I have an alpkit phud, nice and light and very cheap. It served me well in the summer. The only thing that annoyed me about it was the shoulder strap, would have preferred to have two (like a rucksack)but for the money I paid I wasn't disappointed!
Have a look around on eBay too, I got a moon Saturn and a dmm highball that were in prime nick for 155 in total. You'll find a lot of them are pick up only (understandably...) but if you climb often and travel it's easy to coordinate.
You'll see the grivel one out and about, it's pretty good. I find it a little small but it's fine for smaller straight ups and seems easy to lug around. I do prefer a beefier mat though.
I might be able to borrow a pad so could get away with not having to buy one for now. I tend to rope climb outdoors and boulder indoors so a pad isn't high on my list of purchases, but we need plenty for this Font trip as there are 12 of us going.
I've emailed Grivel for more details about the mat. It just seems a bit too good to be true that it is 12cm thick, only 3.5kg and £90!
Fri Night Vid Finding Focus - Life Behind The Lens of a Climbing Photographer
This week's Friday Night Video is a portrait of a prolific climbing photographer from Wedge Climbing. Sam Pratt is well known in both the outdoor and competition scene but if you haven't heard of him, you've likely seen...
Podcast Mountain Air - 7. Precarious Freedom and the Cape Wrath Trail, with David Lintern