Do you guys have a piece of legendary gear?

[IH8RDS]

I found out something neat about my old Coleman lantern today. I have had it for 15 years now. I bought in a garage sale in Utah. I researched the stamps on it and it is a model 228C made on Aug 1945!! Still works like a champ and I take it on all my camping/fishing trips. Now that I can decode the dates I found one on eBay that I'm buying that was made on my birth month. I'll pass it down to my kids.

http://www.oldtownyucca.com/coleman/tech/id.htm

 

[Dredzilla]

Woobie hands down. I managed to aquire several of them. perfect in every way.

 

[mtn-high]

Here's mine. A pump-style camp drinking fountain.

I rescued this from my parent's home/sale when they retired. We acquired this drinking fountain along with an old and very large Coleman propane stove, (I believe it was 3 burners but it's a bit foggy as I was a kid and didn't do the cookin' back then)....an aluminum folding table that measured 3 ft x 6 ft, and a large Coleman lantern....all of which came *in* a '65 Ford Van that my parents bought in '68. All of these pieces of gear were wrapped in custom-made wooden boxes (table slid into the box, stove slid into the box/etc.) and were mounted along the sides of the van/out of the way. Definitely a crude "RV"! The other thing I remember about it was that it had a huge V-8 and that the motor housing would get VERY hot on trips across Kansas to CO. Hot enough that a (not-so-bright?) youngster such as myself ended up with a good size blister one night when I forgot and rubbed up against it with my bare leg. Ouch.

And while I'm rememberin'....was Top 40 radio good back then or what? Even with just that one big speaker up on the front dash of the Ford fighting the highway noise, some of those tunes got have been stuck in my head ever since and toss me right back to those special family times everyt time I hear 'em. Woah.

Anyway..I dug this fountain out after over 20 years of non-usage and gingerly lubed up the LEATHER pump seal gasket and let it set for a bit....and then BAM...after a few pumps the pressure built up and the water came jetting out when I pushed the button! Holy smokes. Talk about a "flood" of memories.....

anyone else ever seen one of these? I need to look it over good and see who made it/etc and do some research/etc. Diggin it out for these photos is the first time I've touched it in a few years (thus, the dust) so it's time to set it out front-and-center and give it some added attention/get it up and running again...

thanks for the thread/the push!

mtn-high

 

[Fergie]

This thread is getting revived...too many good stories in here, and I'd like to add a few of my own.

This knife was given to me when I cleaned my first squirrel(all Aberts), and has seen many more squirrel, rabbit, elk, deer and antelope. It is a Parker knife, and fits my hand well.

I think my Granddad owned it originally, then my father, now me. Nothing special, but perfect for skinning animals.

And to this piece. I doesnt have a long history with me, but was bought at a thrift store this Christmas for less than $5, and on Christmas morn' when I opened it up, I took it outside and it fired right up.

Yes, the original instruction sheet.

Good looking stove, I think; look forward to using it.

 

[SunTzuNephew]

Plain old Coleman 2-burner gas stove......I bought it (used) when I was 16, I think. All I've ever needed to do to it is replace (once) the generator tube, the tank, pump, etc are still original and still working. I've cooked meals for 100 on it, and used it for solo car camping as well.

My SAK - a Woodsman model, I got as a gift when I was a kid.

And my original Silva compass (not sure of the model), that has the Boy Scouts logo on it.

 

[Fireman78]

Coolest thread idea in a while.. most excellent. I decided to narrow this down to one thing. (Hard to do). Gotta be the Leatherman.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

I mean a piece of outdoor gear that has been with you for years and never failed you and you would never leave home without?

The only thing I owned that would even remotely come close was my old synthetic blanket from the military. That thing was so soft, warm, and versatile. It was great for the summer, packed down small, and made a great pillow...just an awesome piece of gear. In the military we called this type of blanket a woobie...I kid you not. You'd hear grown men armed with automatic weapons saying things like, "Ah man, I can't find my woobie!" Man I miss that thing.

Anyway, do you guys have a legendary piece of gear?

+1 on the woobie.. I never leave home with out it.

 

[matt s]

This thread is getting revived...too many good stories in here, and I'd like to add a few of my own.

This knife was given to me when I cleaned my first squirrel(all Aberts), and has seen many more squirrel, rabbit, elk, deer and antelope. It is a Parker knife, and fits my hand well.

I think my Granddad owned it originally, then my father, now me. Nothing special, but perfect for skinning animals.

And to this piece. I doesnt have a long history with me, but was bought at a thrift store this Christmas for less than $5, and on Christmas morn' when I opened it up, I took it outside and it fired right up.

Yes, the original instruction sheet.

Good looking stove, I think; look forward to using it.

My father has one of those stoves. It's awesome, he keeps it in airplane survival gear.

 

[matt s]

It sounds simple, perhaps even cliche. When I was 7 my father gave me my first knife, a basic swiss army knife. Two blades, leather awl, can opener, phillips and flat head. I still carry it today.

 

[Yudda]

EASY answer.....

My BSA flint. Ive had it for 25plus years.

P38 can opener

Gerber multitool Fisherman needlenose...yeah there are tons of new MTs out there but i always seem to need needlenose pliers...not the blunt ones on all the other MTs.

and my Strider SNG (pic from net)


Rob