darstog

Thanks, again, FF for another solid reply. Thanks, again, Dru, for informing all of us that you have the ability to purchase product below MSRP; it brought true joy to my heart. FF, the Volant in eVent would surely be my choice in belay parkas if I was sure that I wouldn't get H2O coming in through the seams. Have you all considered jumping on the welding wagon? If so, when? If not, why not? Do you have customers/employees ever seamgrip their seams? This seems obnoxious, I know, but even yesterday on the evening stroll with the ladyfriend the inside and pockets of my down vest were soaked with H2O coming in through the seams.

Thanks for the very solid reply. You folk at FF seem to consistenly provide honest and open responses without the intention of pushing your products too much, which is hard to do. And, don't worry, I undertand the beauty of the Volant and its many shell fabric possibilities. I think the Volant that I'd put in my quiver would have Nanosphere on it, but that's for a different thread... Sounds like Endurance isn't the shell fabric I'm looking for. Although I "get" the whole don't-put-a-wpb-membrane on a synthetic jacket, I've adored the Epic shell on my belay parka on many occasions. I absolutely can't stand a true hardshell (though I own a couple of 3-layer hardshells, they rarely make it out of my closet). Having a weatherproof shell on the belay jacket to me means that I don't have to bring any of the $750 in crinkly, stuffy hardshells that are in my closet. It means that if I have to putz around in not-fun weather, I don't have to worry about moisture because I trust that my shell will keep out the moisture and then my synthetic bag will take care of the rest. The ultra-light, ultra-breathable shells on something like the Mammut Stratos and the Patagonia DAS are great for really cold weather, but when percipitation is in the liquid state or is PNW-close-to-liquid, keeping as much moisture out of my clothing system seems to me important. I think purchasing a jacket with one of the Gore membranes on it seems a total waste. Having an eVent shell seems reasonable, as it's uber-waterproof and uber-breathable, therefore guaranteeing that my hardshells stay in the closet where they belong. The Epic shell may be the way to go, though I know that Epic, though quite light, isn't as WP or as B as something like eVent. What's the vibe from your Nanosphere fabric customers? This sounds like an amazing shell fabric. Very water resistent (like Epic), very light (like Epic), and very breathable (better than Epic). Nobody, so far as I can tell, is putting Nano on a synthetic belay jacket, though I wouldn't be surprised if somebody started to.

Does anybody have any knowledge about the breathability of Pertex Endurance? After having a belay jacket with an Epic shell (an old Go-Lite Belay Parka), I'm pretty sold on having a decently weather-resistant shell. Looking at this: http://www.rab.uk.com/products_synthetic_belay.html Oh, and why doesn't anybody make a belay jacket in eVent? WTF?

Did anybody pick up 3 ropes at Smith on 11/19, either (most likely) left in the parking lot to be picked up by the second half of a group or (less likely) between 5-Gallon and 9-Gallon? If so, please respond or PM me and I'll identify the ropes and provide a way to retrieve. Thanks.

Did it lose warmth because it wasn't stored properly or do you think it was because the Primaloft began to deteriorate (was it stored dirty/oily)? Or should it be expected that after about 100 nights on an uber-lite synthetic bag the thermal capacity will begin to drop? Were you compressing it frequently during the summer you used it a lot?

I have a go-lite down bag that comes over the shoulders but doesn't have a hood and I really like that. This tosses the viero out. The thing about the half bag is that it's 13oz heavier than the pounder and I think a little less efficient than a pounder and a 13-oz heavier jacket/pants system.

Does anybody have any experience with the MH Ultralamina 45? I'm looking for an ultra-lite synthetic bag that would be used in conjunction with a belay jacket and micro-puff (pajama) pants in colder weather and as an ultra-lite standalone in the summer. I like the zipper setup on the MH more so than I do the setup on the Marmot Pounder, which is also in contention. Of course, now that I think about it, I was thinking earlier in the year that I liked the Marmot better. They both have 11oz of fill, but the Marmot was 8oz lighter. Yeah, I was liking the Marmot better. So does anybody have experience with the Pounder? Crap, there's probably a thread about that somewhere. Maybe this thread can be this amazing resource where everybody waxes about synthetic ultra-lights. But you can't say "get a down bag" because I got a 1lb down bag. That's a rule. Go!

One of the questions I have for FF is what they're thinking about their licensing of Schoeller's NanoTech fabric. Specifically, are you thinking about putting it on some of your garments (you may already be doing this--I'm no longer in Seattle, only can check the web)? And how are the weight/breathability specs compared to epic. I've sort of always wanted a FF jacket but have been afraid of the eVent/Epic debate and the Hooded Helios/Volant with Hood debate. Maybe you'll make a new jacket between the two that has an integrated hood and is shelled with Nanotech? I'd probably buy it and lose less sleep.

John, It's great that you've done all this work; it certainly strengthens the community. I'll make sure to cash in one of my Kitchen Passes to make it out this year, especially if you can get me roped up with some sharp objects in my hand...

It seems like the wasps that are in the upper (crack) pitch on Red Eye are franchising. Yesterday I was snapped at by a wasp who was building a nest on the jug below the crux on Pinhead. I pulled up the stick clip, killed him, and took out his nest. When I was cleaning the anchors, I also saw another wasp building another nest in the slot above the anchor bolts. Right now, that isn't a problem, but if it gets much bigger, it could become an issue for anybody trying to clip the bolts at the anchor. If I was a better man, I would have taken the anchor wasp/nest out. If I was an even better man, I would have found the central hive that I think is somewhere on the upper part of Red Eye and taken it out. I am not that man and I rapped quickly so that the car wouldn't be towed. Just an FYI--keep an eye out for wasps on Red Wall.

Wondering if anybody had recs for kids harnesses. I took the 4 1/2 year-old lassie to French's dome the other day and I built one out of webbing, but it would be nice to have a real harness. I'm debating between the petzl simba full-body harness (which I've used for belaying kids at a number of institutions) and a the BS wiz kid, a child's seat harness, which I've never used. I've never climbed in a full-body harness, but it seems like it would be somewhat bothersome to climb in. Then again, I want her to be as safe as possible. But if the seat harness fits (haven't tried it), why would it be any less safe?

So it sounds like a good selection for cascade mixed aid/free routes (colchuck balanced rock, liberty crack, etc) when you want stay pretty light is to go with one ascender, one gri-gri, a pair of daisy chains, and a pair of alpine aiders. This would be a light setup that covers all of the bases. I don't have a ton of interest (or availibility) in the big wall department at this point, but for the shorter sections of aid/cleaning/jugging, this would go.

I'm definitely going to be practicing. Sadly, I haven't jugged a fixed line in a couple of years. Any others who have used the easy aiders? What about people who are on the heavy side of things. I'm not huge, but I somehow seem to outweigh every other climber (other than Marcus) by like 40 pounds. So the legs are definitely going to have to do the work. I'm still interested in hearing from those who have used the frog system. And what about this thread from RC.com which talks about a gri-gri/jumar combo as the best for cleaning aid pitches (are those of you who use this using a drilled gri-gri?): "When it comes to jugging a free hanging rope, if you are using a system other than the Petzl Frog ascending system, then you are abso-frickin'-lutely nuts! It is just way too strenuous, dude! Do you LIKE to suffer?? All you have to do is invest thirty-some bucks on a Petzl Croll ascender, get yourself a bit of 1/4" bungy cord or some webbing across each shoulder to attach to the back of your harness, and you're in business! When I am soloing and fixing pitches, I usually jug up to my high point the first couple of days before I blast off. I have ample opportunity to compare my jugging speed to other climbers around me. [We're all jugging first thing in the morning...] Ordinarily, I am able to jug three times as fast as everyone else. I can do two hundred feet in about four and half minutes, assuming I have any reasonable degree of fitness. [This may be a huge assumption with me!] Cut that down by a minute after a week on the wall. This has nothing to do with me - I have just left the office for cryin' out loud! But it has everything to do with my ascending system. It is not uncommon for me to jug five times as fast as the guys who are really struggling. I tell you this to stress the importance of setting yourself up with the Petzl Frog system. When you are jugging a free hanging rope thusly, then you DO NOT TIE BACKUP KNOTS! There are two reasons for this: The first reason is because you do not need to! You are attached by two points of contact to the rope. If you cross a knot, and if you have tied your knot correctly - please click here to see the proper knot to join two ropes together - then you will clip into the knot with your cow's tail [that's a fancy cavers' term for a long draw on your harness]. You should always leave a clip-in point on your rope knots! Duh. The second reason you don't bother with a backup knot is because you want the weight of the rope beneath you so that the rope slides through the Croll ascender without you having to pull it. On a dynamic rope, you might have to get thirty feet of rope beneath you before it self feeds. A stiffy static rope might work after ten or fifteen feet if you're lucky. BACKUP KNOTS WHILE CLEANING Firstly, you do not clean using two jugs! It is way too difficult. The better way to clean a pitch on aid is to use one jug, one Grigri, and your adjustable fifi hook. The Grigri replaces the Croll ascender on your waist. Please click here to read how to clean a pitch on aid. You'll find a bit more information on this in the post above that talks about the Petzl Frog ascending system. Intuitively you would think that replacing your Croll with a Grigri would be stupid because you have to pull the rope through the Grigri, but you will only have to clean about thirty or forty feet before you will be sold for life! The benefits of being able to back off on the Grigri after you move your jug above the piece you are about to clean, and after you have fifi'd into your jug and put your weight on the jug above the piece, cannot be overstated. Never again will you fight with your lower ascender. Cleaning even the steepest aid is a piece of piss."

I like the idea of having the gri-gri kept on so you don't have to tie backup nots which are never fun. Does the weight of the rope (once you get above a certain height) then pull the rope through the gri-gri or do you have to pull through yourself? Isn't that a ton of shit around your belay loop?

Despite some 5.8 searching (not at my best today), I couldn't find a good thread on this. So I'm going to try to use all of the words I searched for in one thread so that some other fool will have better results: If you were to start from scratch, what sort of system would you assemble that would be the fastest, most efficient, best way to jug, jumar, ascend fix lines and follow aid pitches? Setting routes in the gym, I've tried the two ascenders and two aiders system as well as the ascender and gri-gri system. Didn't particularly like either. Has anybody used the Metolius Easy Aiders? There's a video on their site that makes it look fairly easy, http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/easyaidervideo.htm but it's probably totally propoganda because there's a pro climber jugging the rope like it's nobody's business. And you only see her go like 9 feet. What about the frog system? And Russian aiders? What sort of systems do speed climbers use in the Valley (or elsewhere)? I think I covered it all

I've thought a fair amount about the double-bag lately. Your idea sounds pretty savvy, but I'd echo the commercial viability and the degree-rating overkill concerns of others. 1. Is there enough demand for this bag to make it commercially viable. In other words, is this something you would consider buying? I'd say not many people out there would be willing to buy this bag. I've tried to talk my main climbing partner into the idea of a double bag and he thinks I'm nuts. Secondary partners have been astounded by my genius, however. I would consider buying this, but not as a 0-degree bag. 2. Are there any features you would like to see added to this bag? The aforementioned stretch-hugger idea would be good, licensing the patent from Montbell might not be viable. The idea for the bag might go from good to amazing if you could toss an eVENT shell on the bag (so that you could possibly leave a shelter at home and bring maybe a tarp to throw over your head in case of rain--and what about welding seams, is FF going to go with this tech?). What about independent controls on the neck baffle, so that if you're hot and your buddy is comfortable, you could open your side of the entry a little ways? 3. Are there any features you would like to see removed from this bag? I think having the bag as a zero would be way overkill. I don't do a whole ton of winter stuff, but the coldest bag I own is a 15 because if it's going to be that cold, I'm already carrying a ton of layers. Why not make the bag uber-light, have one model that's like a 30 degree (how light can you make that--maybe that would have more appeal). One of the issues I'd have with this is the fact that it's (don't get too offended, I'm about to order a Volant jacket) a down bag. A double bag rated for cold weather without zippers seems like it might turn into a sweatbox. It would be less than ideal to be carrying a double bag on a multi-day trip and not be able to dry it out. One more reason to make it like a 30 degree bag. If somebody gets hot, take off a layer. Then again, I'm not doing anything in the Alaska range anytime this life. How much would I pay for this? If the snowbunting (FF 0-degree, full-featured) in epic goes for $469 and you gotta think this would be at least another 50% more expensive (pulled that number out of a hat), then you're looking at around $700. Which goes, again, to commercial viability. With all the money in the world (and a sponsorship), would I pay $700 for a bag I may use only a couple of times?

Though I don't own, nor have I used, the WT epic windshell, I've been very impressed with the epic fabric, as I have it on a belay jacket, a tent, and a bivy sack. I do own the Marmot super-light windshirt and I've been impressed with that, too (it's really similiar to the Patagonia). Essentially, the WT and the Patagucci are fairly different jackets, with the WT being more of a shell then the Pat and the Pat more of a UL windshirt, not designed to hold up to wetter snow, rain, sleet, Seattle. I think when it's uber-cold and snow will stay in it's not-liquid state, the Pat would be fine. But for most NW conditions, the Pat will wet out if it's exposed to too much H2O. The WT will not be as breathable, will be heavier, but it could all but replace a heavier shell for many trips and conditions. If you want a windshirt, rei-outlet has the OR hooded 3.5oz windshirt for like $46.

I used the BD Lightsabre for a 7-day canyoneering trip in SE Utah. I was remarkably impressed with the epic fabric. With even the slightest breeze there was no condensation, even if I had the door entirely zipped. When there was no breeze and I had the door zipped, there was some condensation, but there's no real need to zip the door when there's no wind, so that's sort of moot. I think the bivy could stand some improvement. First off, the canopy is too small to really make much of a difference in comfort. If it were just a few inches larger, there'd be enough room to sort of sit up or wiggle around a little more. As is, it's not that great to have such little room. It's nice that the canopy offers more surface area to dissipate condensation and you can hang a headlamp from the poles, but it's not that much nicer than being in a bivy without a pole structure. You also can't sit right up in the bivy. To sit up, you have to zip it open and then scoot down before you sit up. Then again, it's nice to not have the fabric on your face all night. If the poles were just a little bigger, you could really reap the benefits of the poled bivy. The BD is light, but it's not THAT light; my Wild Things bivy is lighter. If you're going to carry the extra ounces, maybe make it a little more worthwhile. The zipper on the opposite side of the entry could go all the way to the floor, giving you the ability to sleep on top of the bivy with your head underneath the canopy. Also, the more durable fabric on each end of the bivy could be extended a couple of inches. I had the bivy on a tarp each night and I still managed somehow to put a small hole in the sylnylon right beneath where the more duarble fabric ended. All-in-all the BD gets a positive review. With a few changes it could be a worthwhile buy, but as-is is sort of a nice niche product.

The Rab Summit is supposed to be made in eVENT, but if you look around on-line, the "Summit Extreme" by "Outdoor Designs" looks exactly like the Rab, but it's made with the "new" Gore-Tex Exchange-lite material. If I put 2 and 2 together, does this mean that gore is finally putting their eVENT purchase into their lineup?

So what, then, does Cordes have on his pad? It sounds like space blankets have little use in the climbing world. I've heard of other people relating John's experience with space blankets being ripped to shreds in the wind. What's this HVAC tape stuff?

Sounds like a good idea. Is this your personal ad? I didn't see your height/weight/favorite color.

No, as it's pissing rain on my local trail run right now, I'm actually choosing to waste my time by becoming more and more anal about gear. Sounds like more fun than running in the mud again.

In the Patagucci ad where Cordes is "trying" to melt water with his lighter on Azeem ridge, I noticed that he had a space blanket of sorts taped to his pad. Would the extra weight (1.5oz or so) of taping half of a space blanket to the top of your pad be worth it? A hardman pad (Evazote), will reduce conductive heat loss, but won't (unless I'm mistaken) reflect any radiant heat loss. If you add a space blanket designed to reflect radiant heat loss back, how much warmer would your pad be? Some of you with experience in thermodynamics should be able to help, right?

Unless, I'm mistaken, the elevation of the big E is of some dispute and is no longer thought of as 29,028. Also, the summit is rising at a very small rate. Therefore, Capt, you may have to stop at the official elev, and then post once every 3 or 4 years. The wait for which would be unbearable...

I called around and an unnamed vendor is going to be producing the carbon fiber helmets. They should be avail early 2006.