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Happy Winter Solstice! 🌇🌃
Old Gear Still Using
- Thread starter dougd
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As a forester, I never wanted to be seen using a Sierra Club cup. But that was a long time ago.
I have carried one for the last 10 years or so because they are so darned nostalgic. They remind of a time when society made more sense.
I have carried one for the last 10 years or so because they are so darned nostalgic. They remind of a time when society made more sense.
I have a nice collection of western riding gear in a complete outfit. Plains style saddle, rawhide reata, silver spurs, etc. I have made arrangements to donate it to the Nevada State Museum.
When I retire some more canoe equipment, the Boy Scouts will get first dibs.
When I retire some more canoe equipment, the Boy Scouts will get first dibs.
My official Boy Scout / Silva compass I got for pedaling door to door on a fund raising drive. Probably about 1970 or so.
i still carry one, while not so great for coffee I find it fantastic for soup, oatmeal, stew, and other semi-liquid foods, it's also great for dipping out of a lake or even a stockpot full of cider....
My oldest regularly used piece of gear is a North Face Down Jacket that I received as a Christmas present in 1970 or '71. It still gets used every winter and though well patched with ripstop tape, it still has quite a bit of loft. It was about a size and a half too large when I got it, but my parents knew that I would grow into it. That jacket was the most expensive piece of clothing that I owned at the time, but in the long run a great value.
A Gerry sleeping bag. Circa 1967 It used to be rated for lower temp.. Some down feathers have left but hey it still works for milder temps.
A Canadian friend suffered a total house fire last year losing everything he owned. More than anything he missed his tripping gear much of which he has had for many, many years. Although he got all new gear he still misses much of his old gear - so many memories associated with it.
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I too, have a Gerry sleeping bag from that era. I bought two, one warm weather (light green, that I still have) the other (light blue maybe warm to -10 F. or -23.33 degrees Celsius). They zipped together to make a comfortable couples bag. I often stuffed one inside the other for winter camping. The blue one went to the dumpster a couple years ago. It was hemorrhaging down from campfire sparks, the zipper was failing regularly. Only the memories were keeping me warm when using it.
A down Feathered Friends, big rectangular bag has been my regular bag for some years now. I stuff it inside a big Wiggy’s synthetic bag for really cold camping, both inside a ten oz. Cowboy bed roll.
A down Feathered Friends, big rectangular bag has been my regular bag for some years now. I stuff it inside a big Wiggy’s synthetic bag for really cold camping, both inside a ten oz. Cowboy bed roll.
I have a canvas sheathed steel canteen I bought at a Dutch army surplus store, 30 years ago. I sill use it - in a pinch, I can boil water in it. It fits on my belt quite well.
I feel at home when I have that canteen with me.
I feel at home when I have that canteen with me.
I gave away most of the older (over 40 years old) sporting gear and clothing I owned. It was either no longer used or I found gear and clothing that worked MUCH better. One of the few things I still have and use occasionally is a Dachstein boiled wool sweater I got for Christmas back in 1973. It's almost too warm to wear unless it's cold (10 F and colder) and it's heavy and bulky. I usually only wear it for snowshoeing or ice fishing. But it's a nice wool sweater and I hate to get rid of it.
I bought a Sierra cup back in 1970 to go with mySvea Sigg Tourist cookset because Collin Fletcher loved them. After using it for the first few times I thought it was a stupid poor* design (too shallow and easy to spill and burned your lips drinking hot tea) so I started using an Army surplus Melamine cup. Still do.
* The Sierra cup was a handy little cup for dipping into shallow pools in high mountain streams back then but I stopped drinking water straight out of streams and filter everything now.
I bought a Sierra cup back in 1970 to go with my
* The Sierra cup was a handy little cup for dipping into shallow pools in high mountain streams back then but I stopped drinking water straight out of streams and filter everything now.
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Eddie Bauer Karakoram -20 mummy bag, Alpine Designs down jacket, Svea 123 & Sigg Tourist cook set, Kelty BB5 frame pack. All purchased new in '67-'68. There's other small stuff, for example, an Othello Solingen Yukon Hunter knife and Dachstein wool fingerless gloves.
I have a couple of 5 gal. Pickle pails, I got for free at the local Subway.
It took several years before the Pickle smell left the plastic. I've used these same two pails since1991. That was from my first BWCA trip.
They carried and protected my food, and cooking gear. I now use Bear Vaults for my food.
We'll see how long they last !
Jim
It took several years before the Pickle smell left the plastic. I've used these same two pails since1991. That was from my first BWCA trip.
They carried and protected my food, and cooking gear. I now use Bear Vaults for my food.
We'll see how long they last !
Jim
I have these. But I used to get my buckets from a local bakery which goes thru up to 10-12/daily which come to them with pasty filling. Snap on a gamma lid which used to be $6 or 7.00 and you are set.
Yes ! Those gamma lids are Awesome.
A Side note. Those Pickle buckets are green. They blend into the environment better than white ones, in my opinion anyway.
I have a couple of buckets that held pickles but they retained pickle odor so I was reluctant to use them on trips. But they work out well for garden use, etc. I am glad I got buckets 4-5 years ago when they still had steel handles instead of plastic like they do now (they break fairly easily). Initially I got the buckets from a neighbor who worked at a bakery because I needed food grade plastic buckets for maple sap collection at the local nature center where I volunteer.
One of my canoes is at least fifty years old, the other probably twenty. I think that's old gear. Now that I think of it, my paddles are decades old too.
The thread below describes a canoe of mine that is circa 1901. It works fine although I've not taken it on any wilderness canoe trips.
Benson
www.wcha.org
Benson
A canoe from the Indian Old Town Canoe Company
The pictures here show an Indian Old Town canoe with serial number 201. There are no build records that go back this far but it is probably circa 1901 when this company started advertising. This was the first form of the organization that eventually became the Old Town Canoe Company on January...
I'd heard of the Sierra cup, and distantly the Sierra Club, but never put the two together. In a 2015 article, Kenneth Brower waxes sentimental about the cup, comparing it to a revered chalice, transmuting wine into the blood of Christ, but at the end of the day it still might be less than ideal for camping. But I wonder what is? This cup design sure has a strong pull for some. I have had an enameled cup for many years now, but it resides in the emergency bag. Like boots, socks, and bandanas, I still haven't found the right one.
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