"Toast Christmas future, and toast Christmas past"

From Thunder In The Night IV

2011 is coming to a close. The year has been one of contrasts. It started with a bang and fizzled out a bit towards the middle. By October I was a right miserable bastard. Still, there were sparkling moments that keep me smiling even now and looking forward to next year.

No 'Gear of the Year' post this year.  I have been far too introspective already these past few months. My thoughts on gear shift all too easily anyway and I look back at some of my previous musings on particular products and cringe. What I thought I 'must-have' turns out I didn't. What I thought would be the piece of gear to rule them all turned out to be less than stellar, or even worse, a complete dog. We are all on a journey and it seems impossible to arrive at a 'perfect system'. Goal posts move, experiences change our perspectives and technology, design and advertising roll on unabated. Now that I have finally ordered a packraft my gear needs will shift again I guess. I am looking forward to that particular facet with much excitement and a little trepidation. This country screams packrafting opportunity and with the help of new friends and aquaintences I'm looking forward to a more aquatic 2012, a lot.

I do have one request for a piece of gear in 2012 though. If anyone comes up with a design for retrofit bullet-proof knees, I am willing to test them and work on product development...

Looking back briefly though I finally got around to putting together this little video of the trip I took with Thomas along the Jotunheimstien in the summer. Shooting video was not our focus mind, and the footage reflects that, not enough quality, not enough use of a tripod, not enough artistic direction, not enough story telling. A learning experience for sure though and lessons have already been learnt.


Jotunheimstien 2011 from Thunder In The Night on Vimeo.

On Paramo (again) - to those of you in Scandinavia who registered an interest in trying out the concept of Paramo clothing by requesting a loan spell with the Velez Adventure Smock that I am about to send on, please get in contact again via Twitter DM or e-mail with your address and contact details. There was such a great response that I want to send the loaner to as many people as possible, starting with those based in Norway before going further afield. The idea is to include a contact list of those wanting to try the Velez so that once each participant has had a go with it they can bundle the jacket on to the next person on the list. Hopefully this will extend the opportunity to try out Paramo without folks having to making a financial committment (beyond shipping costs to the next participant). This will only work with trust, so be cool and 'Pay It Forward'.

Seasons greetings everyone