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Woodturner
01-16-2016, 08:34
As things start looking up for the possibility of my Rockfish Gap to Katahdin hike, I have started putting together a checklist.
In the "kitchen" section is an old, green plastic cup, originally part of an "official mess kit", that dates back to when I was a Boy Scout. I have not had a Svea for decades, my trusty Sigg touring set has been replaced by a single, smaller and lighter pot, and a succession of packs has hopefully ended with one from Hyperlite Mountain Gear. My first good sleeping bag, a Holubar Sawtooth Mountain, is still around, but nothing I've tried has restored the loft it once had and it has resided for years in a corner of the closet.
But that battered little green cup has been with me since the days of a knapsack, flannel sleeping bag filled with cotton batting, and camping where the car was only a few feet away. It has been part of my camping gear for over half a century. I may have to arrange being buried with it.

jimmyjam
01-16-2016, 08:50
I still use part of a 1/4" blue foam sleeping pad that I have had since 1977. I use a section of it to sit on for breaks and at camp and I use the rest of it as a frame in one of my packs.

Deacon
01-16-2016, 08:53
I don't carry it backpacking, but I still use the original Thermarest self inflating 3/4" pad with the brass valve. Bought it about 1980.

peakbagger
01-16-2016, 09:56
Plastic cup from a boy scout mess kit circa 1969.

Kaptainkriz
01-16-2016, 09:57
Still using my old Kelty external from when I was in Scouts in the 80's. Kelty even sent me updated straps for it just last year (great customer support). Recently acquired a White Cloud that is quickly becoming my primary pack. I still have my 80's Peak 1 model 400 stove and a SVEA123 I use sometimes, but they're a bit heavy and I've since transitioned to lighter options. I have no idea what kind of boots these are, but these are mine from the 80's that I covered/cooked with bees wax and still use them ln and off.
- Take care of your gear and your gear will rake care of you!
332713327233273

Leo L.
01-16-2016, 10:17
My oldest stuff that accompanies on all longer trips since ages is a sewing kit, once it had a printig on it "GIFT FROM THE AMERICAN RED CROSS".
Obviousely it stems from the late 40ies of the past century.

33274

BTW, love the boots of Kaptainkriz - have almost the same in everyday use (for outdoor work and heavy daytrips).

BradMT
01-16-2016, 10:52
Svea 123, bought April 1975.

Old Hiker
01-16-2016, 10:59
My legs.

When they expire, no warranty. I'm finished.

One Half
01-16-2016, 11:21
I am unsure which is older - my sleeping bag or my pocket knife. I was going to upgrade my bag a few years ago but it's actually nearly as light (within about 2 oz) of other bags that were selling for about $300 at the time. My pocket knife I may have bought before ever backpacking. It's a tiny, german blade and weighs just a couple of ounces. I bought it for about $20.

Fireplug
01-16-2016, 11:50
Me!! I'm 51

rocketsocks
01-16-2016, 12:37
Compass, also my favorite rope.

Feral Bill
01-16-2016, 13:45
Svea, 1968 or 69. I also have a couple of sleeping bags from the same era that I seldom use, and a slightly newer (1972?) Mountain Master external frame pack, that my son uses. Also an Optimus 111b stove from 1972 I use for winter trips and groups. There is probably more.

Lachlan
01-16-2016, 14:02
My grandfathers sierra cup. Also the day I was born my father gave me a backpack and a swiss army knife as my first possessions. I obviously no longer use my childs backpack but in the last 30 years I haven't gone on a single trip without my swiss army knife.

Maui Rhino
01-16-2016, 14:16
I have an aluminum pot and plastic cup from my Scouting days that still gets used often. But my favorite would have to my poncho liner. The Marine Corps issued it to me in '87, and it accompanied me during my stroll thru Kuwait in 1991, and thru many many other misadventures. I still wrap up in it almost daily.

runt13
01-16-2016, 14:27
My grandfathers US issued fork, knife and spoon. He was issued them when he was in the Civilian Conservation Corps.

RUNT ''13''

RockDoc
01-16-2016, 16:43
Frostline Kit ran chaps. c. 1975. Y'all remember Frostline kits? Good stuff.

swisscross
01-16-2016, 19:25
My fathers P-38 from WWII.
plastic cup from my scout cook kit c. 1979

greensleep
01-16-2016, 19:41
my mess kit from boy scouts back in the early 60"s; still use the cup and the fork/knife/spoon. I keep my boy scout backpack as one of my "bug out" bags, and still take my original (1963) knife and sheath on occasional camping trips.

Heliotrope
01-16-2016, 19:41
My grandfather gave me a silva compass as a gift when I was 5. 46 years later it still comes with me.


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Feral Bill
01-16-2016, 20:05
My grandfathers US issued fork, knife and spoon. He was issued them when he was in the Civilian Conservation Corps.

RUNT ''13''
I bet this is our winner

dink
01-16-2016, 21:26
My grandfather's pocket knife that he brought from Germany when he came to the U.S. at age 17...it is always in my pocket!!

Sarcasm the elf
01-16-2016, 21:58
currently It's my leatherman micra. bought when I was about 14. I used the same sleeping bag from age 11 until two years ago.

Sarcasm the elf
01-16-2016, 22:02
I bet this is our winner

I have a spoon that was my Great-Great-Great-Grandfathers that is circa-revolutionary war era. Maybe I should bring it on a couple of trips just in case this question pops up again sometime. :D

Venchka
01-16-2016, 22:13
Jensen Pack, SVEA 123 stove, SIGG Tourist cookset, REI Summerlite down bag, 2 fuel bottles of unknown origin all circa 1974.
I have a few things that belonged to my dad. Match safes, Old Timer pocket knives and a Konica camera from 1948 or 1949. I should use the camera in Glacier NP like Dad did in 1952 or 1953.

Wayne


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RangerZ
01-16-2016, 23:14
I have an aluminum pot and plastic cup from my Scouting days that still gets used often. But my favorite would have to my poncho liner. The Marine Corps issued it to me in '87, and it accompanied me during my stroll thru Kuwait in 1991, and thru many many other misadventures. I still wrap up in it almost daily.

+1 on the poncho liners, I use mine in the summer and just used them with my sleeping bag as an over/under quilt. My demo knife. My P-38 on my dog tags. All from the early/mid 70s.

My wife calls the poncho liners my security blankets.

Venchka
01-16-2016, 23:54
Smacks his head hard. DUH!
BSA mess kit complete with cotton cover. From the late 50s-early 60s.

Wayne


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Traveler
01-17-2016, 06:49
A redbone Case pocket knife my grandfather gave me in the early 60s to match the one he carried. Still with me after 50 some odd years and I'm rarely without it in the woods.

Deadeye
01-17-2016, 11:57
Got a few p-38's from WWII. My oldest stuff dates to 1969: a Kelty A-4 backpack and a Gerry Yosemite sleeping bag. I finally tossed the Svea and cook kit.

4eyedbuzzard
01-17-2016, 12:17
P-38 can opener (1970's) and a Gerber LST knife (1980's). Everything else (Camp Trails pack, Optimus 8R stove, even the Campmor down bag), has been replaced with newer lighter gear over the years. I still have all the old stuff other than the Optimus stove, but it's all basically just on a museum shelf.

Hikemor
01-17-2016, 12:24
Ditto on a spoon and the green plastic cup from a mid-70s mess kit and a 3/4 inch Thermarest from 1986.

Cotton Terry
01-17-2016, 12:50
Hillary II external frame backpack and Hillary backpacking tent I bought in 1974 when I worked at Sears. I don't use them very often, but it's fun for some short trips.

rmitchell
01-17-2016, 16:09
Frostline Kit ran chaps. c. 1975. Y'all remember Frostline kits? Good stuff.
Yes. I have a pair of gaiters that I sewed from a kit c.1977.

Furlough
01-17-2016, 16:39
Like others, mine is the plastic cup from my BSA cook set from the early to mid 70s. Mine is red. Little handle got gnawed on during a BSA outing with my son a decade or so ago, so I dremeled it off.

Venchka
01-17-2016, 17:11
2 Sierra Club cups. Ages unknown. Probably retired.

Wayne


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Siestita
01-17-2016, 20:15
Currently I hike with my orange colored Trailwise (Ski Hut) external frame backpack from 1975. I choose it because Colin Fletcher praised that pack the first edition of "The Complete Walker". I wore out an even larger REI pack between 1988 and 2005, before resuming use of the Trailwise pack. That old pack now has a replacement hip belt (to accommodate my expansion), safety pins replacing a broken zipper, and loops of parachute cord binding part of the harness together. Unfortunately, it still weights 5 lbs, so I may eventually switch to something lighter.

My original backpacks (first a canvas Boy Scout one and then a strange Begans of Norway framed day pack) are long gone. The volatile SVEA 123 stove that Fletcher's book inspired me to buy in 1973 is now also blessedly departed.

I still have, and occasionally use, part of my Fletcher inspired SIGG aluminum cook set from 1973. I find the SVEA compatible cook set's base to be perfectly sized for use as a twig fed wood stove. The light aluminum rim warps slightly from the intense heat at times, but it can be easily pushed back into shape after use. That Sigg "firebox" is several ounces heavier than my alcohol burner/Walmart grease pot setup, but that's apparently a characteristic of all wood burners. My old Sigg's weight is comparable, or lower, than that of the little aluminum and titanium wood stoves that I see marketed on the net today.

LesterC
01-18-2016, 00:19
Bought my Jansport D-3 used in 1977. Last summer I drew several comments from hikers younger than the pack. Every year I worry that a strap will break in the middle of a hike, so I bought a new pack in September. The new Gregory is a great pack but it'll take another 38 years to see if it is a durable as my D-3


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Carbo
01-18-2016, 09:53
Camp Trails external frame pack purchased in the 70's. Has six outside pockets and one roomy inner compartment. I'll be using it for my 2nd thru attempt in 2016.

sloger
01-18-2016, 10:05
Oldest gear? Me!

rmitchell
01-18-2016, 11:04
Currently I hike with my orange colored Trailwise (Ski Hut) external frame backpack from 1975. I choose it because Colin Fletcher praised that pack the first edition of "The Complete Walker". I wore out an even larger REI pack between 1988 and 2005, before resuming use of the Trailwise pack. That old pack now has a replacement hip belt (to accommodate my expansion), safety pins replacing a broken zipper, and loops of parachute cord binding part of the harness together. Unfortunately, it still weights 5 lbs, so I may eventually switch to something lighter.

My original backpacks (first a canvas Boy Scout one and then a strange Begans of Norway framed day pack) are long gone. The volatile SVEA 123 stove that Fletcher's book inspired me to buy in 1973 is now also blessedly departed.

I still have, and occasionally use, part of my Fletcher inspired SIGG aluminum cook set from 1973. I find the SVEA compatible cook set's base to be perfectly sized for use as a twig fed wood stove. The light aluminum rim warps slightly from the intense heat at times, but it can be easily pushed back into shape after use. That Sigg "firebox" is several ounces heavier than my alcohol burner/Walmart grease pot setup, but that's apparently a characteristic of all wood burners. My old Sigg's weight is comparable, or lower, than that of the little aluminum and titanium wood stoves that I see marketed on the net today.

My Trailwise is about the same vintage. I also swapped the hipbelt for a newer Kelty belt with better padding. I've tried several UL packs but none carry as well or are as versatile. On Rocky Top crew this fall it was older than most of the crew members.

kickatree
01-18-2016, 12:46
My coolmax liner socks are still with me after 20 years, but everything else is new for my 2017 jaunt up to Katahdin.

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kickatree
01-18-2016, 12:48
Oh a Jansport Denali external frame pack. I think it is 80L.

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Viper2016
01-18-2016, 19:34
The Svea and Sigg cookset still travel, early 70s. The Jansport day pack that was my original backpack has disappeared, I just wish I could pack as little now as I did then, or justify the expense of going lighter; I just bought a
Ti pot, maybe times are changing.

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FlyFishNut
01-18-2016, 19:41
My dad's Marine Corps issue canteen cup, has 1966 stamped on it.