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New alpine wishlist kit

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 zimpara 26 Sep 2016
I'm in the market for some new gear, what would you get money no issue/sensible for some more alpine stuff (three monts) as well as general cragging and mountain days.

A head torch- bright and long lasting. Nothing too fancy or gadgety- but something better than a BD storm

Harness- Light,bright and not too pricy

Sleeping mat- packs small and around 500g or less-upgrade from EXPED airmate 5m.

Day sack- patagonia ascentionist 35? but in a 40l

Down jacket - Haglöfs chill down £115? Packs small

Reverso- anything better than a reverso?

Bullet point replies gladly accepted if short of time, thanks!
 GridNorth 26 Sep 2016
In reply to zimpara:

> Day sack-patagonia ascentionist 35? but in a 40l

35 litre should be sufficient. I did most of the Grande Courses with a 30 litre pack. Attach climbing equipment, slings, helmet, rope etc. to the outside as, when you are climbing it's not in the pack in any case and leaves you with a small pack for climbing.

> Reverso- anything better than a reverso?

DMM Pivot IMO.

Al

 betathief 26 Sep 2016
In reply to zimpara:

Is the storm head torch not very good then? Was thinking of getting this myself.

i have a camp air harness, light, orange and has 4 proper gear loops. 233g

I also have a eggshell foam mat, not sure of the brand, but it should fold into a block and put outside your bag. However I cut every 2 sections and taped those end to end so its thin and slides down the back of my bag when folded (took out the padding from the bag). Think it weighs 150g.
 Dell 26 Sep 2016
In reply to zimpara:

But first, you never told us what you got up to on your alps trip.
In reply to zimpara:

i would second the DMM pivot. Way better than my reverso 3, particularly when lowering someone directly.

As for the pack i like my lowe alpine stuff, though that’s very much because i find Lowe stuff fits me well so its personal preference. Though I’d avoid the ones with plastic buckles or swap the plastic for metal ones. I broke 2 of the plastic ones over a year of moderate use (though one was from squashing it in a car door)… they are also cheaper than Patagonia which is great if you’re a Yorkshireman.
OP zimpara 26 Sep 2016
In reply to Dell:

Didn't like it much, very small hills with no atmosphere... lol can't wait to go back!



day 1-valorcine Slabs- solo 4 pitch 5a
day 2-Argentierre slabs-solo 300m 3c
day 3-valocine/ massive steep 5a corner and 6b+ slab with angelo

day 4- (recce-tired after yesterday) hiked from tre-le-champ to lac blanc with anabel,verity, rebecca passing aiguillette d'argentierre looked awesome. Had rack, rope, 2l water, ladders are quite tiring and slow. It rained passing the log cabin near chezery enroute to argentiere, festival ponchos are great.

thur climbed solo at la joux, 4b-3c on slab, + 4c in corner to the right. Went back to campsite and climbed with Lance at Gaillands, 4c-5c-5b HARD!

friday climbed 4c and 4b aiguillette d'rgentierre
and le bleu 5c. mega route with lance, then ran back to argentierre for the train.

Saturday walked to brevent, bivvied at lac du brevent, partner forgot jetboil and tent, fortunately I was in charge of climbing gear.

sunday climbed frison-roche 6a on Brevent- wing suits ripped past every 5 minutes. Ran down the ski piste back to chamonix.

mon- rainy shopping day- bought a 20m 7.9mm half rope and got given a tonne of free gas in campsite

tue-hike to tete rousse , bivi for mont blanc summit, recced the grand couloir and gouter approach route in the light, woken by rock fall at 11pm.

Wed- Left tent pitched at tete Rousse 1am, spent 2 hours lost in the dark continually getting off route on the grand couloir scramble. Deadly! Raced past the Göuter hut parties lined up at 3am, First man up very icy bosses Ridge, Scary as f*ck! Let some parties past to follow. So windy!

Summited Mont Blanc at 0630, Back to tete rousse for 11am and a gentle walk back to chamonix with really sore knees.

Thur- f*cked-bought new trousers after crampons ate mine.
Fri- f*cked - Climbed via corda PD 3c with Mark.

sat Hiked up and Bivvied near Index (Chamonix is pretty spectacular at night from 2200m).

sun-Climbed SE arete on index. Really good. Tried to find traverse du crochues but didn't bring guide book. Ran down to Les tines.

Monday Ran up some routes at les Gaillands with Connor.


OP zimpara 26 Sep 2016
In reply to the ant hill mob:

The storm is good, But I want a £100 torch, not a £40 torch
 BnB 26 Sep 2016
In reply to zimpara:

I get 40l in my Ascensionist. Expansion is good and you could add some shock cord for even better carrying capacity.
 bouldery bits 26 Sep 2016
In reply to zimpara:

> The storm is good, But I want a £100 torch, not a £40 torch

I'll buy one and sell it to you for £120 - but I'll give you a special discount of £20.
 Dell 26 Sep 2016
In reply to zimpara:

Tell us more about Anabel, Verity and Rebecca.
 bouldery bits 26 Sep 2016
In reply to zimpara:

Oh, and it sounds like you had a great trip - super jealous!
 d_b 26 Sep 2016
In reply to the ant hill mob:

I would say the storm head torch is fine as small AAA powered head torches go.

The weight and power supply mean it can't be in the same league as something like a myo XP that puts some of the weight at the back and takes a load of AAs or larger batteries though.
 galpinos 26 Sep 2016
In reply to zimpara:

What is the down jacket for? Looking gnar in the campsite or bivying? If it's option 1, the Haglofs is fine, for option two I'd get a ME Dewline (or whatever ME down is the right weight - as you can guess, I like ME down stuff, I have a Luminous but the Dewline is a better replacement).
OP zimpara 26 Sep 2016
In reply to bouldery bits:
Thanks- It was really fantastic! Aside from gouter route descent! I read alot of threads trending- hide in campsite and go home having done nothing (easily done?), so I said I would do 'something' everyday.

So gear wise,

DMM pivot
Camp air harness or anything more suitable.
Patagonia ascentionist
ME dewline 'deal dependant' or haglofs chill.
Mat and torch? What's your guys go to kit?
Post edited at 19:49
 beardy mike 26 Sep 2016
In reply to zimpara:

Really like my Petzl Hirundos for trad and alpine stuff. It has clipper loops, it's neat and packs small, light and clean, doesn't have clutter around the back to interfere with your pack and its very comfortable to wear and hang in.
 damowilk 27 Sep 2016
In reply to zimpara:

For head torch the best I've found (and I've tried a few!) is the LED Lenser H7R.2. My major requirement was one that ran off a lithium rechargeable pack, BUT can easily switch out for aaa's on longer trips. It's also comfortable, bright, easily adjustable brightness, and good lock off.

Mat is Thermatest Neoair Xtherm: comfortable, light for the warmth, and seems to last well. Contrasts to Exped Mats, I've had 2 delaminated and need replaced/repaired, even with never blowing up by mouth, always with a inflator bag.
Climber Phil 28 Sep 2016
In reply to zimpara:
Check out the petzl altitude harness. Very light mountaineering harness.

My preferred pack is the arc teryx alpha fl40

I also have the Mammut alpine bionic belay device
OP zimpara 28 Sep 2016
In reply to Master of Ice:

Now that, is a harness! Nice one!

So here's the gear list so far that I'm totally sold on

Torch-BD Icon £68
Rollmat- Thermarest neoair xlite/xtherm price dependant £90
Harness- petzl altitude £60
Daysack- pata ascentionist 35 or mammut Eiger 42 £120

Nice one dudes

1
OP zimpara 28 Sep 2016
In reply to Master of Ice:

But then I saw this! Never seen stuff like this before, https://www.alpinetrek.co.uk/mammut-zephir-altitude-climbing-harness/
1
 wbo 28 Sep 2016
In reply to zimpara: I'd rather have the Hirundos than either that or the Petzl altitude. I use one for everything and really like it, and the lack of adjustable legs is a non issue for me

I have a Osprey Mutant 38 and it's ok, but I'm not especially in love with it. I like the Patagonia sack

Climber Phil 28 Sep 2016
In reply to zimpara:
My friend reviewed the Mammut http://www.thealpinestart.com/2016/06/mammut/

The altitude is a surprisingly comfy harness. If not what about the sitta ?
 wbo 28 Sep 2016
In reply to Master of Ice: Only having two gear loops knocks them (the Mammut and the altitude) both out for me. The Sitta is nice, but I prefer my Hirundos

 ModerateMatt 28 Sep 2016
In reply to zimpara:

DMM Pivot is awesome, smooth to belay off harness with thick and thin ropes, smooth in guide mode (good enough with 10.3 mm rope), really easy to lower a second.

I do have durability concerns as I've only had it since February (done maybe 200 pitch's of climbing) and it has considerable wear on the outer areas, teeth in the tube are also quite worn (to the point that there are rough grooves where the rope runs) and finally the spine between the two tubes where the rope runs has been compressed and the metal has slightly folded over and now has burrs.

After writing and looking again at my pivot this I'm going to retire it and get in touch with DMM.
Climber Phil 28 Sep 2016
In reply to wbo:
You can attach clippers to the waist belt of the altitude. I know what you mean re the hirundos. Still use my old green and black one.
Climber Phil 28 Sep 2016
In reply to ModerateMatt:
This is partly the reason I went for the Mammut alpine bionic. There's steel inserts where the rope runs which hopefully might make it last
 wbo 28 Sep 2016
In reply to Master of Ice: If we look at out climbing comrade zimpara's recent ticklist rock figured strongly - 2 loops doesn't leave much space for wires, friends, 12 quickdraws et al. While they're no doubt super duper for snowy things, he'd need to pack a second harness for rock days

Climber Phil 28 Sep 2016
In reply to wbo:
Must admit. I do have a mountaineering harness and a separate rock one for that very reason
OP zimpara 17 Oct 2016
In reply to GridNorth:
Nice one chaps, I ended up running with most recommendations.

http://oi63.tinypic.com/zx9pc1.jpg

Therm-a-rest NeoAir xlite (Fantastic bit of kit)
BD vapour (light and scary) nice though.
DMM pivot-petzl attach£s
BD icon (nice bit of kit)
Petzl Altitude (Scary and transparent waist belt is worrying) lol! Also got a hirundos.
ME Lightline down jacket
Hagl£fs roc speed 40l
Petzl summit evo axe
Grivel airtech crampons
BD express 22cm

Now just need a new down bag.
Post edited at 17:16

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