Got glowsticks, tent, camping gear but the contents of my boot are geared more toward getting home than digging in to await rescue!

They're great. Instant grip on slippy surfaces and can also be used for bridging holes or as ramps to get onto rocks. Could just do with a slightly longer pair on occasion as the ones I have are only 4ft or so.

I always have:

Jumper leads
Folding shovel
Warning triangle
Tow ropes
Head torch
Survival kit

and when it snows I'll be adding waffle boards and a proper shovel to the roof rack, along with a hilift jack on the back door!

Not Pentax, but look up Yaktrax overshoes. They're like snow chains for your feet, fold into a pocket for when you reach the cleared areas (they're lethal on smooth surfaces as there's nothing for them to dig into and grip) and can be put back on in seconds. Yet to try mine on snow but I've got them ready!

It's the Leica-a-like retro nature of the FED which appeals really. I was out with my SV today and the clip-on meter takes some getting used to - generally I switch it on, meter the scene, then switch off and put the settings into the camera before focusing and shooting. Hopefully this will work!

Hoping for snow here before long, car has twin batteries of which at least one is healthy (the other needs some batt-aid tablets I think).

Yep, within the EU you can buy whatever you like from another member state without paying duty/VAT. Problem is, the people selling FEDs all seem to be in Russia or Ukraine...

The other thing putting me off is that they seem to be fiendishly complicated bits of kit with a million and one possible adjustments which could cause you to end up with a roll of blurry malexposed mayhem rather than a film! I've read a few FED enthusiast sites and it seems to be a case of "if you need to adjust the rangefinder, good luck..."

Yep, acquiring a Rondinax 60 (got the 35mm model which is great) has to come before buying a Bessa.

It isn't so much not trusting the Russian vendors (Paypal will refund if they fail to deliver) as the risk of getting stung for VAT/duty/Parcelfarce's fine that puts me off. Is postage included in the £18 limit up to which items are exempt from these?

Is it just me, or does anyone else think it looks like a cheap product attempting to look like something Apple made? I'm not a fan of the clear-plastic-over-colour-plastic look and that colour scheme looks a bit confused to me. The multicoloured Pentax offerings look much better because they've stuck to the same colour throughout.

Plus that shiny plastic will collect fingerprints for a hobby - anyone with a PSP will have first-hand experience of this!

I would wonder if a future Pentax EVIL might use the MX/ME names. It would, after all, be much smaller than other DSLRs much as the M series were smaller than earlier film SLRs.

I suspect weird old non-Pentax cameras will be next on my list when I get bored with acquiring screw mount gear. I still fancy a FED II with the folding Industar 50mm and a Voigtlander Bessa...

I like Firefox. Adblock Plus to keep the adverts down and Youtube Comment Snob to hide the idiocy of, well, most Youtube comments. It blocks comments lacking punctuation, or written entirely in upper/lower case, or with multiple spelling errors. In general the few worth reading are left!