10+ Years of Use, What Worked

[txco]

SG original sky 7400 pack
Sitka stormfront rainjacket
Kuiu original attack and guide pants
Kuiu spindrift jacket
Walmart fleece jacket
Tightspot quiver
Black diamond stormfront headlamp
Darntough wool socks
Nalgene


I have a list of things that have failed or have to be babied now.

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

I have an old Gander Mt. GX3 pack that's held up well. It's more of a day pack but I have packed the back leg of an elk out in it. And 32 yr. old 8x30 Swaro SLC's.

 

[BuzzH]

Davis wall tent, well past 10 years using it. Door zipper needs to be replaced.

 

[antlerradar]

This jacket has worked for me. last two whitetails I have taken, 2006 and 2021. Just about all the gear I have is better than ten years old.

 

[The Hedgehog]

This jacket has worked for me. last two whitetails I have taken, 2006 and 2021. Just about all the gear I have is better than ten years old.View attachment 307669View attachment 307670

Both of those are ridiculous whitetail bucks of a lifetime. Who cares about the jacket - but I’d buy one. Merry Christmas!

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

Forgot about this Cabelas jacket. Bought it in 91 for a caribou hunt. This picture was from this Spring. Have used the heck out of it

 

[44hunter45]

Just sitting here thinking how at my age 10 years is sure not very long.
Here I am with my Cabela's orange camo sweater in the Idaho GMU 16 in 1991. Still in pristine condition, if a little on the tight side.
Second shot is me wearing it and my son (now 36) wearing a Brigade Quartermaster ASAT sweater.

Miss T wears the Cabela's one on rifle hunts. I wear the ASAT every year at least once.

 

[Hunting Wife]

Kelty has been good to me. I’ve got a duffel bag, day pack and frame pack that I bought just out of college (yikes, like 23 years ago!) that have been all over North America. Tons of use and still going. They used the best zippers on their gear. The frame pack is still the one I use to pack out critters.

Cabela’s gaiters - about 20 years old as well. Soft, quiet, keep me dry. They definitely show some wear and I’ve toyed with replacing them, but nothing else is as quiet as these.

Ruana hunting knife - can’t remember the model. The only hunting knife I’ve ever owned, gets used to take apart at least a couple animals a year. Just fits my hand nice and keeps an edge well.

Mud River handlers bag- Reese just turned 11, so this meets the criteria. Carries all of her “stuff” everywhere we go and still looks pretty much like new (except the dirt and dog hair).
I guess in the same vein, the Dogtra collar we bought her as a puppy is now on its second puppy. And this thing has been used a ton, year-round, every walk, hike, outing. Those two dog items have lasted much better than expected, because most dog gear just doesn’t last.

Oh, and the Winchester 1894 .30 WCF. 106 years old and still kills stuff.

 

[antlerradar]

Oh, and the Winchester 1894 .30 WCF. 106 years old and still kills stuff.

 

[Hertervillian]

Surefire 6P flashlight w/ LED upgrade. Polar tec power pro (waffles) base layers.
Platypus gravity water filter system has been good in a multi hunter camp.

 

[The Hedgehog]

Things that come to mind go way past 10 years and have been used just a ton in that timeframe.

I bought a used 0 degree goretex Marmot sleeping bag from a friend back in 1994. I paid a couple hundred bucks which I thought was high but it was fairly new and relatively unused. The friend who sold it to me was a crazy mountaineer and was selling it to get something a little lighter. He's 65 now and still at it, summited Ama Dablam 2 years ago. I still work with him every day and tell him each time I use that bag (every year), which is still in excellent condition, lofts up perfectly and kept me warm in a small tent 2 years ago at minus 22F.

I have a Patagonia fleece jacket with a blue windshear liner in it. I bought in 1994 also and still wear it. It was a couple hundred bucks back then and I also thought crazy expensive.

I have a used Bibler Eldorado tent, looks like it has been sprayed with sewage due to being waterproofed amateurly before I bought it used for $150, which was the deal of the century. Tent is bombproof and I've had it since 2002.

Oddly enough I bought an old style Kelty canyon Ridge tent in about 1995. It was a cheap and heavy 2 person tent. I use it all the time and usually have it in a vehicle in case I break down. I can slide a cot inside it and usually take that one when I'm camping next to my truck or ATV as it's quick to set up. I packed it 7 miles in and left it all fall in a sheep camp I had in 2021. I slept in it next to my truck when it was about zero degrees this fall, deer hunting.

I have a small "chain" saw that rolls up and can fit in something smaller than a Copenhagen can. I rarely take the handles anywhere as they are about the size of a roll of quarters, and a stick works just fine. I've cut tons of trees with that, and have even skull-plated bull elk with it. I used it this fall to clear trees from roads in Utah, etc. Used it to cut a Christmas tree down a few weeks back. I bought that in 1992.

Cannot forget my Swarovski STS 80 20-60 spotter. I bought it 22 years ago, and it still stacks up to some of the latest/greatest. I have used it a TON and it's been beat up hard. I pulled it out of the Gallatin river a couple weeks ago after rolling my truck, found it in the river and it was frozen on the bank. Took it home thawed it out and wiped it off, and it's as good to look through as it was the day I bought it.

 

[Hem]

My flip-up phone still works great.
People are amazed.

 

[Phaseolus]

Ha! I had a Svea stove on a job that I did for a couple of seasons. Those things were bomb-proof and a pain in the ass if it was cold out and you were trying to pressurize...

And they were fun when the gasket got old and they shot flames

 

[bowhuntmontana]

Black Diamond Z-Lite trekking poles. Hundreds and hundreds of miles on them and more trips than I can count and they keep on going.

Kuiu gaiters have been really good for me.

ASAT leafy suit. Basically the only camo I need. Goes over whatever else I am wearing from early season to late season. I rarely buy anything in camo because this thing does it all.

Have a super cheap orange vest with a little velcro clasp that I've used for more seasons than I can imagine. I was it about once every 5 years or so. It's a good luck thing.

Some promotional black windbreaker my dad gave me back on the early 2000's. Use it as a shell sometimes and it weighs almost nothing. Saves my butt at least once a season.

Silk scarf on those cold late season hunts.

 

[Dsnow9]

At this point I don’t think I’ve had anything in use for the last 10 years but my cabelas -30 sleeping bag. It was a gift my senior year of high school. Now almost 20 years ago. Still comes with me for late season base camp hunts every year. Still works great. I’ve only been hunting about 12 years and had a bunch of cheap stuff when I started. I’m sure some of my original items are still in use but gifted them to family and friends as I upgraded.

 

[338win]

I have a heater buddy that I “acquired” in 2014 that was used so probably a 2012-2013 product. I have burned hundreds of propane cylinders through this thing ice fishing and on hunting trips. It has its original manual spark igniter. It also launched out of my truck and bounced across the streese hwy at 50mph and still works.

Honda rancher that I cannot kill no matter how many times it’s been rolled or forded streams. Only changed oil and spark plugs.

Black diamond trekking poles are so old the paint has faded.

15 year old gransford burk belt axe.

The most surprising of all is a Walmart ozark trail 6p tent that I bought for 50 bucks 13 years ago. This POS will not die. It easily has 200 days of use on it and has been hammered with storms. I use it as my loaner as well as an atv or truck based tent. It’s starting to get some holes worn through the floor but considering it’s age it has aged better than my copper spur UL tent.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Chinette paper plates.

 

[Dave N]

Chinette paper plates.

Ok folks, that's a wrap!

 

[Cwarda15]

SG original sky 7400 pack
Sitka stormfront rainjacket
Kuiu original attack and guide pants
Kuiu spindrift jacket
Walmart fleece jacket
Tightspot quiver
Black diamond stormfront headlamp
Darntough wool socks
Nalgene


I have a list of things that have failed or have to be babied now.

Truth

 

[shannerdrake]

Petzal Headlamp (although the elastic is all gone)
Nikon Archer’s Choice Rangefinder
Havalon Knife (pretty sure it would be 10+)
Summit Climbing Treestand (pushing 20)
This little camo Browning flashlight that has a button at the bottom that cycles red, green, white light. It’s bullet proof, doesn’t run off weird batteries. I actually dropped it while hunting and found it over a year later and it still works.

Oh and almost forgot:
Cabelas Outfitter Series 0 degree bag. It’s got a black triangle in the corner with a pocket and the rest is heavy tan canvas. It probably weighs 15lbs. Super warm in the winter and makes a fine mattress sleeping on it when it’s too hot to sleep in it.