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Post by hikerjer on Feb 25, 2019 20:49:17 GMT -8
The recent thread on stoves got me to thinking about some of my old, cherished pieces of gear. I have a number of pieces that I've had for years, some for 40+ years, that I seldom use but still could never part with. Too many fond memories. While I have a lot of that kind of stuff still hanging around, there are four I would classify as real classics - a Wilderness Experience day pack (I actually still use this on occasion); a Woolrich 60-40 parka; an Optimus 8R stove and a Kelty Super Tioga backpack. There are probably more but these four stand out.
How about you? What pieces of classic gear do you still have simply because, for whatever reason, you can't bear to part with them?
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driftwoody
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Post by driftwoody on Feb 26, 2019 3:31:15 GMT -8
I recently lost the one piece of gear I've used regularly for more than 30 years -- my orange cat hole shovel -- which, surprisingly, had no sentimental value.
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bluefish
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Post by bluefish on Feb 26, 2019 4:32:33 GMT -8
Chouinard ice hammer/axe and a piolet, Jansport D2 frame pack, Optimus 8R, one of the first Columbia Gore tex/thinsulate mountaineering parkas. All are still usable, but they aren't used much.
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Feb 26, 2019 4:47:40 GMT -8
I own nothing old. I do not attach value to things I don't use, so I sell them to others. I do wonder about those of you who hang on to gear for 20 years. If I upgrade something, the old one goes.
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crawford
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Post by crawford on Feb 26, 2019 5:22:35 GMT -8
I do wonder about those of you who hang on to gear for 20 years. Why, if it works and we like it, why wonder? One piece that I use occasionally is a small aluminum pot that came from a mess kit I used in scouts back in the 1980s. The little pot has a lid and bail, is a little roughed up, but still works and I take it at times. It is in my kit that I loan to people who want to try backpacking.
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Post by bradmacmt on Feb 26, 2019 6:42:28 GMT -8
I've sold some of the stuff on ebay over the past couple years because they became valuable and I never used them. Stuff I've Sold: Great Pacific Iron Works Peter Carmen Supergaiters Circa 1976 North Face VE 24 Tent Circa 1979 Sierra Designs 60/40 Parka Circa 1983 Wilderness Experience Klettersack Circa 1977 The Sierra Designs went for just over $300! TNF tent went for over $225. Some Stuff I still have: Marmot Mountain Works Goretex Parka Circa 1986 Early Winters Goretex Bivy Bag Circa 1978 REI Interalp Ice Axe Circa 1977 Salewa Crampons Circa 1976 Chouinard/Montbell Overbag and VBL Circa 1986 REI Polarguard Booties Circa 1977 SIGG Pots and Water Bottles Circa 1975 - 1977 Svea 123 Stove Circa 1975 Dachstein Mittens Circa 1976 Sierra Cup Circa 1975 North Face June Bug Tent Circa 1986 (My son has this item and still uses it) Various Stuff Bags, Snow Lion, TNF, Mountain Equipment, Etc. Circa 1975-1985 Karhu XCD GT Skis with Chouinard Cable Bindings Circa 1986 Merrell Snowfield Leather XC Boots Circa 1986
Lovett XC Skis, Boots, Exel Poles Circa 1978
Stuff I wish I still had:
Jansport D2 Backpack Circa 1977... used it on a 2.5 mo's long walk on the AT in 1977 on my High School summer break. Synergy Works Backpack Circa 1978... I switched to internal frames in 1978, and never went back to external frames after that pack.
I'm sure there's more, just can't remember it...
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gabby
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Post by gabby on Feb 26, 2019 9:55:42 GMT -8
There you go... Mine dates from way back there in the 70s too. I used to have 2, but I think one has escaped down the garbage chute. I also had a pack for quite a while that I used in the 80s, but most of the gear I had back then, outside of a very few small items, was so cheap that I don't really remember names, so: not exactly "classic". The frame pack I had was only "classic" in being a "frame pack". One of the first things I bought via a mail order catalog back in the late 70s, was a bivy with goretex. It finally died of old age about 10 years ago, so it doesn't meet the 2nd of your implied set of criteria. The Bleuet canister stove and lantern I posted a picture of on that stove thread I started was my first lightweight stove. As someone noted about the lantern, it put out more heat than light. I'm sure there's more, just can't remember it...
And, this here is the real culprit: the flagging memory of collapsing brain cells. In cleaning the garage in the last few weeks (which I should actually be doing now, in fact), I have found so much stuff that once was literally the "core of my existence", but which has since completely left my consciousness. Anyone remember Byte magazine? I found 3 boxes of them in my garage in the last few weeks. My memory was stirred only by actually seeing them once again. If I had just flung the boxes onto the dumpster without looking inside, as I did with the boxes and boxes of VHS tapes and floppy disks I threw out 2 weeks ago in the first mad fury of cleaning (we filled a 20 yard dumpster), their memory would have been lost in the recesses of my brain, somewhere in my slowly unfolding cortex.
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toejam
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Post by toejam on Feb 26, 2019 10:29:24 GMT -8
What pieces of classic gear do you still have simply because, for whatever reason, you can't bear to part with them? I haven't been around that long, but these are the classics in my collection: - Coleman Feather 400 white gas stove bought in 1994 when I started backpacking - don't think it's been used this millennium. - Eureka Spitfire 1 tent bought in 2005 for $90 and didn't get replaced until 2012 - couldn't possibly be rain-proof, but it's still in my garage for some reason. The classic piece of gear I use on every trip is the blue plastic folding bowl in this 2008 picture: I got the bowl and the Jetboil from my co-workers when I left my job in Texas in 2008. Thought the bowl would fall apart after a couple trips, but I still use it. It's a classic because they quit making them shortly after this. I notice I'm wearing an REI softshell I bought at Tukwila, WA waiting for Trout's plane to arrive. It wasn't very warm and didn't breathe well enough for continued use camping. But it doesn't wrinkle and dirt brushes right off - I still wear it to work almost every day.
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rangewalker
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Post by rangewalker on Feb 26, 2019 13:14:28 GMT -8
Not one piece, and I have been at this for 50+ years now. I am utterly amazed at the list Brad and Jer have. I never owned a tent or other shelter that did not degrade or wear out after 10 years. I just unloaded to two friends last summer my 2000-2010 major items like a sleeping bag,stove, Golite tarp tent. And yes the GL had to have resealed all the seams. It may get my friend one more season. My favorite Osprey Kestrel 38 technical day pack (2009) just crossed over to a wall mount last weekend. Cut by a ski and beyond repair. But the thread is enjoyable. 60/40 parkas, Jansport D-2's. Svea/Optimus stoves. North Face V-domes. What is not to love.
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Post by bradmacmt on Feb 26, 2019 13:33:35 GMT -8
The tag in my Polarguard booties... notice the mfg date, 4/77, and of course, Made In The USA. Times have changed, but these are still fully functional.
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Post by bradmacmt on Feb 26, 2019 13:55:50 GMT -8
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Post by hikerjer on Feb 26, 2019 14:03:49 GMT -8
Wow, I forgot about that. I have one around some place. That's a real, if somewhat worthless, piece of classic gear. I remember back in the day, it was almost a required piece of gear for backpacker. Every bit as important as those heavy over built all leather hiking boots
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2019 14:35:04 GMT -8
Peak 1 stove and lantern from 1981-1982 and my old diamond brand external frame pack from Boy Scout days.
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Post by bradmacmt on Feb 26, 2019 14:55:37 GMT -8
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Post by johntpenca on Feb 26, 2019 14:58:29 GMT -8
I've moved many times and every move involves a purge. Don't have any old backpacking gear. Have kept a bit of old climbing gear as it has sentimental value. Times in high places with good friends. Falling 20 feet on a #2 Chouinard stopper. Soloing WI4. The sound of hexes on the rack. A RURP that pulled; went back and re-placed it and it held. Pins, hexes and stoppers used on Yosemite walls.
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