Sentimental Kit

[Mesquite]

A simple spoon that I have got me thinking about kit that's special to a person.

Here's the spoon, I carved it from a bit of hazel about 4 years ago when I was on a woodcraft course and I lost my US Army rat pack spoon and needed something to make tea with. It's been with me ever since, on all my trips and camps until the moot last year when I thought I'd lost it

About end of November last year I had a package from Biker and in amongst the bits he had sent me was my spoon which he had mistakenly packed away with his kit and I was genuinely pleased to have it back. It's not the best of spoons, well used and abused as you can see from the pic but it's like a constant companion to me, something that reminds me of good times in the woods and I hope it continues to do that.

Anyway do other people have bits of kit that are special to them and if you do care to share them with us?

 

[Man of Tanith]

Boris my badger mascot.
Not kit per se. But been on courses and camps since I got him.
Despite pete attempting t burn him

Other than that either my crusader cup or the joker pocket knife someone gave me

 

[RonW]

My issued army pocket knife.....

 

[Wayland]

Lots of stuff... In fact most of it.

One of the nice things about making or modding your own kit is that it all has associations and memories attached.

Of course, the flip side of that is that you absolutely hate losing anything.

 

[crosslandkelly]

My much used IKEA hobo stove. It's about six years old now,

 

[Jinsin456]

My Enzo Trapper is probably my sentimental bit of kit, I think the fact that I got the kit and put the scales on and lightly shaped them makes it slightly more personal. It's been a great knife and I spend a lot of time sharpening it and making sure it is rust free as it's the O1 steel version.

 

[oldtimer]

I'm glad I'm not alone in getting sentimental about kit, especially things I've had a very long time, like my stainless steel sierra cup which I bought back in the 70s while crossing the US on a road trip. I bought four, one each for my boys, wife and self. There are far better pot/mug combos on the market now, but I stick to the sierra cup despite a brew cooling in seconds in it. and it not really being big enough to cook in. It's been in my possibles pouch for 40 years and is likely to stay there.

I also have a "Bushman's Friend" hunting knife by Williiam Rodgers that has travelled a long way and seen plenty of action that I am very sentimental about , but I've retired it in favour of a Mora which really more suited to my needs and easily replaced. I find losing a favourite knife as upsetting as losing a friend. After all, a bushman's knife is his best friend: sometimes his only friend!

 

[tartanferret]

My old Blacks transverse ridge tent has served me well for over twenty years. I wouldn't dream of carrying it on my back any more though.

Pictured here, in glorious Edale with my sadly missed SAAB

 

[John Fenna]

Some of my "firsts" are pretty valuable to me ... first rehandled knife, first home made blade, first forged blade, first basket, first bark pot etc etc
Most are now in use at home or retired and for decoration only.
Some still get out into the woods now and then

 

[maddave]

I had a US army steel mug that I lost recently that went everywhere with me... I got a dutch pattern and a crusader but they just aren't right so I bought a brand new one... now it has to get all "lived in" again.

 

[Shambling Shaman]

My wool snood and my 58 pat webbing

 

[decorum]

I've a few bits which have been gifted to me in one shape or form, some made either by or for me, and some which have become part of the furniture (my boots are in their 20's).
Recently my Endy's Dutch X-T headover has almost been lived in, I really should but a couple of spares :bluThinki :thinkerg:


I'm quite attached to my ti spork though. I don't particularly like it and it's not particularly good at what it does ~ but it does tie me into a particular time.
I also like the fact that its very existence annoys some folk way beyond the fabric of its very being .

 

[sandbender]

A Victorinox Champion, purchased with my second pay cheque from my first real job back in the early eighties. It has been everywhere.

 

[copper_head]

For me its my Crusader cooker. Had it for years and it comes with me more or less everywhere. In the interests of variety mine started off black and is slowly turning silver

 

[Pignut]

Lots of stuff... In fact most of it.

One of the nice things about making or modding your own kit is that it all has associations and memories attached.

Of course, the flip side of that is that you absolutely hate losing anything.

Agreed. But love the kuksa bought by my wife. Most of my kit has a memory attached pretty quick. If it doesnt it seems to get sold

Sent from my GT-P3110 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Paddytray]

my old rusty griddle .
It's heavy but it's worth it

 

[Fraxinus]

My leatherman tool (circa 1998), I replaced it with a Surge when it was lost but was very happy when it turned up a year later......in one of SWMBO's shoes
I think it endeared itself to me while working in Crete by making quick fix solutions possible so often. (sometimes earning me a beer or two )

Rob.

 

[Stringmaker]

I haven't been into bushy activities long enough to have any treasured old pieces of kit, but I do have a collection of "firsts" which mean a lot to me:

First piece of nettle cordage. That was the very first "traditional" skill I learned how to do; hence my username.

First piece of root cordage

First piece of "knapped" flint (shown by Will Lord)

First wooden mallet

First hazel drill I got an ember from entirely on my own

Collectively that little lot brings back great memories of learning new skills and I often pick up one or other of them and reflect awhile.

 

[munkiboi182]

my hand made tobacco bag goes everywhere with me and has done for years. even when i quit smoking i think i'll still take it with me. it has my keys and loose change and everything else that i would normally have loose in my pocket. it also has my opinel #7 that my grandad gave me when i was fourteen. I think i'd be devastated if i lost either of them

 

[Biker]

I've been sitting here wondering what piece of kit I would miss if I lost it. There's quite a few bits I'd be upset losing, but I think the one thing I'd be most gutted about is my 20oz nylon handled Estwing hammer. I'm a carpenter by trade, so when I was working full time in that job it was ALWAYS with me. I bought it when I was 18 as an apprentice carpenter, the first one I had broke and this was the free replacement. I'm now 50 and fully intend to be buried with it when the day comes.

Hey Steve if I'd known how special that spoon was to you I would have sent it a LOT sooner, soooo sorry I packed it away by mistake, it's the twin of the bamboo one I have so the mistake was sort of understandable. Anyway, really pleased it got to you safely.

Tie a lanyard to it and keep it close in future... we wouldn't want that to go missing at The Moot and be put up for ransom would we?