Dr_Crash

And then you have the dumbasses like me who have a national parks card and paid $30 for the NW forest pass instead of $15 for the (more useful) golden eagle sticker. Live and learn. drC

Extreme and dangerous are different things, CBS. drC

My BD half dome works great. My only issue with it is that the adjustment is done by velcro, and I'm not sure how long that thing will last. drC

$200 less, an ounce less minimal, a few more all packed. The Mont-bell Jupiter Dome Tent 2 seems pretty bomber. Not single wall, if you insist on that, though. drC

Nah. I just checked. It is way less. There are many annual insurances (FFME, CAF, Au Vieux Campeur) which provides for competition, and one can buy a daily insurance for 2 Euros a day for the occasional thing (an incentive for people who say want to just try climbing for a week). drC

The armed forces also reclaimed the guns they loaned to resorts for avalanche control. drC

Want to find booty in those crevasses? drC

Re: the pack, you can also use a pack prusik regardless of where you are on the rope. Make this the prusik closest to you. drC

Just wiping them with a cloth to get the water off is enough to prevent rust. Superficial rust can be taken off very nicely with a gummi stone (ask your local ski shop). drC

4 gear loops for the stated use (snow/glacier and a bit of climbing eventually) is a lot. 2 would be fine IMHO. Also, on snow/glacier padding usually is made up by the clothes you're wearing, so you can skimp on the harness padding and go for simple webbing. I personally use a Petzl Adjama for everything. It's 13 oz and there are many modern padded harness at just that weight. I've used a loaned alpine bod previously and it was fine, including hanging with clothes on. drC

No, mine. Damn it, I picked pink 'cause I thought it wouldn't be "climber" enough as a color drC

I have an 8.4 mm because I wanted a double to (guess what) double up sometimes but have used down to 7.5 mm. Small diameter perlon is your friend. drC

I wear a 42 street (42.5-43 for hiking/running/mountaineering) and use size 40 Mythos. I would have fit in a 39.5 I think, but as it was my first pair of shoes I thought the pain was intense enough in the 40. After a short while they became very very comfortable. They stretch a lot. (Of course there is the theory that if we didn't buy shoes that are too small they wouldn't stretch...) drC

Another classic drC

Not having a belay loop is not an issue, you simply use a big HMS biner (e.g. Petzl William) around the leg loops and waist loop. The archetypical alpine harness, the BD alpine bod, is like that. For lightweight with a single attaching point check out the Petzl Pandion. Also PMS sells a very lightweight padded harness (in the 9 or 10 oz range) though the gear loops look like crap. drC

Ricesac (7 liters smaller, lighter). I got one and absolutely love it. I'd say that on paper the CCW packs look great too, and Randy will make mods, which is very very nice. drC

Catamarans in the AC would be okay if all teams designed them to a common rule. But then, I like monohulls and trimarans more. French freeing is acceptable if you do not lie about it IMHO. drC

Should the children be sent to one's representative too? drC

Serious: http://www.summitatsnoqualmie.com/ See you at Alpental this week-end (crossing fingers for my sickness to go away tomorrow). drC

Or move to the moon: more mass allowed per plastic loop. drC

Well right-now, being in the midst of a divorce, I wouldn't want my wife to make life or death decisions for me: she might be tempted drC

(From that article above.) LOL. drC

Cases like that are why it is a good idea to have a living will so as to express what YOU would like to be done about your case, instead of letting others decide. I personnally have chosen not to be maintained in such a state, but it is a personal choice, and I don't feel any way re: someone else's decision of wanting to be maintained. To each his/her choice. Oh, and by the way, living will software are selling like hotcakes these days drC

Petzl says their plastic loops only support 5 kg of weight. So yes, they'll break easily. drC

I've been very happy with my Canon S70 which has one of these rarities for a fixed lens digicam, a wide angle lens (28mm). Size wise it's bigger than the very small pocketable, but in exchange for that you get full manual controls and RAW storage. The one thing I really wished it had was a hot shoe (but then we're not talking small size anymore). I got a filter adapter for it and will get a polarizer and grauate ND filter; the rest can be done in post processing. drC