Our man Gear, Richard Gear, has been hard at work answering your
questions and racking his brain over the existential dilemmas
surrounding moisture vapour transfer rates, but then don't we
all?
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 speculates on the widest walking boots around,
ponders the difference between Paramo and softshell - it's all
semantics, darling - and compares geodesics to tunnels for UK
all-year-round use.
Q:
'I'm looking at buying a new tent. Are high spec tunnels as good for
British weather - 3/4 season - as a geodesic? They're much lighter
and look easier to put up?
A: Hi there,
Gear here, Richard Gear, master of tent pitching and mistress of
tent bitching, ahem. Anyway, as I was saying just the other day to my
auntie Ethel, tunnel tents are much under-rated for all-round
use.
Sure, well-designed geodesic structures are ultimately stronger
thanks to the crossed pole design and retain much of their intrinsic
strength even in a free-standing, un-guyed situation,
however...
Full
answer
Q:
'What is the difference between Paramo jackets and soft
shells?'
A: 'The name is Gear, Richard 'Comparison' Gear. Actually
in many respects Paramo and some softshells do a very similar job,
though it depends a little on which particular softshell fabric
you're talking about.
'Softshell generally refers to fabrics and garments which are
highly weather resistant and consequently more breathable than fully
waterproof garments. There's almost a continuum between those fabrics
which are very breathable but less weather resistant - some Schoeller
fabrics for example - and those which are less breathable and close
to being waterproof like Gore's Windstopper.
Paramo, on the other hand...'
Full
answer
Q:
'Who makes the widest fitting walking boots?'
'The name is Gear, Richard 'Sasquatch' Gear, big-footed footwear
wearer and expert volume adjuster...
'Anyway, a quick crash course on boots - each company uses a
different articifical foot called a last to build their boots around.
It's modelled on the company's perception of their typical user.
Traditionally different brands have had a national bias - Italian
feet, for example, tend to be lower volume than UK feet, so some
Italian brands are relatively low volume as a result...'
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...
