crackers

I haven't slept in a Valandre bag. I own a WM bag, and I'm buying a FF jacket right now. I will say that Valandre's tailoring is exceptional. They really have a great set of patterns and an impeccable design. I wouldn't mind buying one of their bags down the line. A friend of mine has one of their super cold weather bags and swears by it, but I haven't slept in one and I can't really comment in that regard. On the other hand, I was intrigued by Hydroman's perspective, so I just pulled some stuff out of the supply closet and weighed it. I just weighed 72" of the type of zipper that's a bit lighter than I think is used on a sleeping bag of this type --YKK #5 coil. 18" of #5 coil and a single double tabbed slider weighs 15 grams. 72" of #5 coil and two double tabbed sliders weigh 51 grams. That's 1.7 ounces. It would be 2 ounces when it's sewn in easily. I'd also remember that while Valandre and WM is a totally stock operation, FF affords a decent amount of customization.

In the vein of posting industry folks, look at Sterling, Trango, Mammut, Petzl and FeatheredFriends. (besides the obvious ) BD has a policy of not replying to people on the forums. IMHO, they really need to think about that. I think it was amazing having Chris Harmston posting, he's one of opinions I really missed reading...

i hate NPR's coverage of the politics. dosh garned tools of the hegemonic forces of the republic. especially that marketplace show and fresh air...ugh. But I'm with you on breaking things during the pledge drives. One of the local stations here in NYC does one day a year, and signs you up as a member and they're actually cool about it...but the rest of them...dosh garned liberal guilt mongers!

Leave JFK at night at you can be in Chamonix by midday. Or for fresh tracks in SLC, or Whistler or ... Cheap tickets too... There's a reason I live here! (wish i could remember what it was...)

Whats the penalty? Deportation to the lEast Coast? Internment in the Bellevue forced labor camp? The East Coast will only work if you're willing to live in NYC without a car. Since your carbon emissions will be so much lower than the rest of the denizens on this board, you'll be allowed to board JetBlue once a month for parole visits to the mountains. You'll also be allowed twice a month to ride in a Prius driven by somebody wearing Vibram FiveFingers (made in Italy) to the gunks or the ADKs to climb ice or the best trad crag in North America.

The rubber thing does not make for an alternate grasping point. It's entirely cosmetic, as TtB supposed. And it's ugly IMHO. That said, even the normal matrix tools are so much lighter than my taa-k-oons that I might get a pair. I've a pretty light touch, I have not broken a pick except by being an ass on top rope in a quarry, and I might try the light variant for the alpine. It feels good in my hand here in hot as crap (80degree) NYC right now...

because that was the deal columbia made with ahmedinejad...

Thanks! NWMJ is just so good. Thank you all!

I've been trying to stay out of this, but I think I've got a point or two to make. Consider it another team kind of perspective. Thank you for your service. This is my personal opinion in the from of debate and exchange of opinion. I certainly do not intend offense. The Iraqi gov't is a farce. The journo's i know covering this story include guys who've been imbedded since the Kuwaiti Pizza Expedition and are still around. They don't see the Iraqi gov't as much of a story because the perception of Americans, at home, is that the Iraqi gov't is a farce and the stories don't get read. In the market economy of news, if the stories don't get clicks, they don't get published as often. Actions by the US are held to a higher standard. We get judged by different standards, and personally, I'm fine with that. We're in a market economy for news as well as anything else; bitching about what the story should be and blaming somebody for reporting something else isn't helping. I see it as whining, whether it's done by a talking head on PBS or FOX or Indymedia, or any of my friends in an email. The basic fact is that the US media's readers have given up on reading about how shitty the iraqi gov't is. These readers still care about how good of a job we are doing. They still care about our national reputation and our ability to project our will. Personally, I see upside in that: I'm glad Americans still care about whether or not the US forces are doing a good job. That said, I think that the news coverage of BW should be focused on State and DoD decisions that lead to this situation. Historically, the military was able to provide protection to diplomates and consular staff. I know that my MSG/MarDat question was a bit of a throw away, but I just don't see the need for real heavy operators to drive folks around*. There is a difference between response and protection. MSG - which I'm informed is now called MCESC - is a post WWII invention, but the armed services have historically protected State folks in times of war. From POTUS to FIREPLUG (scy labor), when cabinet level folks visit a country, you can expect to see MSG guys everywhere. I recently got an email from a disgruntled friend of mine. The email pointed out that something like 3/4 of the REMF's in the US Army/Navy in WWII got fired in the year or so of the war because they were having a hard time adjusting to the new reality. We sure haven't seen that. To argue that "one of the military's core competencies is not VIP protection" as Scott did is both wrong in my opinion --show me a general without a driver and all the rest-- and outdated. Seperating these tasks creates chain of command distractions and blind spots. It's a waste of time and money and most importantly, lives. I know widows and I know dead guys because of the lack of communication between contractors and the military. We're in a long term war, which I personally don't see ending much before I retire. I feel that State and DoD and others have screwed up massively on planning, adapting and responding to reality. It's not efficient to train operators and then rehire them from the private sector. We will need them for the next twenty years, and we need as many as we can train up. Whether the man power is tasked to civilian affairs teams, State protection details, or any of the myriad of other tasks these skill sets and personalities are required to accomplish, we need the manpower. Finally, State and DoD's decisions here have created a horrific legal grey area where there shouldn't be one and created a PR problem that's not going to go away. We're giving our opponents a free pass to humiliate the USA and our forces, but I'm worried that we've actually delivered a free pass to legal prosecution. If the sh*t stained Iraqi gov't prosecutes anybody, it will be a disaster for all of our work. I have no problem paying market rates to US soldiers, in fact I have a problem that we're not already. And don't let's talk about death benefits and health care and ... Again, this is all my personal opinion, intended for debate not offense. *I'm not implying that it's all driving around, or that driving and navigating is easy. I am making the rhetorical point that much of the skill set and training of the operators is wasted in the day to day of this role. But to support my point with an anecdote, the best driver I ever met is an old friend of mine who was the 2nd to last "chaffeur" for the last commander of the Berlin Brigade.

So where's my NWMJ? Not to rush y'all, but...

Congrats! I just finished up my first year. It's an amazing experience.

Mortality Assured.

new jersey plate = student driver

I'm not so sure about Dyneema®. As you may know, I work with Dyneema® on a daily basis. We use Dyneema® in our packs, and we're about to start selling regular production packs made in Dyneema®. The stuff really isn't friendly over 160 degrees f, and I've recently done a (as in single, as illustrative not scientific, as in worthless) test on a friends rig that suggested that over 70 meters at a decent rapping speed, I could get an old fashioned ATC to the 180d level on a new 9.2mm cord. I am currently in conversations with several rope makers about this, but personally I'm scared off from Dyneema around my belay device. There are a lot of things to consider here, and my experience with fabric does not necessarily mean that the usage of Dyneema® is contradicted in cordage. Basically, you can heat Dyneema® to 180d and it starts moving in what I call "the Dyneema Dance". This dance ruins fabric. However, cordage is significantly looser than fabric, and this might not have any impact on weave. Also, the time a cord is in contact with a belay device is very short. One of the magic qualities of Dyneema® is that it has excellent recovery from the effects of heat. You can bring it up to 190 and back down without significant loss of strength. For me, the ultimate thing is that having physically worked with it, the stuff will give me the heebee jeebees near a belay device. Slings for pro, no problem. But personally I will not be using it anywhere near a belay device. Again, I want to stress that this is a personal thing, not a fully rational decision. Alpine climbing can be stressful enough without adding an avoidable heebee jeebee factor into the mix. I do agree that nylon is the best material to use in these situations. edit: the correct temp is 160f.

What do you call MARDAT's job?

get better. sorry. good luck!

Contrarian view. Get the ankle done now, and wait four weeks to get the wrist done. You know about my wife's ankle. There's so little blood down there that you want to give the ankle a headstart in recovery.

I've had the damnest time trying a munter on a mini-pear. It sucked. On the other hand, it did work, and I've got thinner ropes now. That was with an old beat up mammut 10.?, and I suspect that with the new 9.2, it'd be a ton easier. It's only $10. Get one and report back!

How about anthropophagic?

i had my one year wedding anniversary. And i'm still married. i also went to gettysburg for the first time in my life, and watched kids bouldering on some fine granite in a place called the devils den. They couldn't understand how i got on top of one of the boulders. They fell repeatedly running into the rock trying to make it to the top. It was perversely satisfying.

Turkish airlines maintenance employees sacrificed a camel when their contract to take care of BA 757's ended.

Rock Vikings is still better. Even if there aren't cats. Where's the cat the killer link?

90% of Nalgene-Nunc's business is labware. They also do a ton of custom fabrication, and their prices are extremely reasonable. I did chemistry undergrad, and we didn't have much of it in our lab, but my sister worked in molecular biology, and had nalgene-nunc stuff all over her lab. All their testtubes, reagent bottles, blahblahblah, it was all N-N stuff. I gather that it's more common on the bio / life sciences side, but all I really know is that labware is the majority of their business. Baltoro - I was just giving the hippies a hard time. I have no idea whether its a coating or the Al that's supposed to be nonreactive.

You mean the marketing? It's the biggest load of bull I've ever heard. If Al bottles were nonreactive, you'd probably find them in labs. But you don't. And personally, I'm not leaving Ph 9 solvents in a Nunc bottle for 20 years. Obviously, YMMV. All my euro friends have Al bottles. They do lend a certain feeling of urbanity for drinking booze in the backcountry.

six point sweet action. best part, they brew it down the block from me...