A Week in Scotland

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Iodo
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A Week in Scotland

Post by Iodo »

I've been lucky enough to have spent the last week in Glen Coe, the nearest public wi-fi was about 10 miles away (hence I haven't been on-line). The weather was, well, Scottish :mrgreen: I had a bit of everything, it snowed, rained and was sunny. The scenery was as spectacular as always and I could easily imagine myself in the Misty mountains, especially when I climbed the Pap of Glencoe:
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I also had time for testing kit, although not very much (I still had to fit it around family holidaying). If I got up early-ish, I could get between an hour and two hours in the woods or on the mountain side before a day out (apologies for bad photo's taken by balancing my camera in trees):
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And I tested my new shelter, which also worked very well for having lunch under on family walks.
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There are a few items of kit it these photos, that I haven't posted about. The most noticeable is my new cloak and hood, made specially for this holiday. They're made from waxed canvas and are fully waterproof, I stayed dry in both rain and snow. In the 5th image it's raining quite heavily – sadly my camera wasn't good enough to pick that up and When I was out in a blizzard it was to windy to balance my camera in a tree (I did try :P: ), the 7th image is the day after the blizzard.
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
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Taurinor
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Re: A Week in Scotland

Post by Taurinor »

Ooooooo! It's always good to see folks out and about in their kit, and it looks like you had some lovely country to roam! Well done on getting out in it, even if only for little bits at a time!
Iodo wrote:And I tested my new shelter, which also worked very well for having lunch under on family walks.
I'd love to get some details on your shelter components - what are you using for your tarp and groundcloth?
Iodo wrote: The most noticeable is my new cloak and hood, made specially for this holiday. They're made from waxed canvas and are fully waterproof, I stayed dry in both rain and snow.
Where I usually roam, I'd be worried about the lack of breathability of waxed canvas (I'd be as wet with sweat as I would from the rain), but up in Scotland I'm sure you have different climate considerations! You'd be surprised how dry a wool cloak and hood can keep you, though.
Iodo wrote:(apologies for bad photo's taken by balancing my camera in trees)
I always find photos taken at a bit of an angle interesting, but if it really bothers you, I've used a Gorillapod to attach my phone to trees and the like for pictures, and it's worked quite well.
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Elleth
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Re: A Week in Scotland

Post by Elleth »

Oh, that looks like a fantastic time!
And I'm still agog that you've gotten SO MUCH done in such a short period of time!

Like Taurinor I think you may find trying the same experiment in wool interesting: I find wool better right up until the point it gets actually soaked through, at which point it's sooooo heaaaavy. Takes a lot to get there though.
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Re: A Week in Scotland

Post by Straelbora »

Beautiful countryside, and a great kit. I thought that hood might be waxed canvas, the way it stands up instead of hanging off of your face like mine does.
Vápnum sínum skala maðr velli á
feti ganga framar því at óvist er at vita
nær verðr á vegum úti geirs um þörf guma
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Iodo
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Re: A Week in Scotland

Post by Iodo »

Taurinor wrote: I'd love to get some details on your shelter components - what are you using for your tarp and groundcloth?
The ground sheet is cut from an old oil cloth tarp which was meant for keeping a log store dry. I didn't bother to hem the two sides I cut but it doesn't look like it will fray quickly. I cheated when I made the shelter tarp, that was a rip-stop nylon tent fly-sheet (you can just about see on the photo that the inside has that silvered coating to reflect heat). All I did was reinforce points around the edges with canvas and put in eyelets. To give you an idea of scail the ground sheet is 6ft x 2ft 6".
Taurinor wrote: Where I usually roam, I'd be worried about the lack of breathability of waxed canvas (I'd be as wet with sweat as I would from the rain), but up in Scotland I'm sure you have different climate considerations! You'd be surprised how dry a wool cloak and hood can keep you, though.
It was so cold and windy most of the time that I was glad of the extra layer. I didn't have an issue with breathability, partly because it was cold, and partly because the cloak is short and loose, so there is a lot of air flow underneath it. In the 7th photo I'm nearly 200m above the valley floor (where I was staying) and I climbed that quite quickly and only noticed sweat on top of my shoulders where my cloak sits and behind my pack.
My only real worry when I started the project was how heavy it would be when it was done. My panic was added to when i receved the fabric and the package was really heavy. Turns out when I opened it that the supplyer had a roll end and had sent me 2 yards extra, phewww panic over :lol: its still a lot lighter than a wet wool cloak.
Elleth wrote: Like Taurinor I think you may find trying the same experiment in wool interesting: I find wool better right up until the point it gets actually soaked through, at which point it's sooooo heaaaavy. Takes a lot to get there though.
The answer to how dry wool can keep me is not dry enough, I tryed wearing my wool cloak (made from an army blanket) in the rain here in the UK, that was heavy set in rain and it soaked through in just over two hours and was really heavy wet as Elleth says. Although if it's only light drizzle it never seems to soak through. My cloak is wool blend (only 60â„… wool), maybe if it was all wool it would be better?
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
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Taurinor
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Re: A Week in Scotland

Post by Taurinor »

Iodo wrote:
Taurinor wrote: I'd love to get some details on your shelter components - what are you using for your tarp and groundcloth?
The ground sheet is cut from an old oil cloth tarp which was meant for keeping a log store dry. I didn't bother to hem the two sides I cut but it doesn't look like it will fray quickly. I cheated when I made the shelter tarp, that was a rip-stop nylon tent fly-sheet (you can just about see on the photo that the inside has that silvered coating to reflect heat). All I did was reinforce points around the edges with canvas and put in eyelets. To give you an idea of scail the ground sheet is 6ft x 2ft 6".
Treated canvas usually doesn't fray too badly, in my experience, and I'm a big fan of balancing accuracy and attention to detail with "cheating" and getting out in your gear, especially when starting out! You won't learn what works for you until you get out and try it, and it's always a shame to sink a lot of time/money into something that just doesn't work. We've all done it, though...
Iodo wrote:
Elleth wrote: Like Taurinor I think you may find trying the same experiment in wool interesting: I find wool better right up until the point it gets actually soaked through, at which point it's sooooo heaaaavy. Takes a lot to get there though.
The answer to how dry wool can keep me is not dry enough, I tryed wearing my wool cloak (made from an army blanket) in the rain here in the UK, that was heavy set in rain and it soaked through in just over two hours and was really heavy wet as Elleth says. Although if it's only light drizzle it never seems to soak through. My cloak is wool blend (only 60â„… wool), maybe if it was all wool it would be better?
I don't know how the blend is affecting things (it depends on what the wool is blended with), but my guess is that if it's an army blanket of relatively low wool content, most of that wool is going to be recycled wool. That means it's been processed multiple times, and most likely has had all the lanolin stripped from it. Since lanolin is a wax, it helps smooth the fibers and increases the water resistance. The tightness of the weave makes a difference, as well.

I suspect in a heavy rain, a ranger would be more likely to hole up some place than press on and get soaked, unless his/her mission required it. If said ranger did have to press on, his/her soaked 100% wool cloak would retain 80% as much heat as it would bone dry, so while it would be uncomfortable and heavy, it would keep the ranger alive. Our modern work schedules, financial situations, and the like don't always allow us to make the same decisions as a Ranger in Middle-earth would in a given situation, unfortunately!
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Iodo
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Re: A Week in Scotland

Post by Iodo »

Taurinor wrote: I suspect in a heavy rain, a ranger would be more likely to hole up some place than press on and get soaked, unless his/her mission required it.
You forget something, it almost always rains in the UK, and even more in Scotland. If I stopped for rain I would never get anything done :mrgreen: if I look out the window now, it's raining! :lol:
Hence complaining about the weather is a favorite British pass time.
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
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Taurinor
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Re: A Week in Scotland

Post by Taurinor »

Iodo wrote:
Taurinor wrote: I suspect in a heavy rain, a ranger would be more likely to hole up some place than press on and get soaked, unless his/her mission required it.
You forget something, it almost always rains in the UK, and even more in Scotland. If I stopped for rain I would never get anything done :mrgreen: if I look out the window now, it's raining! :lol:
Hence complaining about the weather is a favorite British pass time.
I don't imagine the sort of dismal, misty rain that is very particular to parts of England would stop a ranger if he or she was in a wooded area and had a cloak and hood - I've managed similar weather in the woods I wander (walking the dog) with a wool jacket.

I have also personally experienced sunny days in Chester, York, and London, so I know for a fact that it isn't always raining in all of England! :mrgreen: Those are drier regions, though, and I understand that Scotland is an entirely different animal.
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Iodo
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Re: A Week in Scotland

Post by Iodo »

Wow, looking at that map Scotland really is wet. Your right though, sometimes it doesn't rain :lol:
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
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Greg
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Re: A Week in Scotland

Post by Greg »

Fantastic photos. There's no shame in balancing a camera on a tree or log...I do it all the time!

I'm thrilled to see how invested you are in this...can't wait to see where you take use next!
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robinhoodsghost
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Re: A Week in Scotland

Post by robinhoodsghost »

What a great adventure, thanks for sharing.
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Re: A Week in Scotland

Post by Taylor Steiner »

Wow that's really cool! Scotland, nice!
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Iodo
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Re: A Week in Scotland

Post by Iodo »

Some of you might have noticed I wasn't on-line last week. It was, once again, the annual family holiday in Scotland. Even though I didn't get a lot of time for rangering, the wild landscape make for a great photo opportunity
This year was really quite different, last year I had mountain blizzards and sub-zero temperatures to contend with, this year it was hot and sunny, very abnormal :P

Here's what the landscape was like:

Image

We stayed in a slightly different place this year, still in Glen-coe area but closer to the coast, the forests were older and more open as seen in the lower left photo, however there were still farmed pine forests on the hill side (lower right) and the upper left photo is the view from the top of that hillside

Image

Image

and you may notice I have some new items of kit, the most noticeable are the hood and belt, I'm pleased with the hood, it's the first one I've made that I like, just a shame it was to hot to wear it most days :mrgreen:

If you wan't to see more detailed pics of kit, please say and I'll post :P
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Re: A Week in Scotland

Post by Odigan »

Fantastic! I don't know how I missed this post the first time around, but lookin' good! If not for the title I'd have thought you were in Snowdonia.
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Re: A Week in Scotland

Post by Peter Remling »

Very nice and YESSS we want more detailed pictures !

Curious about aspects of the hood so pics will help. :P
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