Nearing completion.... half hex mark2.1

Well 4 evenings work, with lots of distractions and the Half hex is looking nearly finished, just the top tie out points for the groundsheet to do and the peak hanging loop, Production of these is still a learning curve for me, i think on the next one i will start at the ground and work my way up when it comes to sewing the sections together, this one all the top panels were sewn together before attaching to the ground sheet, tho this works fine a little trimming in places was needed and i think it would make for a tidier job trimming at the peak than at the base.

Will try get some photo's posted up in the next couple of days, and will be aiming to give it a test run either Wednesday or Thursday Evening.

Half hex inner

Well an evening of cutting and machining has been done, and I'm now half way through the next half hex inner, still not quite mastered the blind seems but then I'm trying to keep the seems small so makes it quite hard work, one half of the topside has been sewn, will more than likely crack on with the other three panels tomorrow evening before, attaching them to the Silnylon groundsheet, then comes the easy part(or not as the case maybe) fitting the zips, tie out points and hanging loop.

Will be looking forward to completing it and seeing how it measures up compared to the last one, and how well it hangs within the Hex3(Shangri-la3)

Dewerstone evening bimble 17-5-2010

This evenings adventure was a short bimble through Dewerstone woods and up to Dewerstone Rock to check out the climbing options and a look at a few top roping set up positions to use one evening in the future, as per norm on the weekday evening bimbles my company consisted of Mary, George, Anna and of course Beetroot and Jasmin( the dogs) .

So starting at the car park and passing over the small wooden bridge across the River Plym we strolled across to where the River Meavy joins the Plym to the great pleasure of Beetroot who was straight in the water, having dragged a rather damp dog away from the river we headed back for the miners track leading up through the woods towards the huge crag named after Dewer, the dreaded Wisht Huntsman who in other guises is none other than Satan. Not only does Dewer terrorise the moor at night as he hunts with his dreaded pack of phantom hounds but he haunts the lofty heights of The Dewerstone.

Heading up the miners track we broke off left along the path leading to the climbing faces of the Dewerstone Rock, looking up at the first face thinking it doesn't look too bad, tho no doubt those conceptions will go out the window once we start climbing it, but for today a little scramble around and up past it was the call of the day to check out anchoring points for setting up a top rope, again this looked fairly simple but will see just how simple on the next trip, when ropes harnesses and the rest of the climbing paraphernalia will be getting lugged out there.

A scramble back down beside the second and larger climbing stack led to what looked like a nice platform for a belay point about half way up the rock face, and once reaching the bottom the routes to climb up to it looked quite manageable, so hopefully a good starting point to build on our skills and finger strength. At the base of one of what looked a more interesting and challenging climbs is a stark reminder of how dangerous climbing can be, with flowers placed on the rock in remembrance of some fateful incident in the past, one we shall be endeavoring to avoid happening to us.

After a poignant moment looking at the flowers it was time to head back up to the path and out onto the miners track, heading down and across the Plym once again and back to the car.

Mark2.1 half hex inner

Well i now have all the material for the next evolution of the half hex inner, gone is the golite groundsheet to be replaced with light weight silnylon so i can make the floor to suit my lanky needs( being 6''2') it will be slightly narrower at it's widest point than the last but maintain the usable space  at head and foot end better, think i might have gone for a slight over kill on the bathtub, will be about 18 cm (20 cm at present) by the time you take into account the seems needed to attach the ripstop nylon to the groundsheet.

Cutting was started this evening with the groundsheet cut out and two panels cut 4 panels and 3 mesh panels yet to be cut then the machining will be started.

A little hint for those of you contemplating making your own a sheet of hardboard makes a good roller cutting surface mine now has the panel shapes drawn on it to make for easy replication, well long as you get the initial measurements right.

Idea's

Well that's all the material ordered or all ready here for making another two half inners now to decide if i make two material ones, and sell one on or to make one half inner made with all mesh sides and one fabric sided half inner similar to that posted a while back. Oh the joys of measuring and cutting to look forward to, but it's all worth it when you get to the finished results. the down side being that more and more idea's come up for things to make or modifications to designs to put in place for the next time round.

Idea's for possible production are growing.

• Tarp with sewn in bug net skirt and bathtub groundsheet.
• Synthetic quilt.
• Bug bivvy style inner for hex( very minimalist bath tub and mesh just large enough to lay in)
• Sil nylon based bivvy bag with pertex topside and supported mesh bug net over head.
• Light weight sil nylon rucksack.

East oakment River to Steeperton Tor 13/5/2010

My saturday(every one elses thursday) and another day for having good company for a walk. Setting off from plymouth at 10am having made a quick run to the post office to send off a half hex inner, i headed for Okehampton station to meet up with Louise and Taz(the dog) my walking companions for the day.

The plan was to head out for a 20km walk heading from the station along the East Oakment River a pleasant start to the walk through wooded tracks following the river before breaking out to a view of Belstone tor to which we made an ascent, enjoying the views along to Higher and Oke Tors past which we would shortly be walking on route to Steeperton gorge, and the steep ascent up to Steeperton Tor.

Reaching the Summit and having once again taken in the views, a sheltered spot out of the wind was found as that old enemy hunger striked. Having fueled up we headed off towards Hound Tor with Taz leading the way, from there a slight descent down to the Whit moor stone circle near Little Hound Tor.

There must be something about that stone circle as on aproaching it Taz did stop and pause before entering which seemed a little out of charector, but who knows maybe just seeing something that wasn't there, me not taz that is.

The final stretch was a leasurley descent down to the River Taw and then skirting back round Belstone Tor to join the wooded track back to the station, a very pleasant day was had with 5 hours walking in good company and the rain holding off i can't complain :)

Cuckoo Rock, Combshead Tor and Down Tor 12/5/2010

Wednesday has become a day for going on evening

stroll with good friends, bought about by the climbing wall closing for the summer.

                          So this wednesday myself , George, Anna and Mary headed out from burrator following the track past the ruined buildings we ventured along with the two dogs leading the way, heading for Cuckoo rock to check out the bouldering options, a trip with the climbing shoes could be called for next time.

From Cuckoo Rock we headed up to Combshead Tor, scouting out a few camping spots which should afford some nice views of the sunset and sunrise, will no doubt post some photo's up at some point after i've ventured back out with camera and tent.

Heading north from Combshead we reached the rather intreaging ring cairn with 31 granite stones 11m diameter with a 350m stone row stretching away from it. A view well worth making the walk out to see, tho the stop there was short due to the dropping sun and losing of light, we cracked on heading up over Down Tor to watch a gorgeous sun set dropping down with leather and leaden Tors in the foreground.