What is your oldest piece of gear still in use?

[dink]

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]

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]

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.

[Venchka]

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]

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]

Smacks his head hard. DUH!
BSA mess kit complete with cotton cover. From the late 50s-early 60s.

Wayne


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[Traveler]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

2 Sierra Club cups. Ages unknown. Probably retired.

Wayne


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[Siestita]

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]

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]

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]

Oldest gear? Me!

[rmitchell]

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]

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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