best charity shop purchases

[treadlightly]

As a bit of light relief from the heavy duty debates about bushcraft paraphernalia we've had recently, I thought I'd pay tribute to that wonderful source of bargain kit, the charity shop.

So, what are your top three charity shop purchases?

Mine are:

1. Survival Aids ventile-like wind shirt - £5
2. Pendleton wool shirt/jacket - £10
3. A pair of M&S mid weight wool trousers which are great for damp weather - £4.

 

[Shewie]

3 stainless tea/coffee/sugar pots for £1 in my hobbo stove days

 

[woof]

Swannie ranger for £3.50.

And numerous s/steel canisters.

Rob

 

[ged]

Excellent question!

1. 8x40 binoculars. Eight quid. No case, they live on the kitchen table and get more use than any others I've ever had just because they're always handy.

2. Several stainless steel hip flasks. Anything from 50p to three quid. Now filled variously with meths and Coleman fuel in assorted kits here and there. No drinkable stuff in any of them.

3. Leather trousers. Twenty quid (well, it was Oxfam!). Wear them at most BCUK meets.

I'll probably think of a load more as soon as I post this and I'd like to go on, like the harmonium I picked up a couple of weeks ago, and all the tables and other furniture, and that heavy chrome-plated solid brass tray on the worktop there, and the Zippo lighters, and ... well, you did say only three, and I've bent the rules a bit already...

Oh, and then there are the water skis, and... :sad6:

 

[johnboy]

I like Op shops...

You find some pretty cool stuff if you look often enough.

Swazi One Tough Sister Jacket for SWMBO $ 100.00
Swanndri's various sizes colours and makes average $ 20.00
Optimus 111 stove $2.00
Coleman 349 Kerosene lantern $1.00
Grivel Ice Axe $15.00..

 

[treadlightly]

Swannie ranger for £3.50.

And numerous s/steel canisters.

Rob

A swannie for that money will take some beating

 

[Magentus]

2 perfect sized pairs of crag trousers for £3.50 each (one brand new)
waxed H&M M65 'type' jacket - £7.50
old Scout/Hitler youth (!) sheath knife - £1.50
Entire Michael Moorcock Elric series 10p each and whole Rush back catalogue on CD for £1 each (neither bushy but I was in luck that day).

Can't beat charity shops

 

[John Fenna]

Woolen blankets for all three!
Including a double bed size Merino wool blanket for ..................................50p!

 

[Chrisj]

Ex electricity board Gortex (or no-name version) bright yellow boilersuit. £2 - Not the height of fashion but perfect for caving.

 

[JohnC]

A dutch oven: used occasionally...
A swandri shirt: favourite shirt, worn at present..
An old mora knife: sits in the shed, gets used most days..

Each were pretty cheap, single figures.

 

[ged]

...
Optimus 111 stove $2.00
...

Ohhhh, you cad, sir! Mine was eight pounds! Not a charity shop though, just a second-hand shop (thrift store?) so it didn't count for this thread even though I bent the rules.

 

[Harvestman]

Rohan shirt - £1
Gillett with loads of pockets - £1
Lightweight zip-off trousers - £2.50

Never had much luck with kit, but great for clothes.

 

[johnboy]

Ohhhh, you cad, sir! Mine was eight pounds! Not a charity shop though, just a second-hand shop (thrift store?) so it didn't count for this thread even though I bent the rules.

Aye.. $2.00 is about the least I've forked out for one... All it needed was a new pump washer and the NRV freeing up...

 

[redandshane]

Llandovery in an animal rescue charity shop I picked up a Thermarest performance series ultralight 3/4 length mat
Looks almost unused and works perfectly If i was going to shell out real money on a Thermarest it would have been this very one
£2 with a tupperware pot as well One very happy camper

 

[billybob0987]

german issue trousers, free, they were binning them so i said i'd take em
british army knife, £2.50, nearly 60 years old and use it daily
waist coat, £3 pound, searched all over for one cause for a job i was doing but couldnt find one, probably made 4 or 5 hundred quid out of it,

i also once worked for a charity shop cause my father in law went on holiday so i took over his bag round thing, i had to put a load of bags through people letter boxes and then pick up the filled up ones a few days later, then the shop gives you something like a pound or less if its only half full, which i originally didnt think would be very profitable, but it turns out if you fill a citroen relay to the brim, you can make £180, which was pretty good for a couple of days work, worth doing if you got spare time and a van

 

[Retired Member southey]

Three perfect fit Harris tweed suits, jacket, waist coat and trousers all for a tenner while living near Forres! FANTASTIC! and warm

 

[DavidJT]

Swedish charity shops are good..
1 fjällräven Greenland jackets x2 about £10 each
2 moncler down jacket about £15
3 wooden kuksa £1

 

[treadlightly]

Three perfect fit Harris tweed suits, jacket, waist coat and trousers all for a tenner while living near Forres! FANTASTIC! and warm

That beats the swannie deal!!!

 

[Hugo]

Timberland green cotton shirt as new and ssooo soft £7.50

 

[Maggot]

An almost brand new Buffalo Arctic Parka, fantastic condition £4.00, also a pair of new Army boots, £3. There was also a camo jacket, a sleeping bag (I already have 4) and some other odds and sods, it seemed rude to get the lot!

So, I reckon, as this was in the charity shop in Warminster (next to where Woolworths used to be) that some poor squaddie had been caught shagging his neighbour and his wife had dumped all his kit in the charity shop!