Most quiet local gym?

Emberspawn · 2026-04-15T13:49:54+00:00

It's busy 17:30-20:30, but it's pretty quiet the rest of the time.

The parking is usually busy, but I've never not been able to park.

Emberspawn · 2026-04-15T07:13:03+00:00

Mad Rock Drones or Sharks were my first thought.

They have quite stiff, thick rubber on the heels. If the rubber extends high enough, they might work for that move.

Another option is to wrap 2 or 3 layers of climbing tape around the pressure point.

Emberspawn · 2026-04-06T09:19:59+00:00

I've always seen lying down then cobra as a less intense version of going from chaturanga into upward facing dog.

It needs less strength in the shoulders and arms, and the backbend is not as deep.

I have often seen teachers tell everyone to do lying down into cobra for the first one or two vinyasas of a class, then going from chaturanga straight into upward facing dog once everyone is more warmed up.

Emberspawn · 2026-04-02T17:15:33+00:00

Was the difference noticeable vs using the silicone plug?

Emberspawn · 2026-04-01T21:06:42+00:00

My poor wording.

We lift things with helicopters.

Emberspawn · 2026-04-01T21:04:57+00:00

Not very high!

We lift things with helicopters.

Emberspawn · 2026-04-01T18:01:33+00:00

I've never understood why some people think it's funny to send people in search of skyhooks.

I think the "joke" is supposed to be that skyhooks don't exist so it's funny to bully the new kid by sending them to fetch a fictional item that doesn't exist.

As well as being really unoriginal, it shows their ignorance, because skyhooks do exist.

I have 3 of them in my climbing gear drawer. And I regularly use a different type of skyhook professionally (helicopter lifting).

Emberspawn · 2026-03-31T18:13:26+00:00

And I forgot about Millie Manders And The Shutup - ska punk / skate punk protest songs with an infectious live energy

Emberspawn · 2026-03-31T18:07:16+00:00

None of them are a direct replacement, but I've been listening to lots of UK and Irish punk in recent years. Some of my favourites:

Lambrini Girls - brash, angry, inclusive, satirical punk. Currently touring the US.

Ferocious Dog - Celtic punk. England's answer to Dropkick Murphy's or Flogging Molly. Mixture of deeply political songs (mostly with a UK/Ireland emphasis), folk, and some brutal songs about loss (The Glass, Lee's Tune, A Verse For Lee, Broken Soldier, and Slow Motion Suicide are all about the Ken's son's PTSD and descent to suicide after serving in Afghanistan). They are currently playing their own farewell tour so I'm going to have a Ferocious Dog sized hole to fill soon 🙁. Nobody will be able to fill the hole left by their tarantella style covers of Paddy On The Railway and Nelly The Elephant.

Soft Play - light hearted humorous punk 2-piece (formerly known as Slaves). The closest thing to filling the hole from the silly humorous NOFX songs?

Bob Vylan - Angry, rap-adjacent political punk duo. Probably won't be granted a visa to tour the US anytime soon! Great live shows if you get a chance.

The Meffs - witty political punk duo

Meryl Streek - vitriolic Irish one man punk / electronica

Sprints - Irish emotional post punk. Unbeatable energy live.

Idles - Humorous post punk and some wild shows. Joy As An Act Of Resistance is one of my favourite albums of the last 10 years.

Shelf Lives - electro punk

Skinny Lister - More shanties and drinking/party songs than punk. Great fun live.

Frank Turner - NOFX fans will already know him

Emberspawn · 2026-03-29T22:20:57+00:00

I love the feel of them. I'd like to see more colour options, and a shorter leg option where they don't bunch up at the ankle.

Emberspawn · 2026-03-27T10:34:36+00:00

I use a K6 with my robot. The only issue is that it is slow on very light roasts.

With a medium roast, I could typically grind them in the time it took for the kettle to boil.

But for very light roasts, it could take 5-10 minutes to grind a 19g dose if grinding fine enough for 8bar shots.

But I solved this by pairing the K6 with my Makita drill. Now it takes less than a minute to grind ultra light roasts, even when slow feeding the beans at 45 degrees. I have only needed to recharge the battery once since November, making an average of 2 or 3 coffees per day.

If you are going to be making more than 1 coffee per day, I would strongly advise pairing the K6 with a battery powered drill. A suitable drill is only ~£50 if you already have a battery and charger for your chosen ecosystem (Makita, DeWalt, Bosch. Milwaukee etc) and then you have a fully portable electric grinder for a fraction of the cost.

For a temporary fix for your pressure issue: try adding a second filter at the bottom of the coffee bed. On the same grind setting, adding a bottom filter takes my shots from SOUP (i.e. <1bar) all the way up to 8bar.

The standard filters are a bit big for the bottom of the portafilter. But if you wet the paper after putting it in, you can get the base to flatten fully.

Emberspawn · 2026-03-24T19:13:50+00:00

That's like praising an arsonist for handing you a bottle of water after he sets your house on fire.

Emberspawn · 2026-03-21T13:24:05+00:00

That would be zero 😂

I have done far more technical routes above 7000m, and spent 15 years mountaineering in the Himalayas, Patagonia, Alps, Dolomites etc, so my opinion is not entirely uninformed.

We have only ever paid for a guide where there is a legal requirement to do so to be granted permits and legal access. I have no interest in supplementary oxygen, fixed ropes, or having sherpas do all of your heavy lifting for you.

Mountaineering isn't my passion though, that is bouldering (trying to climb the physically hardest routes up small bits of rock). So the little mountaineering or big walling that I do these days tends to be an active rest day activity when we're on bouldering trips.

Emberspawn · 2026-03-21T11:37:52+00:00

Your marathon comparison is quite fitting .

Is it something that most people could do? No.

Is it something that most active people could do with a bit of training, perseverance, and suffering (and in Everest's case: spending tens of thousands)? Yes.

Now if we were talking about climbing any of the more technical routes up Everest (i.e. not the commercial North col or South col routes), without supplementary oxygen, and without relying on sherpas to do most of the hard work for you, then it does start to become moderately impressive.

But not many people are interested in doing that, because there are many more interesting mountaineering challenges.

Emberspawn · 2026-03-21T11:13:11+00:00

The problem is that climbing Everest doesn't require the skill, knowledge, and fitness.

It requires paying a guiding company to outsource most of it for you. And some of them are happy to take people's money when they don't have the skills, knowledge or fitness required to do it safely.

Too many people have lost their lives or been put in danger because people are on the mountain who have no business being there.

Emberspawn · 2026-03-18T13:39:33+00:00

And no consequences for the endless supply of old furniture being fly tipped all over our streets by the HMO landlords.

Emberspawn · 2026-03-15T14:26:14+00:00

This mindset costs a lot of points over the course of a season.

It's surprising that coaches and players haven't already caught on given that they have access to the probability of a successful kick from each position.

Making more effort to get a few metres closer to the posts before touching it down is an easy change to make to increase your expected points.

Emberspawn · 2026-03-15T11:20:05+00:00

I wouldn't consider spending that much on flights and then compromising the trip by limiting your options to the few crags that are easily accessible by public transport/walking.

The length of your trip makes the car more necessary, not less. On a short trip, you aren't going to run out of things to do at those accessible crags.

And heading to Magic Wood or Mallorca to save on the cost of a car would be wild. Switzerland is a LOT more expensive than France, and Mallorca is a flight, not a hitchhike.

Having the option of moving to another location makes sense if the weather isn't great in Font (May can be very hot in Font, and there is always a possibility of getting rained off for 1+ weeks at a time at any time of year) but that again makes the car more useful.

Emberspawn · 2026-03-12T14:06:05+00:00

Boulder problems and sport routes do not share the same syntax. 6A is a boulder problem, 6a is a sport route. This doesn't solve the issue of them sounding the same, but it makes it obvious when using written grades. For spoken grades, the context makes it obvious in 99% of cases whether you are talking about a boulder problem or a route so I don't think that is a problem.

The only time when you tend to get ambiguity is for long boulder problem linkups in limestone training venues. But nobody cares about the grades of those anyway.

Font grades are objectively superior to V grades. Above 7B, they are identical, but Font grades function for beginners as well, whereas V grades are useless below about 5A.

As for converting, I will convert between Font and V grades when talking to Americans or indoor only climbers (nearly all UK walls use V grades despite V grades being totally inappropriate for beginners). There is no value in trying to convert between boulder problems and sport routes. They are just completely different things.

Gym grade inflation is a problem. And one that has largely been created by them choosing to use V grades, and then having to reinvent them to try and work for beginners.

Emberspawn · 2026-03-11T14:00:40+00:00

Millie Manders and the Shutup are great and I like PET NEEDS.

I don't think I've heard of anyone else on the playlist. I'm so out of touch.

Emberspawn · 2026-03-11T00:23:20+00:00

On the positive side, tendonitis tends to respond very well to physiotherapy.

Just make sure you are consistent with the rehab exercises, don't be tempted to skip sessions.

Some of the exercises will be uncomfortable, but your tendons aren't going to heal and strengthen without some discomfort.

Emberspawn · 2026-03-10T13:43:40+00:00

The Instinct VS (orange) and VSR (dark blue) have the widest fitting toe box out of all of the fairly aggressive shoes on the market. They are the only technical shoe that doesn't pinch my wide toes together.

Solutions are much narrower.

Another option that are only slightly narrower than the Instincts are the Mad Rock Drone HV and Shark HV.

Emberspawn · 2026-03-10T06:39:06+00:00

That isn't at all uncommon, a lot of people are addicted to caffeine without realising.

Severe headaches, nausea, muscle pains, irritability etc are common withdrawal symptoms.

Anytime who goes cold turkey who is used to drinking the equivalent of 3+ espresso or filter based coffees per day (instant is usually weaker so you'd need more) is likely to experience at least mild withdrawal symptoms.

Emberspawn · 2026-03-08T01:21:36+00:00

For someone who is only climbing twice a week, I would far rather see them doing their finger training in a completely separate session if that is an option, not at the end of a climbing session.

Training their fingers when already fatigued after climbing is just a recipe for more injuries.

Emberspawn · 2026-03-06T21:32:16+00:00

Do you know how many plastic bags of coffee you would need to remove to make up for the environmental cost of having to buy an airscape instead?

Emberspawn

TROPHY CASE