Gear

Jonathan E wrote (see)

Used British Army olive green Gore-Tex Bivi Bag "Fantastic condition" £20 + £4.50 P&P from eBay seller called britishmilitarysurplus with good approval rating.
I added a Used British Army Desert Basha for only another £10.  At these prices I can afford to reproof & seem glue if the buyer reviews are wrong.
Both listings say there are more than 10 available, if I waited until they arrived to check condition they may be gone.

BE CAREFUL!!!

That i'm afraid that doesnt look like goretex. That is something more like water proofed nylon. Goretex has a hydrostatic head of 25000. That is 5000. plus I'm not sure if the army use them either.

Sorry but i thought i should let u know what you were in for.

> That i'm afraid that doesnt look like goretex.

'Look like' in what sense?  The picture?  I can't tell anything from the picture...

> That is something more like water proofed nylon. Goretex has a hydrostatic head of 25000. That is 5000.

A bivvy bag might use non-PU coated Gore-tex, which might be expected to have a lower HH.

> plus I'm not sure if the army use them either.

If the army use what?  Gore-tex bivvy bags?  Well, they certainly have*, and the going rate for grade 1 bags is about £30.

* I've used one, issued by QM, Warminster...

Never used BritishMilitarySurplus/Field Textiles, though.

<edit> but I think I may have a catalogue from FT from a very long time ago.  I have their wholesale website in my favourites

There was a debate about what 'Gore-Tex' means in the case of Bivi bags on the Bushcraft Fourm a while back, and the conclution was that 'Goretex' is a basically 'Goretex like'.  The British Army bags Endicotts have got in (and when it comes to surplus, Endi's really know their stuff) are described  as 'Top-Spec M.V.P** (G'Tex) Material'.  On another page, they actually explain MVP as '* M.V.P = Moisture Vapour Permeable i.e WaterProof and Breathable from New'. 

> Basically Goretex is used in the same way as you might use 'Hoover' to discribe a vacuum cleaner

I think W.L. Gore & Associates legal department might have a few words to say about that...  As might Trading Standards if something advertised as Gore-tex turns out not to be Gore-tex (TM).

MVP is the generic term for 'breathability'.

And it's certainly true that MOD issue bags aren't all genuine Gore-tex.

Anyway, the F&T Photon saga rumbles on...  Having sent an enquiry asking why I couldn't log on to the account I'd just created (to check the progress of my order), I got a reply from their customer services telling me to open a new account, totally missing the point of what I was trying to do...

The problem turned out to be that, following the link in the order confirmation email, I tried to log in on the sportdirect website, and, although they're the same company, they seem to have different user account IDs.

Today I found an email in my junk email folder, snet three days after the order was placed, telling me that the order had been cancelled, as they were out-of-stock.  Funny that they're back on the website at the higher price...  Now, if they'd said that they were simply declining my 'offer to treat' at their quoted price of £190, I might have believed them, whilst being a bit miffed.

I'm minded to delete my account.

captain paranoia wrote (see)

> Basically Goretex is used in the same way as you might use 'Hoover' to discribe a vacuum cleaner

I think W.L. Gore & Associates legal department might have a few words to say about that...  As might Trading Standards if something advertised as Gore-tex turns out not to be Gore-tex (TM).

MVP is the generic term for 'breathability'.

And it's certainly true that MOD issue bags aren't all genuine Gore-tex.

I thought that the Patent on original Gore-Tex had expired and that most of the own-brand membrane fabrics are based on this to some degree, obviously they all vary in quality and can not be called Gore-Tex as that's a trade mark.

The bivi bag I posted was described as "Genuine British Army" so it should be to a minimum specification, this and the condition are the important points and not if it's has a Gore or generic membrane.  I agree that they are using Gore-tex generically, but don't mind that I would have still have bought it for the price and condition if it was posted as MVP.  I will probably never know (or worry) if it is or is not Gore-Tex as I don't beleve the bags are marked.

Also described as in "fantastic condition" so should be better than grade 1 for a grade 2 price, although fantastic is woolly adjective.  In the recent feedback for this seller about 5 people gave positive and 0 negative on similar bag.  But I doubt its not worth £20 as I would expect that at least 1 of those 5 buyers to spot tares, seem tape coming away or de-lamination even if they can't identify the membrane.  I don't know a decent surplus retailer near me, so this seems a reasonable risk and with the heavy Basha and postage all for under £35 seems a bargin to me. 

Cheap maps-

Ordnance Survey are doing 3 for 2.

OS website

The Outdoor Warehouse-

 been posted several times, but they do keep adding items to their sale:

Outdoor Warehouse

Rock and Run are doing Montrail Hardrock, at 25% off.  Now £60.

Seems to be a range of sizes available too, though they do have an odd way of displaying what they have.

Montrail Hardrock

Jonathan E wrote (see)

Used British Army olive green Gore-Tex Bivi Bag "Fantastic condition" £20 + £4.50 P&P from eBay seller called britishmilitarysurplus with good approval rating.

Update: got first one and it was mucky and had some delamination around the neck area, I alerted seller, they apologised and asked me to email photo, I did, they sent replacement.  That arrived today, different type of bag its in very good condition DWT good as new, I don't think its been used much.  It is on the massive side I think that its designed for Colonel Blimp's Great Grand Son (to bring your dry gear or a even friend in).  I need to water test it yet.

First one: 837 g, light green inner fabric, cotton fabric around draw cord, no label or stamp etc, 870 mm opening, 2570 mm long & 680 mm at feet.

Second one: 861 g, light green inner fabric, nylon fabric around draw cord, with MOD looking stamp inc "COVER SLEEPING BAG" ... "1996 POLYWARM PRODUCTS LTD", 1150 mm opening, 2530 mm long & 650 mm at feet.

So in summary, a bit of a lucky dip exactly which type of bivi bag you get (will be unless you can visit a shop or get new) but the condition and service are very good.

ChocFish have some long sleeve merino crews and zipnecks in their bargain basement with a  tenner off.  Limited sizes only left tho'.  Grabbed an XXS for myself (Wmns 10/12).

Also got the feller a pair of Karrimor Bodmin walking shoes for summer trundling around for £30 from Go Outdoors - thats half price.  Don't have my size tho - bummer. 

Lakes climber in Ambleside have some Inov8 Roclite 390 GTX fo £30. Not on their site shop only,you need tiny or mahoosive feet tho'.

3,3.5,4 &14 if memory serves, original style boot.

buying some guyline just now, I noticed that Clamcleats have their Y pegs reduced from £5.99 to £4.50 for 6 - for July

still not as cheap as Alpkit Y beams (£6.50 for 10), but such a loverly blue colour