I was not sure which thread to post on but this one seems as good as any.

I wanted to express my thanks to both @Mizmazzle (Mark) and @Anesthetist (Matt) for both helping me out recently with a purchase from the US. Mizmazzle kindly offered me his spot on the Ship John wait list for a Wills jacket. The costs to ship to the UK were eyewatering, nearly as much as the cost of the jacket, something I had not anticipated.

With a little bit of creative thought we managed to get a workaround solution. I was aware that Anesthetist was heading to London on holiday with his family and a meet up and transfer of the jacket was organised. Mark really helped and got the jacket shipped to Matt for hand carry to the UK. Thanks Mark, super happy with the jacket.

I met Matt on Wednesday just gone in London and spent a lovely few hours with him and his family checking out the V&A museum, Harrods and then a London pub for Fish and Chips.

It is so nice to be able to meet like minded people who you have known / chatted to on the forum for several years. Easy conversation and really nice to see our similar age daughters hit it off and get along so well in such a short space of time. It is moments like this that make the forum and the people who use it very special. It was a real affirmation of the positivity that the forum offers.

Me and Matt post Fish and Chips. Enjoy the rest of your break with the family, it was a pleasure meeting you and the family.

IH-526-ODG, IHTL-1501-CRM, PBJs, Norda runners.

IH-M65 oiled cotton, IH Kanreki shirt, PBJs 013 cut, Viberg service boot.

IH526-ODG, IHSH-283, Stevenson 210 jeans, Viberg x RnH Derby shoes.

Ship John Wills, IHSH - 34, Stevenson 210 and Viberg 2030.

Happy weekend everyone

Todays outfit

Oiled M65, anniversary UHF, 777S-142 OD, Viberg 2030

IHSH-389, PBJs, Viberg

Yesterdays outfit

526-ODG modified type 3, IH x Fox Brothers arsenic CPO, 777s-142 OD, Viberg 2030

Matsuda eyewear, Veilance parka, Patagonia vest, IH Fox flannel shirt (hidden), PBJ-x13, 2030 Viberg

Slightly more casual today, IHT-1600, Stevenson 210 Jean, Salomon S-Lab sneaks, PP-5712

The Martin De Candre soap is very good, lathers easily and builds a nice foam cushion quickly. It should last a long time.

The smell is subtle and not overpowering which is good so it does not conflict with any aftershave you choose to use.

The only downside is the size of the jar opening, it is not quite as wide as the Saponificia Varesino tin jars. This makes working the brush into the top of the soap a bit more fiddly, nothing serious just obvious once you have got used to a larger jar aperture.

Just purchased some new shaving soap, trying the Martin De Candre Fougeres soap this time round. Will report back once I have my hands on it.

@Giles Only approached them to confirm the bag was not repairable. This was one of the insurance companies requests. Funnily enough the predictable answer was "no".

Depending on how the insurance fiasco develops I may well contact them and see if they could assist with the purchase of a new one.

@goosehd One of the beach towels got a bit chewed but no clothing fortunately. Nothing lost out the hole in the bag either.

We are trying to get some compensation out of the airline but you end up in a three ring circus with the insurance company also. The airline ask if you have insurance and the insurance company then ask if you have tried for compensation from the airline, and round and round you go until you get fed up and give up.

With bags of this size I would recommend where possible to drop them off at the oversized baggage collection point. Unfortunately you have no control of where the arrival airport choose to send your luggage, in our case it ended up on the conveyor and damaged.

I know there quite a few fans of the Ortlieb Tizip waterproof duffel and roller bags on the forum. This post may be of interest.

Unfortunately my 110 litre RS roller duffel got irreparably damaged during a international flight from Cagliaria (Sardinia) to Stanstead (UK).

Bag arrived with a large 20 x 10 cm hole tore out of the base.

The bag arrived on the carousel at Stanstead. Normally this bag gets delivered at the oversize baggage area of other airports I have used.

I suspect the carousel conveyor system it was forced through did the damage.

The base has a reinforced foam construction that just got chewed.

I was a bit surprised to be honest as the bag has so far proved pretty robust.

Replacements bag may either be the same type but smaller so if it did end up through the airport conveyor system, it would have less chance of getting stuck, snagged and torn? Or go for the pull out handle version of the bag called the RG. The RG version has the aluminium telescopic handle on the underside which may protect the base fabric a bit more?

Downside of the RG version is the bag weighs more which of course becomes part of your weight limit meaning less stuff you can take.
The RS was the best mix of light weight and size with wheels

Be careful out there!

@Mizmazzle Similar story, Graham Mac got my code retrospectively implemented immediately.

Glad the timings for the releases work out for you.

Looking forward to seeing fit pics of these on the various new owners.

@Mizmazzle Very similar story. My voucher code was also not recognised and I forgot to ask for a larger outlier size large.

Because these hot ticket items tend to sell so quickly inevitably there are going to be mistakes made at checkout.

I have e-mailed the IH team who can hopefully assist.

I am at work on night shift and set an alarm to get up to buy this shirt. Not ideal but most of the time (when not at work) I am spoiled living in the UK time zone. I feel sorry for you US and other overseas area customers, setting alarm clocks for releases must be a regular thing, probably deserves a thread all of it's own...

@FireGX @northsouthdenimguy I have had a mini ripple pair of 2030 Vibergs for at least 6 years, they are holding up nicely. They are worn in rotation of course but seem pretty hard wearing.