Sven Talk - XYZ

My name is Sven and this is where I talk - about X, Y, and Z. Anything I want. I am not qualified enough to be listened to blindly and there is no reason for you to agree with me but I am here and I have thoughts and sometimes I have enough thoughts about something that I want to write them down some place. This is that place. — Read more about me here if you want.

The Parka Tube

This is going to be a short post because I don’t think it needs a lot of explaining: I’m an ice climber, I was starting to get into Make Your Own Gear (MYOG) and I saw a problem that I wanted to fix that there wasn’t really a market to use money to fix it. The Problem If you are an ice climber, alpinist, or even an avid outdoor rock climber and have ever wanted to carry minimal gear with you on a climb that required you to be warm at belays but stay cool on the climb, you might be familiar with this problem....

The Arc'teryx Alpha Parka

NOTE: As of March 22, 2024, this jacket does not appear on the Arc’teryx website. I am not sure if they have removed it for good or because they are re-working it. You can still see the men’s lightweight version here and the women’s full-weight version here but as of this point, the men’s full-weight version is nowhere to be found. Let’s get a couple things clear: I have had this jacket for a season, I love how warm it is, I like how packable it can be, and I think that almost no one needs it - almost....