RichardC

I’m sure the boots, DMS were more than adequate so the young you made the sensible choice. Can’t scrimp on hydration.

Finally got a pair of Lundhags - been wanting a pair since the late 80s and the SASS catalogue. They don’t feel as heavy as they look, I can run and the membrane will never fail! Really wish I’d got them a long time ago.

I’ve got that vector one. Been very happy with it (I haven’t used many though!). Solidly made, positive adjustment and holds zero sufficient for my purposes. My only problem is that on my galil it sits a little too high for me, so acquiring the dot can be slow, but that could be fixed by training. It is fine on my M4. I use it in woodland. The 5moa dot has not been a problem.

‘Grey man’ low profile tactical weapons bag from Byte. Comfortably accommodates Galil, M4, chest rig, magazines and more in a discrete yet colourful package. cost: £2.50

As a more useful bit of advice if you’re set on waterproofness - have you looked at Paramo? They claim that liquid water not just vapour can escape so might give you what you’re looking for. Not tried cos of price so can’t say whether it works!

Will you actually be able to dry out with a hard shell over wet stuff? It’s going to have to be pretty mad breathable to get rid of all that moisture. My Montane running waterproof claims to 20000/20000 but can’t deal with my sweating so I’m not sure any ‘breathable’ jacket would let you dry out if you were wet (rather than damp). Not very tacticool but a poncho might! Personally I’d take a buffalo mountain shirt or montane extreme over a breathable waterproof anyday. But I am a heavy sweater…

I had mosaicplasty in February 2021. I eased back into running in May. Ran up a Munro in September. Played first (ever) game of airsoft November 2021. Woodland site - quite scary but I wore hard knee pads and didn’t take any chances. I can now run about the woods. The op has been an absolute life saver. Full recovery might take a while and it is important to push on with physio/rehab after the supposed ‘three month’ recovery period and not stop because you feel ok/have run out of physio time. I am still noticing improvements 18 months later. Big thing has been recovering the leg strength lost in the lead up to the op and after it. This restricted balance, getting up from prone and kneeling and recovering from slips and trips. Bulgarian split squats and going up stairs backwards have been a big help. Good luck!