Recent content by Aristotle

The factory appears to be in Hebron, West Bank, so it will hopefully have more change of surviving than if it had been in Gaza and reduced to rubble

I bought a pair of Helikon trousers a few years ago. Despite sizing up on the waist, they were far too tight around the legs and backside. 5.11s are much better for me.

Some 5.11s are made from heavier material, rather than ripstop. I have bought some of mine used, so I'm not sure what the model names are.

I have had various pairs of 5.11 trousers of various types. I wear black ripstop ones for work and often wear others outside of work. They fit me well in medium or 32. I am lean, but with muscular legs, which is presumably a rare shape in the UK. I need to buy a larger 34" waist in most...

Last year I bought a 1990s Lowe Alpine Walkabout, having owned one and used it for various tough activities in the 1990s (I don't know where it went to). It is a really good bag. Much better constructed than most new rucksacks.

As per my original query, the "inner mittens" are actually MVP mittens with leather palms. The fleecy ones are presumably "inner inner mittens". Having two nominally similar layers of MVP mittens is surprising. The outer ones appear to be less grippy and longer than the inner ones that have...

I have just seen some references to the outer mittens on the www. They are longer and don't have the leather palms. For UK use, the inners plus warm wool underneath are more than sufficient.

This has been performing magnificently.in the recent rain and snow. A very good coat.

Do they have any additional insulation? It seems odd to have two similar membrane mittens. The inner mittens appear to be fully waterproof and breathable. I use them as outer mittens.

I biked to work this morning. The new snow/slush was very wet. It was foggy and then sleet began falling. It was more pleasant than it sounds.

I have a pair of DPM camo British Army ECW Mittens. They are fully waterproof, appear to be breathable and thin. They have a leather and finger/thumb area. I wear them over a pair of warm boiled (claimed to be merino) wool gloves for commuting by bike on snow/frosty days. They do the job well...

In the low-lying SW part of the Manchester conurbation we had a layer of melting slush on Sunday morning. There was a dusting of slush on Monday morning that disappeared during the day and a thicker dusting of slush on Tuesday morning. I managed to get out for a short Monday lunchtime walk in...

Absolutely. Humans adapt. Many people seldom experience anything other than a controlled 21DegC (or do much other than sitting in a chair/car/sofa or lying in bed). I cycle to work year-round. I know what clothing to wear for the conditions whilst pedalling hard without overheating...

It would be interesting to know what winter weather was like day-to-day in, say, the 1900s, 1920s, 1950s. Was it more consistently cold during winter? Nowadays, we seem to have very short spells of colder weather, rarely below freezing, then longer mild spells, often above 10DegC.

A good point. As somebody who cycles to work throughout the year I do think about these things and there is some satisfaction in getting it mostly right. Having done a lot of outdoor activities, knowing when to add/remove layers and put on/take off a waterproof has been gained from experience.