My nearly 30-year old tent

[MintakaCat]

I dug around in my old gear box and pulled out this old White Stag tent that I bought nearly 30 years ago. Anybody remember these tents made by this company?



One thing I do remember is that this was the first tent I bought with a rain fly. Prior to that I had a single wall nylon tent and prior to that I had an old Army surplus canvas pup tent. I recall that when I got this tent it was a real cutting edge tent at the time, which I think was around 1981 or 1982.



It's amazing just how thick and heavy the nylon is on this old tent compared to today's tents. It weights over 6 lbs, maybe closer to 7 lbs. One thing I know it needs is a couple of tubes of Silnet for the seams.



What I can't figure out is why I want to keep this old tent. Every time and opportunity comes up to give it away to some young kid going into the Boy Scouts, I just can't let go of it, LOL.



Anybody else feel the same way about some piece of old gear that you keep even if it defies logic?

[Hikes in Rain]

Sure. Just open my pack! It's pretty hard to part with old friends like that. When my old REI dome from the 70's finally deteriorated to the point of uselessness (and a health hazard to sleep in due to the nauseating smell of decomposing nylon), I just couldn't bring myself to throw it away. Instead, we gave it a Viking funeral. Set it up for the last time on little floats, edged it out into the pond behind the house, and set it on fire while Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" played on the boom box. Tipped a glass of mead while it burned. There wasn't a dry eye in the yard.

[hikingtime]

I have a White Stag dome tent I use for car camping. It was low priced, I think around $29, but has been extremely durable. I have had it for at least ten years and I'm sure it will last a lot longer than my ultralite stuff will.

[Wise Old Owl]

Awww I still have my Andre Jamlet.... And it still doesn't leak. Its weathered West Verginia ground floods. it's was purchased in 1972.

[Cabin Fever]

The first car camping tent I can remember my parents using was a White Stag. The box it was in could have fit a human body. It was huge and of course, heavy - at least 15 pounds.

[Dr O]

I've got a Eureka Timberline 2 I've had since the scouts. It's bombproof.

[mudcap]

Priceless thread....I have a ton of gear at least 30 years old. Funny thing is,I still remember buying each piece...but I can barely remember what happened last week if it did not thrill me. Priorities I guess? The old Kelty Tioga,Camp Trails bicycle bag,MSR G/K,etc. Oh,the memories.

[Phoenixdadeadhead]

I have given away or lost so many pieces of great gear over the years. I took a young kid hiking 2 weeks back and he was about to use a pack that had been givin to him, it was the old military Alice pack, I loaned him one of my packs, but ever since I have been debating asking him to sell me that pack, I hiked with one for a few years and the thing was indestructible.

[realityguy]

LOL!You mustr have the "newer" model of that tent...



What year were they using ROSE as a fly color?..:-o

[Skidsteer]

Y'know? The fly on that tent is pretty much the RayWay tarp design .

[Cookerhiker]

My 34 year-old tent is still in my garage. Last used it when visiting my daughter in Africa when she was in the Peace Corps in '04. It looks similar to your's. I can't believe I lugged it on backpacking trips - all short, 4 nights max - up until I bought my Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight in '91.

I bought it from a small outfitter in NJ named Morsan. Shortly afterwards, they became Campmor, the best outfitter in the world.

[moytoy]

Mintakacat; I know what you mean. I still have my Boy Scout pack from the 1950's. And as far as tent's go I think I have you beat on that too. I bought a tent from an outfitter in north Ga. on Hwy 441 in 1977. I still have it. I let my grandkids use it in the back yard. Actually I still carry an external frame pack from the 1975-77 era. I am upgrading! I got on this forum to learn about building tents and Backpacks. And I'm learning something new everyday. Anyhow my message is don't let go of that old equipment. Your grandkids, or nephews and nieces or whatever kids are around love to use your stuff.. and those things my friend are memories.

[Rocketman]

My 1970's tents were a Gerry Forest model with an integral fly with catenary cut, and the Jansport original Half Dome with fiberglass poles later upgraded to aluminum poles. I also had one of the first Sierra Design Flashlight models.

When I resumed backpacking (really bicycle camping) in 2003, I used both of these alternately depending on wanting minimum weight and small packed size or large space and less concern with packed volume (because I had acquired a bicycle trailer, rather than panniers).

Then I bought an REI Quarter Dome because it was on sale and was newer and a little lighter than the Half Dome.

Then a small one man Kelty, because I might backpack again. Then a Brawney TarpTent from Antigravity Gear because I was going to hike some of the AT.

Recently I returned the Kelty. I gave away the Gerry and the Half Dome to the girl scouts, because the boy scouts wouldn't come and pick them up. I gave away the old Kelty exterior frame packs and old stoves and pots and skillets .... the girls scouts got a haul. I gave away some working sewing machines to the girl scouts (because they would pick them up).

I miss the old tents. Really. Not the rest of the stuff. After all, the tents were homes that protected me from rain and wind. Homes.

[Fiddleback]

I've got a Eureka Timberline 2 I've had since the scouts. It's bombproof.

The Timberline is my all time favorite tent. I have a 4-person model myself, purchased in 1981. To be honest though, I haven't used it for the past ten years (a four-person, 9lb tent is a bit of overkill for solo bp'ing). None the less, it is truly bomb-proof and still inexpensive compared to the more frequently recommended tents.

FB

[realityguy]

I just picked up a Timberline 4 Deluxe(because of the optional vestibule?)..


I pick up a lot of vintage tents(follow my picture link to my "vintage tents" folder on photobucket for more old tents.I thinkl I have all of them that are shown there yet except for the yellow REI Half Dome,the LL Bean Canvas A frame and the Kelty Windfoil.I don't know if pictures of all of mine are posted there.I'm usually at the bplite website but was out trying to find another Rose and Orange White Stag tent.LOL!I'm trying to get an idea for the date/model for the thing.

[realityguy]

One more thing..I was also thinking about the Ray-Way tarp thing..but in Rose?!LOL!
I do have a couple of the smaller timberlines(Wenzel & Eureka) which have somewhat the same tarp/fly and an Eureka Alpine Meadows 2 Tarp which is the same as the timberline one but made for a pole across the middle for more room inside(more material there) the center area of the tent(that tent's a goner).The blue Gerry tent's(forget the model..traveler?) tarps are somewhat the same but with a smaller bottom end along with the MPC one and another unknown one posted there at photobucket.Popular style back then!

[coss]

I have a Gerry Southface 2 person tent from the mid-1970s, still in use for car camping. Dual A-frame, foot end lower than the head, weighs 5 .bs 12 oz, light for its time.

I made a duplicate of the catenary cut rainfly in silnylon, and it is now my ultralight tarp, and at 10 oz, it's a winner. I sometimes loan the original rainfly to family members when they backpack with me, and it is an interesting juxtaposition of old and new when both are set up side-by-side on the same campsite.

[margo]

I have an old sears hillary tent that's something like that. I got it for bicycle camping. It's actually pretty light and weatherproof. It's delaminated now though. The biggest issue was that it took a lot of stakes. For awhile I was using the fly as a separate tarp but it's kind of worn out now. It's pretty old, I got more than my moneys worth out of it!

[Jonnycat]

I still use the Sierra Designs Sphinx I bought when REI first opened here in '92. It's pretty much relegated to base camping now, being as since I've grown picky about the weight I carry on longer trips.

[Colter]

Last fall I spent another few days in my dad's old wall tent that he purchased in 1952. So that tent was in it's 58th year and it's seen a lot of use. And I'll bet it's still got at least one good decade in it!