gear- i need a few more items.. ideas??

[John]

Hey guys and girls,
Hope everyones training is going well!!

 i need to get the following items. i work in the CBD and live near so it would be handy if anyone knew where i could get  the following and not have to spend a million $$$

1 x long leg thermal pants (polypropylene, wool or similar). Cotton, coolmax, lycra and any compression garment will not be sufficient even if the compression garment is called a "thermal compression garment". You may still use compression garments however they do not replace this mandatory item. Refer to this link for an explanation. Click here to view The North Face thermal range

1 x High Visibility Safety Vest that complies with Australian Standard AS/NZS 4602:1999 -N Class for night time wear. This is not a running vest but a workwear vest. It can be purchased at hardwear stores or workwear stores for about $20. Your vest must have AS/NZS 4602:1999 or AS/NZS 4602:2010 as well as Class "D/N" on the tag. This must be worn on road sections at night. The vest must be clearly visible from both the front and the back, even when wearing your backpack so you must have an oversized vest that covers your whole torso AND your backpack.

1 x long leg waterproof pants* Click here to view The North Face range of waterproof and breathable pants

1 x 100-weight long sleeve synthetic fleece top* Click here to view The North Face range of insulating mid-layers

1 x lightweight Dry Sack to keep your compulsory clothing dry (plastic bags or zip lock bags are fine but Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil dry sack is recommended)

Cheers

[Matt]

Hi John,

Kathmandu has all those items except the high vis vest on sale for about 60% off.

[Christopher]

Buy the high vis vest from Bunnings. Make sure you get the day/night (yellow) one with the correct code on the tag and not the day-only (orange?) one. Mine was about $12.

[Jordan]

I got my vest from the salvo-- cost $4. It may be an older model (and it's orange- not yellow) but it has the AS/NZS 4602:1999 compliance and is labelled day/night use.

I'm still in search of a compass though- thought I had brought mine over when moving here from the states, but it's nowhere to be found. Any ideas on that? would the iphone compass be acceptable?

[Andrew]

Hi Jordan,
I doubt they would allow the iPhone compass, as there is no guarantee you're battery will last.  I'm not sure your US compass wouldn't suffice either as you would need a southern hemisphere compass.  You can pick a basic one up at any camping store, Katmandu, Mountain designs, Paddy Palin, etc for around $20 at a guess.

My word of advice would be that you don't spend too much on the items you're not likely to use. I've had the same kit in my TNF bag for 3 years, and it only comes out for the kit checks (that said if the weather is bad then I may have to eat my words!).  I did get a decent 100 weight fleece though as this is something I wear throughout the winter, so I have had some value out of that.

Hope you're all enjoying the taper,
Andy

www.ultramarathonrunning.com.au

[Osbert]

oh crap, "a southern hemisphere compass"?

[Michael]

yes, stumped me when I first came here...on the basis that a compass needle will point to the closer magnetic pole, then for a northern hemisphere compass to operate in the southern hemisphere it will read North as South, South as North, East as West and West as East.  May sound simple enough to work out on paper, but not if you really do get lost, in the dark in the dense bush, its cold, wet, its 70 odd K into the race and you can hear Drop Bears in the trees above you.....

[Ray]

Mountain Designs (in the city Kent st ) have two thermal (polypropylene) items for $55 which is pretty good (I bought my north face XTC  thermal top ($100) but at the time the shop didnt have any pants and said it was a line that was being discontinued so didnt expect to get any more in!!)

Just bought some waterproof pants from Paddys market for $19 bargain!! very light weight (all the mountain shops just sell really expensive ones for climbing everest!!)

hope this helps
Ray

[Kent]

I am having trouble finding a decent priced waterproof rain jacket with hood.

Anyone seen some cheapies out there?

Kent

[Clare]

Anaconda at Moore Park.  I picked one up for $45, very compact and lightweight but ticks the boxes.

[John]

im all sorted guys thanks for your help .. I really splashed out($400) and made sure i got a quality rain jacket incase weather isnt good..

[Christopher]

yes, stumped me when I first came here...on the basis that a compass needle will point to the closer magnetic pole, then for a northern hemisphere compass to operate in the southern hemisphere it will read North as South, South as North, East as West and West as East.  May sound simple enough to work out on paper, but not if you really do get lost, in the dark in the dense bush, its cold, wet, its 70 odd K into the race and you can hear Drop Bears in the trees above you.....

I really hope the sarcasm is a little too subtle for me to have detected (drop bear comment aside), but a compass will always point north - the main difference between hemispheres is how the needle ends are weighted to compensate for differences in the declination of magnetic fields between being in the NH compared to the SH. A traditional NH compass will still indicate north in the SH, it may just catch occasionally when the needles spin around. Apologies if I've totally missed the running gag (it's been a long day...), but I'd hate for a NH visitor to actually get lost and read their compass the wrong way due to something they read here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compass

[Osbert]

Thanks Chris, big help. Would have dropped more cash on a SH compass otheriwse.

[Michael]

Sorry Osbert and Sorry Chris,

There was no sarcasm intended - I was just wrong - and thanks for the wiki link - its a good refresher for an idiot like me. 

have a good one out there next week .

Michael

[vinesto]

Great gears.. Great information.. Thanks

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