Archive for June 2011

Wipeout

Posted by on June 10th 2011 in Bargains
Tags:

You know what it's like - you're out on the hills and it's time to make a brew or a meal. You get the kit out and find that in your rush to get away earlier you didn't clean the pan/mug/spoon and now it's all looking a bit unhealthy. To add insult to injury all your tinder for your wood-burner is damp, you've run out of belly-button fluff, it's rained all day and you can't find any dry stuff to get you started.

You need one of these:

 

 

 

These handy wipes are brilliant - not only do they kill a multitude of nasty bugs that might be contaminating your cookset, they also burn like stink at the slightest provocation so they're great for starting your twig-furnace. If you click the pics to see the bigger versions you can read the box-blurb to see just what's what.

The wipes are in individual sealed foil sachets and have a 4-year shelf-life. Each sachet is a measly 5g. These boxes of 20 are currently on sale again for just £1.49 at Aldi.

Just one bit of advice - don't keep them in your first-aid kit. Accidentally use one of these instead of an antiseptic wipe to clean up a wound and it's not a pleasant experience.

Observing Report 7th-8th June 2011 (Yet another cluster)

Posted by on June 9th 2011 in Astrostuff, Observing Reports, Pics
Tags: ,

A session in adverse weather conditions. Most of the data was trashed by clouds and/or skyglow. Again, not enough hours of proper darkness for more than one target. Click the pic to see a larger version...

M71 (aka NGC 6838), a loosely-concentrated globular cluster in the constellation Sagitta.
Subs: 12 light @ 300s, darks and bias frames, ISO400.
1000D on the 6" R-C, guided with PHD.

A different sort of wind-power

Posted by on June 8th 2011 in New tricks for an old dog

I had a major panic this morning when I tried to boot up the laptop - all it would do was throw out a series of loud alarm sounds, briefly show the words "fan error" with no other info, and then shut down with a final loud beep. Tried to boot it seven times without success.

On the last three attempts I'd noted that there wasn't any sound from the fan like there usually is. The fan diagnostics are obviously on the laptop, without the ability to boot I couldn't access them so I had to use a bit of brain power instead. My limited diagnostics experience told me that the problem was probably one of the following:

  1. Fan motor knackered
  2. Fan motor/rotor stuck
  3. Fan control software knackered
  4. A loose connection somewhere

Fearing the worst and an impending bill for a replacement fan, I set off around the house on a rant just to let off some steam, scattering cats everywhere and almost tripping over the Dyson. It's part of my problem-solving process, you see. Lateral motion prior to lateral thinking, if you like.

I knew that the problem wouldn't be dust and fluff - I keep the innards of the fan scrupulously clean after having had a processor fry-up on a previous laptop due to a clogged-up fan assembly. When I blew into this fan's inlet grille I couldn't make the fan rotate so I figured that the motor/rotor was stuck but I had no idea how to free it. There's no way of poking it to get it moving, it's well-protected.

When I'd calmed down I got sidetracked, thoughts drifting off to the next kit review and how I'd deal with it without the laptop... this led to me thinking about the "beer-chiller" that Mike will be reviewing... I remembered that the last time I plugged one of those into my car without the engine running it flattened the battery within 5 minutes, which meant that I had to bump-start the car...

Then a radical idea popped into my head: "Can I bump-start the laptop? Maybe if the system "thinks" that the fan is running, it'll boot and let me get to the diagnostics".

Well, they say that necessity is the mother of invention. I raced back upstairs and grabbed the Dyson. With the crevice-tool attached it was set loose on full whack next to the fan outlet grille while I booted the laptop again... and, in a fine example of how British invention and ingenuity triumphs over Far-Eastern technology, it worked!

The fan diagnostics report no problems, so all looks to be well. Booting is faultless. Looks like the fan was inexplicably stuck but it's running fine now.

Review – Lifeventure Downlight 900 sleeping bag – First thoughts

Posted by on June 4th 2011 in My reviews, Shiny new kit
Tags: , ,

This item has been supplied by Adam Smith, representing Go Outdoors.

The sleeping bag being reviewed is the Lifeventure Downlight 900, the Go Outdoors link is here and the Lifeventure link is here.

The first thing to report is what this item's like straight out of the packaging... it's different. There's no traditional strappy compression sack, instead there's a drybag with a roll-top closure and an air-valve air-vent and stopper. The bag has welded seams and the fabric appears to be quite durable with a woven outer face and a coated inner face. Once filled, the drybag is as airtight as any other roll-top drybag - I sat on it and it didn't squeak or leak. I'm not ready to do an immersion-test on it just yet though. When I removed the stopper it was easy to expel the excess air and the contents compressed well to form a shape that would easily slip into a pack, or into a larger mesh pocket on the outside of a pack. When stuffed with clothing the drybag makes a useful pillow which fits neatly in or under the hood of the sleeping bag.

 

After taking out the sleeping bag and giving it a shake and a rest to allow the fill to loft, I stuck it on the lawn and took a few pics. My observations from this, and a few other notes, are listed below.

 

 

For the full spec I'd advise going to the Lifeventure site, but here are some of my observations:

 

  • The head-end is not cowled but it's still a nice fit around the face with the elasticated drawcord. There's also a down-filled neck-baffle with a non-stretch drawcord. Both drawcords have captive cord-grips on the side opposite to the main zip.
  • There is a small (about 5" x 4") zipped pocket on the outside and two Velcro-closed internal pockets (about 4.5" x 4.5") on the inside - one near the chest, one near the ankle.
  • The 2-way main zip is unbranded but seems to be the same as the YKK zips in my other sleeping bags. The zip opens 3/4 of the way across the foot end which allows for the user to sleep with feet out of the end (rather than out of the end of the side). It also allows the sleeping bag to be opened fully for use as a blanket. The zip has a corded pull-tag on the top puller and there is a Velcro-closed puller cover at the top end of the zip. The full-length down-filled zip-baffle has a woven anti-snag strip.
  • The foot is oval, allowing the user's feet to fit without restriction (but if you've got absolutely huge feet, YMMV).
  • There are two pairs of hanging-loops at the foot end - one pair inside, one pair outside.
  • It has single-layer box-wall construction with a lightweight ripstop outer and a Tactel nylon and micro polyester inner. The stitchwork is good - I've found no bad bits and no loose ends.
  • The outer fabric has "Ex3" treatment - see the Lifeventure website for details of this.
  • The fill is "high quality duck down", I've yet to find a proper fill-power figure in the blurb but the swing-tag says that there is 300g of the stuff in there.
  • The claimed length and widths are about right.
  • The claimed weight is 900g, I measured this one and found that the sleeping bag weighs 970g, the drybag adds another 110g. It's worth noting that with the drybag, unlike when using a standard compression bag, no additional waterproof outer bag is required.
  • The claimed "packed size" is obviously dictated by the drybag length and width, I managed to compress the filled drybag to an average thickness of 3cm with ease. I'll try the sleeping bag in a standard compression bag sometime soon and report back with the critical measurements.
  • Compared to other "mummy-shaped" sleeping bags this one has more width in the leg area, this makes it quite easy for the user to move around inside it.

All things considered, this looks like a nice bit of gear and I hope it performs as well as it looks. I was tempted to set up a tent in the garden so I can give this kit a night out, but I've been told that I'm too busy this weekend. Next week, maybe?

 

UPDATE (7th June, 2011):

I knew that there was something bugging me about what I'd claimed to be an air-valve on the drybag. Eventually the penny dropped and I realised that it's not a valve at all - there's no diaphragm in there. What I looked at and thought was a diaphragm is actually an internal baffle-plate to prevent the fabric of the bag from being pushed through the hole during compression - think of the cargo-hold window scene at the end of Alien Resurrection and you'll get my drift. Without the stopper in the hole, air can flow in or out depending on the pressure-difference. I'm sorry for any confusion caused by my error.

 

UPDATE (20th June, 2011):

Incoming information provided by Andy Howard (Product Designer, Lifemarque Limited)...
Please find some spec. details for the Downlight 900 that you are interested in:
Shell fabric: 300T nylon diamond ripstop and 290T nylon 6 corner ripstop
Lining fabric: 300T nylon diamond ripstop
Filling: 80% grey duck down, fill weight: 300g, fill power: 500g/m2

Zorbed

Posted by on June 4th 2011 in Celebrations, Great Escapes
Tags:

As promised, some pics from Ella's birthday zorbing session at SphereMania's BirminghamNorth site (which is nowhere near North Birmingham).

12 pics, click this one to get started:

 

We're guessing that Ella enjoyed her pressie

ITMA

Posted by on June 4th 2011 in My reviews, Shiny new kit
Tags:

Time for more kit reviews. Adam Smith, formerly of Fitness Footwear, is now batting for Go Outdoors. He's starting a new programme of product reviews and he's asked some of us bloggers to test, compare and contrast some kit.

After much deliberation I chose to review a sleeping bag. I'd narrowed it down to a choice of two - both Lifeventure Downlight bags. My preference was for the Downlight 900 as it ticked all the boxes for what I would use for warmer-weather high-up wildcamping where there's always a risk of adverse conditions, but it was over-budget so I opted for the Downlight 600 instead, figuring that I could supplement the reduced insulation by layering-up if necessary.

After all that, it turned out that the 600 wasn't in stock at the warehouse. I don't know how many strings he pulled, but Adam arranged to send me the 900 instead and despite it being over-budget, he wouldn't accept my offer to pay the excess. Cheers, Adam!

The bag arrived today and it looks like an interesting bit of kit. I'll post an initial review with some pics and data sometime soon.
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »