Yeti GOBOX Collection

Old and reliable gear

AlaskaHunter

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Joined
Jan 20, 2017
Messages
1,883
Location
interior Alaska
Seems like some folks are always looking to upgrade to the latest gear. I'm sort of the opposite.
I probably have the record for oldest raingear...
..my boating raingear is commercial Helly Hansen from 1989.

My trekking poles are Leki from 1995.
My stove is a MSR whisperlite from 1993.
My smallish backpack is a Gregory from the 1980s, my big backpack is a Dana Designs from the 1990s. Both MADE IN USA.
Most of the time I hunt with Browning Citoris from the 1980s, Remington 700s from the 1980s and 1990s.
My go-to tent is almost 30 years old and still reliable, had to replace the zipper sliders but that is it.
It has survived many wind storms.
MosquitoMtn.jpg
I use a 25 year old jet sled to haul firewood and moose quarters.
I do go through waders about once every 5-10 years and always am happy with SIMMS.
 
At age 13 in 1976 with money from a summer job I bought a North Face Oval Intention for $312. I still remember the price because it was the very first thing I bought with my first paycheck. I used it extensively for 25 years and would still be using it today if my lab didn't tear her own door through the wall to get inside during a frightful lightning storm in AZ. That tent had been used in the tropics of the Yucatan and Hawaii to frozen Yukon and Alaska and all points in between.
That model tent is in the Smithsonian museum. It was the first geodesic designed tent.
Those vintage tents were built to last.Oval Intention 4 peaks 001.jpg
 
Also purchased when I was a young teenager was this North Face Brooks Range down parka.
I bought it in size LARGE even though I wore a size small (#120 kid) because I knew I would grow into it and Alaskan adventures were always on my mind.
Here's a pic of me wearing it in 2011 in New Zealand.

NZ 2011 040 (2).JPG
 
I have too many vintage items to list and I still use them.
Probably have more tents than I should but they all serve a purpose.
North Face Aerohead
Garuda Atman
Marmot Swallow 3P
North Face Himalayan 47 that replaced my Oval Intention
North Face RoadRunner 23
20140912_100113.jpg20131030_140507.jpgIMG_20210504_201524_268.jpgIMG_2108.JPG20180503_055356.jpg
 
One of my favorite things about hunting is using old/used/vintage gear — I posted a photo of my boots over in the old boots thread. The only time this hasn’t worked out for me was on a trip where my 15-year-old tent failed to be sufficiently rain proof.

Here I am on a different trip with a 1970s-era external frame pack (since replaced with an early 2000s version that is a better color for hunting).
640AF340-7F48-4F1E-9C04-CF767A97B1EB.jpeg
 
This hat is from the 1989 world ski championships. I was 2 but recently found it in a keep sake box my mom saved for me. Colorado’s pink laws have me a reason to bring it back!
 

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If you haven't lit a picnic table on fire or almost started a forest fire, have you really used a whisperlite?
The Whisperlite is my least favorite. However, the XGK sounds like a cutting torch. One time we were cooking with it at a NP campground in the quiet evening and we were talking while cooking and when I suddenly turned off the stove in mid conversation we realized that we had been shouting all along.
 
Sitka Gear Turkey Tool Belt

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