Your oldest bit of kit that is still going strong?

[Panama Jungle]

What's the oldest bit of kit you have that still works perfectly long after its expected lifetime?

Mine - my rucksack - an olive green Karrimor Jaguar 6 KS-100E. Bought for £65 in 1985 from Millets, still going strong 26 years later, it's been backpacking around Europe, served in the TA and now regularly treks through the Panamanian rainforest. Superb bit of kit.

What's yours?

 

[John Fenna]

Other than my wife(?) - I now realise that it is a small Frost knife aquired some 40 years ago from my sister who used it for carrving rock salt (crazy art student at the time) then gave it to me when it was too blunt to cut warm butter.
It has had a new handle (mahogany type) one of my first rehandling attemps, and new sheath - again one of my first efforts.
Although a fair bit slimmer than when new the blade is razor sharp and still holds its edge well.
The fairly poor handle could do with replacing (now I have more skill in that area) as could the sheath... if only on aesthetic grounds...
Good Swedish blades last for ever!

 

[Bluebs4]

my dads army knife,and his denison smock thats only a memory of pre pre packed/cooked takeaway foods .ie when it fitted him then me and now the coat hanger .

 

[Hugo]

That rucksack you have, I have the Lynx, still going strong, also my Bulldog mess set made of alloy bomb proof, North Face Celestial Peak gortex jacket and trousers.
All these items were purchased at the same time from Surf and Ski in Brighton 23 years ago.
Still going strong, mind you the jacket could do with it's first re proofing.

 

[blacktimberwolf]

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=79305

 

[shaggystu]

.....an olive green Karrimor Jaguar 6 KS-100E. Bought for £65 in 1985 from Millets, still going strong 26 years later, it's been backpacking around Europe, served in the TA and now regularly treks through the Panamanian rainforest. Superb bit of kit......

mine's an olive green jaguar S-80 KS-100e that i found on a car boot sale 7 or 8 years ago, it was already 10+ years old then, and it was receiving envious looks as recently as this weekend. as you say, superb bit of kit

stuart

 

[rik_uk3]

Loads of stuff, WW2 KFS set, army knife, mess tins, pre WW1 Primus stove, lots of Primus/paraffin/petrol/meths stoves that are 40-60 years old, Bull Dog billy cans, Vapalux/Bialaddin lamps, and more, can't remember off the top of my head.

 

[bilmo-p5]

No.1 favourite all-round, ex-table, cooking knife, bread knife, butter knife, veg knife, carving knife, pallette knife, pastry knife, dough knife and whatever else it falls handy for.

Probably into its 3rd century and still going strong.

 

[TomBartlett]

Reading John Fenna's post I thought he was going on to say that after the new handle, he's put a new blade on too!

 

[spandit]

My Mk. VII gas mask bag (like the one Indiana Jones carries)

 

[Shewie]

I've cleared out a load of stuff recently so most of my older bits have gone, my 80's Bulldog billies would have been my pick but they've gone. My Ortleib 4L water carrier is circa 1996 so I'll go with that.

 

[woodspirits]

mine's an olive green jaguar S-80 KS-100e that i found on a car boot sale 7 or 8 years ago, it was already 10+ years old then, and it was receiving envious looks as recently as this weekend. as you say, superb bit of kit

stuart

hi stu, ive got one of those bought it new donkeys ago backpacked all over the highlands, lent it to my brother who hiked around oz for a year. and its still rock solid! one of my items up for sale at north wood meet

the other item is a ww2 jacknife i bought off ebay a few years ago, once again rock solid as tight as the day it was made.

 

[Pict]

My US Army canteen cup, made in 1965, just like me.

 

[stekker]

You're right, Dutch Nato mug.
They're really bulletproof.
Probably my axe will end up in second place.

Theo.

 

[jackcbr]

Got to be my grandfathers hatchet, and knowing him, probably quite old when he "acquired" it too. Got to be 100 years old at least. Ready for another handle too.

 

[neoaliphant]

Fisher price yellow plastic canteen, got when I was 5, so its 31 years old, fits nicely in US old army ammo pouch

i would love to get my hands on a ww2 gas mask pouch tho

 

[jeffz]

A late 80's waxed-cotton Blacks jacket in the same mould as a Barbour Beaufort (wouldn't be surprised if they were from the same factory). Still with me over 20 years on, still getting waxed every year, and still waterproof. Got no reason to replace it with a Barbour-branded one.

 

[NS40]

I've got a 58 pattern poncho that I got in 1982 which I've used as a tarp, bivvy bag, made into a coracle, an improvised sail, used as a stretcher (e.g. carrying a 17st friend with a twisted knee a few hundred yards to the car) and an emergency shelter on several occassions (last time was sheltering a group of DoE participants I bumped into lost and poorly equipped on Ben Venue during a snowstorm in May...I had a few choice words to say to their leader when I tracked him down). I've also worn it as a poncho on loads of times - I actually love wearing it during the worst of weather. Despite it's adventures, it still looks good as new after a quick shower - wish I could say the same for me...

I've also got a pair of leather Salomon walking boots my wife bought me for my first wedding anniversary nearly 15 years ago. Despite constant use stomping through snow, mud and various streams/rivers, a quick brush when they're dry and they look as if they're fresh out of the box.

 

[WolfCub]

A sleeping bag.
Got it for Christmas when I was 12, in '82. Bought form "George Fishers" in Keswick, Dad and Mam had to save for it.
Used pretty much every night till I was in my early 20's (Couldn't get on with blankets) Aswell as at home it's been on countless camps and bivis and used it in Romania and Canada.

When my eldest son was about six he was a bugger for throwing off his blanket so I passed it on to him. He's used it every night since, now 13.

It even has it's own name now in the familly, "The Muddy Green Maggot".

Trully cracking bit of kit !

 

[Imagedude]

My Optimus 111, handed down by my father
1970's SAK
PTC Igloo tent from the 1960s
Bulldog pans from the 1940s