Marmot Isotherm Hoody/Polartec Alpha Insulation - some thoughts.

The Marmot Isotherm Hoody being used as a mid-layer on a -20 day.

The Isotherm hoody is Marmot's first go at using Polartec's new Alpha insulation, an insulation originally developed by Polartec for US Special Forces. The military wanted a synthetic insulation that while warm was also breathable and could be kept on during periods of activity. With body armour, plus all the equipment carried by modern soldiers on their webbing, donning or taking off layers of clothing below all that is obviously difficult in anything beyond relaxed and safe situations hence the requirement for insulation that breathes well when you are active in it. The Alpha insulation is knitted onto a mesh, allowing 'sheets' of the insulation to made and sewn into garments. The knitted construction is very air-permeable meaning breathability, but also means the insulation is stable and drapes well. This allows for simple garment designs that don't require extensive channels through the construction, as would be necessary to hold a loose insulation like down. The Alpha insulation is though encased in an inner and outer shell. Again because of the stable, knitted structure of the insulation, manufacturers can use as an inner layer a very breathable and light mesh material (again a loose insulation like down would escape through such a material). With the Isotherm Hoody Marmot have used a mesh version of their own dri-clime material for most of the inner liner. 

Graphic from Polartec, click here for more info.

With Polartec Alpha's unique selling point being breathability I feel the choice of outer material to the insulation is vital. Insulation works by holding air still, creating a barrier of stable, warm air between the person inside the clothing and the colder, moving air in the environment beyond – so there needs to be a windproof layer over the insulation to allow for this to happen. This would seem to be where the central dilemma with Polartec Alpha lies – for the material to insulate to its maximum amount you need to use a windproof outer fabric but this may not be particularly breathable, but to get the most out of the insulation's structure which is what Polartec says makes Alpha more breathable than competitor synthetic insulations, you want an outer fabric that is highly breathable, which generally means less windproof. The new buzz-phrase in the industry for this is “air permeability”; for instance the new Goretex Pro is air-permeable as is Polartec NeoShell making both of these fabrics more breathable than other waterproof fabrics, but the other way of putting this is “not as windproof” and that might not sell as well in the 'performance outdoor clothing' market. For the outside of the Isotherm Hoody, Marmot have gone with Pertex Quantum, a light ripstop nylon. There are different types of Pertex and I'm not sure if certain forms are more windproof and less breathable than others – but Quantum is an ultra-fine and smooth weave so I would imagine that it isn't particularly air-permeable, although of course being windproof allows the Alpha insulation below to insulate all the better.

Some slightly freaky google auto-produced multilayer pic of me mountain-biking in the Isotherm.

So that's the physics theory section; but what about in use? Well, in truth it is a bit of a mixed bag. Let's start with the good stuff; the Thermo Hoody is very light (387 grams in medium, about 20 grams less than Marmot claim) and very compressible – it is very easy to stuff into a bag to take along 'just in case'. The hood (a simple under-helmet design) adds instant warmth when used although it isn't designed to zip up and protect your face. Considering how light the materials are too, it seems relatively tough – it survived a day of gritstone cragging when it was far too cold for me to worry much about not scuffing and scraping it. Marmot have used a stretchy light softshell material over the shoulders to make it a bit tougher for use with a rucksack. It's easy to care for too, particularly in comparison to lightweight down tops. If it gets grubby you just chuck it in the machine for a wash. For me the downsides are the fit and the design. I've been a big fan of Marmot for years as their quality seems top-notch and their size medium has always fitted me well, but with the Thermo Hoody the medium is too tight across the shoulders although it's not particularly trim around the waist so its seems a bit oddly proportioned. Perhaps related to this I've also found it doesn't work brilliantly with a harness with a tendency to pull out after some high reaches. A climbing harness covers the hand warmer pockets too, which considering Alpha is all about “active insulation” - so insulation to wear whilst doing stuff, like climbing! - seems a shame. Another minor design flaw is that the lining in the sleeves is too loose so when ever you pull the jacket on the inner fabric pulls out, protruding beyond the cuff. It goes back in easily enough if you hold the cuff and stretch the sleeves a bit, but it's enough of an annoyance to notice.

And finally to the big issue – is it breathable and how much warmth does it offer? Used as an outer layer for things like autumnal mountain biking I found the Isotherm snug, wind resistant and warm but perhaps a bit too warm. Despite not riding particularly hard or doing long climbs, in positive single digit temperatures the inside of the Isotherm was getting rather damp with sweat being worn over just a thin base layer. This would dissipate with time, but then I've found the same true of traditional synthetically insulated pieces like the Marmot Variant. Through the damp cool autumn Alpha didn't strike me as that different and I was left wondering – was it the Pertex Quantum material holding in the sweat or the Alpha insulation itself? For cool weather rock climbing, the jacket was more successful, not getting sweaty inside and keeping me reasonably comfortable while climbing on what was a ridiculously windy day at a rather exposed English gritstone edge. The day was so windy though, that although it wasn't particularly cold (about +5) I still needed to use a duvet over the Isotherm when not climbing – in those gales you notice the air permeability by getting cold! So good for less aerobic activities like rock climbing but I don't think the Isotherm is necessarily the best cragging top for the reasons mentioned earlier; it would need to be longer, have differently positioned pockets and perhaps a slightly heavier, tougher face fabric for that. I have used it as a mid-layer under a Marmot NeoShell jacket in cold and very cold conditions, and here it worked impeccably. This has included Nordic skating at -20 and alpine skiing at just below freezing. But in both these cases I suspect a hi-loft fleece would have also worked as well as a mid-layer.

 

Cragging at the Roaches in the Isotherm Hoody

I'm left wondering rather what “active insulation” pieces like the Isotherm are really best suited for? I think for me, at least, a microfleece (the grid-pattern ones wick and breath very well) and a windshirt will work as well; being more versatile, costing less and not weighing much more. Nevertheless we all experience the outdoor environments differently and for some people I'm sure the Isotherm will be the best midlayer they've ever tried. There is a lot of like about it, a certain silky luxurious snugness in particular! But still – for me – I'm not sure if it does a job better than pre-existing solutions. It will be interesting to see how Polartec Alpha is used in conjunction with different shell materials in the future, because I still don't quite see how to square the circle of having an insulation that is both air permeable itself and is encased in air-permeable fabrics that will still work well in anything other than windless conditions.

Marmot Basic Work Glove: a review

As noted before, I've long taken an interest in the 'outdoor sports' equipment industry: as a climber/hiker/mountaineer/cyclist/etc., as someone who has worked in the industry (albeit at the very lowest level as a shop assistant); as gear reviewer for UKClimbing.com and, finally, as someone who just uses the bloody stuff.

Belaying in the basic work gloves

Perhaps like all apparel industries where fashion plays a much bigger part than many care to admit, there is little static about it. Certain brands do keep certain models in their range year after year, but these are the exceptions and its more likely to be, for example, technical climbing gear that goes years unchanged than technical clothing. Some items of clothing do make it into the 'classic' status and stay forever. I still wear a Patagonia Snap-T fleece jumper that I bought in January 1992 - but you can buy an identical one from Patagonia now if you wish! But far more normal is finding some item of clothing or equipment that you think is great - using/wearing it loads until it starts, fairly, to wear out; trying to replace it only to find the firm has dropped that product from their line. You then end up buying an alternative model that doesn't work or fit as well as the old one. C'est la vie. It also makes reviewing many things more than a year old kinda pointless as the chances of people being able to buy the same product drops off.

Ski touring in Arctic Norway in the basic work glove

Anyways... that's a long way of saying I really want to recommend the Marmot Basic Work Glove. Not only are they good - I've had a pair for something like 4 years and have used them loads - but because the old ones were looking really tatty I recently bought a new pair for 'town use' and they seem to be identical! Yes, a product that works really well, and remains in a company's line year after year. Would you believe it?

Grubby and tatty but still going strong

The Basic Work Glove is, well, rather basic: all leather with a fuzzy warm synthetic lining. That's it really; but what you get is gloves that you can grip things with and that are pretty dextrous (meaning less taking them off); that are windproof and breathable; and that are for me at least surprisingly warm. They are not waterproof so aren't great for ice climbing due to that. I waxed mine with Nikwax and that helps a lot, wet snow isn't a huge problem for example, but still they are gloves I use whilst walking to the icefalls, and whilst gearing up and the like, but I'll put on Goretex or eVent gloves to actually climb in. I like wearing them for skiing in all but the foulest of conditions, again because of the dexterity whether that's grabbing your pass to beep at a resort, or taking off climbing skins when touring. A basic leather glove seems to be favoured by many guides for summer Alpine as well; I've not used mine for that but I suspect they would work well. Perhaps one place where they might not be the best choice would be UK winter hillwalking and climbing, where having something more designed for rain and sleet might be better.

Strong and well sewn seams

They are as tough as old boots (or "old gloves" maybe?!), I got some slices in the palms of mine from the edge of a file when sharpening an ice screw whilst out climbing once but that's the only real damage to them. It didn't cut right the way through but went pretty deep, so I painted over the cuts with seam grip and this seems to have very effectively fixed it. It's nice that being leather you can 'fix' them so easily. Perhaps the best thing about the quality of their construction is the bomb-proof stitching. On my old ones it shows no signs of blowing even after four winters of hard use, something that isn't true on many of my more expensive ice climbing gloves.

So there you go: a simple glove that works really well. Finns should note that Partioaitta always seems to have them in their annual (or bi-annual?) sale. I think the normal price is €30, but both times I've paid only €20. There are various work gloves available from other brands that look very similar and cost a bit less. They may well be just as good, I don't know, but I can say the Marmot Basic Work Gloves are the best value and toughest general winter gloves I've owned.

Stuff that works #1: DMM Cobras

It's a bit sad to call an inanimate object made of aluminium and nylon "sexy", but come on - to all the climbers out there: look at the curves on that - phoarrr!

I've decided that on blogs you get a lot moaning - it's the democratisation of the media, finally the little guy gets chance to yell "this is really rubbish" about a crap consumer good he or she got tricked into buying by clever advertising or whatever. I write gear reviews that, if done well, is basically institutionalised moaning. So I think I need to sometimes sit back and look at stuff that really works. This will probably be climbing gear and outdoorsy stuff, but maybe other stuff as well and might become an irregular series.

So to start with the DMM Cobras - mid-90s welsh engineering at it's absolute finest. Ridiculously strong, and with brilliant ergonomics - I still don't think there is any karabiner that is easier to clip. I think there is a probably reasonable fear that the bulbous nose makes it slightly more likely that the krab could unclip - particularly if back clipped and that is why this design has been superseded. But basically back clipping is your own dumb fault and easily avoided - whilst in its favour, that nose made even the most tenuous of clips a breeze. Cobras would be considered heavy in comparison to modern krabs, but that probably about the only thing against them for rock climbing to my mind.

Halt! Or you will be merchandised!

I was looking at toys on the Sainsbury's website today and was rather surprised to see a range called HM Armed Forces. If you don't believe me, their own website is here, they have a not very good blog here and of course, a (pretty tacky) youtube video:



Thanks to having little kids, I've started paying attention to toys again in recent years. It has struck me that when I was little there were far more realistic 'war' toys around than there are now. My Action Men of the late 70s/early 80s were dressed in the UK uniforms of the time and armed with contemporary weaponry. One was in olive drab and DPM and armed with his SLR so presumably was going to play his part in stopping the Russians getting to the Fulda Gap; another was in all white, had skis and a white SLR so seemed destined to clash with the Spetznaz in a defence of Narvik along side his fellow RM Arctic Warfare Cadre. The last one, most obviously of all, with his all black uniform, H&K MP5 and gas mask was going to go through windows to neatly double tap Libyan terrorists. This was clearly all good educational stuff for a young lad. The Action Men of now are like comic book heroes who seem to fight wars in day glo colours on jet skis of no obvious military utility.

So it's interesting that there seems to be a gap in the market now for "realistic" action figures, but with British troops dying almost daily in Afghanistan it does seem very slightly in bad taste. Is the market gap a new engagement with global reality amongst the male, 5 to 10 year old demographic? Or perhaps more like the nostalgia of thirtysomething dads remembering the SLR wielding Action Men of their childhood. The HM Forces do have an enemy character: "the Mercenary", a suitably PC solution for who it is OK to blow away (although look carefully, that's a German rifle isn't it? Hmmm....). I wonder if next up will be a Taliban insurgent figure? If so, we fortunately already have a Harrier available should your infantryman need some close air support. You can also get an HM Forces radio set, although of course to a be like a real HM Forces radio set, it would have to have taken 20 years to procure, weigh a tonne, work considerably worse than the commercially available alternatives and have costed the tax payer hundreds of millions of quid.

But leaving politics aside - what the hell are HM Forces doing franchising their name? Does Her Maj herself get any say? Or perhaps even a cut of the profits? Will the income stream generated from HM Armed Forces Toys be enough to the plug the helicopter deficit in Helmand? I was just thinking recently how smart HM Forces have been lending their assets (from a Eurofighter to a tank regiment) to the BBC in recent years for various episodes of "Top Gear"* but, in effect, merchandising the Afghan war to toy manufacturers does seem like a rather postmodern step.

*and you have to admit, this is one of the funniest and cleverest pieces of TV entertainment in recent years no matter how much I want to loath Clarkson for everything he stands for.

100,000 visits.

Some relaxing Northern light - with ducks for added value

I've just noticed the little hit counter at the bottom of this blog has passed 100,000 hits since I started it in 2006. Even accounting for google bots, spammers and the numerous people who come here via search engines whilst looking for "gay penguins" or "how to carry an ice axe" - that's still a huge number of people choosing to visit my blog and read my ramblings. Thank you to everyone, knowing people are actually reading this is the main reason why I keep at it.

I can't promise anything else than more semi-regular mid-grade climbing reports; a smattering of photos - some good some not; rants about people parking on cycle paths; reasonably informed opinion on the bits of international political life that I know something about and uniformed guesses about those bits that I don't know about; and my continued observations of things about Finland that amuse or annoy me - but that seems to be enough already to help you pass a few minutes of your day!

Of course if I find out anything about how gay penguins carry ice axes I will let you all know.

Ghosts in the machine

I was for various reasons (one of which was this brilliant piece of radio from Radiolab) googling a friend who died a few years ago. He's still there, in google, but he's fading. Other people have his name now and they are doing things that Google notes. Vesa is, being dead, at a distinct disadvantage in the rankings because despite doing lots of things noteworthy in his unfortunately too brief life - they are now all in the past. He never got chance to start a Facebook page, so someone else with his name has got that one. He went too early to see the explosion in the popularity of blogging. But his name is still there - it's not gone completely, a ghost in the machine, and some of us still remember him as well in our more organic memories.

The picture above is of me, but it was taken by Vesa - back when photos were on film and had to be scanned. He made the webpage for the climbing club and for some reason I ended up on the front page; I wasn't really even a member, I just went out climbing with them because they were nice guys. I had completely forgotten about it, and it was googling his name that led me to it, the entry tunnel to a now defunct website, but which lives on lurking forgotten on some server. I too am also a ghost in the machine.

Vesa - you are getting a climb named in your honour mate! It's not a very good one, but hey - neither of us were ever really very good climbers were we? ;-) Rest easy now.

Twitter

I'm not completely certain why, but I have joined Twitter. If you want to get a sense of just how dull and un-Stephen Fry-ish my life is, you can follow me at TobyinHelsinki. So far, I have three followers. I'm very, very proud.

What we want to know

No blogging this week, sorry. More a case of too much to do, than not enough to say. There is always something to say...

Anyway, below is screen shot from when I started to type a question into the Google search box on my browser. I was so fascinated by the suggestions I never got round to finishing what I was going to do. They're quite nice aren't they? Love (well, ok, sex), family, self improvement and sharing a meal with others all come before money grubbing issues. Is Google revealing a transnational humanity?

Watching the detectives

People of Helsinki! Stop visiting sex shops, being sick on the street, getting nicked by the rozzers, or dozens of other vaguely embarrassing things for the time being... Google Street View is in town. Here I snapped some pictures of the uber-snappers as they were packing up their roof top camera pod thingies before heading into a suburban hotel.



This was at 9.30 in the morning, which seemed odd, but who am I to argue with the all knowing Google?

And here's Costello - I had forgotten what a good song this until I thought of the post title.

Mark Kermode vs. Jason Statham

There can be only one.

I'm just about to listen to Mark Kermode review Jason Statham's latest film. As any other Mayo/Kermode-regulars know this something to be really, really excited about. If you want to hear who wins, click the link above. Okey dokey - I'm getting back to my podcast now.

A long, long time ago in a galaxy...

...far, far away this dude flew a space ship:


But I don't know what his name is. The next generation of my family has discovered my old Star Wars figures, and this is the only one that I couldn't still name. I thought a quick google would reveal all, but of course all it reveals is how immensely geeky Star Wars fans are - in the nicest way. Not only are there lengthy Wikipedia entries to everyone who appeared in the films for more than about two seconds, there is a dedicated, massive and immensely in-depth wiki just for the "Star Wars Universe", delightfully called Wookieepedia. But I couldn't see any name I recognised from long list of rebel pilots - who I think this guy was. I think - to show my own geekyness - that he was an X-wing pilot in the same squadron as Luke Skywalker, but he might have been in a Y or even a B-wing pilot.

Anyway, if anyone reading remembers his name - please leave a comment. I will be very grateful and some small boys will be impressed.

This is just a test

I've started noticing more videos hosted on Vimeo. It is really just like YouTube yet somehow prettier - both the site itself, and the way they embed. See if you agree. Below is a short clip of my brother-in-law on the crux of Amphitheatre Buttress (Vdiff), Craig Yr Ysfa, Wales - taken in 2004. Considering it was his first proper climb, and he was in trainers, he was storming up it.


Amphitheatre Buttress (Craig Yr Ysfa) from Toby A. on Vimeo.

It's kind of pretty isn't it? The video hosting that is, not Jaakko wearing my ridiculous-looking old helmet. At least until the comment threads on Vimeo get as soul-sappingly-awful as they are on YouTube, then I think I'm gonna stick with Vimeo.

50,000 hits

...and still standing.

I just noticed that my oldest hit counter has gone well past 50,000 since I started doing this a couple of years ago. OK, so half of those were probably automated search bots or people who arrived by mistake whilst really looking for some sort of strange and very specific porn, but it still suggest thousands of real and genuine people have read something here on "Northern Light".

Resisting the temptation not to yell "Come on people! Have you not got something better to be doing with your time!!!", I will rather say thank you very much to everyone who drops by, and particularly for those who have taken the time to leave a comment, and I hope not to bore everyone too much in the future.

Toby.

Flying business class to the sixth form disco

A few years back I had a cool job working for the UN Environment Programme. The pay was pretty crap and the work was hard, but I guess you are expected to do it for the love of the environment or some such. As an "adviser" to the unit chairman (i.e. dogsbody) I had do everything from -literally- the photocopying, to meeting a Prime Minister, albeit of a very small and unimportant country. But the thing that made up for that, at least for me, was that traveling a lot at very short notice we had to fly business class. I had never flown business before and I never went any further than Pristina, so never got to go on one of the big plane where the chair turns into a bed and you get a personal DVD player and all that cool stuff. But you did get more chance to stretch, take more stuff on as hand luggage, nicer food, wine and get on and off quicker. You still get to the same place, but the overall experience is nicer.

So I caved into the peer group and marketing pressure and bought an iPod. It is very pretty and particularly as I already have a MacBook, it all colour coordinates nicely - which as we all know, is one of the most important functions to look for in an MP3 player. But I'm starting to get Mac's genius. You take it out of the box, plug it into your computer and all these things start to happen. Smooth things. White things. Things with rounded contours. Things that don't go "ping" but click in quiet and comforting ways. Messages are short and to the point and don't use words like "drivers", "program files", "installation error". Instead it gently suggests how it could be useful to you. And within ten minutes of plugging it in, I'm unplugging it and ready to listen to 1.7 days of music and podcasts. If only life could all be so simple. So more expensive than the alternative options that will still play your music and podcasts, but the overall experience is nicer.

I immediately went to the "my favourites" playlist and proceeded to dance round the kitchen as I did the washing up, like a beer-ed up 18 year old at the sixth form disco.

And if anyone wants to compare playlists - of my CDs that I have so far ripped to iTunes (not actually that many due to having a small MP3 player before) this is the "my favourites" list. Make of it what you will!

• The Eton Rifles 3:59 The Jam The Sound Of The Jam Rock
• Tomorrow 3:43 James The Best Of James Alternative & Punk
• The Road Is Not Your Only Friend 2:38 Jeff Lang Whatever Makes You Happy Blues
• Sometimes 5:19 My Bloody Valentine Lost In Translation Soundtrack
• Can't Stop 4:31 Red Hot Chili Peppers By The Way Rock
• North Country Boy 4:02 Charlatans Melting Pot Alternative & Punk
• Hoobaale 5:05 K'naan The Dusty Foot Philosopher Hip Hop/Rap
• Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill 4:17 Lauryn Hill The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill R&B

To iPod or not to iPod?

If one technological device has changed my life over the last couple of years - it's the Creative Zen Nano Plus MP3 player pictured above. After buying a very cheap no-brand MP3 player two and half years ago to 'see what it does', I discovered podcasting - one of those words you were aware of previously but hadn't taken much account of - a bit like "email" was to me until mid-1995. That first MP3 player would continually turn itself off due to static, so carrying it outside on cold winters day in nylon jacket was pretty hopeless, yet I was hooked on the content so upgraded to the Nano Plus. In the two years since I bought it various radio stations around the world, plus other sources such as newspapers and magazines, have increased the availability of quality podcasts. One of the first things I really missed when I first came to Finland in the mid-90s was having access to all the media I wanted. I was reliant on very crackly World Service shortwave broadcasts and the local Finnish YLE station that rebroadcast international radio services on FM, but not always in English. But with podcasting now I can listen to as much BBC as I have time for, and now not just the World Service - although it still remains my favourite - but also the domestic broadcasters like Radio 4 and FiveLive. It makes a huge difference for me in the 'expat experience' - making my new home and old home feel not very far apart. When I arrive in the UK I really feel that I have missed very little, perhaps the odd TV-celebrity but I can easily live without that part of the zeitgeist. Add to this, I'm now more of 'global citizen' listening to a lot of U.S. radio and bits and bobs from other odd corners of the planet.

But after two years of everyday use, of being stuffed in pockets and dropped repeatedly on the ground - including from a fast moving bicycle on a number of occasions - the buttons on the Nano are giving up the ghost. Sometimes you buy things that disappoint but I can say without reservation that Creative engineered a little piece of perfection in the Nano Plus. Of course with consumer culture being what it is, Creative has since dropped this gem from their range. So I have tried the new Creative Stone Plus that seems to be the replacement but was so disappointed that after about three weeks returned it to the shop and got my money back. It was really unstable - whenever you connected it to the USB cable (which is how it recharges) it would loose it place in the track you were listening to. This maybe isn't a problem when listening to three minute pop ditties on shuffle, but bloody annoying when half way through a 50 minute panel discussion on say, the role of conservative Christians in the Republican primary race! The delete didn't work well either leaving ghost tracks on the MP3 player which it would try to play, and requiring regular reformatting to clean it up.

I've seen something like the Nano Plus, just a slightly bigger and older version being flogged off for EUR 4o in the local supermarket. But then I'm also tempted by the 4GB iPod Nano but that is also four times the price at EUR 160. My MacBook has been a great success since one friend persuaded me to make the jump to Apple, but do I need an iPod? What makes them so great? They don't even have a built in microphone which is a superb feature in my Nano that I now use for every interview I do for work, allowing me to have all the interviews as MP3 files on various computers. Oh - decisions, decisions...

Help me out dear readers. Any iPod owners please tell me if its is good or not. Are their any other Mac users out there who have a good non-iPod MP3 player that they love? I've had a look at some Sony and Philips and Creative ones but most seem to only have software that needs Windows...

It is perhaps a reflection that we have charmed lives in the first world that we get to worry about such things, but there you go. I am embracing the pointlessly consumerist and rapaciously capitalist side to my existence and really getting some angst going over this. Help me out please!

Pyrrhic Victory

Hmmm, not sure if that is actually the right term - but it will have to do. Something I wrote was quoted today by the Financial Times (the story was on the front page of their website as well). But because it was one sentence taken out of a lengthy report, of which I had co-authored just a small piece, alongside a good number of my friends and colleagues - no one will ever know that was me. But it was. The whole quote. My words. All of them. On the FT online front page.

I'm dead chuffed.

Friends-bloody-not-reunited

We are meant to be in the era of Web 2.0, and generally web 2.0 is free. I blog on Blogger for free. I post pictures on Flickr for free. Yahoo mail gives me as much email storage as I want for free. I keep word documents on Google docs for free. I even have a MySpace page which I don't use - for free. Friends reunited isn't free. An old friend sent me an email through the site and I want to reply but I refuse to give the chancers seven quid fifty for the pleasure of doing so! In the case of about 90% of people from the school I went to, I have absolutely no desire to be reunited with them. Plus I don't know how good the internet connection is in prison for some of them. So £7.50 is way to much to email the few people I would like to be in contact with!

So Al, if you read this, either leave a comment here or email me on the address that I left on my Friends-expensively-reunited profile. :-) I spent about half an hour googling your name last night trying to find an email address, but - I'm afraid to say - you have an annoyingly common name so no success!

What's the point of MySpace?

I want to be down with kids, so I signed up for MySpace. Actually, truth told, I was investigating/cyber-stalking someone and found they had a MySpace page with photos and I couldn't see the pictures without signing up. So one way or another, I now have my own page.

At the moment I have a grand total of no friends. Getting "friends" seems to be the thing to do on MySpace. I've had a couple of people email me asking to be my friend, it seems that the standard thing to do is to agree and then leave a wee message on their page saying "thanks for the add". After that I'm not quite sure what you do with your "friends"? Will any of them buy me a pint?

All three of friendship offers so far have been from musicians or bands, two in Finland which kinda makes sense, but one from a funky dude in NYC. One of the Finns, a female singer-song writer, is VERY pretty (see pic above). I'd like to be her friend, but I suspect all the attention I'll really get from her is email updates as to when her newest release will be out. Best of all, a Finnish hardcore metal band "Skavenger" want to be my friend! As noted in a recent post, I think metal is pretty sad, and I don't get why death-metalers want "friends"? It's not very 'core is it?

DIE! DIE! YOU'RE ALL GONNA DIE!
DEATH! DEATH! THE APOCALYPSE IS COMING!
But, in the meantime would you like to be my cyber-buddy?

Perhaps they just need more people to ritually sacrifice to the devil or something? Anyway, if you have a MySpace page and want to be my friend - but aren't going to try and sell me some CDs, please email! And if I'm missing something else about MySpace, do tell.

And am I just getting old, or is MySpace the most ugly, god-awful piece of page design on the internet?

dead rock shoes

dead, dead, dead,critical, seriously ill, new, brand new

Do all climbers end up with boxes of old rock shoes that you know you should throw in the bin, but you end up thinking "I can maybe do a few more routes in these", so never do quite get around to throwing them out? Or am I just sentimental/tight?

How to carry an ice axe.

If you aren't interested in ice tool-rucscac interface technology (or 'straps' as they are alternatively called) you can safely ignore this post. But for those of you following Andy K's great "velcro or bungy?" debate, this is what I mean.

click the pic for a high res version