View Full Version : Your gear item with the most miles on it?
Share your stories of your most used/cherished gear. I'm planning on replacing my Leki poles and realized I've carried them for very nearly every mile I've ever hiked... and got a bit sentimental. :o
Not sure of the model, some kind of simple Leki thing without suspension and with the titanium upper shaft. I bought them new before my AT thru and they now have over 10,000 miles on them including the PCT, Colorado Trail, three Superior Trail thru hikes, two Border Route Trail hikes, the Long Trail, the John Muir Trail, and hundreds of hikes ranging from one to a few days.
The only original segments are the upper titanium ones (even these are starting to get warped and one has a crack near the bottom). The bottom segments have all been broken several times, the straps wore off long ago, and the only bit of the grips left are two foam rings on top and bottom. Heavily taped now. I'll miss these guys.
http://s98.photobucket.com/albums/l265/DaveLoome/Colorado%20Trail%202008/?action=view¤t=IMG_1947_0265_097.jpg
SGT Rock
03-11-2009, 20:56
Dog tags. I've had them for 22 years. I don't know how many countries they have been in and how many miles I have walked with them. But I'm still here.
freefall
03-11-2009, 20:56
My poles (replaced a tip after 2000) and my alcohol stove have about 5000 miles on them. My hammock has about 2000.
boarstone
03-11-2009, 21:03
I've still got my original feet I started with....:D
I have a silva compass which I think I've owned since 1985m which is a very long time for me as I lose alot of stuff. It has been with my for most of my hikes, and even dayhikes, though many of you folks have probably put more mile in in a single year. I am rather fond of my compass, and will give it to my daughter when the time is right, maybe even this summer after she does a big hike with me. Not sure.
Frick Frack
03-11-2009, 21:05
My MSR MiniWorks and Zoid II have been in action for 8-10 yrs +
They just survived 2008 SOBO too...
Ox97GaMe
03-11-2009, 21:24
I still have several items from my initial hiking inventory. I estimate that they have been with me for over 12,000 miles, all across the US. They are as follows:
- PUR Hiker water filter. Replaced lots of cartridges, but the original unit is still in tact
- Sigg cook stove. I replaced a rubber gasket in 1997 that I bought at a hardware store in Waynesville, VA for 2 cents.
- 11 oz MSR fuel bottle
- pair of Tevas, used for camp shoes and river crossings
I have several other items that are closing in on nearly 8,000 miles. They include:
- Northface tent
- Lowe Alpine pack
- Titanium cook pot
- Columbia fleece/shell separatable jacket combo
UnkaJesse
03-11-2009, 21:27
I've got a pair of sticker covered Nalgene bottles that go everywhere with me, on the trails and the real world. My wife is completely embarrassed by them.
With this whole BPA sillyness going on now, it makes me look real hard core.
fiddlehead
03-11-2009, 21:39
The only thing that i still have from when i started hiking is the handle on my cookit.
It is on it's 3rd pot now as i just drill out the rivets and put it on a new one when i wear out a cookpot.
I find that one pot lasts me about 3 thru-hikes.
I don't know if i'd call it "cherished" but it is the most used. (I like the way it folds up)
HikaNation insulated coffee mug. Got it as a free gift from General Foods back in 1980 - been on every trip since, keeping my morning and evening coffee warm in all kinds of fantastic places.
Share your stories of your most used/cherished gear. I'm planning on replacing my Leki poles and realized I've carried them for very nearly every mile I've ever hiked... and got a bit sentimental. :o
Might I suggest you consider donating them to Blue Jay? :D :p
Might I suggest you consider donating them to Blue Jay? :D :p
troublemaker:D
troublemaker:DHopefully he'll appreciate the humor . . . I could be wrong! :)
Blissful
03-11-2009, 22:04
I know I was so sad to surrender my beloved Komperdell poles that bit the dust in the Whites. Had them for a long time, but mailed them back home at Gorham and bought a new pair (I couldn't bring myself to throw them out). Tis sad indeed.
shelterbuilder
03-11-2009, 22:12
While I still have (and occasionally loan out) my original generic frame pack (Christmas gift from Dad, 1971) and one of the wool liners from my original Army surplus mummy sleeping bag (started car camping with this one in the mid-60's), the one piece of equipment that has been with me on more trips than any other piece would be my Optimus 99 aluminum-body stove. That's my work-horse stove, especially in winter.
A close runner-up would be my walking staff, which I've had since 1973, repaired many times, retired once, and brought back into service about 10 years ago.
(Did I mention that I don't throw old equipment away? I just retire it! :D)
(Did I mention that I don't throw old equipment away? I just retire it! :D)Same here! I've still got my Jansport D3 external frame pack (still usable) that I did the JMT with in 1977. A Thermarest pad that I got shortly after that just got retired about a year ago (still usable) when I upgraded to a Big Agnes Dual Core mattress. Many other items too numerous to mention with high mileage on them are in my 'hiking gear' closet and still functional.
Most of my current gear is fairly new, with my Gregory Whitney pack (about 1000 miles on it) being about my oldest current gear.
shelterbuilder
03-11-2009, 22:26
Same here! I've still got my Jansport D3 external frame pack (still usable) that I did the JMT with in 1977. A Thermarest pad that I got shortly after that just got retired about a year ago (still usable) when I upgraded to a Big Agnes Dual Core mattress. Many other items too numerous to mention with high mileage on them are in my 'hiking gear' closet and still functional.
Most of my current gear is fairly new, with my Gregory Whitney pack (about 1000 miles on it) being about my oldest current gear.
Being an equipment packrat came in handy when I was an ASM many years ago, because the equipment that the troop didn't have, I did!
ChinMusic
03-11-2009, 22:29
Dog tags. I've had them for 22 years. I don't know how many countries they have been in and how many miles I have walked with them. But I'm still here.
I've had mine for 25 years. You got yours taped together, go cold, or the "fancy" rubber padding?
Jim Adams
03-11-2009, 23:45
I have a tarp with over 500 nights of use and a canoe paddle with almost 12,000 miles of use....it's almost useless! LOL
geek
Feral Bill
03-11-2009, 23:46
SVEA stove. Forty years of service all over the US and Canada. I have a sleeping bag and external pack the same vintage, but they don't get the use.
500 miles or so, walmart hiking poles. ever so often I repoint the tips with a dremel.
my thermarest pad is 21yrs old only had 1 small pin hole 3yrs ago but a little aquaseal fixed that
4eyedbuzzard
03-12-2009, 00:48
A thermarest and a Tracks hiking staff, both vintage 1990 or so that still get used.
TJ aka Teej
03-12-2009, 08:50
A Winchester Buck knife that came with the .30-30 I got for my 12th birthday.
Ramble~On
03-12-2009, 11:53
I have a fleece Thermarest stuffsac that doubles as a pillow that's been on every trip since ? forever ago. When I read the thread title the pillow thing instantly came to mind until I read Sgt. Rock's post. Without a doubt...my dog tags have the most miles on them.
stumpknocker
03-12-2009, 11:54
A 2001 Wanderlust Nomad 2x4x2 single wall silnylon tent that I've used for over 16,000 Trail miles. I've never used a ground cloth and the floor is still in great shape. I do have to spray the silnylon walls with a sealer a couple times a year now though. I have also replaced the zipper pull 7 times and a friend has just recently replaced the whole zipper for me.
It's going with me on my next long walk this year too. :)
Pedaling Fool
03-12-2009, 12:18
I got a lot of original gear still going strong, but my most cherished is my camera http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasoniclz2/. However, ready to get a new one, not because it's breaking down, but because of advances in technology and my increased experience makes different options attractive. Still not sick of watching my slideshow.
Not sure of the model, some kind of simple Leki thing without suspension and with the titanium upper shaft. I bought them new before my AT thru and they now have over 10,000 miles on them including the PCT, Colorado Trail, three Superior Trail thru hikes, two Border Route Trail hikes, the Long Trail, the John Muir Trail, and hundreds of hikes ranging from one to a few days.
Wow, all that and you're only 22 years old?? I am envious!
my spork it's been with me for years had it since 1976
bulldog49
03-12-2009, 15:14
I've used the same Western Mountaineerring Antelope sleeping bag for 12 years. Everything else I carried on my last trip was no older than two years.
Old Hillwalker
03-12-2009, 16:36
My Limmer boots. I picked them up in 1980 and except for last summer on the AT that's all I've hiked in except in winter when I go plastic.
Also have, but obviously don't carry, an old two burner Coleman camp stove that was given to me in 1970 by a guy that said he got it from his parents after they retired from camping. I really would like to find out how old this stove is. Been rebuilt several times and still works very well.
As far as oldest equipment, how about 69 year old belly button lint. I carry it hiking everywhere:D
SGT Rock
03-12-2009, 19:14
I've had mine for 25 years. You got yours taped together, go cold, or the "fancy" rubber padding?
Fancy rubber thingys on the tags - 550 cord on the chain. I also have an AT symbol on them. When people ask what it is I say that is my religious symbol.
ChinMusic
03-12-2009, 20:15
Fancy rubber thingys on the tags - 550 cord on the chain. I also have an AT symbol on them. When people ask what it is I say that is my religious symbol.
Used to have a P38 on the chain as well. We actually ate the last of the C-Rats, or so I'm told. I still liked them over the MREs.
I still have some P38s at work for soup cans but many of those are pull-tab now too......:D
SGT Rock
03-12-2009, 20:18
I have a p-38 somewhere. Carried on my key chain. I still have my original dog tags from 24 years ago - but the wife carries them.
Used to have a P38 on the chain as well. We actually ate the last of the C-Rats, or so I'm told. I still liked them over the MREs.
I still have some P38s at work for soup cans but many of those are pull-tab now too......:D
When was That? I thought we ate the last of them in the Sinia around 83-84. Or so we were told as well...Had one for lunch every day at the checkpoints for 6 months. Agreed, better than MREs.
SGT Rock
03-12-2009, 20:51
When I got to Germany in '85 there were still some around. The NCOs got them, we got the MREs.
ChinMusic
03-12-2009, 21:38
When was That? I thought we ate the last of them in the Sinia around 83-84. Or so we were told as well...Had one for lunch every day at the checkpoints for 6 months. Agreed, better than MREs.
I remember August 84 for sure. I was in the windy Eastern Cascades having Mt St Helens dust sprinkled on top for texture......:D
OldStormcrow
03-12-2009, 22:24
Most of my really old gear nearly got me killed so many times that I gradually sold it at various garage sales. The oldest thing that I still use at all is an old mica-windowed folding candle lantern that I got from Wilderness Outfitters here in Greenville in about 1974. I just bought some mica sheets from a rock shop and plan on replacing the windows in it.