Kit Nostalgia....It's not what it used to be

[johnboy]

Hi,

A couple of comments on other threads have made me think about some of the old kit I've used in the past. Nostalgia has a way of dimming the negative points and only the good remain...


For example one bit of kit I tend to get nostalgic about is the old issue SAS / Para bergen...

image courtesy of kit monster

For me this was my first proper rucksack. With my rose tinted spectacles on the relative ease of loading it up with a 58 pattern sleeping bag and other caggage then lugging it cross country was a delight. In reality it was a horror to carry with an external frame seemingly made from cast iron no waist belt and a habit of pummeling your kidneys... I see them turn up on ebay and contemplate having a go for one but the memory of actually using it ( and the horrendous cost of getting it to NZ) bring me to my senses...

But it would be kind of fun to get one and rig the back with a bit of sleeping mat and some bungies in a vain attempt to get it comfortable.

So for me it's the SAS / Para Bergen.

What bit of kit makes you feel all nostalgic.....???

 

[forestwalker]

What bit of kit makes you feel all nostalgic.....???

70's style Fjällräven external backbacks. Nepal and Trader (50 and 70 L 3/4 length external frame packs).

 

[Twodogs]

Camping Gaz cooker with the small cartridges , happy days untill it went cold ...
Twodogs

 

[johnboy]

Camping Gaz cooker with the small cartridges , happy days untill it went cold ...
Twodogs

One of these puppies....??

 

[woof]

Got one of those stoves somewhere, and the one that came in its own metal case ?, got one of those aswell.

As a youngster, i had an over the head style smock(cagoule, in those days), that i lived in, until it was sadly to small and passed on. Never gave it any thought until i went on the hilltrek stand at a show last year, and smelled the ventile jackets, which brought back the memories of that smock, i must get a ventile smock again, one day..


Rob

 

[Twodogs]

Johnboy thats the one ..lol
Another item has to be the Berghaus Cyclops roc ,,,fantastic bit of kit
Early Goretex bivi bags from survival aids,
Original Wilkinson sword survival knife designed by an unknown ( then ) survival instuctor called Ray Mears !..lol
Twodogs

 

[rik_uk3]

Got one of those stoves somewhere, and the one that came in its own metal case ?, got one of those aswell.

As a youngster, i had an over the head style smock(cagoule, in those days), that i lived in, until it was sadly to small and passed on. Never gave it any thought until i went on the hilltrek stand at a show last year, and smelled the ventile jackets, which brought back the memories of that smock, i must get a ventile smock again, one day..


Rob

Climbers wore cagoules or anoraks, smocks were used by Cornish fishermen (hence fishermans smock), so as I'm old fashioned modern 'smocks' are still anoraks.

Old kit I use is one of many old stoves.

 

[Ahjno]

Climbers wore cagoules or anoraks, smocks were used by Cornish fishermen (hence fishermans smock), so as I'm old fashioned modern 'smocks' are still anoraks.

Old kit I use is one of many old stoves.

No Bulldog pots?


Kit nostalgia ... I'm not that old yet

 

[Nonsuch]

Nostalgic ?

This :

and this :

NS

 

[Shewie]

Ah happy days eh.

One that sticks in my mind was the german sniper sleeping bag I had for many years. It was the heaviest and bulkiest bag probably ever made but I still dragged it up and down dale bungied onto the outside of my blue nylon frame pack. I can remember showing off with it to a mate when I got it, even making a point of walking round with it on with my legs sticking out of the bottom. That along with my 4 man cotton Lichfield combat tent and my bulldogs made for many a miserable backpacking experience.

In fact I'm surprised I can even stand up straight these days.

 

[John Fenna]

Ahh - Springlow dried meals.......

 

[Man of Tanith]

for me it has to be a millets branded 40litre rucksack with no frame no waist belt. it was to my eyes as a scout monstourously big yet never seemed to fit everything into it.
i lugged that with assorted bits lashed on round for a fair few years. as i recall the waterproofing actually peeled off in big sheets!
think i might een have it lurkign around somewhere still.
Sam

 

[woof]

This thread just gets better and better !.

Rob

 

[rik_uk3]

Nostalgic ?

This :

and this :

NS

Great tents, I've a Mk3 and two Mk 5's, as for the stove one of my favourites there.

Springlow meals John I still carry the odd Vesta meal with me.

Bulldog pans, why of course That said I just got a 12 litre stainless steel pot I'm fitting a bale too for group cooking.

Vapalux lamps, some from the 50's

Stoves some pre 1911

1960's Silva compass

the list goes on

 

[John Fenna]

I still carry the odd Vesta meal with me.

Yep - Vesta meals are certainly that!

 

[alpha_centaur]

No Bulldog pots?

How can I be nostalgic for something that I still use everytime that I'm out???

 

[Glen]

One of these puppies....??

I've got the GlobeTrotter270, which is a similar thing but without the cannister holder. So I can use it on bigger cannisters that you can still get hold of.

The Primus Eta 1litre pot fits very nicely on it, with the flame staying inside the flux rings, making a very nice and quick/efficient basic cookset.

 

[Tengu]

I love those old stoves. they are easy to find, and the gas is cheap.

I have one in the tin, (I like things in tins)

And a 96 primus (in tin)

And my Vango Force Ten (picture me struggling up a cliff with it cradled in my arms...I took it because it was windproof....no wind that day...)

And yes, I have a set of bulldog billies

 

[wingstoo]

I picked up two cannisters of gaz for my "Globetrotter" stove this morning, for free as the shop is clearing out some old stock, I bought the stove and pots a few weeks back for £1.50, so really happy that I can now use it even if it is for only a little while.

Also saw he had some of the double sized cannisters on the shelf, only a dozen or so, anyone got an old stove that uses them, but cannot find them?

I've got the GlobeTrotter270, which is a similar thing but without the cannister holder. So I can use it on bigger cannisters that you can still get hold of.

The Primus Eta 1litre pot fits very nicely on it, with the flame staying inside the flux rings, making a very nice and quick/efficient basic cookset.

 

[jenks]

I had a '58 sleeping bag up until a couple of years ago. It was made by The North Face, as it was labelled on the hood. A good piece of kit, if you had a good one. The first one I was issued in the 80s was older than me and if you held it up to the light you could count the feathers!