UKC

I'm just as guilty as most, with the 'Right, I need a new ??? and a new ???'
The constant lists of equipment and gear I want (need ) etc etc.

But, my winter boots are a pair of Scarpa Manta M4's, late 90's, they get a good wax and some new insoles this year. But other than that, they're brilliant! Granted they haven't had as brutal a life with me, as with most, but I love them.

What's your gear that you just can't bring yourself to replace? You know there's better new gear, but it just works!

(The older the better!)

In reply to martinturner:

I've used the same chalk bag for 30 years... been repaired a few times now.

In reply to martinturner:

I got my Karrimor Hot Route 55 when I was 10. It has a lifetime guarantee and is doing a great job of living up to that. It's done 36 years and is the only non 'day' sack I've ever needed. Summer, winter, walking, climbing, a year's travelling. A few stitches here and there, some extra axe holders added, but I hope it will do another 36 years.

In reply to sg:
I've got one of those too.... extensively repaired but still works, but only about 29 years old.
Still got my clog cosmic arrester belay plate as an emergency spare.

In reply to Gustavo:

Cool - I get very excited when I see old pics of Hot Route / Rock / Ice sacs from the early 80s!

In reply to Gustavo:


I bitterly regret losing my early 90s vintage purple J-Rat chalkbag

In reply to Gustavo:

Same here - it's a MOAC chalk bag bought in the mid 80's that continues to hold chalk just as well as when new. Colour has faded somewhat though.

I have been tempted with a new one but realised there is absolutely no need & I'm better off wasting money on other things.

In reply to martinturner:

I still have my first Salewa walking axe and crampons, which I got for my 13th birthday back in 1981. I still use both occasionally (i.e., when my kids have run off to the Alps with my more fancy kit).
I also have my old Trangia and my Ortlieb pannier bags from 1985, which are still in continuous use.

CB

In reply to martinturner:

Cotton canvas Karrimor 'outward bound' rucksack - mainly used for storing gear, but still gets the odd outing.
Original purple Karrimor 'Alpiniste' rucksack - still my winter bag of choice.
MOAC chock - re-roped many times, but still going strong.
Meta 71 stove - simple lightweight stove/mug from before the titanium era. Not seen the (metaldehyde) fuel sticks for years, but it works with military 'hexy' stove fuel.

N

In reply to martinturner:

a pair of fully adjustable salewa crampons[ about 1978 ]the ones that can be adjusted for width as well as length still use those ,no anti ball plates like the modern ones just give them a whack with the ice axe if theres any build up , also i still have my stubai aschenbrenner ice axe from 1977 , still used it till a few years ago when i modernised , now hangs on the wall [it still works, snow and ice are just the same as in the past ,]]

In reply to martinturner:

Karrimor Hot Earth sac. Bought around 1992 and still going strong. I use it for transporting my climbing gear as its heavy but bombproof.

Troll chalk bag, also from the early nineties. Lost it twice but it found its way back to me.

Little green stuffsack that I bought for pennies from Canyon Sports in Leicester in about 1988 to hold first aid kit items. Despite spending thirty years squashed in the bottom of various rucksacks its pretty much as good as when I bought it. At this rate it will outlast me, which is worrying.

In reply to martinturner:

Trigger's broom!

I have a Karrimor daysack, and a Lowe Alpine Dryflo t-shirt, both from the mid 80's that I still use.

In reply to martinturner:

I've got my Dad's black and red PAs, which I wouldn't hesitate to use. They must date from around 1965 I guess. Do I win the contest?

In reply to martinturner:

Lowe Alpine Crag Sac from about 1993 or so. Berghaus Cyclops Roc from about 1988...

Berghaus Pinnacle (light grey, grey and black) gore-tex jacket from about 1995, and a Berghaus Exrem Guide sac from the same.

In reply to martinturner:

The one piece of gear that survived through all my 40 years of rock climbing (from 1967 to 2007) was my original MOAC. The perlon was replaced at least once, possibly twice, but the nut is the original. It now lives in a cupboard but is still 100% usable.

In reply to martinturner:
I still use my original Peck Crackers, obviously re-roped and MOAC on tape.
Steve Yo

Ung

In reply to martinturner:

Still use two original MOACs, fit loads of places (though suspect an equivalent modern curved wedge would be even better). Incidentally would have thought there would still be a market for larger size corded wedges as opposed to wires which require extending, as far as I know nobody now makes them.
Have some spuds (single sideways hole for cord) threaded on my bandolier ...harder to find good placements but don't interfere with its use as a sling and good for a belay when my somewhat meager rack is exhausted.
Also Salewa adjustable crampons, Joe Brown Extendable sac (many holes, but use for carrying drybag etc and the narrow Karrimat backpad is still OK for bivis), HH pile jacket and of course torn, taped Buffalo.

In reply to martinturner:

I still have a Chouinard #4 stopper that dates from 1979. Nice taper - same size as a Rock 1 but flat sided. Still has a place on my rack of tinies, along with RPs 0,1,2 and 3 that date from 1982. I don't make a habit of falling on them and they're all still in good order.

Somewhere in there are some original rocks with the wonky hand punched size. They're so worn, the markings have worn off, but they're in there somewhere. 1981 for those.

There's also a Clog Condor ice axe, circa 1981

In reply to martinturner:
oldest bit of kit I have for outdoor use is a pair of Barr & Stroud binoculars x6 from about 1935

In reply to martinturner:

My Chouinard Zero Bamboo shafted axe. bought in 1976. Still the first choice axe for all my Alpine climbs.

All my hexes date from the mid seventies.

In reply to martinturner:

Still got a chounard ice hammer with original tape circa late 70s

In reply to martinturner:

Being a tight Yorkshireman who wants to get as much value for money as possible, I am still using two MOACs, a Clog Hex and two Spuds I bought in approx. 1967. They keep getting new string occasionally. They were my first bits of gear, first used on lead on Right Hand trinity, which I try to lead, with the same bits of gear, at least once a year. I also use an original Snowdon Mouldings Axe (orange handle with grip bulge) and an original Stitch plate from the end of the 60's although this is now retired but carried in pack just in case!

In reply to martinturner:

OS Map of the Lake District from the 50's. It was my dads and has his signature is on the front. It shows the railways as they were back then.

In reply to martinturner:

I've got a full set of 2015 Climbing Technologies nuts

In reply to martinturner:

I have an idea there was a similar thread a couple of years ago but can't find it.

Oldest gear still in use would be a Snowdon Mouldings 'curver' ice axe which is still my 'walking axe' and a pair of Salewa bendy crampons which I still use with leather walking & telemark boots from time to time. Both bought in 1976 for my first trip to the Alps. More modern, but still used regularly, are a pair of Leki telescopic ski sticks (late 1980s). My collection of skis starts at about the same date although the older models haven't been used in a while.

Slightly older (by a year ?) but very rarely used are some Chouinard hexes although the rope has been changed a few times over the years.

Older still, maybe from 1972 or 3 is a Karrimor Pinnacle rucksac which I can't bring myself to throw - the remains are used as a stuff sack in the cellar. For several years it was my school, then college bag as well as in regular use for climbing & walking.

Although the oldest of all would be an Aschenbrener wooden handled ice axe which I inherited but have never used except as decoration. I've no idea how old it is & I'm (at least) the 3rd owner

In reply to radddogg:

My oldest piece in occasional use in the garden is a Stubai peg-hammer from 1965. The Nanga Parbat ice axe I bought in 1967 (I think) and bent the pick of in the school metal workshop in 1969 occasionally sees the light of day if I'm taking family and friends out in winter, as does a pair of Ralling wrought iron crampons bought second hand in about 1967. I doubt if Snowdon Mouldings got their idea of the "Curver from me! I've still got one of those as well!

Moacs don't count They aren't old, they are ageless.

In reply to sg:


http://www.outdoorinov8.com/karrimorimages.html

: )

In reply to martinturner:

Relatively new (dating from around 1980), some Moacs, but pride of place goes to a full set of rigid stem WC friends: 4, 3,2,2,1.5,1.5,1,1. They've been re-equipped with tape (with a tape knot) a number of times, and also have cord tie-offs on the stems for shallow placements. Used so much that the machined 'teeth' on the cam lobes have worn away. As I was a 'lobbing lemming' back then, they've enabled a lot of air time, but I can't see anything to worry about last time I took them apart to lubricate and clean. Interestingly still on their original trigger wires.

In reply to martinturner:

9/11mm Sticht plate (the springy one) for trad, Karrimor Atlas sac, first bits of my rack all 1981.

In reply to Glyno:

Still got my Hot Ice sack from the 80's. Somewhat misnamed, as the ice axe attachments were almost useless!

In reply to martinturner:

My nut tool is about 32 years old and still works fine.

Might weigh a few grammes more than a newer one, mind

In reply to martinturner:
I just remembered that I sometimes take my 1970s Karrimor KP Chamonix canvas sac (bought second hand with a "Lakes Mountain Sports Penrith" label) out, and occasionally with a wooden axe. One of these has a completely straight right angled pick that you have to use properly if you don't want a hasty descent.

Also have a 1929 OS map of the Lake District to consult, very useful when reading this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/District-Murder-British-Library-Classics/dp/071235...

though I wonder if it was written by someone who only used the information on the map to write the whole thing without detailed local knowledge.


Once the MOAC is in everything is going to be fine ...