UKC

Does anyone know where I can get some Deer Antler from to add to my trad rack. Apparently its the new thing to abb off instead of using tat or trad gear.

In reply to machine:



Just found some on a well known auction site
unfortunately I can't post details

In reply to machine:

Yes.

A deer.

A male one.

Best captured with a robust vehicle driving in on an unfrequented road in the North West just before dawn or after dusk at around 40mph (being optimum for slaying deer without slaying the van/car/bus).

In reply to machine:


Sit on your roof on the eve of December 24, and wait for a fat bloke driving a sledge to arrive. When he drops down your chimley [sic] get your catty out and shoot one of his reindeer between the eyes. hey presto

ps the carcase will also double up as a great venison dinner and the fur can be used to keep the kids warm.

In reply to Tony the Blade:

Deer antler? don't you know the in things is a dangerous lava flow?

youtube.com/watch?v=3UpSlpvb1is&

In reply to machine:

Probs be safer than abbing (accompanied , if u could call it that...) off a bowline with no stopper knot.......(tell me I imagined that and I was seeing things cos I still can't believe it.......). I had to turn off after that... I'd seen enough. I'm assuming that ropes still there...

In reply to Tony the Blade:


Excellent idea. Also Santa won't be able to move on and you'll get his entire stack of presents. And you'll have a sledge for that next visit to Glencoe.

In reply to machine:


I've got a much better idea if you get some - flog it and abseil off a tree.

In reply to Bossys gran

I'm assuming that ropes still there...

Thought they 'jumared' back up it?

In reply to Alowen:

Ah!! I turned off after the ab..... Hideous.

In reply to Bossys gran:

No they ascended the rope using a special forces technique. The location was the Spar Cave and you can just walk into it from the beach. A friend and I were at Glenbrittle when they were filming and lets just say the programme was very cleverly edited. I've now got my antler and I am going to abseil down my stairs to see how it holds up.

In reply to machine:


Put some mattresses down first...

In reply to machine:

Ah that must've been why he had all the black kit......I'm guessing that ab was an SF technique too...... I've not got any deer antlers but I'll be carrying a rock with me everywhere from now on. Think of the kit I can dispense with in future!!!

3 cheers for Bear!!!

In reply to machine:


I always abseil off a live deer. More of a challenge init

In reply to abseil:

Bouldering mat was deployed at the bottom of the stairs and I can report that Deer antler are surprisingly strong all though not recommended. On my descent I suddenly felt the need to drink the urine I had stored in an old seal skin sock a few months ago and then I nibbled on a few wood louse for sustenance. The antler also doubles up as an extension to your lapis brush so you clean those holds that are just out of reach.

In reply to machine:


Thanks a lot for the detailed report - really helpful because of my years of planning for abseiling round the house - I'll get back to you.

In reply to machine:
The location was the Spar Cave and you can just walk into it from the beach. A friend and I were at Glenbrittle when they were filming and lets just say the programme was very cleverly edited

yes- i got that impression. thanks for confirming the cave identity- it did look impressive

odd that they showed a computerised 3d route map at the beginning, which then bore no relation to what they actually did. the only people that would have possibly been impressed by the proposed route would be people who would know that they didnt actually walk it. so why bother even pretending?

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs:

Haha, yeah it was a really sham. I've always harboured a suspicion that Bear himself might actually be quite a nice guy even if his shows are rubbish, but having watched this one I think I'd find it hard to believe anything the guy said. First he said that they had to walk 40 miles, then a route map appeared which I think showed a fairly short route across the ridge from Glen Brittle down towards Coruisk and then back along the coast, then they pissed about in some mist for a while in somewhere which looked like one of the corries on the Glen Brittle side of the ridge before appearing on a treeless grassy slope running down to the sea which spontaneously morphed into the wooded area above the spar cave where they did their 'special forces' ab and jumar. I like Bear's "it looks like there's some kind of cave" line when standing outside probably the best known cave on the island. They even continued the sham once inside the cave, trying to suggest that the tunnel goes down (presumably down is the more 'special forces' direction) rather than up.

It's so clearly misleading it's almost worthy of a complaint...

In reply to Oujmik:

I liked it when they spotted the "deer head" stuck out on a spur and Bear used his tracking expertise to point up at the sky and say that it fallen from "up there!". Poor old Ben thought he 'd gotten a real neat trophy to take back to his kids in NYC but Bear then wasted it on a "rappel" (not "abseil"?) when they could easily have scrambled down the easy angled slab. Bear, in typical style, kept exhorting Ben to be careful when walking above big drops in case he fell. That seems to be the limit of his expertise: basically "be careful". His guiding technique seems to be any old ramshackle thing will do as long as it's jazzed up with periodic references to "Navy SEALS" etc. (Yeah and what happened to our beloved SAS all of a sudden?)
To be fair to Ben he did look a bit embarrassed at the end. I was wondering why he'd subjected himself to such a pointless load of codswallop, but then, as soon as the show finished, an advert for his new film came on and ... ha! ha!
I think he probably did do the jumaring though, as he looked as knackered as I always do, but then he could've got the same burn in his local "climbing gym" (see other thread.)

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs:

The weather on the first day of filming was truly horrendous and traveling over the ridge and descending into Coruisk would have been a night mare in those conditions its tricky enough in good conditions. I wouldn't have even considered it especially with a celeb who has no experience. So I think they just kind of bluffed it for the first day, made the best of what they had and hoped no one would notice. The scenery in Coruisk is truly breath taking so if they had done the perceived route I would have expected to see some footage and also there would have been a few special ops river crossings which would have been right up Bears street. I do like Bear though and he has done some pretty good things in his time. His programmes are a bit tongue in cheek and it would be better if they were a bit more honest. But he does inspire a lot of the younger generation to put down the play station controls and go outside and do something adventurous.

In reply to machine:

Fair play. They did actually lie down in a cave and scramble around on wet rocks do a sea level traverse and jump in the sea. For all the criticism Bear is probably a great guy and he has a family to support. I'd certainly do it for the money and what's more I'll be switching off the phone when the next show comes on. Unless it's in the jungle and that's just a matter of taste.

In reply to machine:

this sounds like its worth watching, is it on iplayer?

In reply to Seocan:

Its on 4OD.

In reply to Pete Pozman:

Oh Peter, Peter... 'For all the criticism Bear is probably a great guy ' ... FWIW I think the man is a fraud, a liar ('soloing' with a hidden top rope, anyone, who 'bivvying' and then spending the night in 5 star hotels?) and positively dangerous - I can't comment of his jungle survival skills but the advice he gives about climbing/surviving in mountains is plain wrong and could be terminal to anyone who took it seriously (and to the initiated, why wouldn't they?) Jumping naked into a ice covered lake, to warm up, for goodness sake!

And any lipservice he may pay to environmental considerations is just blown out of the water by idiotic stunts like circumnavigating Iceland on jetskis, or whatever it was, or the massive impact he and his crew have whenever their circus invades a remote and fragile area.

In reply to machine:

You need to add a fishing net float to your rack as well, because there's a pinnacle in Pembroke that used to have one of those as an ab anchor as well.

It was scary as hell but everyone seems to live to tell the tale.

In reply to machine:


Yes. I'd never seen the guy before but assumed because of all the poison that drips whenever he's mentioned on here that he'd be a right knob. Far from it. He came across very well, family guy, sense of humour, encouraged Stiller whenever he could, usw. OK, I'm still a Ray sorta introspective pine-needle tea guy, but Bear's alright.

In reply to machine:

What rope diameters are antlers good for? Or do you require smaller antlers for skinny ropes, etc?

In reply to Skipinder:

Beetles might actually do.

In reply to felt:

Are you not using the beetles in place of chockstones?!

In reply to machine:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=604693&v=1#x7945759

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:


But at least when he had a fire in the spar cave, his quick thinking minimised any smoke damage to the spar deposits which coat it. Prepared for every eventuality, he was able to use the kiln dried kindling that he bought from the Co-op in Broadford just in case he discovered a cave.

It was also heartening to see them harvesting the limpets in a sustainable manner, using only as many as needed to give the impression of what ever impression the were trying to make. Also praiseworthy, conserving the intertidal geology by using a BG knife instead of a stone to dislodge said molluscs.

It looked fun lobbing stones down the two thousand foot cliff, so I'm going to give that a try sometime soon. though I'm not going to try his technique that he demonstrated for putting out fires. I probably haven't got his lighning fast reflexes so might end up melting my boots and setting fire to my trousers. BUT BG took the risk, mindful of the danger of unattended fires in a watery environment and the need to conserve unburnt firewood for future generations.

In reply to llechwedd:

Yeah, the immaculately prepared firewood was a real stroke of luck.

In reply to Skipinder:

Could you train the beetles to ascend and become 'intelli-chocks' ?

In reply to Woodseats flapjack eater:


A good idea on the face of it, but if they were intelli they'd run for it when they saw climbers coming. So may I possibly and tentatively and with great respect hesitantly suggest that your notion may need a slight reworking. Thank you for your kind attention and understanding.

In reply to abseil:

I've just spent a fortune setting up Natural Country spring-loaded camming beetles!!! Thanks for nothing :'-(

In reply to Skipinder:


I'm so sorry to hear that. I used to use beetles but gave up after losing eight at Gogarth (on Spiders Web.)

In reply to machine:


Someone also lost a couple on the Eiger too

In reply to Skipinder:


It took me about 8 minutes to get that one. How thick am I [as if any more evidence was (were?) needed]....

In reply to machine:

I tried so hard this time. It WAS Skye after all, so despite myself, I watched it again. FFS. That is/was the last time.

Utter pish.

In reply to JohnnyW:

Aye me anaw....unless the next one just happens to be filmed in Torridon, Knoydart, Fisherfield......