dibber or die !!

[Jennings]

http://www.compasspoint-online.co.uk...pe___misc.html

£ 1.80 for the dibber fastener, worth having in your kit?

[sbrt]

I lost a flapjack in a wet fell race. Do you think it is fair I should be out of pocket or should the RO reimburse me? The conditions in the race were terrible, my flapjack was completely soaked before it got washed away

[dominion]

I lost a flapjack in a wet fell race. Do you think it is fair I should be out of pocket or should the RO reimburse me? The conditions in the race were terrible, my flapjack was completely soaked before it got washed away

It depends whether it was an FRA sanctioned recipe, and whether you followed the recipe correctly. :closed:

[Beany]

I used the finger loop provided for mine, had it on my middle finger but up the back of it. Meant that it was a quick dib at the CP's, but been on the back meant I didn't keep scraping it on the rocks etc every time I put my hands down, which was a hell of a lot. Took a swim at one point and it stayed on fine. Voluntarily came down most of Blisco on my backside because it was quicker than trying to mince down to the river, got a nice pace going on the softer stuff and it survived that too.

I think if you lost it you pay for it, regardless of circumstances but yeah, it's a tough break if you lose it helping someone.

Jacket pocket with zip done up?! Seems to work well with most things.

[keever]

but are you given the choice to use a dibber or not? if you are forced to use one then in some circumstances the charge should be waivered as you have not choice in whether you take on the risk of losing it or not

Bollocks.
You have the choice of whether to race or not.

Dibbers will be in operation with a £30 fee if you fail to return them.

[boghobbit]

It's unfortunate that several people lost their dibbers today and I suppose fell runners are much less used to carrying one that orienteers. However, we were all warned before hand, personally I stuffed map, compass and dibber into a zipped pocket before climbing up the foxes tarn gully and the first two river crossings (it was a very soggy map afterwards!).

It might be worth someone going back up the final descent (I'm not volunteering) to collect the several dibbers that were lost whilst sliding down it.

[geronimo]

Bollocks.
You have the choice of whether to race or not.

totally agree with you. for gods sake I wish people would stop criticising RO's as pretty soon we wont have any races. if you dont like it then go and do something else

[karen nash]

Get all fell races to use one as a good saftey check as well as helping display splits etc. The everyone would have there own (as in orienteering) and be careful with it! (mine is a newer fast one, aout 50 quid and I have it on a wrist loop as well as the finger elastic.

[fozzy]

How far off the day are we when it is common practice at middle/long races when the ident system is almost universally used? Whilst start up costs are quite significant, the benefits are huge. Instant results, an accurate record of who has gone through each checkpoint as a soon as the box is returned to the race hq. at orienteering events there are even radio controls out in the forest that relay back who has gon through and when. When people own their own dibber, you simply need to enter th number on the race entry form.

I know there is an issue with slowing down to rob, but at middle and long races this should not be an issue

Having started orienteering recently, in addition to fell running, I'm surprised that more fell races don't use them - it would take a lot of pressure off marshals - both in terms of recording numbers and in terms of how many marshals you require - since you can use unmanned CPs if required. With the newer dibbers, they are so quick at recording, that the "time lost" would be negligible - and it's the same for everyone anyway.

I guess the obstacle is the cost of buying the kit - but teaming up with orienteering clubs would help with that and very soon a lot of fell runners would buy their own dibbers for convenience (it only took me a few months of orienteering and paying the extra £1 or £2 on the entry fee to realise that it was worth buying my own).

No arguments on who has to pay the cost of buying a replacement then!

I used the finger loop provided for mine, had it on my middle finger but up the back of it.

That's how most orienteers wear it - either on the first finger or on the middle finger - it's the quickest way to control boxes at the kites.

[Hanneke]

I'd buy one... I think it is a brilliant system! Used for quite a few cycling events I have done as well...

I have a Champion Chip as well. Every runner in the Netherlands that races regularly has one. It used to live permanently laced to my trainers, only to be swapped when new ones were bought. Cost: 30 Euro's. With every race entry you gave them your champion chip number and an accurate time would be recorded, including splits, depending on race length.

SI dibbers do the same thing. I am a RO, only of a short race mind, but were I to organise a long one, I'd love to be able to use the SI system. As said above, great way of keeping track of runners! If everyone had their own, like most orienteers, the system would be much more accessible to RO's as well... and it would solve the dilemma of who is responsible if one gets lost.

Although primarily the runner is responsible, no matter under what conditions the dibber is lost...