At Loomis' suggestion, they decided to get support from experienced British climbers so they invited Thomas Graham Brown, a friend of Houston, who accepted the invitation to join in. He extended the invitation to Shipton, who was unavailable because of the 1936 Everest expedition, and to Tilman, who accepted. Noel Odell and Peter Lloyd also agreed to be part of the British contingent. Loomis went to London to purchase equipment where he was advised that Nanda Devi might be a more achievable option. Tilman, however, personally favoured Kanchenjunga. The Americans changed the expedition's name from the Harvard Kanchenjunga Expedition to the British-American Himalayan Expedition. Later, in 1999, Houston wrote, It's hard to believe how naïve and presumptuous we were ... Four American college kids ... inviting the best British climbers on a major climb in the Himalayas. Houston was being self-effacing - although young, the Americans were accomplished mountaineers and formed a very cohesive team.