Dr_Crash

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

What's the advantage of a ladder style vs regular style with triangular steps on the sides? Stay open better? drC

Alpinfox, what they mean is that if you use the rabbit runner from end to end as a line (irregardless of whether that line bends or not), for example to extend an anchor etc. it's single strength (because you have a single strand being loaded). If you turn it into a loop, then that loop becomes full strength. drC

I don't get it: a rabbit runner is not better than a 48" (double) sling, and probably weighs as much when one looks at the Mammut. You can wear the double sling exactly the way you wear the rabbit runner (two biners, clipped into each other after looping the sling on you) and get it off the same wayl, pack or not... If anything it's shorter than the double length sling. drC

How much do they weigh? A 48" Mammut Dyneema sling is full strength and weighs 29 grams. drC

Rafael, if they look better than everything else and you get one on the way back from WA Pass, pick one up for me. I trust your judgment. Second Ascent sells black pads made in Switzerland by I-Don't-Remember-Who. Heard them tell a customer they're awesome. Anybody's checked those out? drC

They better not disappear after I subscribed for 3 years to support them (despite the fact that the USPS trashes many of my issues and that I should buy at retail). My favorite sailing magazine did that to me already years ago... The cover pic is disappointing, especially after the one on Alpinist 9, which I loved. And it does look like Steve House is blaming Bruce, yes... A climbing mag I like: Gripped. Too bad they look a little disorganized: I paid for 2 years in December 2004 and am still waiting for an issue drC

In addition to CBS's advice if it applies (i.e. you didn't even bother to read the B-52 manual or Trango's B-52 FAQ), practice the autoblock rig at home, and also practice unblocking with the rope loaded. drC

Also, your Summit pass is valid for free riding at Northstar and Sierra at Tahoe. They've got snow, and it might still be time for a spring trip drC

What I like about some of these Renault "keys" (my sister has a Mégane with that system) is the remote activation. Walk to your car and when you're close to it, it unlocks. Keep the key in your pocket and hit the Start button, it knows you've got the key. Walk away after driving and the car locks itself when you're about 10 ft away. Sweet. I believe Italy stepped up their speed limit on highways from 130 km/h to 150 km/h a couple years ago, to reflect local usage. At 140 km/h everybody will pass you (in the more mellower France, 160 km/h is the average cruising speed on highway, and many will drive 180 km/h). drC

I was a rope leader on Rainier with a BD Moonlight and I sure wished I had something that'd throw light farther away (especialy after we wandered off to the wrong side of the cleaver). That's when I got a Myo 5 It rocks, and is well worth the extra weight for navigating IMO. It also routinely sells for $56 or so on eBay (buy it now)... drC

I was a rope leader on Rainier with a BD Moonlight and I sure wished I had something that'd throw light farther away (especialy after we wandered off to the wrong side of the cleaver). That's when I got a Myo 5 It rocks, and is well worth the extra weight for navigating IMO. drC

I've got that Sandisk player. Great price when I got it (1 Gb for $119) but it crashes all the time when playing my music in random mode. So every 3 or 4 songs I need to remove the battery, put it back, restart the thing... And it starts at the same song it was the last time you started it (apparently it only saves where it is on shut off, not every time it changes songs). A pain... I need to file a bug report on Sandisk's site and hope they will release a firmware updated. You can transfer music any way you want (I used WMP 10). drC PS: just got firmware 1.02 and the damn thing still freezes.

I've got that Sandisk player. Great price when I got it (1 Gb for $119) but it crashes all the time when playing my music in random mode. So every 3 or 4 songs I need to remove the battery, put it back, restart the thing... And it starts at the same song it was the last time you started it (apparently it only saves where it is on shut off, not every time it changes songs). A pain... I need to file a bug report on Sandisk's site and hope they will release a firmware updated. drC

OK, will go with the Franklin then. Next time I'll think before placing two orders two days in a row at STP and save some shipping drC