Posts made by Graeme

@Kasi I'm glad to hear that you and your wife were okay after the bump, and congratulations on the anniversary.

@Alex I've just seen your question about leads. Also, Yuki is looking great.

I've been using an Arctic Sammy collar and leash for Disco. Here he is modelling it by the HMAS Otway in Holbrook.

They're a small company based in New Zealand, but they ship worldwide. They use proper climbing rope and carabiners for their collars and leashes. Apparently, they have a breaking strain of 500 kg, but that's when the fittings will fail.

I've got one of their Martingale collars, which tightens up to a point to prevent it slipping over the dog's head; a standard dog leash; and one of their hands-free leads, though I haven't used that too often yet. The carabiners on the leashes are large enough to clip onto the handles, so I can wear it around my body like @Aetas does.

If you do decide to order, they regularly run sales with 15% to 25% off, and there are various influencer discount codes floating around. I think that tails15 will get 15% off.

Another company to look into would be Haqihana, who mainly make harnesses for sighthounds. I've got a Harness 2H for Disco. The third set of straps is designed to stop him from escaping from it.

The harness uses a thick and soft webbing, which is definitely nicer than what you'll find in an average pet shop. They don't impinge the movement of the dog's forelegs and chest, unlike some of the no-pull designs that can cause problems. Oh, and they're made in Italy.

I haven't seen the matching leashes, but the harness is well made and I'm trusting they wouldn't disappoint.

I found a couple of places selling Haqihana products in the UK.

Jacques Marie Mage have just released a range of foldable frames that they call the Éditions Pliables. I particularly like the Archibald. I don't, however, like the price.

@louisbosco that's true. It's hard enough in a shop.

@louisbosco the new frames look good, and I agree that the prices have gone up a long way.

Incidentally, OnePointSevenFour (in Sydney and Melbourne) has a sale on, which includes some JMM styles.

@tody I'd be tempted by the Bullet and possibly the Kit Bag. However, I've got a lovely Loyal Stricklin rucksack that's about the same size as the GoRuck, so I don't feel the urge to go shopping.

GoRuck and Carryology are extending the Samurai range, after they found they had more of the Sashiko fabric than they planned...

I was in Sydney for an event, and I dropped by The Hour Glass to ogle the haute horlogerie they sell. They had a Patek Cubitus on display, and, unlike the Melbourne branch, they also had someone willing to show it to me.

It looks better in reality than in the press photos. There has been a lot of criticism that it's too large, but it didn't feel oversized to me, and being a slim case meant it wore well.

At the same time, it doesn't feel as inspired as the Vacheron Constantin 222, which is also 20% cheaper. I'm not sure if I'd be able to get one. When I saw it earlier this year, the Melbourne boutique alone already had three hundred expressions of interest.

The Alpine Eagle would be another alternative, particularly the XPS with the LUC movement. However, my current favourite is the standard model in pink.

I caught an event at the Sydney Film Festival on Saturday: George Miller and Hideo Kojima in conversation.

I'd seen it advertised, and I wanted to go, but I live 670 km (about 420 miles) from Sydney, and I have a dog, which makes spontaneous trips difficult. I dithered, and when I went to book it a day later, it had sold out.

I signed up to be informed about available tickets, and didn't expect to hear back. A few weeks ago, there was a very small release. I clicked the link immediately and there were twelve. I refreshed my browser to see what seats were available, and it was down to four. I managed to get one.

Kojima and Miller are friends. Kojima said that the original Mad Max metaphorically beat him up and made him want to be a film director. He didn't have the opportunity in eighties Japan, so he went into the games industry instead.

Miller came over as incredibly erudite. He would bounce between discussions of film grammar, anthropology, and theories of storytelling. I want to kidnap him so that I can pick his brain.

@Heritage_Guy Omega has been doing good things with their heritage range. I like the CK 859 that they sold a few years ago, and I really should have got one.

@Anesthetist the lume looked OK on the watches I saw, but it's not as precise as some of the other Aqua Terra models. I guess it's for that "vintage charm", but it does sound like a QA issue.

That orange Unimatic is a cool watch.

I was in Melbourne yesterday, and I got to see the new Omega Railmasters.

The watch looks larger on my wrist in the photos. It only comes in a 38 mm case size; there isn't a 41 mm available, unlike other Aqua Terra models. It feels fairly chunky on the wrist. I would go for the grey dial with the centre seconds, as I think that it would be more versatile, particularly when paired with different straps.

I like it. The trouble is that Omega announced the Spirate system two years ago, which promised even better accuracy, and they haven't released it outside of one Speedmaster. I suspect that their range is going to be revamped in the next year or two, unless it's been one of those advances that didn't pan out.

@pechelman I agree that the frames look good.

The Rodenstock ColorMatic IQ Sun 2 range of lenses transition from a lighter to a darker tint. They have a grey that goes from a 50% to 90% tint. That might be an option.

(I considered getting those in a pair of Papa Nui Coral Cruiser Sunglasses, but the frames were too large for my prescription.)

@Giles Top Gear took a Kia EV3 from Adelaide to Darwin. They didn't have any range anxiety except for the leg between Coober Pedy and Ghan, which was about 300 miles. I'm sure that the network in the UK is better.

My brother runs a Toyota bz4X, and the only issues he's had are in the far north of Scotland during the winter, when the cold reduces range.

The best strategy with an EV, as @Tobi alluded to, is to charge from 20% to 80% of battery capacity.

If you're looking for something small and quick, Lexus is bringing the LBX Morizo RR to the UK in the near future. This basically has the engine from the bonkers Toyota Yaris GR in a more civilised package.

@Danimal506 my biggest concern with range is that there are parts of Australia where the charging network is patchy. For example, I was looking at going up to Broken Hill for an event a couple of weeks ago, and there was about 280 km or 175 miles between chargers. The Inster has 360 km or 225 miles range according to the WLTP standard, and probably less in the real world, so things would be tight.

As for road trips, a friend drove from Adelaide to Melbourne (around 730 km or 450 miles) in a Tesla Model 3. He said that it was the most relaxing drive he had done because the car's range mandated stops every couple of hours.

Plug-in hybrids are increasingly popular in Australia, particularly outside of the major cities, because of range anxiety. Maybe that's the way to go. Unfortunately, they're not as cool as the Mustang that @Iron-Heart-Germany was riding around in!

I got to drive my first EV yesterday, a Hyundai Inster.

If you imagine plotting a progression of the mechanical connection with a vehicle that starts with motorcycles, then manual cars, and then automatics, an EV would be the next step along. There isn't the same aural feedback of having engine noise or needing to shift gears.

I don't have a lot of experience with automatics, and most of that was in a Kia Picanto hire car in Shetland a couple of years ago. There was a period of adjustment to that, and there would be a period of adjustment to losing a manual gearbox and engine noises in an EV.

The Inster itself is a clever little car. It's got a surprising amount of space, seats that can be slid around and folded, and quite a bit of tech. It does feel built down to a price, but it's not that expensive.

My main concern would be range. I'm in a rural area of Australia, and I sometimes cover large distances. The Inster has a WLTP range of 360 km or 223 miles, and probably somewhat less at highway or motorway speeds. I think that getting to Melbourne (about 200 km or 125 miles) on a charge should be possible, but the return trip wouldn't be. On longer runs the number of stops might slow things down, whilst off the major roads the charging network gets very sparse.

I'm tempted by the Inster. A similar sized hatchback, such as a VW Polo, would be one alternative, as would a long-range EV like an Ioniq 6. I'm still thinking...

I picked up a Loyal Stricklin roll-top rucksack last year, and I found that my existing packing cubes didn't fit in it. I looked into a few options and the Evergoods Transit Packing Cube 8L was the right size, so I picked up a couple.

They're a split design, with each half being about four litres. A pair of regular jeans pretty much fill a compartment. I haven't tried any heavy weight Iron Hearts, but they might not go in.

The main zip is pretty burly, and it's designed to compress the cube's contents as it's closed.

Criticisms? They're expensive, fairly heavy compared with other cubes, and I think that there are a few features that could have been deleted without loss of functionality. (The Velcro Evergoods logo and patch panel, the zipped pocket, and the webbing handle.)

A lot of carry obsessives rate the Peak Design packing cubes over these, but they don't fit into my backpack.

@terry I'm a fan of Defy bags, and the Verbockel is a really useful pack. (See my previous post! )

@Anesthetist the Carryology collaborations tend to be around 20 to 25 litres, and they're often functionally fairly similar. Unless you're a backpack obsessive, you don't need four hundred day packs.

For example, I use my old Verbockel for 95% of my carry needs. It's been on overseas trips, to the gym, shopping, dog shows, as well as daily use. It's starting to wear out and develop a few holes, so I got a Loyal Stricklin rucksack as a replacement. That's a bit smaller, so I might struggle to travel with it, and I might buy something else for that use case down the line.

(I'm awaiting delivery of a pair of Evergoods travel cubes to see if they'll help with packing it.)

Congratulations on the new house. I'm hoping that it's a cool mid-century pad.

Carryology and Mission Workshop have created a new version of The Mars Project backpack, which they have dubbed The Mars Project Prime Meridian.

I'm not sure if it's as interesting as the original, which @Anesthetist got, and the launch article doesn't give any specs about its size.

There doesn't seem to be as much excitement about the Carryology collaborations this year. The GORUCK Berserker Collaboration hasn't sold out as yet.

Omega has just released a pair of Railmaster models, which are basically no date versions of the Aqua Terra. Note the lack of text on the dial compared to other watches in their collection.