’ll check eyelets tomorrow but seen a few bikes (of the same year) on a Google search with panniers so assumed it has the fitments.
It is disk so that maybe something I need to be aware of when looking for a rack.

I wonder how they mooved it

Take your card into the shop when you get it and they’ll give you the discount.

Ford have another SUV – the Edge? don’t know much about it but looks nice on the advert.

Yeti
Volvo XC60
VW Tiguan
Fiat 500x
CRV
Rav 4

Well it’s been gone a few years now but this is a video of my last set up … 5′ Hap cichlid tank.

My son was put into a Pavlik harness at 8 weeks old. My wife had problem hips when she was born and it seems like he inherits that gene! He’s 7 months now and all perfectly normal.

We were both really upset the first night but honestly you just get used to it and he didn’t seem to mind. They look a lot worse than they actually are. Nappy changes take a minute or 2 longer and not being able to bathe them is a pain (especially if they have some explosive nappies) but otherwise try not to worry about it.

After 4 weeks we could bath him on a night which was lovely for us all.

Just keep an eye on the straps to make sure they are not rubbing etc.

He came out of it at 9 weeks (his consultant said he was the first – all of her previous cases have gone to 12 weeks!) and now we just carry on as normal. Honestly, don’t fret over it too much.
Removal day is something to look forward to. It’ll soon come around.

My little fella

Visiting the inlaws for a few nights and have this to try later …

How do you both find the water-proofness of it for little one?

I can’t comment .. Don’t think I’ve used it in the rain. Not entirely sure it’d fare too well in a downpour but the odd spot of rain shouldn’t cause it too much concern

I have one. Picked it up locally off eBay for £35.
It does what I need it to do which is pretty much the same as your requirement.

Save your money, he’ll be fine.

He is but their boosters were already overdue so figured yesterday was a good day to get them
Done! (Horse / stable door!)

So, are you going to lock him up now or let him be a natural cat ?

Well the problem is I don’t know if he’s been in that garage all week or if he’s been out and about being a ‘natural cat’ as you put it …
For all I know he may have been in the garage all this time without venturing out and exploring.

Mind you, his sister is giving him some grief .. Hissing at him!
Woah, woah, woah!
Are you sure you have not now got a replicant cat? Or a voodoo possessed cat? His sister may be on to something you know..

They’ve sorted their differences … They were due their boosters so they both got bunged into a cat carrier for a trip to the vets. No room for squabbling in that!

Joe’s made himself comfortable in his usual sleep spot. Looks like he’s lost a bit of weight too so every cloud :-)

It’s good to have ‘the little bastard’ back 8)