"We're in the pipe, five by five."

"Grab your gear, rookie. We're shippin' out."
"Shipping out to where, Sarge?"
"New Mombasa."
"New Mombasa? But......that's on Earth."
"That's right, kid. Seems The Covenant have decided to pay a little visit and the folks back home want us to throw the welcome party. You in?"
"Yessir."
"Boots on the ground in 36 hours. See you down there."

His mind races. First time out as an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper. A Helljumper. Was he ready? Only one way to find out; put his boots on the line and get ready to drop.

Absolute Badass.

Halo 3:ODST

Happy Shepherds

After the week I've had, I was glad to see the back of it. That it went out in a blaze of colour kind of made up for it. And this settled weather looks like it might hang on for a wee while yet.

Interesting.

High Pressure. The nice kind.

Numb3r5

Couldn't let 09/09/09 go by without posting something. I had something appropriate lined up but I'm fecked if I can remember where I put it.

Here's some numbers in the meantime.

Pure Awesomeness

Nun Attack!!!

There's been a definite nip in the air these past few mornings. Autumn's nearly here and, this being Scotland, Winter won't be far behind. I'd been going through the gear pile and there's plenty of choice when it comes to warm stuff. A lot of it's synthetic and there's a few bits of down in there but there's always room for a bit more.

I had a PHD Yukon Pullover on the wish list but never got around to picking one up in the last sale. But, as luck would have it, I spotted something similar during an infrequent visit to OM. A quick bit of Googling and my mind was made up. Turns out the seller was the same guy that I'd bought the LIM 55 from, months ago. A couple of emails back and forth and a Nunatak Skaha Plus was mine.

Gear Porn

It's a custom job with an extra 2oz of down and a tunnel handwarmer pocket. It is, quite simply, stunning. Packs down small but lofts like an absolute bastard while tipping the scales at 440g. Team it with the PHD Minim 500 and I've got a bitchin' winter sleep-system.

Fuckin' awesome.

Signs

The corn's been harvested and the baler's at work. Proper bales. Not those stoopid round ones. Can't build a fort out of them. Magic.

"Ooo, Shiny!"

The first words I uttered on opening the box that arrived yesterday morning. The postie, bless him, was early and caught me just before I left for work. A good start to the day and on a Friday too.

It had been sent by Ed, one of the "Windy Boys" over on Outdoorsmagic. I'd dropped in there to enquire about something and it turned out that he had one spare. So, after a couple of emails and a monetary exchange, a new Bushbuddy Ultra was mine.


I'd been thinking about getting one for a while now but was spurred into action by The Boy's love (and mine) of an open flame. Even though campfires aren't prohibited up here, it's still a bit off-putting when you're confronted by "Thou shalt not set fire to stuff!" notices at the start of your walk. This seems like a guilt free compromise*.

The Boy made me do it.

All we need now is a dry day before the schools go back so we can get out somewhere.

*The folding fire-box/Trench Mortar was deemed "A bit shite" and consigned to the Oddities box.

Be good to yourself

Getting presents from folk is awfy nice but you should never miss an opportunity to treat yourself too.Any excuse, eh? :o)

Lay down your burdens

I've been meaning to write a few words about the LIM55 for the last few weeks but other than "It's great!", I can't think of anything else.

Oh awright then. I'll try.

It's a tremendously good bag. Seriously, I can't fault it. Everything goes in with room to spare. The big, stretchy outer pockets take bottles, and tents, with ease. The roll-top closure is a piece of piss to use and that wee lid pocket is a work of quiet genius.


I hardly noticed it on my back. I put it on at the car and took it off several miles later with no adjustment in between. The harness and hipbelt are probably about the best out of any pack I've used and that includes the OMM packs I'm always banging on about. (Note probably. I need a few more trips yet)

Speaking of which, the OMM Chest Pouch fits nae bother and that makes me very happy indeed. That, and the wee pockets on the LIM's hipbelt, means that pretty much everything's to hand.

It does look like a sack o' tatties but I can forgive it that. Oh, and according tae The Boy, it goes with my boots, the Nike Tallacs. Matching bag and shoes? Disnae get better than that :o)

Sunday Post

I'd hoped that the wee box from Bob & Rose would've arrived on Saturday morning but it showed up on Sunday. When did posties start workin on the Sabbath?

Glen Derry Redux

It was all a bit last minute but, nearly a year to the day since the last time, me and The Boy headed to Braemar for a wee overnighter. We stopped off at Braemar Mountain Sports, stocked up on Honey Stingers and hit the road again. It's a nice wee drive up the glen wi' some splendid views.


Passing the Aktomobile at Inverey, we turned into the Linn o' Dee car park in no time at all. Packs on, it was a long, hot walk up to Derry Lodge but we passed the time talking about Geography no less :o)

There were a few folk about but we'd got the Ignorant Bastards out the way less than 10 minutes from the car park and everybody else was all happy and smiley.

I counted 11 tents dotted about the lodge but our pitch from last year was free so we bagged it again.


Tea, brews, banter and a wander up to the wee metal bridge followed. We hung about there for a bit and then walked back down on the opposite side of the river, spotting a deer, the only one we saw the whole trip.


It was all very relaxing until The Boy turned his ankle less than 20 feet from the tents. A short period of parental panic followed. I was running thru' various scenarios including how to explain to the MRT why it was that my child was wearing glorified trainers out here in the wilderness. Happily, a platy of cold water wrapped round it seemed to work and the swelling wisnae too bad.

We turned in late and slept late. No rush. Breakfast was taken on the riverbank, in warm sunshine. Magic :o)


The walk back was a tad on the hot side to say the least but it was enjoyable in a slightly masochistic way. Sad to say, it was way too hot for me to even consider a burger from The Hungry Highlander but a can of cold Irn Bru and some of The Boy's Chips'n'cheese hit the spot.

We were home less than 2 hours later and my beloved, bless her, had organised a wee barbie for our homecoming. What a crackin' weekend :o)

March or Die!

We were walking along in companiable silence when I noticed that I was mesmerised by my feet. Specifically, the wee puffs of dust that popped up with every footfall.

"You can actually see the heat rising", said The Boy.

"Aye. It's all a bit Foreign Legion", I replied.

Grinning, we strode on; the miles back to the car disappearing under our dusty boots.

Away mission

Away team to the shuttle bay. And nobody wear a red shirt FFS.

Dual purpose

I like stuff that works both on the hill & off. The stuff they gave us is pish IMHO. Pictured: limited edition Velez Adventure (Black, non reflective. Stealthy as f**k)

Weather: Changeable

Dear Weather Gods, Make your mind up.

Hail to the Master Chief

He stands on top of the communications bunker and looks out across the shallow valley. It's been half a standard year since he last stood on this very spot. Nothing's changed. Behind the mirrored visor, he smiles.


The crackle of small arms fire carries on the breeze but he hears a different song, an ancient one, of times long since past. "Good times".

Living easy, livin' free, Season ticket, on a one - way ride.

Reaching down, he pulls the turret gun from its' mount. "Time to go to work".

Asking nothing, leave me be. Taking everything in my stride.

Jumping down, he stalks forward. The weight of the gun slows him but there's no rush, he's savouring the moment. A pencil-thin beam flickers across his chest. He ducks behind a low rise as the full charge of the Spartan Laser blasts a shallow crater in the earth. "Missed, ya fucker".

Don't need reason, don't need rhyme Ain't nothing I'd rather do.

Moving from cover, he closes in. The big gun's triple barrel's stutter and become a roar as they spin up to full speed. The enemy begin to fall in ones and two's.

Going down, party time My friends are gonna be there too.

He's grinning now. This is why he comes here. This is who he is. As he falls upon them, his battle cry causes all to fall briefly silent; "'moan then, ya fannies!!!!"

I'm on the highway to hell. On the Highway to hell.

Rain stops play

Supplies arrived just in time, along with some pish weather. They'll keep.

We have a winner

I declare Apricot & Sultana to be the tastiest of the varieties available round here. I'll take a box, thanks.

Radio Silence

The keen-eyed amongst you may have noticed the lack of activity here over the last month. Nothing sinister, simply taking a wee break from the Web outside of work hours. Not a complete break, just a lessening of online time.

Business as usual in the real world with the recent arrival of some new "shinies". My self-imposed "Sell something to buy something" rule is working well. It's all gone a bit Swap Shop here. It's keeping the gear mountain in check at any rate.

Nothing terribly exciting, a 1 Litre Nalgene HDPE Bottle, waste water for the disposal of. Handy for all sorts of occasions.

Spurred on by the success of the SL2 and favourable reviews over at ptc's, a Big Agnes Seedhouse SL1 plus footprint. I'd been swithering for the best part of a year but, now that I've seen it in the flesh so to speak, I'm kicking myself for waiting so long. The Boy and me are heading out in the next couple of weeks so I'll be taking this instead of the Laserlite.

There's a Haglofs LIM 55 and a Snow Peak Mini Solo cookset there that'll be coming along for the ride.

We're looking forward to it :o)

Hard as.......

Nails. Titanium nails. 6 of them. And 6 of the more traditional "shepherds crook" type pegs. That's what arrived this week by way of those nice people at ultralightoutdoorgear. I reckon I'm now good to go for pitching on anything up to, and including, concrete.

While I was shopping for pegs, I picked up another OMM Duomat. The one I've already got makes a fine sit-mat or, opened out, a loafing-mat. I used it under my Thermarest "three quarters" last time out as a wee bit of extra insulation from the ground, Two will be handy for those times I use a full length mat.

All 3 of my OMM bags are designed with carrying an extra Duo in mind so it'll be interesting to actually try it. Both fit neatly in the Jirishanca and there's no significant loss of available volume. I'll try it with the other 2 when I get a minute.

I can imagine getting away with using just the Duo's on their own somewhere soft and grassy but I seriously doubt I'm hardcore enough to do it anywhere else :o)

Innov8 Roclite 390 GTX

It's a difficult thing, finding boots that fit. Like many others, I have one "odd" foot. I think it's the left one but it could be the right. One of them's a bit out of kilter with the other at any rate. So I'm well used to playing around with the fit;adjusting laces, one sock or two and so on.

The 390's need very little in the way of adjustment and that's a minor miracle in itself. I've been wearing them at work over the last week and they've been fine. At times, I forgot I was wearing them and that's always a good sign.

I've got high hopes for these over the coming months but I'll reserve judgement until I've put some serious miles on them. Anyway, Chris Townsend likes them so they can't be that bad :o)