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  1. #1
    Registered User
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    Default Whats the oldest piece of gear/clothes you still use?

    Clothes for me its a pair of NF convertible pants I bought in 2008. Gear wise its a 12inx12in butt pad I bought in 2004, that thing has literally been all over the world. Paid a dollar for it in Korea.
    " 6 bucks and my left nut says we're not going to be landing in Chicago" Del Griffith

  2. #2
    Registered User Grampie's Avatar
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    Default Oldest gear

    Quote Originally Posted by slowdive View Post
    Clothes for me its a pair of NF convertible pants I bought in 2008. Gear wise its a 12inx12in butt pad I bought in 2004, that thing has literally been all over the world. Paid a dollar for it in Korea.
    I still have a Kelty 1970s frame pack that I used on my thru in 2001.
    Grampie-N->2001

  3. #3
    Some days, it's not worth chewing through the restraints.
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    Default

    Same here - circa 1969 Kelty A4 that I still use for carrying tools and other dirty jobs while doing trail/shelter maintenance.

  4. #4

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    Plastic cup from a Boy Scout Cookset from the mid seventies. It still has my troop number (65) scratched into it.

    Next oldest is a LL Bean Anorack, with poly exterior and light fleece lining. I modified it at one point to add pit zips. Probably 30 years old. It mostly relegated to woods work and reblazing property lines.

  5. #5
    1000+ miles down, 1000+ miles to go
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    St. Paul, MN
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    My PacerPole hiking poles have served me since 2007.
    "When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute.
    But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute--and it's longer than any hour.
    That's relativity." --Albert Einstein--

  6. #6
    Registered User One Half's Avatar
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    I just got rid of the first fleece I ever bought as part of our down sizing. It was almost 30 years old as I bought it at end of season clearance for $20 in Spring of 92 IIRC.
    I guess I have replaced all the rest of my gear fairly recently. I think my current backpack is around 12 years old? It's an REI Flash 50.
    https://tinyurl.com/MyFDresults

    A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world. ~Paul Dudley White

  7. #7
    I plan, therefore I am Strategic's Avatar
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    When I want to take a canister stove (instead of my Solo wood stove) I still use a nifty little fold-up pure butane stove I bought back in the mid-1970s. This was back when the standard backpacking stove used white gas (which I've always hated) and I wanted something lighter and smaller. It uses butane lighter refill cylinders rather than the isobutane that most modern canister stoves use. It can be a little finicky in very low temps, but it has some real advantages. Not only is the stove pretty light, but the canisters weigh almost nothing except the weight of the fuel. Since butane is a low pressure gas, those refill cylinders are made of thin spun aluminum rather than steel (and they're recyclable too!) It's been working well for almost 40 years now, which is pretty impressive for a stove.
    Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
    Sun Tzu, The Art of War.

  8. #8
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    Several of my items that I'm still using occasionally are from the 80ties:
    A Goretex Parka made by Lowe, an Aluminium pot of unknown brand, an Esbit stove, an expedition-grade down bag made by Salewa.

    The very oldest of my items that I'm still using is US made.
    Its a sewing kit handed over by the US Red Cross during the occupation time (late 40ties/early 50ties, that would make it a solid 70-75yrs old):
    Attached Images Attached Images

  9. #9

    Default

    The oldest piece of gear I still carry (even on summer days) is a synthetic pull over hat I purchased about 20-years ago in a small grocery store on a cold, drizzly day in VT. I recall being amazed at how quickly I warmed up once I got that hat on and have used it ever since.

  10. #10
    Registered User John B's Avatar
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    My Leki hiking poles, which I bought from an ad on Whiteblaze in 2005.

    The guy selling them completed two thru-hikes using the poles, the last in 2004. He stopped by the Leki tent in Damascus to have a washer replaced. Other than that, never a single repair. So he put about 4,500 miles on them and I've added about 1,500.

    Yeah, they've seen some use. 20211119_082833_resized.jpg

  11. #11
    Garlic
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    For hiking, it's my "Class of 2004" PCT bandanna. I still use the "Hiker to Trail" and "Hiker to Town" signs stenciled on it. It's in my bike helmet right now, so I use it daily.
    "Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning

  12. #12
    Registered User Kaptainkriz's Avatar
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    Still using my Kelty White Clouds on every hike.
    Plaid is fast! Ticks suck, literally... It’s ok, bologna hoses off…
    Follow my hiking adventures: https://www.youtube.com/user/KrizAkoni
    Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alphagalhikes/

  13. #13
    Registered User Kaptainkriz's Avatar
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    Very cool - my troop number was also 65.
    Quote Originally Posted by peakbagger View Post
    Plastic cup from a Boy Scout Cookset from the mid seventies. It still has my troop number (65) scratched into it.

    Next oldest is a LL Bean Anorack, with poly exterior and light fleece lining. I modified it at one point to add pit zips. Probably 30 years old. It mostly relegated to woods work and reblazing property lines.
    Plaid is fast! Ticks suck, literally... It’s ok, bologna hoses off…
    Follow my hiking adventures: https://www.youtube.com/user/KrizAkoni
    Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alphagalhikes/

  14. #14
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    When winter camping I still use the Early Winters candle lamp my daughter gave me on my first Father's Day back in 1982. I think my LL Bean mountain anorak is also from that era. The elastic is totally shot on both wristbands but it still works great as a wind layer when out xc skiing or snowshoeing. Thankfully, that bright semi-neon green has finally toned down too .

    That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

    snapper

  15. #15
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    I still use a down anorak (for camping, not hiking), given as a promotion by a bank when I opened an account in '79.

    The oldest piece of "hiking" gear that I use regularly is my Steripen, which I got in 2005 I think.
    fortis fortuna adjuvat

  16. #16
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    I still have and use a couple of EMS Techwick LS 1/4 zip polyester tops that I bought around 1995 or so. Used one last weekend, in fact, and wore the other one today to walk the dog in the woods. They're getting a bit ragged but remain favorites.

    I also have a MSR Whisperlite from 1985—bought at Tent and Trails in Manhattan—that still works fine (although with a new pump... the original yellow one crumbled many years ago) but I don't really use naphtha stoves on the trail any more.
    Last edited by cmoulder; 11-19-2021 at 20:34.

  17. #17

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    I still have and use a pair of North Face booties my parents gave me for Christmas in 1976. They're still in great shape.
    Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.

  18. #18
    GSMNP 900 Miler
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    If it's going to be cold that I worry my canister stove will have an issue, I take my MSR Shaker Jet purchased in the mid 90's for my 1st ever back packing trip.
    I also have a candle lantern from the same period I often take if my trip includes a stay in one of the GSMNP shelters.
    I also have a 0º sleeping bag from the same period that (for various reasons) has almost never been used that I've taken in the last 5 years when I knew temperatures would be below freezing.
    I have a Kelty frame pack from the 80's (acquired it used) that I'll still use for practice walks in the neighborhood.

  19. #19
    Is it raining yet?
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    Mountainsmith day pack from he late 80s.
    Be Prepared

  20. #20

    Default

    everything except the food.

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