Capitalism seems to take things we always had, give them a new name, and sell them back to us at a high price. We always had cables connecting our hi-fi amplifier to our speakers. We found these stray strands of copper in the back of drawers or in the bottoms of empty boxes. Now they are ‘interconnects’ and they cost at least ten times as much. Or rather we get a ‘choice’: the ‘best quality’, the ‘good quality’ and the ‘perfectly adequate’ with appropriate prices, bearing no resemblance to the cost of making them but invented to give an illusion of giving us control of every detail of our sound system. We, as intended, go for the middle way. We don’t want to be cheap skates after all.
And now the embarrassingly old-mannish long underwear has been discovered, given an expensive twist, and sold back to us as ‘base layers’. It could be made of ‘technical fabric’, newspeak for unnamable man-made stuff or merino wool which is found, as it ever was, on the backs of merino sheep. My mum would definitely have encouraged me to dress in it and bought it for me at Christmas. Only now I won’t need to roll my eyes because, at last, it has become cool.
So, today my eagerly awaited parcel from EDZ Layering arrived. The postman managed to squeeze it through the letter box. I’ve bought long johns (sorry – leggings, nice olive green – on special) and a long sleeved top (safe black – blue was on special but looked ghastly) made of Merino wool all for less than £100. I had my possible motorcycle trip to Helsinki and back via the Baltics in September in mind. I don’t mind the distance but I am nervous about riding so late in the Summer, early in the Autumn. Every account I read of similar rides seem to feature the woes of riding in the rain and cold. I like to be prepared. Despite my distrust of capitalism and its triumphs of marketing over reality (my choice to buy a hardcore Suunto watch for example) I am being converted to the new religion of base layers, that can achieve the impossible of keeping you both cool and warm and ‘wick’ away your perspiration. (When did people first start talking about wicking sweat away?) My polyester EDZ outfit that I bought when I got my most recent set of leathers from Hideout Leather certainly have managed to perform that miracle, and feel extremely comfortable in the process. Let’s see how the next winter ride goes in the company of these toasty sheep. Feeling prepared has a big impact on morale and good morale is the key to enjoyable motorcycle – and other – expeditions. I’ll buy into base layers for now.
