Puck, the musical

At the end of my packlist there's a line that says 'luxuries'. That's the things I plan to take that aren't needed on the voyage, but are nice to have anyway - a small notebook for a journal and sketching, a small monocular for some idle birdwatching. And now... this.

A Hohner Puck harmonica. 

First let me say I'm not any good at playing harmonica, but you know, getting better needs practice and what else are you going to do alone up a mountain?

Hohner make smaller mouth organs, including the Little Lady, the first instrument played in space.  The Puck though is a full ten hole diatonic (ie. Like a classic blues harmonica.) and it sounds OK all things considered, 

And it's still small.. Just under ten centimeters long and weighing a stingy 31g.  I plan to sew up a cover from a cleaning cloth from a pair of reading glasses..  So maybe add a couple of grams to that. And for that I get hours of idle entertainment and as much music as I can remember.

Just to be on the safe side though I'll still be taking some ear buds and a library of .MP3s.  🙂

The real McCoy

Another busy morning at the sewing machine and the camp shoes are finished. 

The design is a two part development of my mocassin prototype. The soles are in ripstop nylon, with an insert in silpoly (most because its low weight) to make a pocket for a foam insole.  The upper is a synthetic material with light stretch - originally a garment from the jumble box at a secondhand shop.

The pictures show both the sole and upper stitched together inside out. The slot in the upper I cut out after sewing the edges.

I did all the sewing on the machine, even details like this. The tab is sewed in last to get a snug fit against the heel.

They are sized to wear with socks but I added a homemade foam insole, with a second layer under the heel.

Compared to the denim prototype you notice how smooth the sole material is, and they rustle a bit too. All in though I like them and I'm looking forward to trying them out for real. 

The finishing touch was adding elastic across the tongue.

Total weight for the pair, including the insoles - 36g. 

After hike footwear

So you get to the end of a long day, and want to ditch your soggy boots. You you turn up at a hostel and want to have something else to put on your feet. But what are you going to take that doesn't weigh you down.

Crocs take space, and sandals with hard soles come with a weight penalty. 

Do they need hard soles? Do they need to be waterproof ? Or do they just need to keep your feet clean? 

At home I mostly go round in my socks so for hostels something similar is enough - but it would be good to keep out dirt and dust. And that's almost enough for padding round reasonable camping grounds - with some tolerance of damp and dew thrown in. So I'm testing out mocassins. 

The picture is my prototype made from an old pair of jeans. The pattern is based on a one piece Native American design - originally for leather of course. 

I sewed an extra piece into the sole with a slit in the middle and added an insole of some thin foam (designed I think for going under wood floors). 

It will get a couple of bits of ribbon/lace to tie at the front but they fit like a glove and are super comfy on. 

The next step is the real thing.  For that I will split the pattern in two and use ripstop or sil nylon for the sole and inner sole (making it damp resistant) and a more breathable synthetic fabric on the top.