UKC

Just a thought as its turning cold...

Got the idea from Bendy as she was wearing leg warmers on very cold day, after I took the rip about it as well! A pair of long socks with the foot cut out make an excellent and very cheap subsitute (as I couldnt find any leg warmers at the time!) that keep your ankles warm on cold days, without obstructing your climbing shoes. Great for the gap between your thermals, trousers and shoes, if you feel the cold like me!

Any other home made solutions to little niggly problems when climbing?

In reply to Anni:

Helen T informs me that duct tape makes a good substitute for plasters.

So frail yet so gnarly...

In reply to Anni: I'm pretty certain this was suggested in a gear article in Climber maybe in the late 90s I think by UKC's very own Andy Hyslop. It was about lightweight gear for big mountain routes. It had all this amazing new technology in it like Marmot driclime jackets and petzl meteor helmets!

In reply to CJD:

Duct tape is great for old duvet jackets. Looks cool too.

I've tried to promote the idea of electric tootbrushes for cleaning holds when bouldering. The ultrasonicness would be good for getting chalk out of little pitted bits I reckon.

In reply to brothersoulshine:

like RD's old down that is now more duct tape than jacket?



oh, anni, there's another one - a much underrated thing for winter bouldering - the humble scarf.

In reply to CJD:

Finger tape also works well, I used it to keep the big piece of skin hanging off my thumb attached so I could climb on Sunday.

You can use a big clove hitch in a sling as a makeshift hairband.

In reply to Anni: My best discovery was on the Midi Plateau getting ready to go and do the Gaston-Rebufat on the South Face of the Midi. My startling realisation was that by putting the guide, some food, water and windproofs in my sleeping bag stuff sack and wearing it like a rucksack, we had a rucksack that weighed about 200grs and sat high above your chalk bag and rear gear loops. TobyFK and I did the 600 mtr E1 Vestpillaren on Lofoten with the same sleeping bag stuffsack the next year!

This year in Norway my friend Dave had a little BD pack that we used for the second to carry. It worked very well, a bit more comfy, but weighed more than stuffsack and was probably ten times the price!

In reply to Anni:

emergency water carrier - condom

In reply to CJD:

Small tube of crazy glue works better!

In reply to Anni: i've had exactly that thought sat belaying on the top of stanage on a windy day

In reply to Anni:

You can open beer bottles with cams, krabs, tiblocs and some designs of nuts.

In reply to Anni:
The tops off supermarket squash bottles also fit platypus bottles, which is useful when you don't want them in "hose" mode. If using the hose attachment in winter, blowing the water out of the tube after drinking from it will stop it freezing up.
The old-style Petzl Meteor doesn't have a headlamp attachment, but a fairly effective one can be bodged on by tying loops of elastic through the front and rear ventilation holes.
Extra harness gear loops can be attached using cord and plastic tube (pics on my gallery).
When camping, you can squeeze the dregs out of a gas can by standing it in a container of hot water from the campsite bog block.

In reply to Anni:

Chris Tan Death Products
========================

http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/chris.tan/ctds/CTDS.htm

http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/chris.tan/ctds2/CTDS2.htm

http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/chris.tan/ctds3/CTDS3.htm

Non death products include:
===========================

Abaklov threader

Nut extender

Cooking pan compression sac

Modified heat exchanger for Camping gaz stove - almost a death product when you hear it roar!

Extra DIY gear loops on harness

DIY big wall bandolier

DIY clip stick

Projects in progress
====================

Porta-ledge from an argos camp bed

Rawl-plug style expanding pro

In reply to Anni: Don't the socks come unravelled, or did you sew up the ends?

In reply to Chris Tan Ver. XLIX:
You forgot the one with the plastic bags!

In reply to Wingnut:

Don't want to scare tooo many people!

ps Tesco's are crap!

In reply to Anni:

I've got a leg from a pair of old jeans that I used to take for setting up top ropes for groups, to stop the rope rubbing on edges. A cheaper version of those tarpaulin rope condoms you can get now for top roping sandstone stuff.

I also have my magic bouldering multi-tool of beer towel, toothbrush, shoebrush and nutkey, all on one bit of string. easy to throw up to people, and you always have the right cleaning implement to hand.

My approach to beating the cold is to carry sufficient internal insulation, keep moving, and wear socks.

In reply to CJD:


Ow ow ow!! Surely once you get back home this has the opposite effect though? Peeling off the clotted blood/insides as you rip it off? :oS

The girl definatley knows how to ignore pain.

Besides, serves you right if youre off walking, means you dont have a supply of chalk to dry the cut out :oP

In reply to Anni:

ah, now you see I'm the intelligent one who has winter boots that don't give me blisters, so don't have need of such barbaric solutions...

In reply to brothersoulshine:

Hmmm...I think that may be verging on the realms of desperation! If you cant hold the damn thing an ultrasonic toothbrush aint going to make a difference!! :oS

In reply to Rosie A:

No, surprisingly they dont. My cotton girly lilac/pink/cream stripy ones havnt at any rate....will have to show you


Theres some very good ideas on here, I like the jeans leg one particularly for this winter on hard grit....

:oD

In reply to Anni:

oh, and in a boring serious way, dance shops should sell legwarmers I reckon.

Or you could knit your own. nice.

In reply to CJD:

Knitting would signal my demise into complete domestication. That, along with owning a sewing machine, are the two things I will never concede to*.


However, Ive seen JayH do some mean knitting...I wonder...?








*not that theres anything wrong with either of these, but Im somewhat pathalogically averse to becoming my mother....even my mother understand why!

In reply to Anni:

I knit and I own a sewing machine. Am I doomed? Or do you want some custom leg warmers?

In reply to subtle:

inside a thermal sock