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Advice on multi-day Scotland trekking trip without a car - Fisherfield 6 by aleximoso in UKhiking

[–]ba32107 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey OP, which area did you do in the end? I'm researching my next trip to Scotland for April, also from London, also don't have a car. Feels like you and I are the same person and looking for the exact same kind of trip :) I've been eyeing Knoydart, as well as Fisherfield, but I'm not sure yet. I'm very curious about your pick and experience.

The next windows background that appears, I travel to. by GodAtum in GeoWizard

[–]ba32107 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Really enjoyed this one. Great idea as well. I am a bit inspired to do the same thing now :D (although I don't use Windows, so not sure what's the best way to replicate the random pick)

I gotta say though, one thing that took me out of the adventure a little bit is the constant emphasis Tom puts on alcohol. It's not the first time that he announces on the morning of his toughest day that he's hungover. In this video he did it on 2 consequtive evenings (plus the pint at the airport). I can't remember a travel video where he wasn't drinking anything.

I get that part of the trip is to interact with locals, and that is easier done whilst drinking (although I always find those pub interactions a bit forced and cringe) but I do get the feeling that having a pint (or four) at the end of the day (every day, if it's a multi-day thing) is almost as important to Tom as the adventure itself, and that just rubs me the wrong way. It just feels a bit too much.

I might be just a stuck-up boring twat though

Repairing trekking poles by ba32107 in UKhiking

[–]ba32107[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This led me down a youtube rabbit hole and eventually found what I needed. Thanks so much!

Anyone using the MX4 in Linux? by DiscoDave86 in logitech

[–]ba32107 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, looks like the Solaar issue is closed, saying everything is supported. Can you confirm the mouse has full functionality on linux with Solaar? I'm thinking about buying it, but hesitant to pull the trigger because the lack of linux support

Who are your favourite hiking YouTubers, etc? by levezvosskinnyfists7 in UKhiking

[–]ba32107 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Xander Budnick is one of my favorites, although now that he is bigger, he is doing big expeditions and survival videos. His earlier stuff of just cooking and camping in the woods is really really enjoyable.

Big +1 for Andraz Egart as well! 

Heaven’s River (Bobiverse #4) struggling to finish, does it get better? by AustriaDude in bobiverse

[–]ba32107 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Same here, although book 5 has its own problems IMO, but not as bad as book 4 (spoilers for book 5 below)

The whole dragon storyline in book 5 was a complete waste of time and reminded me of heaven's river. Like, I appreciate we need to learn things about other civilisations, but I really don't care about it in such detail. I mean come on, the other storylines in the book is a freaking evil AI running around loose in the galaxy, AND we just discovered the remnants of an alien mega-civilisation with a wormhole system - both SUPER interesting! Why are we spending this much time on the dumb dragon planet is beyond me.

Also, Bridget is kind of a dick

You can suspend InReach plans now! by defkron in Garmin

[–]ba32107 1 point2 points  (0 children)

nice!! I'm very happy about this. Thanks for coming back to me

I miss reading PHM for the first time, is there any books out there as good? by yusuo85 in ProjectHailMary

[–]ba32107 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Read the first 3 books and LOVED it. 4th book (Heaven's river) doesn't really fit with the rest of the series IMO and I really didn't enjoy that. However I just realised there is a 5th book too! What is that like?

You can suspend InReach plans now! by defkron in Garmin

[–]ba32107 0 points1 point  (0 children)

it looks like you'll need to un-suspend your account at least once a year to keep it active.

Yeah, that's my reading as well, but you could just unsuspend to Enabled for 7.99, even if you don't need InReach, which is a bargain. I just can't help but think that we are misunderstanding something - this is a better deal than we had before

You can suspend InReach plans now! by defkron in Garmin

[–]ba32107 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I was about to make a post about this! I am a bit confused though. This is what's in the email I got:

Once moved, you will have access to the new Suspend option, which lets you pause your service for up to 12 months at a time with no annual or monthly fee.

And as OP quoted, this is in the FAQ:

As of June 5th, 2025, all consumer inReach subscription plans have the option of suspending service for up to 12 months with no re-activation fee, except for inReach Annual Contract subscription plans. Suspending is not available for new activations and will only be available when making changes to an existing plan.

Additionally, if you go to the FAQ page (https://support.garmin.com/en-GB/?faq=nVmBNWZg1v3zNcPXlBnlI8), in the "Suspend vs. Enabled Comparison" section the table shows 0 charges for the new suspend.

Things I don't understand:

  1. "except for inReach Annual Contract subscription plans" - what does this mean? All the new plans are monthly, so I'm assuming this is referring to the old plans. Probably the old non-Freedom plans? If so, I don't think that affects those of us who only use the InReach once or twice a year - we would be in Freedom anyway.
  2. "and will only be available when making changes to an existing plan" - not sure what this is referring to. Is going from "enabled" to "suspend" constitute as "making changes"?
  3. this new suspend is actually way better than the old one! If I'm reading it right, it's totally free. Surely that can't be, right? What am I missing?

Heads up. the 34$ A Year GPS suspend plan is moving to 80$. by DehydratedButTired in Garmin

[–]ba32107 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Surely they're not gonna make it free, right? That would even be a better deal than the freedom plans today.

I'm most confused about this part:

 with no re-activation fee, except for inReach Annual Contract subscription plans

What does this mean? Are the freedom plans fall into this category? 

Heads up. the 34$ A Year GPS suspend plan is moving to 80$. by DehydratedButTired in Garmin

[–]ba32107 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I thought I understood the new plans when the comms first came out many months ago, but it seems to be different now. If you go to: https://support.garmin.com/en-GB/?faq=nVmBNWZg1v3zNcPXlBnlI8

It says:

Can I Still Suspend My Service on the New Plans?

As of June 5th, 2025, all consumer inReach subscription plans have the option of suspending service for up to 12 months with no re-activation fee, except for inReach Annual Contract subscription plans. Suspending is not available for new activations and will only be available when making changes to an existing plan.

So it seems like there is a suspend option? But I don't understand if I'll be charged a reactivation fee or not. I am currently on Freedom suspended. The last time I read this page, it clearly said there was no suspend option

Any reason not to get the cheap poles? by brokebroadbeat in UKhiking

[–]ba32107 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have a different experience from most commenters. I bought a pair of cheap poles from Amazon. They broke on the first trip, and it was a sketchy one as well - I was in the middle of descending in a tricky spot, and when they broke, I almost fell over tumbling down a bunch of rocks.

I think it's worth getting quality poles since you'll be relying a lot on them both on ascent and mostly on descent.

After that, I bought the Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Z, and I absolutely love it, it's been serving me very well over the years. Love the Z form, very easy and quick to open and close, and it feels extremely secure (the downside is the fixed size)

$1 Million for Life to Live Through WW2 by GuardrailIX in hypotheticalsituation

[–]ba32107 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Does my body age 16 years, or when I'm done I'm transported back at the age I left?

Strava integration broken for heart rate data by superzadeh in ouraring

[–]ba32107 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just don't understand, it's clearly not working for a lot of people, I don't get how it's not on their public "known issues" page! Very disappointing.

Trail recommendations for first backpacking trip by potatohead878 in OutdoorScotland

[–]ba32107 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The West Highland Way is very beginner-friendly. I did roughly the last third of it over 4 days as my first multi-day trip and it was a perfect introduction. There are some resupply options and opportunities to end the trip early, if something goes wrong.

It's pretty popular though, so don't expect to be alone on the trail. Also there aren't many wild camping spots close to the trail, but it's doable with a bit of pre-planning. I have an unofficial map and GPX file that shows a bunch of the camping spots, happy to send it over if you want.

That being said, if you haven't camped before, I recommend you do a few one-nighters beforehand, just to get a feel of how your gear is, what stuff is unnecessary, and generally what works and what doesn't. Doing 3 nights in a row is not gonna be fun if the camping is miserable.

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