My day off

Ah, freedom. This week's timetable has been great: only eleven hours of work in total, and as far as I can see only one written assignment, and that short. Today is completely free of lectures and lab sessions. After enjoying a lie-in until eleven o'clock, I made my way into town. My mission was to find an insulated cover for my Sigg water bottle, which I'll need to stop the bottle freezing when we go to the Lakes in winter. I checked both outdoor stores, but no luck. I'll have to order one from Cotswold (I think they're only about £6).

I did, however, make two very good impulse purchases. The first was a pair of Gore-tex gaiters from Venturesport. They're made by OutdoorDesigns, a British company that offers high-performance gear for decent prices (like Regatta, but more so). With my British Mountaineering Council discount, the gaiters came to £27--an absolute bargain. I'd been worried for quite a while about not having gaiters, because my boots have a tendency to get wet inside from water running off my trousers. And gaiters are obviously pretty useful if you have to walk through deep snow.

The second thing I bought, at Millets, was a Peter Storm down jacket. At first I couldn't believe the price. A 90% white goose down jacket, with water-resistant outer, for only £40?? Crazy! But it was true. And, after trying it on and discovering the "Large" size to fit me perfectly, I bought it then and there. No BMC discount at Millets, unfortunately, but look at it this way: I could have ended up paying over a hundred quid for an expedition-grade down jacket from TNF or Berghaus. And that would have been overkill for British weather, because even at 3,000 feet it rarely gets colder than -20 Celsius (with windchill). The Peter Storm jacket may not have the super fill power of more expensive models, but why pay more for features you won't use?

My motto always used to be "If you buy cheap, you'll probably end up buying twice", but I think this case has to be an exception.