I've just bought something new

I was thinking it’s just a shame that it’s so…blue.[/quote]

You probably wouldn’t like my new jacket then :lol:

Sony ECM-HW2 Wireless Microphone and Receiver for a camcorder.
Tried it out last night and was quite impressed. Lets see how it copes with Sunday’s parade…

[quote=“GizmoMaker” post=5713]fisher space pen military. great reliable pen for the price!
[attachment=51]KGrHqIOKj4E3H8BuDQFBN5keYR-U_12.JPG[/attachment][/quote]

Was this the fabled pen that spawned the story about the USA and USSR dealing with writing in space?

Story goes that the US spent millions developing a pen that can write at all angles on all surfaces and in zero G so that the astronauts can use it whatever the situation.

The USSR saved millions in development costs etc as they just took a pencil.

Not really. That story is a myth, as both sides used pencils until it was realised that fragments of pencil lead flying round in zero-G were hazardous to health. There was then the US capsule fire, which led NASA to seek non-flammable alternatives for everything inside the capsule. Fisher developed the pen independently and then offered the finished product to NASA - no development costs were absorbed by NASA.

[attachment=82]34662_104102.jpg[/attachment]

£100 off

Shame it’s not Paramo.

I’ve always had brand loyalty to Rab, the fit on me seems to be the best that I have tried

You know you’re getting old when this is your response to someone’s shiny new gear post!

Just bought my first car! :mrgreen:

Come on then…make / model etc…

Come on then…make / model etc…[/quote]
I bet he didn’t say because it looks like this…

Come on then…make / model etc…[/quote]
I bet he didn’t say because it looks like this…
[/quote]

Batfink, do you know me outside ACC?!

As for the car, it’s a 2003 Vauxhall Astra 1.6 petrol, silver. Nothing too exciting.

Started off getting quotes for third party SDP insurance, but interestingly my premium went down if I added commuting and business use, two named drivers, and told them that I would park on the road rather than a private drive!

Such is the jollity of car insurance quotes as a 20 year old.

Guve it 10/12 years and the quotes might go a bit lower :wink:

On the subject of buying stuff, I have bought…

*

  • images depicted may not be the exact items bought.

[quote=“jacques”]

Such is the jollity of car insurance quotes as a 20 year old.[/quote]

Come on then, how can it be done? I have the problem that wilf_san junior is about to pass his driving test (17yrs old). Premiums run to £2k, 3k, any number of thousands. How can I ever (affordably) get him insured? What is the secret?

wilf_san

ps apologies, I very rarely post/comment on non-Cadet/RAF matters

Good start to have wilf junior on his own insurance, with you, or possibly Mrs Wilf as named driver.

[quote=“wilf_san” post=10563]Come on then, how can it be done? I have the problem that wilf_san junior is about to pass his driving test (17yrs old). Premiums run to £2k, 3k, any number of thousands. How can I ever (affordably) get him insured? What is the secret?

wilf_san

ps apologies, I very rarely post/comment on non-Cadet/RAF matters[/quote]

As a first time main driver, I got mine for £725 at the age of 20. I was getting similar quotes at 17 but I think that premiums have gone down slightly for young drivers since then (don’t know why).

I’m with Diamond (“car insurance shaped for girls” but they can’t be selective since the EU ruling, and you get £300 bag contents insurance for free), which is a subsidiary of Admiral. Most of my friends who have cars have insurance policies with Admiral and it tends to be cheapest for young people.

Admiral owns Confused.com, so you’ll generally get the cheapest quotes by using that particular comparison site (approx. £50 cheaper than GoCompare, which I was using before I realised).

It’s nearly always cheaper for young people to be fully comp’d. I added business use to mine (to cover commuting to multiple places of work) and that brought the premium down by a small amount as well.

Experiment with job descriptions. Martin Lewis published a ‘Car Insurance Job Picker’ where you can see the difference that they make, although it was last updated in 2009 so caveat emptor.

Then add some named drivers. Adding my parents reduced my premium by £150 each(!)

Don’t over-estimate the annual mileage because that has a significant effect.

Experiment with the other options, like where the car will be parked overnight. Bizarrely, parking my car on the drive actually INCREASED my premium, whereas parking on the road reduced it.

If there’s a choice of insuring the car at another address, get a quote. eg. I live in Sheffield when I’m at university, and the premium from there is approx. £200 cheaper than from my home address with an Oldham postcode. I spend more than half my time in Sheffield, so I think it’s fair to do that, but you should be careful that you’re providing accurate information.

I think that the comparison sites blacklist you after you do too many searches (this happened to me after about 25 in one night), but you can still get to the results of previous searches, then click through and fine-tune the policy you want on the insurer’s own website.

Hope this helps, PM me if you have any specific questions.

[quote=“jacques” post=10575][quote=“wilf_san” post=10563]Come on then, how can it be done? I have the problem that wilf_san junior is about to pass his driving test (17yrs old). Premiums run to £2k, 3k, any number of thousands. How can I ever (affordably) get him insured? What is the secret?

wilf_san

ps apologies, I very rarely post/comment on non-Cadet/RAF matters[/quote]

As a first time main driver, I got mine for £725 at the age of 20. I was getting similar quotes at 17 but I think that premiums have gone down slightly for young drivers since then (don’t know why).

I’m with Diamond (“car insurance shaped for girls” but they can’t be selective since the EU ruling, and you get £300 bag contents insurance for free), which is a subsidiary of Admiral. Most of my friends who have cars have insurance policies with Admiral and it tends to be cheapest for young people.

Admiral owns Confused.com, so you’ll generally get the cheapest quotes by using that particular comparison site (approx. £50 cheaper than GoCompare, which I was using before I realised).

It’s nearly always cheaper for young people to be fully comp’d. I added business use to mine (to cover commuting to multiple places of work) and that brought the premium down by a small amount as well.

Experiment with job descriptions. Martin Lewis published a ‘Car Insurance Job Picker’ where you can see the difference that they make, although it was last updated in 2009 so caveat emptor.

Then add some named drivers. Adding my parents reduced my premium by £150 each(!)

Don’t over-estimate the annual mileage because that has a significant effect.

Experiment with the other options, like where the car will be parked overnight. Bizarrely, parking my car on the drive actually INCREASED my premium, whereas parking on the road reduced it.

If there’s a choice of insuring the car at another address, get a quote. eg. I live in Sheffield when I’m at university, and the premium from there is approx. £200 cheaper than from my home address with an Oldham postcode. I spend more than half my time in Sheffield, so I think it’s fair to do that, but you should be careful that you’re providing accurate information.

I think that the comparison sites blacklist you after you do too many searches (this happened to me after about 25 in one night), but you can still get to the results of previous searches, then click through and fine-tune the policy you want on the insurer’s own website.

Hope this helps, PM me if you have any specific questions.[/quote]

Be careful!! insuring a Car at one address and keeping it at another as well as keeping it somewhere different over night without telling them could bite you in the bum I had mine broken into and the insurance wouldnt pay as that night I left it on the side of the road instead of on the drive.

Haven’t bought a camera for over 5 years now, decided to “upgrade” and try somthing a wee bit different - DJI Phantom 2 Quadcopter with 14Mp Camera.
25 mins flight time, 1000+ feet range, 30+ mph …

[attachment=135]DJI-Phantom-2-Vision-300x2361.png[/attachment]

Finally bit the bullet and swapped my old mess tins (1945) for a jetboil flash.

The death knell for the tins was the new osprey water bottle pouches being just too small for mess tins and hexi. You can get them both in, but it took me 10 minutes to get the damn things out again.

[quote=“Baldrick” post=14739]Finally bit the bullet and swapped my old mess tins (1945) for a jetboil flash.

The death knell for the tins was the new osprey water bottle pouches being just too small for mess tins and hexi. You can get them both in, but it took me 10 minutes to get the damn things out again.[/quote]

Would have been cheaper to buy the Osprey Utility pouch that they do fit into…