Random Thoughts

Pacerpoles
The test of the Pacerpoles was carried out on Sunday. First impressions weren’t great when the right one refused to lock at the height at which I needed it. I used it short for a while, then adjusted it and it held just fine. Hopefully it was a one off glitch.

I hadn’t thought that the difference in weight between my carbon poles and Husband's standard ones would be really noticeable in use, but having walked for a short distance with one of each, we were both in agreement that mine were very noticeably lighter.

Not much else that I can say. The handles are the same as the standard model, so in use they performed exactly like I expected them to.

Oh, and Husband enjoyed the novelty of an entire walk without his poles disappearing into my hands!
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Imitation Crocs
Okay, so my resolve not to stop spending money on gear didn’t last long, but I think that I can just about justify £5.

The order for my PHD jacket didn’t include the down booties that I had been considering. I couldn’t justify the £29 expenditure. Although the ability of my feet to turn into blocks of ice is legendary, ordinarily when I’m camping my feet can retreat to my sleeping bag to warm up. I don’t usually stand outside of a tent chatting until all hours of night, and thus the cold footed experience of the night in the Brecon Beacons is not the norm.

As a compromise, I decided that a pair of Crocs may be the answer. That would allow me to walk around camp in dry footwear with thick socks.

At £30 for a pair of genuine Crocs, I would not have forked out the money. As light as they are, I’m not sure that when packing for a trip I will be able to convince myself to carry the extra weight (they fall definitely into the category of ‘nice to have’ rather than being a necessity). However, finding some rip-off Crocs in Asda for £5, I thought they would be worth trying (Sister delighted in telling me later that she could have got me a pair for £2!). At the worst they’ll live by the front door for popping outside in in wet weather, so I doubt that it will be £5 wasted.

And the weight? 170g for the pair! If I was to cut all of the ridiculously long straps off my Osprey Aura (admitting that I’m never going to have the 80 inch hips that it is prepared to take), I could probably save most of that weight…
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Modern Communication
Bit of a random one here that’s not remotely outdoor related, but I’m going to mention it anyway: Husband was telling me about an article that he had been reading regarding mobile phone technology.

Apparently there is now software available for mobiles that allows text messages to be converted to a voice message. So, you send a text, and the person that receives it can listen to it.

There is also functionality available that allows text messages to be written by voice commands.

So, it is now possible for someone to speak a message, that gets converted to text, sent to another mobile phone and for that person to listen to that text message.

And to think that in the old days we used to be so old fashioned as to pick up the phone and have a conversation!!