Search found 316 matches

by DaleFTW
23 Dec 2014, 9:29pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Rab Ascent 300 or 500 Down Sleeping Bags
Replies: 30
Views: 7814

Re: Rab Ascent 300 or 500 Down Sleeping Bags

alant82 wrote:It sounds like you're already sorted for summer and winter, so really just needing something to cover spring and autumn. I have a heavy duty Mountain Equipment Dreamcatcher 1000 bag for serious cold winter camping and an old Rab Quantum 400 to cover late spring/summer/early autumn. Earlier this year I bought the Rab Ascent 700 (in a sale for about £110) to fill in the gaps - it's a lot lighter and more compact than my ME Dreamcatcher but still good for probably down to about -3 celcius or so.

I think you may find the 300 ok in summer but not offering enough warmth in spring or into autumn. The 500 sounds like it would probably suit you best - perhaps too hot for fine summer nights but you still have your 1 season bag for that.

The Ascent range of bags are a bit wider and more roomy than some others, which may or may not be an advantage to you. I'm quite slim but like being able to move about a bit within the bag, and don't have any complaints with mine considering the price I paid for it.


Used my Ascent 700 down to minus double figures and it did its job. It's a weird one in the sense it's neither light enough to be a summer bag nor heavy enough to be a true winter bag.

I would like to swap it out for a 500 tbh. I like the cut, but the 700 is overkill most of the time. The 300 would be too cold in spring and autumn for me. If it was just to be used in summer though...
by DaleFTW
15 Dec 2014, 11:24am
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Which Free standing tents for cycle touring?
Replies: 45
Views: 4619

Re: Which Free standing tents for cycle touring?

tatanab wrote:The Hilleberg supplied stuff sack for the Unna is a large and loose bag. I roll mine and put it inside the bag from my previous generation Terra Nova Solar. The bag is 15" long with a diameter of 5" and the tent fits with squash room to spare. The poles are 17" long so I pack them separately. The photograph does not show dimensions well, belive me I aligned the end of the tape, tent and poles.
100_1034.JPG

I pack my tent in a small Ortlieb rackpack (31litres). http://www.ortlieb.co.uk/small-rackpack.html Here it is with my sleeping bag, mat and stove.
100_1035.JPG


Hmm. Well that's a recipe for disaster if ever I saw one.

I can't get my head round the Unna. No porch space for cooking or for storing wet gear. The Soulo is a much better tent.
by DaleFTW
15 Dec 2014, 11:13am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Default tourer?
Replies: 113
Views: 13607

Re: Default tourer?

mrjemm wrote:So many headset spacers being needed to raise the bars to a useable level. Everything starts to look silly after a while, whereas a sloping toptube design could've been so much neater.


Oh aye, cos a 3 foot long headtube would look so much better...

Having a shorter headtube and more spacers = more flexibility to get a bike that fits. I have 10mm under my stem and I've left 30mm on top. With a longer headtube, I couldn't get that fit.
by DaleFTW
14 Dec 2014, 10:30pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Default tourer?
Replies: 113
Views: 13607

Re: Default tourer?

Disc Trucker > LHT.

Absolutely love mine. Best bike I've ever owned. Mine was bought when I got a refund on a Genesis Day01 Alfine 11 that spent more time in the workshop than on the road.

I don't think they're expensive at all. Before I got mine, I sat down and priced up everything I wanted - steel frame, BB7s, XT hubs laced to good rims, bar end shifters, etc. and the individual parts came to what I paid for the DT. Other brands skimp on things like rims/crankset, Surly don't. Every part of their bikes are properly thought out.
by DaleFTW
11 Dec 2014, 10:54pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: New old topic
Replies: 2
Views: 1082

Re: New old topic

Luxe Mini Peak
Luxe Hex Peak
GoLite SL3.
by DaleFTW
11 Dec 2014, 4:26pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: How do we do this?
Replies: 9
Views: 1161

Re: How do we do this?

Stradageek wrote:
al_yrpal wrote:On this site…. viewtopic.php?f=42&t=64440

This is probably the best UK resource. http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/

Have fun..

Al


Thanks al_yrpal, I'd found this one but got a little frustrated because it seemed a rather clunky and uninformative site

Anyone know of anything else?

Cheers


It's crap, but best of a bad bunch. Use the Google maps radius search using filters.
by DaleFTW
7 Dec 2014, 9:50pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Wild Country Zephyros 1 vs Vango Banshee 200
Replies: 19
Views: 6016

Re: Wild Country Zephyros 1 vs Vango Banshee 200

ikenbikeit wrote:My Zephyros 1 end pole holders both disintegrated by night 6 of the tour, tied on with gaffer tape, so on return went back to the shop. Six months later it still wasn't resolved. I got another make of tent from the kind retailer.
It could be I bought one of the first batch, I haven't heard of anyone else having this problem.


You're joking, right? I've seen more forum posts about the Zephyros series of tents falling to bits than I've saw cats on Youtube.
by DaleFTW
7 Dec 2014, 6:52pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: North or south ?
Replies: 15
Views: 2155

Re: North or south ?

Still not really grasping your point? Or is that you don't like it when it gets a widdle bit cold?

The coldest night I've ever spent in a tent was in an April. It's the UK, you can get all four seasons in a day and sub zero temperatures in the summer months.
by DaleFTW
7 Dec 2014, 4:26pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: North or south ?
Replies: 15
Views: 2155

Re: North or south ?

Paulatic wrote:


Notice that was a "Scottish spring" not winter.


Well done?
by DaleFTW
7 Dec 2014, 1:16pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: North or south ?
Replies: 15
Views: 2155

Re: North or south ?

If I was off on a tour now, I'd be heading into the glorious isolation of the Hebrides and the far North.

I'd be looking at OS Landranger maps and the Mountain Bothy Association website too...
by DaleFTW
21 Nov 2014, 10:03pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Front lights with a bar bag
Replies: 15
Views: 2682

Re: Front lights with a bar bag

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/busch-and-mu ... prod22455/

Running a couple of them for a year or so. Why pay more...
by DaleFTW
26 Oct 2014, 7:01pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Alcohol stove safety
Replies: 31
Views: 4049

Re: Alcohol stove safety

willem jongman wrote:Indeed, and I did not say they are. The Clikstand is a lighter but slightly less practical alternative. The Caldera cones are even much lighter, but really only for boiling water or warming ready made meals rather cooking proper meals. Again, it is horses for courses.


http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/cooke ... RB104.html
by DaleFTW
26 Oct 2014, 4:40pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Alcohol stove safety
Replies: 31
Views: 4049

Re: Alcohol stove safety

willem jongman wrote:It is horses for courses. Fuel availability is often the key concern. In much of Europe meths is the easiest fuel to get if you do not want to use carcinogenic car petrol or puncture cannisters (safer cannisters with valves are often a pain to get). In the third world you often have no choice but to use a multifuel stove.


Trangias aren't the only meths burner out there...