Kit thats come and gone ...

[British Red]

I recall reading about a real reproduction \bowie made by Harry Lovejoy in SWAT (an article by Dave Crossley)

Bowie Article by British Red, on Flickr

Always wanted that knife


(Got it too - and he only made the one)


P Henry & Sons Bowie by British Red, on Flickr

 

[huntersforge]

Nice one BR

 

[Goatboy]

I recall reading about a real reproduction \bowie made by Harry Lovejoy in SWAT (an article by Dave Crossley)

Bowie Article by British Red, on Flickr

Always wanted that knife


(Got it too - and he only made the one)


P Henry & Sons Bowie by British Red, on Flickr

He-he, can just see Red out on the town now with that beast...
[video=youtube;01NHcTM5IA4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01NHcTM5IA4[/video]

That's a lovely knife, is it a user or a Drawer Queen? (Have said it else where but I always wanted (the controversial) brass backed bowie as a collectors piece. Will make do with the ones I have.

 

[British Red]

I have no queens - draw or otherwise

 

[tombear]

Blimey \i paid a couple of quid each for mine

I also love the US Artic canteen - keeps a cold drink cold all day (twin wall)

My wife added a cover that makes me feel like a cowboy!

Flask 2 by British Red, on Flickr

Oh I've got a couple of those arctic canteens, picked up at the war and peace show for peanuts. I've lost the box of one but they are both unissued. Never thought to cover them, neat! May have to do that.

atb

tom

 

[sunndog]

Here's what we are referring to.

http://www.thebushcraftstore.co.uk/...n---genuine-issue-bottle---no-fakes-287-p.asp

ATB

Tom

Yep, that's what i'v got. I replaced the clip with a fastex type one and moved the shoulder strap's mounting points on mine

 

[hog]

Space blankets,the ones that look like giant Crunchie wrappers.

 

[bushcraftkid2001]

Really large knives are a rare sight now, I think the biggest sized knife I've ever seen a bushcrafters carry was about 5/6 inches, there's a few bushcrafters with larger knives on YouTube, but not many. I think large knives are more popular in the USA though, and in Scandinavia.

 

[bushcraftkid2001]

I dread the day that Mora's are on this list, hopefully never!

 

[John Fenna]

Space blankets,the ones that look like giant Crunchie wrappers.

Ideal liners for a winter lean-to....

 

[Dave-the-rave]

Compo. I had a kink for the sausages in the ten man packs. Chicken curry was good too.

 

[Insel Affen]

Compo. I had a kink for the sausages in the ten man packs. Chicken curry was good too.

Sir,

You are a soldier of a certain age.

I myself was always partial to Bacon Grill, (that makes me a soldier of a certain age).:You_Rock_

 

[Angry Pirate]

I myself was always partial to Bacon Grill, (that makes me a soldier of a certain age).:You_Rock_

Gah! I always hated bacon grill. Very partial to the biscuits fruit though.
I was really chuffed recently to find that they still do them when a mate sourced some for me. Yum

 

[Insel Affen]

Gah! I always hated bacon grill. Very partial to the biscuits fruit though.
I was really chuffed recently to find that they still do them when a mate sourced some for me. Yum

Ah but the dead fly biscuits are now not Garibaldi type, which is a crying shame. But they are still good! Waking up for either stag or stand to was always better with a dead fly biccy or oatmeal block.

 

[BlueTrain]

Oh, I've got a long list of things that have gone out of style, most of which I still use. I'm very un-chic, you know. There are so many, I don't know where to begin. I have to point out that this list is decidedly American-oriented and not necessarily Bushcraft in particular, just outdoors stuff.

Canvas canoe packs (the Duluth Pack), but also
The Bergan "Meis" framed rucksack.
External framed packs generally.
The Svea 123 gasoline stove.
Packboards and the Trapper Nelson in particular.
Fresh made biscuits for breakfast (American style biscuits, that is, something like an English muffin)
Any fresh made bread in camp.
Heavy hiking boots with red bootlaces.
Tyrolean hats.
Corduroy shorts.
Everything wool in any season.
Stetson hats.
"Waist overalls." Bet you have to look that up.
Sterno/canned heat.
Down-filled clothing.
Breeches; "foot," not riding.
Canvas wall tents.
Any wall tent.
Indian lore.
Teepees.
Pipe smoking.
Permanent camps.
Carbide lamps.
Moccasins.
Stag jackets.
Tomahawks.
Anything tinned or galvanized.
Anything enameled.
Anything your mother made for you or loaned to you.
Erbswurst.
Bacon.
Large, round, blanket-covered Western-style canteens.
Kitchen matches.
Animal transport.

I'm sure there's more. But I'm delighted someone mentioned Radio Luxembourg. I think there was also Radio Caroline. I was able to listen to them when I was in Germany for a few years in the 1960s.

 

[Goatboy]

Oh, I've got a long list of things that have gone out of style, most of which I still use. I'm very un-chic, you know. There are so many, I don't know where to begin. I have to point out that this list is decidedly American-oriented and not necessarily Bushcraft in particular, just outdoors stuff.


"Waist overalls." Bet you have to look that up.


I'm sure there's more. But I'm delighted someone mentioned Radio Luxembourg. I think there was also Radio Caroline. I was able to listen to them when I was in Germany for a few years in the 1960s.

Only the ruffians and beatniks wear those around here! Actually from a young age it was dinned into us not to wear them in the outdoors as they aren't to good in our inclement climate especially when wet. They do have there place though and you can yurn them into good charcloth when they die.

Some other good things which I still like in that list though.

 

[Paul_B]

I love the idea of a cupboard of remorse. A place where the kit you bought because it was all the rage but never thought it was actually good to use. In mine there used to be mess tins and billy cans (nesting of course and so cheap you get 3 or 4 in the nest for what would equate to £10 nowadays. They are no longer even in the cupboard of remorse now.

I must admit I've noticed in the more mainstream outdoors section where everything has annual fashions with the colours and designs you often get repeats come along. What I mean is designs of garments that were the latest thing in say the 90s or 80s but went out of fashion then gets another name, perhaps a new look and is all the rage again. Take the old Marmot driclime and other lined fleeces.

Once the driclime was the ultimate in weather or wind resistant fleeces. Then old fashioned, then really old fashioned when the membrane fleeces first came out. Those membrane fleeces stopped the wind but often had the thick fleece on the outside of the membrane so in the cold and strong winds you effectively only had the thin lining fleece for insulation. Some highly rated fleeces had that problem including the top of the range Sprayway windbloc fleece I had.

Then the lined fleece came back in again with the Rab vapour rise with the pertex equilibrium on the outside instead of the more normal, shiny pertex fabric (which used to be worn inside or out depending on level of warmth needed in a lot of the old lined fleeces). Now I think the Rab Vapour Rise is out of flavour again.

I am sure there are many such examples. Take rucksacks for example. They were once relatively simple and light then got all the bells and whistles to weight almost 4kg for just a 65litre sack. Now you get 65 litre sacks capable of carrying 25 kg comfortably but only weighing about 1kg or even less. I bought a simple climbers sack mid 90s because I wanted to have a lighter backpack. It was only a 50 litre with 10 or 15 litre over carry expansion. Weighed 1.6kg and was basic but carried up to 28kg ok for me. It was really an alpine climbers pack and showed that climbing pedigree as it was very stable indeed. Now I would say that simple one compartment with a lid pocket sack is rather common again. Examples are the Crux AK47 and the PODSACS and Macpac even do some. Lightwave too (sister company of crux).

However for all those hankering for their old kit I say that the best ever softshell to wear as opposed to carry in the sack in case needed I own was a really naff woolly jumper bought on Santorini (IIRC) by my parents. It looked like one of those Scandinavian sweaters in the design of the patter on it but was just the local Greek Island style. It was very thick and had all the natural wool oils left in it. The outer surface was actually a bit fluffy with fine wool fibres sticking out of the bulk of the sweater knit. it was dense on the outside so was very wind resistant. Took strong wind to get through it. It was very warm and really only good for a little above zero degrees Celsius. It could cope with light rain for hours and heavy rain for about half an hour. Snow all day long without problems. As soon as you drop down from the hills and into positive celsius temps you just shake the snow and ice off it and it was dry again a few minutes after the snow is knocked off. Basically it easily outperformed my Rab VR, my TGO or TRail Mag best buy / top performing softshell fleece I had before that and indeed worked almost as well as Paramo in the cold TBH even though it would need a pertex layer on to beat Paramo. I have never seen a wool jumper since that one that worked as a softshell quite so well. Well it was bought off the farmer's wife on a stall. A nice little business using farmers wives to knit the produce of the farms' lambswool. No harsh modern production methods just clean the 5h1t off it, spin and knit. Did not smell nice at first but that cleared. Would probably fill a 4 litre sack on its own though.

 

[BlueTrain]

"Waist overalls" are just plain old blue jeans, not bib overalls.

I could have added "pile garments" to the list and "mackinaw" woolens.

 

[Paul_B]

Dungarees. They were all the rage when I was a baby apparently but went right out of fashion once I stopped being a baby. Now it is my son's turn for them!!

Seriously, unless you were in the Dexy's Midnight Runners, a redneck or a baby they are never in trend, whatever that means. Get a proper set of overalls on if you need them.

 

[BlueTrain]

I took the term "waist overalls" from an unpublished manuscript about camping in the high Sierras in California, from around 1940. I have seen a photo of an Eskimo wearing furs with bib overalls worn on top of everything. The same book ("Yukoners") also had a photo of someone plowing with sled dogs, which I thought was pretty interesting. The same book also showed some heavy duty backpacking up in Canada.