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Richard Gear's Latest Answers | | Gear news in association with |  |
| | Christmas might be bearing down on us like an out of control
juggernaut, but our man Gear, Richard Gear, has been hard at work
answering your questions and racking his brain over the meaning of
moisture vapour transfer rates, the importance of underfoot fit and
other pressing matters of gear philosophy.
So far Richard has answered over 500 of your questions and you can
find all his past answers together with a shonky search mechanism at
the Ask
Richard Gear section of the site.
Browse through his past answers or ask
a question of your own...
This week Richard sorts out Santa's clothing system, suggests a
boot for allround winter, alpine and icefall use and wonders whether
Khyam quick-pitching tents are suitable for extreme camping use.
 Q:
'Hi Richard, I'm having problems with my clothing system - I need a
combination of warmth and weatherproofing, but my job also requires
bouts of intense activity in narrow spaces and short periods of heavy
load hauling. Ideally it should also be available in red. Yo ho ho,
Santa.
A: My first observation is that your useage could be ideal
for a belay jacket system. It would work like this - while sledging
when you're pretty much static, not generating much heat, but still
exposed to wind, snow and rain, you could simply use an oversized
insulation garment thrown over your other layers.
When you stop to descend a chimney, simply remove the belay jacket
and clip it to your sleigh before delivering the presents, then
replace before moving off to the next drop. In damp conditions a
synthetic fill like Primaloft would work well or possibly a
waterproof down-filled jacket.'
Full
answer
|
 Q:
'Hi, I would like to know if Kyham tents are ok for extreme
camping?'
A: 'Gear here, Richard 'Extreme and Mean' Gear, man of the
mountains and general living on the edge dude.
Okay, I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'extreme camping'. I'm
guessing that we're talking UK mountain camping in bad weather rather
than at Camp Six on Everest maybe with some backpacking and wild
camping thrown in.
'Khayam's quick-erecting tents are brilliant for fair weather car
camping where the ability to get the tent up quickly and easily
offsets the extra weight of their cunning umbrella system. They
should also stand up to moderate UK weather without problems even in
winter.
'Unfortunately they're not intended for full-on winter use and any
sort of serious storm could prove too much for the tent. I'm not
saying that they're not decently designed and made by the way, it's
just that they're not intended for extreme winter conditions any more
than, say, a Smart Car is intended to be used for off road driving.
It might manage it for a bit, but it'll end in tears even though it's
great at what it's designed for - short hops about town.'
Full
answer |
 Q:
'Which winter boot? I need to upgrade my existing winter boots and
can't decide which to go for, but I do have a preference for Scarpa.
I climb to winter grade III/IV and summer alpine stuff, but am also
looking at an ice week this year. Do I go for: plastics, or leathers
and if leather: Freney XT GTX or Cumbre? Their descriptions don't
give me enough idea of the difference, only the weight.'
A: 'As far as choosing between leather and plastic goes,
I'd tend to stick to leather. Plastic double boots are generally
warmer and the non-absorbent inners dry faster, which may be an
advantage over a multi-day Scottish trip and in the greater ranges,
but they're also clumpier and heavier which will be a disadvantage
for more delicate climbing and for summer alpine use, where you'll
almost certainly be on mixed ground a lot of the time.
For waterfall ice, you ideally want a boot that will take a
full-on rigid technical crampon - B3 graded in other words -
particularly if you're climbing harder routes. Both the Cumbre and
the Freney XT should do the job, but for more technical use, I think
the Freney XT will have the edge. It saves a signifcant amount of
weight - around 250 grammes - over the Cumbre thanks to its
lightweight K-Tech material, which I think, will also dry faster than
the Cumbre's leather fabric.
Full
answer
Check out the full Ask
Richard Gear section of the site for a searchable archive of
all Richard's past answers, some of which make sense, or ask a
question of your own...
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