Fig4 Drytooling....very good!

Further to my previous post on dry tooling with Fig Fours, I decided to head to Awesome Walls to have a play on their dedicated Fig Four/Schmoolz routes. Had a good hour and a half at the wall, and have to say I really enjoyed it! The tools are great to play around at the wall with and really get you pumped quick, but more importantly there's a real focus on technique and thinking moves over. The only problem with the Fig Fours is a lack of bottom horn, without leashes this makes them hard to use without gripping much higher up on the axe. Outside of that these were great, myself, my brother and my best mate had a great time, and enjoyed pushing each other with new routes, overhangs, corners and tricky moves, and I will definitely be heading out again! But we all agree the Fig Fours are definitely a great piece of kit, will be including some Fig Four training in my training from now on and looking to push my grade a bit when I head to Scotland in Feb! So there's something to aim for! Other than that I'm more motivated for getting out winter climbing a couple more times before the end of the season!

Atko was very fluid with his climbing and hopefully we can really build on our team work for Alpamayo 2012! Also hoping to head to Awesome Walls Stockport to test the Fig Four's out on top rope and leading to see how they function going vertically instead of just traversing! Also going to aim to climb in B2 boots in the future rather than rock boots, and may also consider wearing a helmet (I cracked myself on the head twice and it hurts!!). Also watch out the axes slipping off and hitting you in the face!

The video below shows Simon playing around on a Schmoolz route given the grade V3-4. Enjoy! Download available here: www.electronicmountainleader.co.uk/DSCF5121.AVI

Fig4 Drytooling....any good?

I have been meaning to write this for some time now. Managed to pick myself up a set of Alpkit's latest innovation the "Fig4" second hand for a respectable price of £25. Have been meaning to get down to the wall, but after missing several chances to do it, I decided this evening to have a play on the wall at work before my evening climbing session. So I headed down a little early to test them.
First things first, I kitted up climbing with my B2 boots, gloves, and helmet. I had a mess around for 30mins or so traversing around the wall. The first thing I will say is that it certainly gets you pumped! After 30mins I was knackered! The small loops on the axes fit all the holds in the wall at work, and are strong enough to easily support my weight dead hanging.

These are very cool to climb with, something very different to enjoy at the wall, and I imagine with sustained practice would facilitate a marked improvement in winter climbing strength. One cool thing about them is the fact you can hold the axe in different ways as the wood is shaped to mimic triggers and rests and various points on the shaft. Mine also cam pre fitted with cord so that when climbing upward should you fall the axe doesnt plummit onto your belayers head!
The one problem I encountered is that many of the holds around the wall were no use what so ever for these, the loops simply slipped off. In one way this adds another dimension, in another (more accurate way) it just means certainly sections of the wall are not climbable.

Alpkit sell these at £65 a pair ( http://www.alpkit.com/shop/cart.php?target=product&product_id=16500&category_id=252 ) are they worth it? From my point of view no. However the amount of mixed climbing I do in a year wouldn't warrant such an investment, however for hardcore winter climbers looking to train in the wall, I would highly recomend these bad boys. Many climbing walls are now stocking these for borrowing during sessions, so worth a play! Alternatively if you can pick them up on the cheap second hand go for it! Definately fun! And I am looking forward to heading to the wall again soon!

A dream of white mountains?

I had a dream a week ago now, in my dream I was clawing my way up the final snowslope of a big mountain. That mountain was Alpamayo. Alpamayo is located in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru and stands at 5,947m, as is widely considered the worlds most beautiful mountain, and looking at pictures it's easy to see why.

Why Alpamayo? Ever since I first saw a picture of Alpamayo I have wanted to climb it, it is an inspiring target for any young mountaineer. Today I was mulling over a couple of options for a 2012 expedition, and have come to the conclusion that Alpamayo is what I want to do, following in the footsteps of my friend and mentor John. Alpamayo is a small amount higher than my previous highest climb, and the French Direct route goes at Alpine "D" which is slightly harder than my toughest route to date.

I have a guidebook on the way "Classic Climbs of the Cordillera Blanca" by Brad Johnson, and have already started a wealth of research on the mountain, I am incredibley psyched for this, me and whatever team choose to accompany me will be looking at July/Aug 2012 as a date, giving me 1 year and 7 months to get my fat ass in gear and train for this, but with the level of motivation I'm feeling right now, that shouldn't be a problem!

This will be the toughest and highest climb of my life, and also the most inspiring.

Sealskinz – waterproof uber kit? Or wet flannels?

I have been using Sealskinz products for over 3 years now, this includes; gloves, socks and hat. These products boast a high level of waterproofing and breathability but is this the case? And are they worth the money?

The first piece of kit we will look at are the Sealskinz Ultra grip glove (approx £25). These gloves appealed to me as they were a close fitting, waterproof glove. Useful for maintaining dexterity, whilst remaining warm when wet. I have used these now in Scottish and Welsh winter, high altitude climbing in Morocco, glacier work in Iceland, climbing gritstone HS 4b at Windgather, and many more trips, and can honestly say these bad boys live up to their reputation. They are comfortable and warm, but close fitting enough that tying knots, boot laces and other tasks is simple and doesn’t require them to be taken off. They are also thin enough that they can be worn under a larger pair too. As for the waterproofing on the gloves, you can test this for yourself, stick a small bit of tissue paper in the glove, submerge your hand in a sink full of water, then check the tissue. For me this test left a piece of bone dry tissue!

So far so good Sealskinz!

The second piece of gear is the Sealskinz beanie (£15 approx). This has been a faithful companion of mine for a number of years now, and has accompanied me all over the place. It is comfortable, waterproof, and cozy. It also comes in tactical olive green for military use. The hat itself does tend to rustle a little bit, I imagine this is due to the waterproof layer including in the hat. I have never liked wearing a hat on the hill, but this one is ideal for me, keeps my head dry and warm all day!

Last but not least, Sealskinz socks (approx £20 a pair!). I have 2 pairs of these and have used them extensively all over the place! They are a great sock on their own, what I particularly like is the fact that they come quite high up the calf. This means should your foot plunge into a dreaded Kinder Scout peat bog over the ankle, your foot will avoid the “over the boot” misery many of us have experienced, and keep your foot dry! I tend to wear these with a second pair of socks underneath, this keeps my foot comfortable, dry and warm, whilst protecting against blisters. Again they have a bit of a rustle due to the waterproofing, however they are great socks and really do what they say on the tin with regards to waterproofing so can’t complain about a bit of noise when putting them on!

So overall what would I say about Sealskinz? Great products, and they keep you dry. Certainly at £20 per pair the socks are not cheap, but they are an ideal piece of kit to keep feet dry on those naff days on the hill and certainly worth investing in! The gloves at £25 are excellent, and better/cheaper than other gloves out there that claim to do the same thing.

In a nutshell: Give Sealskinz a go, you won’t be disappointed!

Mountain Leader: My leader kit

This is the last of my "xray" diagrams for kit lists. This one is a typical(ish) ML leader pack. Containing a variety of items essential for leading groups in the mountains. This is by no means an exhaustive list and any ML or aspirant ML should pick their own kit based on their experience. My equipment listed below is everything I would take (although not everything is shown on the diagram)for a standard group day on the hill, any specialist items are not included, however these could include things like GPS, any books or guides for the area as required, I also list a sling in the equipment, if going for you ML assessment it is worth noting that some ML assessors do not allow the use of a sling and biner and some do. If you do have one, make sure you know how to use it correctly! Kit list:



Camelbak
Spare water
30m Confidence rope - Set up for easy use
240cm sling and HMS karabiner
Hardshell
Spare warm jacket
Food and emergency rations (in yellow stuff sack)
Headtorch
Phone
First aid kit
Group shelter
Penknife
GPS handset
Walking poles
Thermos flask with warm drink
Map

The above list is not exhaustive, but is generally what I carry when with groups, I add or take away items depending on time of year, group size/age/type, and the nature of the day.

I hope you have enjoyed the series of little diagrams in the last couple of posts, feel free to use these in any presentations etc, but please reference me or let me know if you do :)

Next post: FigFour Dry tooling....any good?

Expedition loadout

Really enjoyed messing around in photoshop and creating the winter loadout image below, so decided I would do one for expedition loadout and mountain leader day sack. My expedition equipment varies a huge amount depending on length of expedition, time of year etc. In the diagram I have not included items like penknive, gps, phone etc, as they are too fiddly to edit in photoshop! Kit shown:







Tent (or part there of)
Sleeping bag
Thermorest (right side)
Poles (left side)
Hardshell
Insulated jacket
Spare clothes (red stuff sack)
Food (yellowy stuff sack)
Stove
Gloves
Camelbak
Spare water
Group shelter

Other kit can be added or taken out as needed. If wet weather expected then thermorest should be covered in a drybag to prevent it getting sodden! Additional kit like: scrambling rope, ice axe (and other winter gear) etc can be added also depending on the nature of the venture.

Bag in picture is my faithful Lowe Alpine Frontier 80+15L. Fantastic bag, present from my parents for my 20th birthday.

Winter Loadout 2010/2011

So last year I spent some time doing a cut away style diagram to detail my winter kit. I thought I would do the same kind of idea again this year. The diagram to the left shows a standard winter day pack. The only changes being that my crampons are not covered and the axes shown are actually strapped to the outside of my bag not the inside as it may seem. As you can see the packing is a little tight, but largely whats included is:


Roughly half a winter rack
1 x 60m half rope
2 x DMM Fly
Helmet
A small group shelter
A water bottle
An insulated jacket
Goggles
Phone
Crampons
Headtorch
Spare gloves
Harness


Naturally that is quite a sparse kit and would only be useful as a daypack. Other things could be added or taken away depending the type of trip/length of trip. It also makes the assumption that I would be wearing certain kit like my hardshell jacket and trousers, gloves etc

Overall I usually pack my bag as shown, with items like helmet/harness and goggles towards the top. I might also add things like GPS, first aid kit (if partner wasn't carrying). My bag of choice is my Osprey Mutant 38, however in some instances this is often not big enough.

Clipper Leashes!

After the hardcore failure of my chokehold leashes at the weekend I vowed to sort out my leash system. This is my story....
Prior to hitting the first ice of the season at the weekend I had been looking into how best to "mod up" my axes for winter. Having struggled with my chokehold leashes previously, I decided I needed some form of clipper leash. I contacted DMM regarding a fitting kit for my DMM flys. The good thing about my axes is that I have a slightly older version of the DMM fly featuring hollow bolts on the shaft, these can be fitted up for a clipper leash. Simon from DMM very helpfully sent me 2 fitting kits for my axes to enable me to fit these leashes.

Having shopped around for the clipper leashes I found Joe Brown offering them for £35 each! http://www.joe-brown.com/outdoor-equipment/winter-mountaineering/climbing-tools/dmm-clipper-leash.html, V12 offering them for £40 a pair, and www.theoutdoorshop.com offering them at an incredible £32 a pair. I immediately put in an order with the outdoorshop.

Quick plug for www.theoutdoorshop.com - this is a brilliant site, great customer service, online BMC discount (if you mail them your membership number), and most of all cheapest prices on everything! incredible! Never had bad service from them yet! Worth a browse with christmas coming up!


The leashes arrived today (8/12), I fitted up the fitting kits (simple enough), and attached the leashes. Job done!

The leashes themselves are simple enough, I was very surprised to recieve 2 DMM phantom karabiners as the "clippers". At £8-9 each these were a nice bonus to have with the leashes (not that I will use them for climbing!). The leashes are very padded and comfortable, and have a small buckle for keeping the leashes in place on your wrist. I imagine when I use these I will simply attach them at the start of the day, and take them off at the end!

Overall for the time and cost investment, I think these will be an excellent addition to my axes! Stay tuned for my next trigger modifications!

Early season winter climbing

Reynolds text me last week asking if I fancied heading over to Wales for a spot of early season winter climbing. The idea appealed to me and over the course of the week we decided on a plan to bivi out in Devils kitchen in Cwm Idwal, and hit the ice early in the morning to avoid the queues. A great idea...until you consider the temperature will be below zero. That said we went ahead with our plan and headed into Idwal around 11pm on Friday night. We bivied out and heading for the ice in the morning. After some pleasant climbing we headed back down and back to the car. Based on crap weather reports we headed back saturday night. We both carried a large amount of kit with us, but which kit did well? And which didn't do well?

Champion kit:

Mountain Equipment Fitzroy:

A cracking jacket, I wore this all day climbing, during the walk in and in the morning in the bivi. It held up to everything Wales threw at us, snow, rain, wind, cold, not only that I didn't overheat in it (often a problem I get!)







DMM Fly:

A cracking all round axe, comfortable to use and ideal for UK winter climbing!

Jetboil:

I love the Jetboil - simple as. Nothing better for making a brew and cooking up boil in the bag meals.


Vilified kit!

DMM Chokehold leashes:

Whilst I love the DMM fly, I HATE the standard chokehold leash, they are uncomfortable to use, hard to get off, and generally not user friendly. Fortunately the good folk at DMM sent me a free fitting kit for my DMM fly axes (I have the slightly older version that have follow bolts for clipper leashes). And I will now be buying some clipper leashes!

Leki walking poles

Titanium poles my ass! One of my poles snapped during the walk in to the first climb, not impressed in the slightest, I will be contacting Leki to try and get this fixed, details to follow!

All in all it was a cracking day! Good nick climbs, good company and ok weather!

Writing my book - good times

Hiya guys,

Sorry for the lack of posting as of late, as the title suggests I have been writing my own DofE training manual lately, I have just finally finished off the chapter 2 of 8: navigation, word count sitting at 8217words, I am so psyched for writing this at the moment, really enjoying making the book the way I would want a training manual, it has taken me a while to write what I have so far, however quality is an issue so slow and steady is the best way. Little sneak peak in the picture there! More updates soon!

Jbel Toubkal 2010

So the day came for Morocco, weeks and weeks of planning, worrying, and packing all came to a finale! Overall the trip was a great success with all of the team summiting on 17th September at 11.05am. Whilst the trip was a slog and a half, and wasn’t without it’s issues, it was very enjoyable, and a trek I would definitely recommend.
The trek consisted of a long day from Imlil (1600m) at the edge of Toubkal National Park up to Refuge Du Toubkal Les Mouflons at 3207m. So 1600m in 35-40Degree heat, with full expedition packs on....what a day huh? The day went smoothly until exiting the small village of Amround via a dry river bed when Ruth tripped and dislocated her knee.

However being the hardcore adventurer type, we promptly relocated the knee and continued on. This leg of the climb just goes on and on and on, the most annoying part of the trek was seeing the large groups of amateurs on the backs of mules heading up with no effort on their part what so ever. While on the subject of mules if you ever do this trek be very careful of the mules and muleers, they make the broad assumption that no matter what the circumstances they have right of way, and will quite happily egg their mules on along the track knocking you out of the way, crushing you against rocks, and generally not considering trekkers along the trail. After continuing through the small shrine of Sidi Chamarouch the path zig zags upward and continues up toward the hut. Eventually we arrived at the hut.

The summit day began up a steep scree slope in poor weather. After reaching the col we continued on upward and up to a false summit before moving along the summit ridge to a giant Iron summit cairn. After enjoying being at the highest point in North Africa we heading back down and to the hut. The following day we descended back to Imlil thus completing our trek.







Equipment wise a brief look at the best bits of kit I had with me;
Leki Makalu Ultralite poles: Brilliant, simply brilliant, I have always highly recommended poles for mountaineering of all kinds, for descending they came in particularly handy really helping to take the weight off my knees on descent.
Marks and Spencers Microskin Boxers: Mark and Spencer boxers eh? Might seem like I’ve got mad but good god these are the best shreddies I have ever worn, so comfortable all day long, I highly recommend these for all outdoor activities!
Camelbak Unbottle 1.5L: Did very well up until I lost the valve for the drinking tube in the scree field. However when I did use it, it kept the water so cool in my back and was refreshing to drink from.
Scarpa Manta: My boots once again proved they are perfect for anything from winter climbing to high altitude trekking in high heat!



Big shout out to the rest of the team, a climb like this is what the team make it, and the our team made the trek for me. Cheers guys.

Toubkal preparations – First aid kit

Continuing on my theme of Toubkal preparations this post will focus on additions made to my first aid kit to accommodate issues we may experience at altitude. I will be sticking with my standard Mountain Leader kit by Lifesystems, and making some modifications and additions for stuff that I may require for altitude related issues. Also past experience of this type of trek has taught be carrying certain medications is very useful, below is a summary of the kit I will be carrying in addition to my standard gear:



Acetazolamide – Anyone who has done any altitude work will be familiar with Acetazolamide (aka Diamox). Diamox is a drug that is used to treat the initial stages of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). It is one of 2 drugs usually carried on expeditions the other being Dexamethasone (something I would never use or carry). Essentially I carry Diamox for use to treat initial AMS, I do not take it as a preventative measure. Diamox is a prescription only drug, and you should consult your GP in order to get this prior to a trek. The drug works by acidifying the blood, this means the blood functions more efficiently in its removal of CO2. In this way it minimise the effect of high altitude on the body.

Co-codamol – Co-codamol is the strongest pain killer available without prescription. It is essentially codeine combined with paracetamol. I carry it so that in a worst case scenario I have a strong pain killer to mask any discomfort I may be feeling. This came in particularly handy when I broke my collar bone at 18,000ft. This is available over the counter at most pharmacies.

Imodium – Imodium is an over the counter drug used to treat diarrhoea. I carry this because more often than not changing to a local diet when abroad can mean your body struggles a bit. Personally I try to avoid this my changing my diet over about 2 weeks before I go to help me. I am usually ok (touch wood), others I have been on expedition with have not been so lucky....

Oximeter – I carry a small oximeter. This allows me to accurately check my own (and others) oxygen saturation rate (SP02). Oxygen saturation is a measure of how much oxygen is in the blood in a given sample. It can be a useful tool in an emergency as an indication of weather altitude is hitting someone hard.

You should always consult a medical professional when using/buying any of these drugs. I have been revising all my expedition medicine skills by using the Royal Geographic society expedition medicine book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Expedition-Medicine-Royal-Geographical-Society/dp/1861974345/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282077807&sr=8-2 very worthwhile if you aspire to learn first aid abroad.

I have been on a number of courses that focus on first aid and emergencies in remote areas, in particular I can highly recommend High Peak First aids expedition medic and wilderness level 2 courses http://www.highpeakfirstaid.co.uk/. They really helped increase my existing first aid skills to include remote care and emergencies.

More prep to come.....

Toubkal 2010 trip preparations

So there is a month and a half until I head out to Morocco. The main objective is obviously Toubkal (4167 m) via the North Col route (PD*). However hoping to tick off 2 other 4000m+ peaks in the area; Timesguida (4.089 m) via the East ridge route (F***) and Ras n'Ouanoukrim (4.083 m) via the North Col route (PD*). Ambitious perhaps to climb North Africa’s 3 highest Peaks in 7 days but I’m confident it’s very achievable.

Naturally my thoughts have been running over what equipment I should take, and what equipment should stay behind. I have made a number of purchases lately which should hopefully allow me to adapt to the climate in Morocco a little easier. First off I have bought 2 new pairs of trousers:

The Mountain Hardwear Canyon trousers and Craghoppers Kiwi convert trousers. I bought these specifically as they were lightweight, light coloured and UV protective. My current trousers are (for the most part) heavier weight trousers more suited to UK climate. I have also bought a Mountain Hardwear Canyon Long Sleeve shirt. I chose this shirt as it will make a happy change to the base layers I usually wear, and because most of my current set of base layers are short sleeve. These recent Mountain Hardwear purchases are the first of this brand I have bought, hopefully they will perform as well as I’ve heard they do!

I have also bought an MSR miniworks water filter. This will be ideal for providing me with a clean source of water throughout my trek. Review will be coming soon! However a number of features appealed to me about this filter over the many others on the market including the ease of maintenance in the field due to its simple design, and it's efficient filter unit that gives around 2000 litres of water before needing replacing

















I have also finally completed my Memory Map Morocco file. It is now fully georeferenced and good to go. It is also working fully on my GPS so that should be ideal for emergencies and the like!


Other preparations have not been going so well, my eating habbits that had got much better have now disapeared and returned to the ways of old, my fitness has not really changed, and my lung training to help my asthma hasn't been moving at all. However from today (1 Aug) I will be resuming all of the above more positive than ever. I have set myself the goal of losing another stone and a half before I go. I have also been continuing with my French training so we will see how that progresses!

More information soon...

SPA assessment

So it’s been a while since I posted anything. So I guess I should start with a post about my SPA assessment at Plas Y Brenin.

First of all...I PASSED! Woop! I am incredibly chuffed, but equally I can honestly say I deserved it, I have put so much effort into my climbing lately, working hard on the coaching side of things as well as pushing my personal leading. I came away from my assessment with a huge feeling of pride in myself, my skills, and my ability as an instructor. The guide who was running the course gave me a lot of positive feedback about my experience and said long term I should be looking towards my MIA. He also commented on my passion for climbing and working with kids, and that being a centre based instructor was an ideal place for me.

The assessment itself was straight forward, I lead 3 climbs, rigged a number of top ropes, bottom ropes, and abseils, at 2 different crags. There was also a climbing wall session. But how did my gear help? What gear did I take? Anything I would recommend? Any lessons learned?

Firstly, if you do not own a set of DMM offsets, buy a set now. The DMM offsets were the best bit of kit I carried with me, they just fitted so well. The assessor commented on how every time I used one it was a bomber placement. They were just excellent all weekend, and for the sake of £40 I think they are perfect for any rack!

Secondly, DMM Boa’s are ideal for top rope rigging, Italian hitch’s and setting up belays. If you do not own at least one Boa, then buy one, they are excellent for a number of things.

Gear I took on assessment:

1-11 DMM Wallnuts
1-11 Zero G Spectrum wires
5-11 DMM Offset wires
Black Diamond Hexcentrics 4-10
DMM 4CU cams: 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4

3 x 120 slings
2 x 240 slings
1 x 400 sling

8 x Wild Country Oxygen Quickdraws
3 x Slingdraws
1 x Screw draw

10 x Screwgates
2 x DMM Boa
1 x Reverso3
1 x DMM Fatboy locksafe

So standard rack really. I racked slings round my chest with a screw gate. I had wires racked on 2 biners (small wires and large wires).

Lessons learned that might help people going for SPA assessment:

These are points of discussion raised on my assessment that may be useful for anyone going for their assessment. These were either things I did, or things others on my course were pulled up on!

1) Italian hitch, ensure you are well below the Italian hitch and when lowered have both hands on the dead rope!
2) Larks footing slings as safety sling; I was told by the guide that larks footing through the belay loop is the best way to do this. Apparently over time larks footing through leg and waist loops (as per tie in) can erode away the loops and weaken them. He reference an accident in which a climber was killed by a weakened harness in this way.
3) Extending wire placements with a second wire. Using a second wire to extend a placement out is very useful to prevent rubbing on the wire.
4) Simple! Keep everything simple examples include:
Q: Climber stuck on a top rope system, you are in the system
A: Tie off, get out of harness, get a harness from group, abseil from above

Q: Climber stuck on bottom rope system, won’t budge
A: Abseil from above pull climber off, tell group to payout.

Q: Solo’ing climber cragfast
A: Abseil from above with a accompanied abseil setup

Q: Stuck client on group abseil
A: Tighten up safety rope to remove weight from abseil (note: I was asked on second time to tie off and release ab rope!)

5) Rating anchors out of 5, 5 being bomber, 4 being good, 3 being average etc this helps decide how many anchors to put in.

Ultimately consider that the assessor wants you to pass, you just need to demonstrate you are safe, quick, and simple. Don’t over complicate anything! Anyone who wants any info just message me!

LifeSystems Mountain Leader First Aid Kit

RRP £45

So it’s been a while since I posted anything, I’ve bought a few things lately, but I prefer to field test things before writing a review. However I have recently upgrading my first aid kit.

Having a good first aid kit has always been important to me, especially with the amount of group work I do. Also I hold the REC level 4 first aid qualification and I am going for my REC level 5 and Expedition medic qualifications in August, so having a kit with the tools appropriate to my skills is important to me.



By this definition my previous kit was pretty useless, so I set about researching dedicated expedition kits for multi day expeditions with big groups, and eventually I concluded that the kit I wanted was Lifesystem’s Mountain Leader kit. I managed to track the kit down for £30 with free next day delivery from Amazon of all places! I have now been using the kit for a month or so, and I have to say I am a huge fan of this kit! Although (touch wood) I haven’t had to use anything from it really except for the odd cuts and bumps to kids at work, I have am very impressed with the layout of the kit and ease of use.



What I like most about the kit is the thought that has gone into it. For starters the kit uses the same system trauma kits Army medic use; the kit is compartmentalised into different sections. For example; Bleeding and wounds, Breaks and Fractures etc. This means in an emergency (or in the event someone needs to use the kit) everything is laid out simply and it is very easy to identify the section you need (see pics). In addition to the ease of use the kit comes with several very useful things:

A small roll of duct tape
A small working mat
A 12 hour light stick
Emergency shears for removing clothing
Tweezers

I know that reading this doesn’t sound like much, but to me the extra thought to include such items and also dedicated and labelled slots for them in the kit is just excellent quality.

To finish the kit off I added some bits of equipment I commonly use and would think need to be in a kit of this size:

Small GPS handset
Foil blanket
Spray plaster
Individual plasters
Casualty card and notebook.

I guess the above items are self explanatory, however I should point out the kit does include plasters, however they are those annoying rolls of plaster which you have to mess around cutting to the correct size, personally and in my experience it’s easier to carry both, along with spray plaster. The GPS is easy to keep in the kit and be there when you need it, and it weighs nothing, the unit I use is a Garmin Geko, not one I would use as my primary GPS set however it does the job of an emergency unit very well.

The kit also has plenty of space for expanding with your own items without having to remove anything. Waterproof sealed seam zips also ensure the kit stays dry.

Overall I love everything about this first aid kit, it is ideal for any outdoor professional, mountain leader or outdoor enthusiast looking for a great first aid kit, and what’s more £30 is a great price for everything you get with the kit, so if you are looking for a new kit check this one out on Amazon!

Morocco trip - Toubkal 2010

Well I've put off writing this post until I was sure this was going ahead, and I'm now sure it's going to happen :)

Myself and 5 others are heading off to Africa to climb Toubkal 4200m (13,700ft). It's the largest Peak in the Atlas mountains, and a mountain I've wanted to climb for a while now. I was sat with Atko the other day and we said "lets just do it man". So having rounded up our team for the trip (which we capped at 6 people) we are now in the planning phase.

Now for me that means letting all my current tech take a step up. I've already scanned and Georeferenced a map of Toubkal, which has intergrated fully with my PDA. To do this was a bit fiddly to be honest. I had to install Memory Map navigator (which I discovered was different to memory map OS5). This allowed me to scan in my new Toubkal 1:50k and calibrate it for use with GPS. To do this I tried taking GPS lat/long co-ordinates from Google earth however this was less than effective, and the first prototype of my map informed me it was 200miles to the summit of Toubkal. So I scoured the internet and eventually found a GPS track of the route. I managed to identify various points in the track and put the co-ordinates into memory maps calibration system. Time will tell if it works but I'm optimistic!

All in all watch this space, I've got a few new bits of kit on the way, reviews up soon!

Overall I am so psyched for this trip, back to high altitude with a great group (including my baby bro) on a peak I've wanted to do for months!!

WOOOOOO

BD Ice clipper problems

Well I've read/written quite a bit about these, and I think it's only fair/right that I explain the circumstances under which I have become part of the "Ice clippers broke on me" club.

Today I was climbing at the Roaches, while rigging the belay I heard the depressed clink clink of gear falling. I looked down to see my trusty reverso3 had fallen down to a lower ledge of the climb I had been on (only about 2 metres). Confused I looked down at my Ice clipper (where I always rack my belay plate) only to see the gate had fallen completely off onto the floor. I looked around and eventually found the gate. I am confused as to how this happened, the route had been a techical slab climb, no trutching or scraping involved, so how did it come off?! Luckily in this case I didnt lose anything important, and nothing was damaged. Would I trust these with a full rack of £40+ ice screws....Probably not.

I fixed the ice clipper no problem, and then belayed with an italian hitch, however if I had been climbing something longer and dropped something more important this would have been an issue!


.......Disapointed and confused.....

DMM Alloy Offsets

Well a little later than planned I finally got around to writing my review of these. They have now accompanied me on 4 climbing trips, three times on grit and once on limestone. There really is nothing to say about these except they are pure magic. They fit so well, I find myself wanting to save them for later in the route and refusing to use them! Climbing at the Roaches today on a route called Captain Lethargy, only HVD, but figured it would be a good outting for the Offsets. The route itself is a winding crack in the "into thin air" section at the far right of the lower tier. I used 3 offsets during the route, and the placements were perfect, the unconventional shape of the offset wires meant they slotted perfectly into the cracks. As an experiment I also tried placing standard DMM wallnuts in the same placements, and they were less than convincing!

The offsets are ideal for complimenting an existing set of wires (I carry wallnuts and/or zero G spectrum wires), as they fit into tapered cracks very well. My climbing partner today (Paul) also commented about the excellent placements the Offsets seem to allow for, turning seemingly appalling cracks into bomber placements.

Brilliant piece of kit, 10/10!

DMM Alloy Offset wires- first impressions

RRP: £45
I paid: £20
I had been after a set of these for a while to compliment my DMM wallnuts and Zero G spectrum wires. Finally settling on buying a set I had planned to head over to the new V12 at Awesome Walls in Stoke, however by chance I gave my bro a ring who was at the Outdoors Show, he said they had them on offer at £20 for a full set. At that price how could I say no!!
Will be testing these in the Peak tommorow (Stanage?), so hopefully some details on how they fit then.
However they look and feel cool and well built, so I guess we shall see!

Black Diamond Ice Clipper problems??

Following my review of Black Diamond Blizzard accessories, it has been drawn to my attention that with moderate use the ice clipper experiences a terminal issue whereby the clip malfunctions and stays open outside the clip. (See pic). A number of users have complained about these on UKC, indicating a common problem resulting in the loss of ice screws.

Comments taken direct from UKC:

"The screws were nowhere around and the wire gate on my little plastic Black Diamond ice clipper krab was on the wrong side of the gate. One to watch out for."

"I threw my ice clippers away because of this happening, though I did it before I lost any screws. The petzl caritool is better."

"lost a screw for the very same reason! The worst BD product ever!"

So for those of us who use Ice clippers, just be aware of this issue! I myself still love the ice clippers, but will keep a close eye on them from now on! However I should point out I have been using these for 2 years and had no issues.... Mr Reynolds has similar opinions of the ice clippers, so until one of us has this issue, I'll continue to place my faith in these!