Marmot Guide 700 fill Down Jacket

If you are a serious trekker in the Himalayas you need a down jacket. Period. You may not be able to afford one. But there is no question about its necessity. At its weight and packed size, it offers the maximum possible warmth. I have never owned one but always wanted to have one. Till the other day it was a dream for most Indians including me to find a good down jacket here in India.

I am eternally grateful to our friend Sophie Richter for buying and bringing this jacket over for me from Germany a couple of years ago. It's my first down jacket. I have used the jacket in one high altitude trek so far. Sandakphu to be precise, where we faced sub-zero temperatures (picture above). This is not doing full justice to such a fine piece of equipment but such is life. When you have all the equipment to trek, you don't have the time or convenience to do it. I wish I had all this when I was a student.

Anyway, back to the jacket. Ever since putting this on, I have become a fan of Marmot. It is a wonderful jacket at a reasonable price (of course it was bought for me in Germany, possibly at a discount). It is very warm. Wind proof. Light. The material feels a little delicate but that might well be because it is my only prized possession of its kind and I am extra protective about it.

It folds neatly into a pack in its own internal chest pocket. When packed it looks just like a lady's purse, albeit a little bulgy. I do not see going for any high altitude trek without this.

I don't want to sound too fanboyish but this is a perfect jacket for hiking in middle Himalayas. I have not yet been able to find a fault with it except perhaps the colour :-). It has a hood with a drawchord. Most around town down jackets don't come with hoodies. It also has two front pockets for putting your hands in. They are zippered. There is an internal pocket too which is for packing the jacket in during hiking trips. The materials have fancy names and are supposed to be high quality. Only time can tell if they are so. The zips are obviously very high quality and move up and down without a hassle.

I am most definitely going to take this to Chadar in January 2016 and after that I should be able to give better feedback on its thermal abilities. Sandakphu was not really the ultimate test for the jacket. I intend to use it in Chadar as a thermal mid layer and top it up with my Marmot Percip over it. That's a water proof rainwear. I only hope that it can withstand the abrasive effect of the straps of the rucksack.

Generally the more affluent trekkers in the west use such jackets for warmth after they reach a camp. During the actual hike they use hardshell jackets. I do not want to increase the load in my rucksack and in extreme cold like Chadar I would rather use this for walking than add another jacket.

At home I keep the jacket hanging in my wardrobe. This has perhaps helped it retain its loft. It looks all fluffy even after two years of non-use.

This jacket may not be enough for you to go to 8K peaks. But for lesser mortals like us who trek around the Himalayas in the 15 to 18,000 feet region, this should be good. I do not know what these terms 700 fill or 850 fill mean (you can google it up and get very confused). But this jacket certainly has better loft than my 850 fill sleeping bag from First Ascent, a reputable South African brand. But I don't know, if that is because the sleeping bag was sitting packed in a shop for a long time.

There is an official Marmot store in Kathmandu now. I don't know if this particular jacket is available there. But to read about it at the official site click here .

Buying A Down Jacket In India

As of now Columbia is the only large international brand that is officially available in India. They have decent down jackets for women but nothing as of now for men. There is another store in Rishikesh called Adventure Axis and they stock a wide choice of items. I have bought a sleeping bag from them and the experience was very good. After a telephonic discussion I paid into their bank account in advance and gave them my name and address. They immediately put the item on courier, whatsapped me the courier details. The bag arrived on the second day.

They have some good brands to choose from. And the prices of the items are more or less at par with the retail prices abroad. However, they don't stock the top of the line popular American name brands like Marmot or North Face or Mountain Hardwear etc which are famous in India. They mostly have Rab, which is a very reputable British brand. Most of the Indian expeditions by HMI or other institutions use Rab products. So Rab is good. In fact if you visit the HMI Museum in Darjeeling you can see Rab there kept as mementos from Everest and other 8K expeditions.

Apart from these two places I am not aware of anything else. There might be some specialist stores in cities like Bangalore and Pune and Delhi or Chandigarh. I am not aware.

Kathmandu now has a lot of big brand stores. Marmot, North Face and Mountain Hardwear are there I know. I am sure there are other branded stores there too. Another plus for Kathmandu is the thriving second hand market. Most of the expedition teams sell off their equipment after an expedition. Many gift their stuff to the sherpas who in turn sell them off to the shop keepers in Thamel. That's a very good opportunity to pick up good mountaineering equipment at a bargain price. But of course, it will be a used product and many people have reservations about wearing sleepig in something that has been used by unknown people, which is understandable.

However, the available options now are definitely far better than in the mid 80's when I started hiking in the Himalayas. But I am sure my children will have even better options. I am sure these big name brands will soon be available in India officially. 

Running To Stand Still

The Background

I have been running consistently for the last month and a half !!! Every alternate evening. Started with 20 minutes and 2.33 km. As of now it stands at 3 km in 23.30 minute. Not such a big deal, you might say. And I agree. What is remarkable about this feat, to me, is I have been totally injury free during this period. For me that's a record of sorts. I cannot remember running so consistently for such a long time without any injury (since my college days).

The first time I tried running after college - about 7/8 years ago, when I had just quit smoking and decided to manage my diabetes more aggressively - within a few days I came down with serious injury in my knees that kept me off running for several months.

I realised wearing good running shoes with proper cushioning and fit was important to stay injury free. This is just as important as supple and strong leg muscles, not to speak of correct form and not trying to over exert yourself. If you have lots of strength in your legs, you could run with anything on like we used to in school or college. But we are not talking about super fit athletes here.

In 2010 I got two pairs of Asics almost simultaneously. One from England and another from Canada (both made in Vietnam though). The English Asics (I don't remember the exact model name) was size Euro 42.5 or UK 8, which I then thought was my correct size. I ran wearing it and the first day was the last day of my run for quite a few months, as once again I got seriously injured.

A few weeks after this the Canadian Asics came. This was Euro 42 or UK/Indian 7.5, because size 42.5 wasn't available in Toronto at that time. After wearing it I realised, for the first time in life, that my actual perfect fit is size 7.5. This pair of red Asics (I think it is model GT 2140) was a really good pair. In terms of fit and cushioning nothing could have been better. It was far superior to the English Asics, which is good but not meant for people like us with injury prone legs.

I kept this shoe for my on and off experiments with running or skipping etc. I followed a running programme and ended up running for half an hour. That was a big confidence booster for me back then. For, when I started I could barely run for one minute. I can't remember why I stopped running. Possibly out of sheer boredom of doing the same thing over and over again. I remember, I used to go round the lake in half an hour. I have measured the distance now. It is 2.6 km, which I run at 20 minutes now. 

However, 5 years is a long time for a pair of shoes, even if you have not been running every day in them. The pasting at the front had gone off once which was fixed by Mr Mochi. But I still love them as these are the only running shoes that I have (or had till September 13, 2015).

After running consistently for more than a month I realised that I would need a new pair of running shoes very soon. These Asics are not very durable. They have lasted for such a long time because I have not really put them to good use. They are already getting bald in patches at the bottom and the ankle collar will soon give way.

I started my search for a new pair in right earnest. We now have some great brand stores in India where good international quality running shoes are available. There are quite a few online stores also that sell them. But I soon realised that no one keeps size 7.5 here in India. Not Nike. Not Adidas. Not Asics. I somehow made up my mind that I have to wear size 8 but then I thought let me try running in my English Asics once before buying size 8.

I ran for one night last week wearing this pair that I had been wearing only with jeans for around town outings. Very soon I realised while size 8 is not really a serious issue, I risk injury due to bad cushioning. In fact that evening I had some pain in the Achilles' tendon and my calves got stiff. It was serious enough for me not to consider exercise at home the next day and see youtube videos for message techniques. Of course the next evening I ran/walked 3km but that's only because I am in a much better physical shape. A few years ago I would have come down with some serious injury.

The most important learning for me from this episode was that I wouldn't mind size 8, there is some play in the forefoot area but that's manageable. What is not acceptable is bad cushioning. I have still not reached that level of fitness where I can just about wear anything and run 5K.

So I decided to check out the Asics at Reliance Footprint in Axis Mall - a good 20 km plus from home.

The Gel Nimbus 16

At the Reliance store I checked out two different models. The Gel Nimbus 16 and Gel Cumulous 16, which is cheaper by Rs 2000. The Cumulous had a softer feel but the toe region was pretty roomy. Blame it on size 8. In terms of fit it was quite like my English Asics. But its cushioning is definitely better. 

The Gel Nimbus, in comparison, felt a little stiffer. But ultimately I chose to take it as it turned out to be narrow at the front which reduced the forefoot play. I was a little concerned about the stiff feel under my feet. Not quite an "on top of nimbus cloud" feeling. But the guy at the store insisted on the Nimbus for its narrower fit. I took the black and orange colour combination - which is the same as my KTM bike :-)  Of course it was the only option I think.

Back home I felt really eager to try the new pair out. So out I went with them and ran my first 3K on a hot and sultry evening. I ran it at 23 minutes and some seconds, which is the best so far. For a more detailed analysis of the run click here . Till that evening I had run two 3Ks but mixed it with a short walk of around 200 meters after 2K. I would take a little more than 25 minutes to do this. But with the new pair I ran all of 3 kilometers and in a little over 23 minutes. The most important part of this run was I shaved off a straight 1 minute from my second kilometer. 

Coming back to the shoe, it fitted me perfectly. There is no complaint whatsoever in terms of forefoot play. The fit of this particular size 8 (Euro 42.5) is quite different from the English Asics (the blue ones in the picture above) or even the fit of the Cumulous of the same size. Although there is space beyond my toes, I cannot move my toes around. Which suits me perfectly well. 

The cushion feeling under my feet improved after a kilometer or so. I guess that was all the break-in that it needed. It gave a good firm yet bouncy feel. I know it is a ridiculous thing to say but that is how I felt. I do not see myself getting injured in the legs due to bad shoes, if I am wearing these.

As I gather more kilometers on this model I should be able to give better opinion on it, particularly its longevity. As of now, I quite like the feel. The sock liner has a premium feel to it. The lace is fairly long.

The Gel Nimbus 16 is a slightly dated model. Asics has already launched the 17th edition. But Reliance sold me the 16 at a price that is over Rs 2K more than the price you pay on Jabong. But then I wouldn't be able to wear and check out the fit if I was buying online. Also, most online reviewers prefer the 16 over 17. So, I am pretty happy with these now. 

Diary of a Fitness Watch Owner

August 25, 2015 

I got my first fitness watch, the Garmin Forerunner 15, yesterday by courier from Flipkart. However, this evening I ran with it for the first time - straight off the box, without even so much as charging it. The unit is fairly intuitive and I could pretty easily set it up. Worked out the basics in a matter of seconds and I was ready to go almost instantly. Of course I had read the manual and a few thorough online reviews in advance. That helped. Click here to read one such review . But the unit is also pretty intuitive even if you don't read anything in advance. You will just need a basic understanding of how to operate a modern electronic gadget.

After setting it up, which is essentially keying in my personal data like age, weight, height etc and choosing whether I want the figures in metric system or FPS system, I put the wrist strap on - something about which I was more than curious. The strap is of better quality than the one on my Timex Ironman. The watch feels a little chunky. But since it is not very large, it's okay for me. It is also fairly light. You wouldn't feel it after a few minutes.

I found that I ran for a total distance of 2.33 km in 20 minutes. I had been running this distance for a few days but had no clue about how far it was. I had thought it was perhaps 3 km. The first kilometer took about 8 and a half minutes. There is a soft beep when I hit the kilometer mark - a lap, in Garmin's language. That's by default. I cannot change the lap distance except to make it miles. I didn't. I am fine with a lap distance of 1 km. There was another beep at the 2 km mark. So it means every time I cross a kilometer, the watch is going to beep.

I was also a little curious about the quality of the backlight because I run mostly in dimly lit conditions of Dhakuria Lake in the evening. I discovered the light is good quality white LED, unlike the old Ironman that uses Indiglo technology which is pretty useless. When the lap beep comes on, the light also automatically glows for a few seconds showing you the time and distance. Otherwise to turn the light on you have to press the on/off switch.

For the first run I didn't put the heart rate monitor. I will do that tomorrow. 

Back home I put it on the computer to charge. It immediately turned itself on. After I downloaded the software it does the syncing of data automatically and downloads them all to the computer. The watch stores seven runs. After that it automatically deletes the oldest data. There is no system to manually delete data from the watch, like you can delete photographs from a camera one by one. But if you have a computer you need not bother with that.

September 6, 2015

I have been using the watch for a couple of weeks now. I have more or less understood it and now I know it enough to serve my basic needs for which I bought the watch. There are more features but I haven't really explored them all as I don't need them. I am not a "power user", so to speak.

Let me describe what I do on a typical day when I go out for a run (I call them run days). This will give the reader a fair idea about the watch. Before wearing my running T-shirt I put the chest strap on that has the heart rate monitor. It is silicone in the front and nylon on the back. The nylon part is slightly itchy. But I am getting used to it. I make the electrodes area a little wet before wearing the strap on my chest. Then I wear the watch on my wrist and I am ready to go.

I get out of the flat and switch the watch on. It immediately connects with the HRM and then it tries to get the GPS. The HRM does not have any switch as such. I guess it is always on when connected. When it is cloudy it takes an inordinately long time to connect to the GPS. You can deactivate the GPS but then it cannot calculate your speed or distance etc. We are not discussing that because that's the mode of choice if you are running at home or in the gym.

Once the GPS is activated, let's say near the Lake, I go for the start/cancel button and press start. You do this with the blue button on the top right with which you start the GPS. As soon as I start the watch I also start running.

The beats per minute of my heart during a typical evening run. It reached a peak of 163 at 1 km (that was my fastest 1K at that point of time) and 161 at 3 km. The sharp drop is after I stopped running and started walking. 

When I am running it tells me a few things - A. Time and distance in Km. It even shows the meters in tens. Like, it can tell you that you have run 1.03 km in 7.09 min. It also tells you your heart beats per minute (BPM) and the heart beat zone in which you are running. There are other things also that it tells you like the time you have run and calories burnt, your speed/pace etc. I do not use any of that data. I just check my time and distance and beats per minute. I have noticed that I go very close to my highest permissible BPM.

When I end my run (nowadays at exactly 2.5 km) I immediately stop the watch and save the run. Back home I attach it to the computer (after thoroughly drying the connectors on the back) and switch the comp on.

The beauty of the watch is not the watch itself but the computer software and the analysis of the run that it can show you. You have to download Garmin Connect first. That's the software that syncs the watch with the computer. It automatically downloads the data from the watch and gives you a complete analysis of the run. It tells you things like total number of steps that you took, the total distance you travelled, the heart rate, time, elevation, speed (km/hour), pace (minutes/km) etc etc. It even shows your chosen route on google map with a red line and you can see how your heart beat or speed changed as you moved along that route. Pretty impressive.

On the first day I discovered that I run a distance of 2.33 km in 20 min. I soon pushed myself to 2.5 km in 20 minutes. Next I discovered that I was doing my 1 km in a little more than 8 minutes. I soon pushed it down to 7 minutes for the first kilometer and 20 minutes for the entire distance of 2.5 km.

The computer tells you about your personal records like your best 1km or 5km. Or your longest distance covered etc. Every time you better it, you get an alert on the watch.

View of a section of the things that you can see. There are lots of other things too

Do we really need all this information? I guess if you are a fit athlete and were running for personal fun then you don't really need all this. But for us in the 50+ category, staying motivated is very important. This watch certainly helps me stay motivated. Every alternate evening I look forward to my runs (I run only on alternate days) and want to see if I bettered my previous record. I am already running 2.5 km at sub 20 minutes.

Are there too many negatives about the watch? In my opinion there are a few things that Garmin could have done better. Let me list them out -

A. The watch cannot be connected to a phone. Is that a problem? Not for me. I don't run with my phone. I am very happy with the computer connection. It need not connect with the phone.

B. The GPS hunt is a long and boring process if there is a cloud cover. It often takes more than 5 minutes. So using it during Calcutta monsoon might be a little difficult. But under a clear sky it takes a few seconds only.

C. The HRM strap could have been a little less itchy on the back. But the itch goes away pretty soon. I just discovered that in the US they sell a premium HRM that comes with a better strap. So that explains it.

D. It does not tell me the cadance of my run - that is, the number of steps per minute. I cannot understand why because it can count steps and I guess fairly accurately too (though I have no idea how it does it - from the vibrations?). However, this watch can be synced to a foot-pod for measuring cadence. I do not really see myself buying that just to measure my cadence (as far as I know it is not even available in India) but I have realised that cadence is really important if you want to improve your speed/pace. So one never knows, I might get it some day :-)

I checked that even if you have the footpod on, you won't get the readings on the watch during the run. But you can get it on your computer. I don't think I need that.

September 7, 2015 

Tonight I activated a couple of features that I had not used earlier. I will test them when I run next, that is, day after tomorrow. Wednesday.

A. I activated the heart rate alarm. The alarm will go off when my BPM reaches 170 at the higher range and 125 at the lower range.

As on September 11, I deactivated the lower end of the alarm as it gets annoying when you are walking home and it constantly tells you that your heart rate is very low. I am yet to hit 170 bpm. So don't know how it will react. But I guess the same - which is the light goes on and the message flashes in reverse. 

B. I also activated the auto-pause. Apparently this will take care of the pauses that I have to take per force during crossing of the road.

Yet To Play With 

As of September 6, 2015 I am yet to play with the run/walk feature of the watch. Apparently you can programme it to beep at specific intervals to run and walk. I have not played with it yet and plan to do it next week just for the heck of it. It is a good thing to have when you are training for a long distance event.

I Am Curious To Know

I am curious to know a few things about the watch, that can be found out only after long use. First of all, I am very keen to know how scratch proof the watch is. We are used to the culture of using screen guards for most gadgets that come with a display screen. But the watch is too small for that. How well will it withstand rough use?

I am also keen to know how well the battery in the heart rate monitor lasts.

I used the watch and the HRM in rain today (Sept 11, 2015). It wasn't a heavy downpour when I was actually running but more than just a drizzle. I got quite drenched. The watch and HRM were absolutely fine. 

Should You Buy It?

Entirely depends on why you want to buy a fitness watch. I bought it because I have started running rather late in life, as part of my diabetes control efforts. I shall be 51 in another ten days or so. For me it is important not to over exert myself, in terms of my cardiac abilities. Therefore I always felt the need for a heart rate monitor.

This watch also motivates me to go out and run. Why? Is it just the style of it? Absolutely not. The Fitbit is certainly a lot more stylish. I do not know anyone to show it off to. I run completely alone and this watch helps me stay motivated by competing with myself. After wearing it, I have shaved off a minute from my first kilometer. I used to run my Kms at a little over 8 min. Last week I ran my first km at 7 minute - shaving off more than one entire minute straight. I really felt good to see it. Yesterday, I ran my 2.5 km at less than 20 minutes. My best so far. In short, I push myself because I know exactly what I am doing. I hope I don't end up pushing myself too much and risk an injury. Touch wood, I have been injury free so far.

I also love to see how my heart was/is behaving during the run. How the beats went up as my distance piled up and then calmed down as I slowed down. How long it takes for the heart rate to go up and come down etc. It is not only a lot safer, it tells me about the cardiac health also. How fast your heart beat comes down or how slowly it goes up etc are indicators of your fitness level.

If I was a much younger man, with an athletic build and abilities, I would certainly not need it. But at my level I think I do need it to stay motivated.

Personally I am also a gadget freak. I love the abilities of the modern gadgets to do things that were dream for us a few years back. I find it incredibly "wow" that this small watch knows exactly where on earth I was running, how fast, for how long, at what heart rate etc. It even creates a real life map of it. Isn't that just wow?

This is perhaps not the watch that elite athletes use or wear. I have no clue what elite athletes need to know about their runs and how much analysis of the data they do. I am sure an elite marathoner's runs are analysed threadbare by the steps. They probably use Polar products but they cost a fortune. For beginners like me this is good. Perhaps good enough.

Any gadget is good if it serves your purpose and needs. If your need changes over time then you might need a more latest gadget. But if your need is constant then all you need is a sturdy product. I think this is going to prove itself as a very sturdy product in the long run.

There are many other fitness watches with GPS capabilities. One could explore the other brands too. Like Fitbit, Tomtom, Polar etc. If you have used any other brand please review it for me and let me know.

Review After 3 Months, 48 Activities and Over 100 km Run

The Garmin software support can be terrible. Right now I am struggling with an unsolved issue. While my unit is set to show me the units in kilometers, it is showing the laps in miles. However, all other analyses are being done in kilometers. I am quite puzzled by this. This had happened once and it corrected itself after a few days. Every day I am hoping that it will self correct, like earlier, but that's not happening.

I will perhaps do a master reset to see if it works. I have also written to the support team but not to much avail so far. They suggested a soft reset. That is, they asked me to switch off the unit and restart, which I routinely do every day in any case.

Let me see what they say when their offices reopen after the weekend.

(Later Addition: The master reset did the trick. But then I lost the Personal Records from the watch. Not that it matters but ....)

I find that Strava, where my Garmin data is also downloaded, shows the laps in kilometers. I don't know what is wrong with the unit/software. Apparently lots of other people are also facing the same problem in different models.

Meanwhile, I have got used to the itchy HRM strap. But the satellite gathering time remains a pain. It takes quite a while. I have realised that if I were to race with this watch, it would be a problem. Because a. the satellite gathering time is long (the starter might start the run before my watch is ready) b. once the satellite is gathered you are expected to start running. If you don't, within a few minutes, it will let go of the satellite connection.

The data pages are also rather limited. You can change only two screens. And you have to choose any combination of pace, time, distance and calories. I am now working with pace/time in one and pace/distance in the other. The third screen by default shows my BPM and heart rate zone.

You cannot do another thing. On the watch during a run you cannot, for example, check how your heart rate behaves relative to pace.

You cannot also set a particular distance and go for a run and it will give you a beep when you reach that distance. No. You have to keep looking at the watch to see exactly how much distance is left. It does affect your performance a little.

November 21, 2016

The unit is doing fine till date, touch wood. I have started using it to monitor my bicycle rides also. It is not meant for that though. It's meant only for running and it thinks I am running when I am actually out cycling. So it gives me all sorts of fantastic personal records like my best kilometer was done in a little over 2 minutes :-) What I do is, after the run I erase all the personal records one by one and revert back to the previous ones which were from my running. The best 1k. The best mile. The best 5k and the longest run. That's a bit of a pain to undo all these one by one. And it takes quite a few taps on the button to do all this.

April 1, 2018

Less than three years and the strap broke today. I don't know what to do. Amazon sells a lot of different replacement straps but none of them is from Garmin. I am fine as long as they aren't painful on the wrist. I have to find out if anyone in Calcutta will do the screwdriver job to replace it. Let me go to the trusted watch repair shop tomorrow.

April 9, 2018

I had finally ordered for a replacement strap from Amazon. The cheapest at Rs 340 or so. It came. The package had the strap, two pins and a needle with a plastic thumb to push the pin out to disengage the original strap. I found that I could quite easily take the old strap out by pushing the needle that holds the strap (I was a little skeptical initially that I would be able to do it). But the replacement strap didn't work for me. It is marginally smaller than what my watch needs. I am returning it.

Actually Forerunner 15 comes in two different models. One for males, which I have and another for females. The sizes are different. The male is marginally larger. This strap that I bought is for the female model. It wasn't mentioned in the headline of the product. I didn't read the product description too carefully. Otherwise I would have seen it mentioned.

Anyway. Ordered for the proper larger one again. Let me see what awaits for me now.

The material of the strap wasn't too bad. Didn't feel like the original but it was okay. I don't think Garmin sells the strap.

April 24, 2018

The second replacement strap came today. A good two weeks after the order. But more importantly, it fits my watch perfectly. The material is obviously inferior compared to the OE. But it's fine. A very close replica, I must say. It's a little softer, less dense perhaps.

I changed only the side that was broken. I have kept the other half carefully in my tool drawer. Will put it on when the original breaks again. Taking out the old broken strap and putting on the new one wasn't too difficult. The strap came with two pins. I have kept them secure too. I used the pin from the original strap in this. I am impressed by how quickly I managed to change the strap !!!

Best Charger In The World

The La Crosse Technology BC1000 battery charger is the world's best battery charger. Period. 

You don't have to use all the chargers in the world to come to this conclusion. I haven't. But if you look up the market for such products there is simply no other charger that does so many things and offers so much information about your battery and the charging process. And once you use them you realise that this charger does the work pretty well.

I have been using it for the last seven months or so and discharged/charged at least 10/15 times. Enough to give me some idea about what this charger is all about and somewhat qualifies me to write a review for non-technical people. 

First of all, the charger comes with four AA and four AAA rechargeable batteries. It also has a very detailed user manual that makes the job of using this sophisticated piece of electronics easy to use. Then there are these plastic adapters with which you can convert your pencil batteries into size C or D batteries to go into your larger gadgets. And all this come packed in a smart polyester sling bag that is ideal for traveling. 

So what's so special about this charger? Well, it charges your battery after discharging it completely, which is what sets it apart from the other vanilla chargers. When your battery is completely discharged and won't work to run your gadget you think it has zero charge in it. Right? Wrong. There is still some charge left in it. Ideally this should also be drained out to make the next charging process complete. When your charger has the ability to slowly discharge your battery it ensures this deletion of memory. Of course this discharge and charging process takes some time, typically overnight at 200 mA. But if you can afford the time then that's the best way to charge your battery because it ensures optimum capacity utilisation and extends the life of the battery. 

I do this as a standard practice for all my recharges at home. Earlier, using my vanilla Sony chargers I would insert freshly charged battery into the bluetooth keyboard and the computer would tell me they are 70 per cent charged. Now I get 100 per cent. 

To understand this in better detail I suggest read up on memory effect in rechargeable batteries. Google is free. 

The charging unit has various modes. At the most basic level it can just charge your battery. But even that it does in style. If you are in a real hurry you can charge an AA battery at 1800 mA and it takes just 80 minutes. But this you do only when you are in a real hurry. Otherwise you use the 200 mA charging current mode which takes about 13 hours. Between 200 mA and 1800 mA there are various other charging current that you can select, if you want to. 

For AAA just three charging currents are available that is 200, 500 and 700 mA. 

There is a "refresh" mode which helps you revive long unused rechargeable batteries. This is done by repeatedly and automatically discharging and recharging your battery for upto 20 times. It can take several days to complete the entire procedure but then you wouldn't mind that if you could revive a long dead, old battery. There is a small catch here. If your battery was lying around for a very long time, it will need to be charged a little using your old charger. This unit cannot use any battery that has literally zero charge in it (below 0.9v to be precise). If you put such a battery it will show "null". 

Another beauty of this charger is that it will never overcharge the battery. Once the battery is fully charged you are expected to disconnect it. If however, you don't, it goes into a trickle charge mode. It also has an automatic cut off system in case there is overheating of the batteries. 

Among other standard features that ordinary charging units don't have, you can charge just one battery on this. You can simultaneouosly do four different things to four different batteries on this charger.

While the batteries are being charged the unit can give you various information about the process like the voltage in the batteries, the time elapsed etc. 

The bottomline is, it is a bloody sophisticated piece of electronics and stretches the definition of a battery charger to way beyond what you thought they were supposed to do. Expensive? Yes it is not cheap by our standards. I think I spent Rs 3500. But I think it is really worth it. I use many rechargeable batteries (flash gun, GPS, shaving razor, TV remotes, key board, mouse, sound recorders, flash light, blood pressure monitoring machine - the list is getting longer every day) and I have close to 30 rechargeable batteries. A good charger certainly helps.

Conclusion: If you are a power user of rechargeable batteries serious about their long term health and want to extract the maximum from your batteries then nothing beats this machine. Just close your eyes and buy it if you can afford. They are certainly worth it. In India Amazon sells this. But the price is rather prohibitive. I had it brought over from Canada. 

Photo Courtesy: Amazon India and the company's website. 

Saving For The Rainy Day

I love the rains. No matter where on the face of earth I am, I love it when it rains. The heavier the better. I know there are many who love to hate it. I just love it. But there is an important caveat here. I don't like getting wet in the rains. If I have to walk in the rain, I would prefer to be comfortably dry under an umbrella or inside a good raincoat.

Since youth I have often been on trekking in the Himalayas. In eastern Himalaya it is unusual for you to trek and not face rains. I have often walked the entire day in rain. And I have hated it. Because I never had proper rain wear. In those days availability of good stuff was almost unheard of. Only a few nerdy and poor Bengalis trekked in the Himalayas. Affluent "Bangalore techies" was an unheard of breed. 

When I went to Nepal with Nabab-da way back in the mid-eighties to trek to Langtang valley, I walked with a blue plastic sheet wrapped around myself the whole day. Ever since I have wanted to have a good rainwear. For various reasons this wish came true in 2015 when my niece Guria agreed to bring  a Marmot Precip for me from the US. I paid all of $100 for this. 

But if you have walked in the Himalayas you know that covering the upper part of the body is just half the story. The real need is for you to cover the lower body. After the KTM in end-May this need became all the more important. I started hunting for a suitable solution. There are specialised biking trousers these days. They might even be water proof. But I guess wearing them for a normal hike in the mountains is out of question, because of their weight. I decided to go for this brand called Wildcraft. I bought a pair of Rain Pro Pants from their store in Mani Square for Rs 2000.

In the meantime, I also saw that Timberland was on sale on Amazon and found this pair with Goretex lining inside that was going at a bargain. I didn't spend too long procrastinating on whether or not to go for it.

This review is for all three of them.

Marmot Precip 

The Marmot Precip I have is an XL. It is fairly large for my frame (5'10" - 68 kg) but not uncomfortably so. I got it in this +1 size because I might need to wear it over a small knapsack. I haven't done it in the rains as yet but I am sure it will be able to accommodate it quite well.

The first thing you notice about the jacket is its weight. It's really light at 370 grams (I quote this from their website and didn't personally weigh it). It packs down inside its own pocket (there are two mesh pockets but pack it in the left pocket that has a hook on both the sides of the zipper making it easy to pull when turned inside out) and converts itself into a small rectangular pillow that makes it really convenient to carry on a hiking trip. One can also use the pillow at night to sleep on.

The jacket has various features that they talk about on the Marmot website and I am not quoting them here. The real life test of all this is a walk in the rain, which I did recently in the thunderous Calcutta monsoon rains. The jacket held out pretty well and I didn't get wet inside, which is what matters. I didn't sweat too much also during a 15 minute walk. I felt a little damp when I came back home but that could well be from my palms and face which were exposed.

After an hour's walk though in Calcutta's July rain, I got pretty sweaty inside. However, I must say that no breathability is enough for the humid Calcutta weather. The real test would have to be in the mountains for which I bought this in the first place.

The jacket comes coated with some Teflon like coating. I don't think it is Teflon (owned by DuPont) but it works like Teflon. Water does not make the jacket soggy or clammy. They fall off the skin of the jacket like water off the leaf of lotus or water lilly. This coating also helps get the jacket to dry out really fast after reaching your destination. But the coating doesn't make the jacket look shiny.

The hood has a special feature. There is a lining of some wire like material on the front that makes it a little stiff at the edge. You can give the edge of the hood a little shape so that your visibility remains high. I think this is a nicely thought out feature that is useful in real life. Good thing is that this stiffness does not come in the way of packing the jacket into its pocket.

I have read reviews that the pockets of the jacket are not really water proof. I would tend to agree with them. I had kept my mobile phone in one of the pockets and it was more than just damp. But it was certainly not completely wet in 15 minutes but in about half an hour it got quite wet. If one really has to carry things in the pocket, one should use a double protection like a zip lock plastic envelop or something.

The armpits of the jacket have two large openings with velcro closures that you can open for added ventilation. I think it should only be done when one really starts sweating after an arduous walk in the rain (which I didn't do).

The Bottomline

It's a good jacket, no doubt. I have to see how durable it is in the long run. The material feels thin and delicate. But having used other high quality imported stuff, I know that all that look and feel delicate may not actually be so. I shall be very confident to walk in the rains in the Himalaya with this jacket. But if I was going with my head down below a thorny bush, I shall be doubly careful.

I shall write about its wind cheating abilities after trying it out in the winter.

Comments After Roopkund Trek (June 17)

I used the Precip during my Roopkund trek and it came out with flying colours. On the D-day when we started the push for Roopkund at 3.45 am in the morning, I wore it over my Marmot down jacket. It kept me sufficiently warm. But that was not the reason why I wore it. Given the previous day's stormy weather, I knew it might rain today. So I started well prepared for it.

Sure enough, by the time we reached Roopkund it started snowing. It was a moderate snowfall that continued for a couple of hours. As we climbed down it became rain rather than snow.

The Precip kept me absolutely bone dry. I am really happy that I bought it. While coming back from Lohajung I wore the jacket despite the heat of Delhi simply because of its two zippered pockets.

Today, just for fun, I went walking in Calcutta's torrential rain. I am once again absolutely bone dry.

I have to get the pants version of this, which will complete my arsenal against rains.





Wildcraft Rainpro Pants

The first thing that you notice about the Wildcraft Rainpro Pants is also its weight. It is a pretty heavy pair of pants. No two ways about that. I will have to think twice about taking it on a hiking trip. It is not only heavy but quite bulky too. It does not self pack into any of its pockets.

The Wildcraft website does not help with size specifications or weight. Although they responded immediately to my query on size (XL means 34 inch waist), I forgot to ask about weight. I took the XL size because I found I was able to squat more comfortably in them than in the size L's.

But does it do the job of keeping your lower body dry? It does. And it does it pretty well. I was wearing a pair of corduroy jeans underneath when I went walking in the monsoon rain of Calcutta. They were absolutely bone dry when I came back home. There is perhaps some coating on the textile but it is not even half as good as on the Marmot. After the walk it took quite a while (relatively speaking) for the pants to dry up. But it didn't feel clammy really. And one must mention, at Rs 2000, it is one fifth the cost of Marmot Precip pants.

Apart from its bulk, the other negative about the pants is the mesh lining inside. It runs only as far as your knees. That makes it very difficult to wear them with your boots on because the legs taper a little around the knees where the foot gets stuck.

The list of negatives continue if you look at the pockets. They don't have zippers on the pockets but velcro. And the pockets are definitely not waterproof. I had my leather wallet and it was pretty clammy after about 15 minutes' walk. I wouldn't keep anything in these pockets that needs protection from the elements.

There are two zippered vents on either sides of the legs near the waist. They are supposed to give you additional ventilation. I didn't need to use them as mine was a relatively short walk in the rain without much sweat.

There are zippers from the ankle up - about eight inches. They are supposed to make it easy for you to wear them with your boots on and then keep the pants tight around your boots. Well they don't. Even with that pulled all the way down, the pant's legs don't sit tight around the ankles. If I really want to make them tight, I would need those cycling clips that older cyclists used to use when we were children.

Another negative about the pants is the amount of noise it makes. If it was not raining I would immediately take these off for the sheer noise that these trousers make. I think it is because of the material which is relatively hard compared to the Precip. But then look at me - for the Precip I said I thought it was a little delicate. For the Wildcraft I am saying it is noisy. You cannot escape my criticism either way :-)

As A Two-wheeler Wear: I went on a long ride in the rains. For about two hours. It didn't rain all the way but did rain quite a few times. Sharp, short downpours. There was no water seepage inside and I didn't sweat at all. The knees felt good and I didn't really feel even once that I was wearing a pair of rain pants. This is a very good biking rainwear, no doubt.

The Bottomline At Rs 2000, I think these are damn good rain pants. They have their limitations but the pants do the basic work of keeping water out on a bad monsoon rainy day pretty well. I wouldn't mind paying a little extra if they could introduce full mesh from waist to ankles and zippered pockets but then the pockets are useless in any case. Perhaps they are meant for only keeping your hands as you walk. For that velcro is good enough.

I would most definitely take them on a biking trip. I shall take them where weight or bulk is not an issue. But if I was trekking, I would probably love the compressible Percip from Marmot. They come zippered from waist to ankle making it easy to wear with your trousers and boots on.

Wildcraft should consider giving more details about the pants on their website. Like waist size, length of the pants, weight etc and not wait for their customers to ask.

Timberland Goretex Dark Brown Men's Hiking Boots That's quite a big name for a pair of sneaker type hiking shoes. I bought them purely on impulse. I had a pair of Quechua that are fine for hikes in slushy conditions (tested on Sandakphu) yet I went for another pair. I think these Timberlands turned up on Amazon as an auto suggestion and I realised the troika of these three big brands - Timberland, Vibram and Goretex - was available together for less than Rs 5000. Immediately went for it. Normally these shoes sell for something like Rs 8000. But I believe these were unsold for about two years and that's why they were sold off in a hurry and at a deep discount. In fact they are now out of stock on Amazon.

These days the quality of glue is such that if you don't use your shoes they come off. But if you wear your shoes often enough, they don't come off.

Granted Timberland is not a big name in hiking. But it's a big name no doubt in the world of fashionable all purpose boots that last forever. Vibrams can be cheap and bad or very good depending on what you are getting. Goretex is generally supposed to be good but makes things warmer (they are used in everything from shoes to jackets to even caps). Yet these names, I thought, should make for a pair of good boots.

My absolute first impression about them was "premium". The suede leather upper looks very rich. I love the dark tan colour. The Vibrams are much better on wet roads than on dry concrete. They are certainly very grippy on wet roads, which I found was pretty funny :-)

A few words about the fit. Size 8 fits me pretty well. But I think there is some problem on the left foot. Will have to check again with a different tension on the laces. These are sneaker type shoes and not high ankle (which my Quechua is). As of now I often wear them to work on weekends.

I am yet to put them to any real use in the mountains. Therefore this review is just a preliminary first cut one. I have walked with them in the Calcutta rains only once (I think I am mollycoddling them a bit) and the insides were absolutely bone dry after the walk. As stated before I realised that the soles perform better on wet roads than on dry. They are certainly more grippy. Have to check their performance on slippery downslope in a trek as well as on dry and loose gravel. That's the real test of soles of boots.

As of now they go pretty well with my jeans on weekends. The toes are short and blunt of course,  like all hiking shoes but unlike training sneakers that have more pointed toes. But then that's also a fashion statement to make when you wear them to work.

Bottomline A very good pair of sneakers. Not as comfortable as sneakers but keeps your feet bone dry in rain. At the price I got them, they were a steal. I just hope they last long.

Getting a Grip on Matters

One of the first accessories I bought after getting my KTM Duke in end-May 2015 was a pair of gloves. I had often worn a pair of black, pure leather hand made gloves in winter for biking in the past. They were never specialised motorcycling gloves. They were essentially meant for general winter wearing around town in cold places. But they served their purpose for me in Calcutta’s winter riding. You wouldn’t dream of wearing them in summer though. They came with inner cotton lining which would give way in a season or two. They were very basic.

This time around, I thought let me get a pair of decent biking gloves and not an all purpose one. Somehow, after a long ride if you have clean hands you feel fresh. The best way to keep them clean is to wear a pair of gloves that didn't leave your palms sweating.

I discovered that it is quite possible to get Alpinestar gloves in India today. But then fancy gloves come with fancy price tags. And Alpinestars, I found, cost above Rs 6k for a pair on Amazon. As is the case with all problems in life, this one also had a Chinese solution. I discovered a brand called Probiker on Amazon. At around Rs 400 with delivery (they might be cheaper on other sites) I thought it would serve my purpose of experimenting. If I didn’t like them I could just chuck them. Apart from the quality of the gloves themselves, I wasn't too sure if I really wanted to wear gloves all the time. 

On Amazon there was no option for size to choose from (on other sites I find they are mentioned as XL). But when they arrived I discovered they were a size too large for me and came in XL. But that wasn’t a problem really. I can live with a pair of gloves that’s slightly larger than my fingers. Ever since they came I have used them for every single ride and I have clocked just about 500 km and size has not been an issue for me.

The gloves I chose are orange and black in colour. They have protection for the knuckles and a portion of the palms below the thumb – the area most prone to injury in a fall. I have not got a chance to test these protectors and touch wood, I hope I never have the occasion to. But from the look and feel of it, they don’t look like they can stand up to any serious fall or injury. But something is better than nothing. 

The palms themselves are dotted and made of some rubbery material for better grip. The closure at the wrist is with velcro. The velcro feels very cheap and thin but it works. It would seem they would come off from the stitch on first use but they don’t. The grip is good.

  

The gloves are also fairly airy. I have worn them in intense heat of June's mid-day. My hands never felt uneasy. If you are riding at around 30 kmph and hold your fingers out just a little you can feel fresh breeze enter the gloves through the knuckles. That keeps the arms dry and fresh. 

However, one shortcoming of the gloves is their lack of waterproof protection. Yesterday I rode in the rains for close to an hour. They didn't go soggy all right. But my hands were certainly wet and cold when I took them off at home after reaching.

I am yet to test them in real winter. I am sure they will not be anything adequate against serious chill. But for Calcutta winter, I am more than certain, they will be enough.

Another thing I need to test them about. That is, how well they take to being hand washed in soap. They have got dirty already as I am using them to ride in light drizzle too.

My Verdict At that price (you might find them cheaper on other sites like flipkart or snapdeal etc) it's a great pair of gloves to start one's biking life with. Buy it by all means. But keep your expectations modest.

Image courtesy: Flipkart

A Replacement - 24th December, 2016

The original pair reviewed above got stolen from my house parking lot 3/4 days ago. I even know who the thief is but cannot do anything about it :-( I trust the quality of these gloves enough to order another pair. This time I went for an all black look. The pair that has come is size L which is nice and snug. I bought them at Rs 343 off ebay - which is considerably cheaper than Amazon as they don't normally charge for shipping and the item arrived literally in two days. 

The Third Pair - 27th November, 2017 

I lost the second pair a few weeks ago when the gloves fell off the bike along with the helmet as I was riding home. It is a complicated story as to why I was riding bare head and bare wrists. Anyway, got the third pair recently. Through Amazon. It cost me a total of Rs 435. Let me see how long these last.

Rationale For The Blog

I am quite a gear freak. I love reading up on various gadgets and things related to my hobbies and activities. I usually spend a lot of time reading up on things before buying them. I read reviews. And then I buy them. It's always a long process.

I know lot of people out there do the same and reading up online is what we all do. So I thought, no matter how useless I might think of a gear's certain feature, there are many who would like to know about it. So here goes my new blog on the subject.

Here I shall review all that I buy because there is some amount of research involved in it before buying and then there is my personal experience.

Another important thing I want to mention. I would buy many things and brands because they are easily available here in India/Calcutta. They might not be the best available in the world. But we in India are constrained by availability and a draconian customs department that might tax an individual imported item exorbitantly.