Do you still use any way, way back equipment or clothing.

[fernman]

Just checked my old till receipts.

 

[ayjay]

I still sometimes wear an old US Army Battledress shirt that has done a tour of Vietnam. Given to me by the wearer on that tour, I've not seen him since 1968, so the shirt predates that.

He actually volunteered for a second tour as he said he enjoyed the first one so much, although he did admit to being stoned for most of the time he was there.

[Eyelet]

..or sleeping in the porch of a hut (all SEVEN of us) as we were too tight fisted to pay!

Those were the days ... we started our first season bivving under boulders or any rough buildings/ruins in the vicinity of the hut. I remember a route in the Ecrins where we set off a bit late having arrived in La Berade that afternoon and got benighted on the ascent path. We decided to bivvy on a flatish section which was fine until it poured with rain at two in the morning when it became a stream .  We got some very strange looks from an early crocodile of Japanese climbers as our bedraggled party cooked breakfast beside the path   but we still got to the summit ahead of them in true Brit fashion.

[richardh1905]

 

Empty buildings, boulders, camping, the hut porch - but I have yet to pay for a hut in the Alps or the Pyrenees.

[andybr]

My wife and I are planning to do the Cleveland Way (our "local" Natioanl Trail) sometime this summer. Since our two man tent is a bit of a squeeze in my original Mk1 Opsprey Atmos 35 I am seriously considering taking my almost 40 year old Berghaus Redpoint pack out of retirement. It was a very simple and lightweight design when it was new but seems surprisingly modern today. This is how it looked on a much more lightweight me in its heyday.

Just an update on this. Although we only backpacked the first half of the walk I did use my old pack and my verdict was a resounding "OK". It was not quite as comfortable and not quite as stable as the Osprey sack but still performed well overall. Strangely the biggest issue I had was going back to solid zip up pockets which meant having to remove the pack to get at anything. I had never given the stretchy open pockets on modern sacks much thought but they do really make a difference.

[pauldawes]

Just an update on this. Although we only backpacked the first half of the walk I did use my old pack and my verdict was a resounding "OK". It was not quite as comfortable and not quite as stable as the Osprey sack but still performed well overall. Strangely the biggest issue I had was going back to solid zip up pockets which meant having to remove the pack to get at anything. I had never given the stretchy open pockets on modern sacks much thought but they do really make a difference.

I’ve got a Berghaus Dart 45, about 20 years old, that has zips. (Still use it, but rarely nowadays, because seldom do more than day hikes in reasonable weather now, so rarely need 45l capacity.)


For me, it’s actually a close call whether I prefer the modern stretchy side pockets to zipped side pockets....had a fair number of times when stuff has come out of the modern side pockets, especially when stowing rucksack on trains or buses.

[BuzyG]

Still use my Karrimor rucksack purchased in 1983 and still occasionally ride my Holdsworth training bike built in 1979. MrG and I had matching Holdsworth push bikes for many years, until some scroat nicked her's. 


I found a Photo of the Bikes from the1980s






You Can't really see mine though, trust me it had more luggage on it.


Any way here is one I took about 5 mins ago.  A smile to any one who spots the main difference between Mrs G's Bike and mine.

[vghikers]

Some impressively vintage kit in this thread that I can't match!

I have and regularly use two old items: one is pre-millenium Trackster Treks, thicker than standard ones with zipped pockets, still used on all backpacks outside winter and going strong. Ron Hill haven't made them for many years now (I'm the umpteenth bloke they've told, "No demand" you see...).

The other is a pertex windshell bought from Outside in Hathersage in the 1990s, originally purple but now faded to a shade of pink.

[Dyffryn Ardudwy]

My late father used to be the MO for the Royal Regiment of Wales, back in the 1970s and early 80s.
Ive still got a few items of his camouflage kit, which includes a peak cap, and one of his kaki padded jumpers.

The only issues, is that his Lieutenant Colonel epaulets are embroidered on the pullover, and as ive never experienced any military service, it would be a bit over  the top, maybe a bit disrespectful.

Imagine some ex military gent, challenging me on a walk, saying, What right have you got to be wearing such gear.

That may sound daft, but i knew a rather over selous ex officer, whilst living in Cardiff, and he always wanted to be addressed by his military rank, even though he had retired from the army years before.   


You almost felt sorry for him,  pompous old fool, but why rock the boat.