Following on from the HireSquire thread.

What's the oldest bit of kit you own - and still use?

To get the ball rolling:

Whilst over here (I'm South African) on holiday during winter of 1975/6, I bought a Mountain Equipment Fitzroy Jacket and Waistcoat (no gilet nonsense in those days).
The waistcoat was 'donated', aka Affirmative Shopping, some years ago. With living in U.K. since June 2019, the jacket has had more use than the preceding forty four years in southern Africa.
Pic. is not my actual jacket, since it's currently in a friend's backpack.

I've definitely got both jerseys and shorts that are over 25 years old and still get used.

A couple of base layers that I bought in the 80’s still going strong

Nothing too crusty but I’ve still got and use my early 90’s Thermarest and MSR Whisperlite stove

I’ve got a scrap left of my original Multimat which I can remember using on a school trip to Malham, not much left but it makes for a decent sit pad

My brain - although some would disagree

I still wear a sweatshirt that I bought when I took my mum to see the Harlem Globetrotters, in 1988

Buffalo jacket that is 30 years old and still gets used a couple of times each winter. My wife was using it a lot recently after her open water swimming too.

Various other bits of winter kit - boots, crampons, ice axe, all from the same era.

Also leather motorcycle salopettes that are, I think, 34 years old now.

Lots of bike clothing, tools etc bought 11 years ago when I was working in a bike shop. Too much to list.

Silva compass. Must be 45 years old as had it since cubs

I’ve still got some of the kit I used from when I was a kit, and still use some of it. Two bits stand out initially

- Silva 7 compass
- Victorinox Huntsman Swiss Army knife. Have since acquired many, many other knives but still have and use it

Still have my first ever CCF mat somewhere as well

Helly Lifa base layer.
Pre silver type circa early 80s.
It is indestructible and the smell is not a problem to me.
Plus a Musto Thermal balaclava. Never used it sailing but lots of times up a mountain and bivying.

Got Rab 700 and Rab 300 sleeping bags from the early nineties that I bought for an expedition that didn't happen that I still use.

Also a Primus screw on stove from when I was into doing mountain marathons in the late nineties that is my main stove. Sure some of my thermal tops are of a similar vintage too.

Sold a vintage Rab smock from the 90's last year on eBay for more money than I paid for it.

MSR XGK Stove, 1991/2. That was the year I got into mountaineering and cycle touring (as it was known back then). Used it last month for the Rovaniemi 300.

Does my Dad’s 1949 Raleigh Sports count?

"I Ran The World" T shirt from 1986 which was the last time I ran 10km. Did the Birmingham event, thought it would come in handy if I went to a Little Britain themed fancy dress. Trouble is LB never aired in Spain so that's not likely

Original Leatherman PST multitool that lives on my belt and is used almost everyday. Leatherman recently replaced the smallest screwdriver after it broke. 28years old.

My grandads gargantuan adjustable spanner that comes from his days as a fireman (ie coal shovelling) on GWR steam locomotives.
It’s prover indispensable in removing recalcitrant bottom brackets over the years.
It was probably old when he laid hands on it in the 1940’s.

lune ranger wrote: ↑Thu Mar 12, 2020 12:17 am
My grandads gargantuan adjustable spanner that comes from his days as a fireman (ie coal shovelling) on GWR steam locomotives.

oh - good reminder. I have a set of metric spanners I bought when I had a puncture on my first motorbike and couldn't get the rear axle nut undone with the bit of cheese that Honda had provided. They are still my go-to (only) set of spanners and are currently on the toolboard in my garage. They were bought in January/February 1977.

ScotRoutes wrote: ↑Thu Mar 12, 2020 12:23 am

lune ranger wrote: ↑Thu Mar 12, 2020 12:17 am
My grandads gargantuan adjustable spanner that comes from his days as a fireman (ie coal shovelling) on GWR steam locomotives.

oh - good reminder. I have a set of metric spanners I bought when I had a puncture on my first motorbike and couldn't get the rear axle nut undone with the bit of cheese that Honda had provided. They are still my go-to (only) set of spanners and are currently on the toolboard in my garage. They were bought in January/February 1977.

Didn't Elvis die that year?? I was born a few months after your puncture Colin

redefined_cycles wrote: ↑Thu Mar 12, 2020 12:27 am

ScotRoutes wrote: ↑Thu Mar 12, 2020 12:23 am

lune ranger wrote: ↑Thu Mar 12, 2020 12:17 am
My grandads gargantuan adjustable spanner that comes from his days as a fireman (ie coal shovelling) on GWR steam locomotives.

oh - good reminder. I have a set of metric spanners I bought when I had a puncture on my first motorbike and couldn't get the rear axle nut undone with the bit of cheese that Honda had provided. They are still my go-to (only) set of spanners and are currently on the toolboard in my garage. They were bought in January/February 1977.

Didn't Elvis die that year?? I was born a few months after your puncture Colin

Indeed. I was working an evening shift, got home just before midnight and went to bed listening to Radio Luxembourg (it's an old thing). They were playing Elvis non-stop, then there was a brief update from the DJ mentioning his death.

Buffalo mountain shirt..30+ years old, Mag mor 40L daysack..36 years old,
Silva compass similar age plus a few more bits...

lune ranger wrote: ↑Thu Mar 12, 2020 12:17 am Original Leatherman PST multitool that lives on my belt and is used almost everyday. Leatherman recently replaced the smallest screwdriver after it broke. 28years old.

Same for me. A Leatherman multi tool bought on a backpacking trip to Wyoming and Utah in 1989 when I was 22 ish. Still going well. Still in reasonable Nick with small screwdriver OK.

MSR Whisperlite still in box somewhere but not used so much.... still working. Pump cup might need a bit of grease ;-)

So both 32 years or so.

Another MSR XGK (or possibly just XG) stove here. I bought it secondhand in the early 1980s so it's somewhere between 35 & 40 years old. There's a thread where I resurrect it, had to buy a new pump. I've also got a primus petrol stove of early 1970s vintage that still works but I don't use it.

This one's weird. You know garages do those "buy X litres and you can buy this for £2" type offers? In the early 1980s there was such an offer but it was collect X coupons. The offer? A set of kitchen serving spoons and ladles. We are still using them on a daily basis in the kitchen.

I've also got a set of the first heat resistant plastic eating utensils for camping that were imported here from the States around the same time. There's a name for the plastic but I can't remember it.

A Rab 1100 expedition sleeping bag from around 1987 that still gets the very occasional use if I'm somewhere properly cold but it's had fewer than 30 nights use in that time.

If I was still climbing there'd be quite a bit of hardware that would be close to 40 years old that would still work.

whitestone wrote: ↑Thu Mar 12, 2020 6:42 am
I've also got a set of the first heat resistant plastic eating utensils for camping that were imported here from the States around the same time. There's a name for the plastic but I can't remember it.

Carcinogenic?

lune ranger wrote: ↑Thu Mar 12, 2020 7:23 am

whitestone wrote: ↑Thu Mar 12, 2020 6:42 am
I've also got a set of the first heat resistant plastic eating utensils for camping that were imported here from the States around the same time. There's a name for the plastic but I can't remember it.

Carcinogenic?

Lexan?

The entire sole fell off one of my otherwise perfectly serviceable and regularly used Karrimor KSBs last year, while out on the hills. Made me think back to when I bought them ... 34 years ago

My grandads touring/commuting bike. It’s 10 years older than me and fits the all road niche so well. Descending rough stuff is out of its capabilities, but I do it at a snails pace with a smiley face.

Middleburn RS2 or RS3 cranks. Still turning after 25years

Well, I used to work in Tiso, so have a load of outdoor gear that I bought between '92 and '94 that still gets used. Ultralight Thermarest; last used January, wont be getting used by me again, but son is doing DoE, so can use it. Rab Atlas 800; last used last month, next use Saturday night. Karrimor Condor 60-80 SA 7000; the one with the funky moulded strap system, doesn't get much use as I travel lighter these days, maybe used by son on DoE. Wild Country Quasar; before they rebranded as Terra Nova, last used a few years ago at Cub camp, next use is next month, assuming the event isn't cancelled. Flipping brilliant tent...

Predating that by a few years, I have a pair of DB Mountain Trek four season leather hiking boots, been resoled a few times. They don't get much use as they're too stiff for most of the stuff I get to do these days. The oldest bit of kit I have though, is my sleeping bag from when I was in Cubs. Some sort of brown and tan synthetic job, it's been used and abused for nearly forty years. Done pretty much everything in that sleeping bag, happy and unhappy memories...