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Yep. I was a fan.
My go-to paddle is signed by the maker, Dave Kavner, and dated at 5/88. Thirty-seven years. He said it was made tough for wilderness tripping.
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Happy National Serpent Day! 🐍⛎🐉
My go-to paddle is signed by the maker, Dave Kavner, and dated at 5/88. Thirty-seven years. He said it was made tough for wilderness tripping.
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For what it's worth, I still have (and use) both a straight and bent shaft paddle made by Al Camp back in the early 1980s. I worked upstream (Oneonta, NY) of Al and visited him and his wife Joan at their home shop down in Otego. Knowing I didn't have a lot of money at the time, he usually steered me towards his seconds. You could always find some quality paddles lined up on that inside porch. Bought my first quasi-racing canoe from him as well. It was one of his own designs and I used it for at least 4 General Clinton 70 miler races.
That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.
snapper
PS - Fortunate enough to still have my old Optimus 8 white gas stove and my Dad's very early Coleman single burner stove. Both still work and are wonderful reminders of days gone by.
That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.
snapper
PS - Fortunate enough to still have my old Optimus 8 white gas stove and my Dad's very early Coleman single burner stove. Both still work and are wonderful reminders of days gone by.
My knees.
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Coleman two burner stove, Coleman lantern and Coleman Peak 1 backpacking stove (first generation) and a Optimus Primus stove. My go to tent is a REI back packing tent. All this stuff is over fifty years old. And I'm way past that! Oh yea, almost forgot the WWII mess kit and canteen my father carried. Last but not least I have but rarely use a 1966 Grumman 17" canoe.
My wall tent is 45 years old, Duluth packs are from 1980,
Trapper Nelson is from 1940, it was the first pack I ever used in 1960.
Trapper Nelson is from 1940, it was the first pack I ever used in 1960.
those old Coleman's never die, they just get crustier each year!
I have a bunch of old colemans that I still use, but my two favorites (but not for tripping!) are an old 3 burner 426 dated 1954, and a Coleman 500cp Major 236 lantern from 1962, you can't beat having THREE 1500btu burners and what looks like a bare 100 watt bulb (coleman says 60w. but I can look at 60 wats without feeling like my eyeballs are melting)
I've also got one of those 501a one burner stoves- I use it mostly for winter hiking to make a hot lunch.
I still have one of the two first two bent shafts paddles that I bought in 1978? The pair was clearanced from a local shop (Andy’s Sporting Goods) at a sort of indoor yard sale at RPI.
They had Al Camp labels on them, $25 each. I still have the two similar paddles that I built in 1982, although all of these are suffering somewhat. Interestingly, MDB bought a couple replacement paddles that had Mad River stickers on them, but they were clearly Al Camp paddles.
They had Al Camp labels on them, $25 each. I still have the two similar paddles that I built in 1982, although all of these are suffering somewhat. Interestingly, MDB bought a couple replacement paddles that had Mad River stickers on them, but they were clearly Al Camp paddles.
Just gave away a pair of logging boots from 1980.
White's? That was THE boot when I went looking for field boots that met firefighting requirements. I ended up getting a pair of Nick's boots, they were basically the same boot but a bit less expensive. Got the rough-outs and they lasted me through 30 years of field work & fire fighting. They got rebuilt once, with a few resoles, and then I ended up giving them to someone that needed cheap boots and they got used for a number of years after.
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Today I wore my North Face Down Jacket that I received as a Christmas present in 1971. My mother bought a size Large when a Medium would have fit loosely. She figured that I would grow into it, and she was right, plus our small-town hiking shop had sold the Medium that I had lusted after. As a working single mom this was a major extravagance but I think she was glad to see it in use over the many decades. It is still the warmest coat that I have.
Attachments
My father's tent from sometime in the 1980's - when it rains I put up an extra tarp just in case.
Its a Eureka! Expedition. I could never find out much about it other than these ads from the late 1980's.
Plenty of room in addition to having sentimental value. Haven't taken it to Everest yet.
Its a Eureka! Expedition. I could never find out much about it other than these ads from the late 1980's.
Plenty of room in addition to having sentimental value. Haven't taken it to Everest yet.
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tketcham,,
I went to work for the BLM out of Spokane, WA in 1979. White's Boots were just down the street. But the waiting list was 6 months so I bought Danners. I resoled them plenty of times. I worked with an older guy that was on his 9th set of soles on his Whites. They weighed five pounds a pair. But there was nothing better for walking side hills than logging boots.
I went to work for the BLM out of Spokane, WA in 1979. White's Boots were just down the street. But the waiting list was 6 months so I bought Danners. I resoled them plenty of times. I worked with an older guy that was on his 9th set of soles on his Whites. They weighed five pounds a pair. But there was nothing better for walking side hills than logging boots.
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When I started racing in the Adirondack 90-mile canoe race in the 1990's, At first I used a beautiful Grey Owl wood bent shaft paddle. It served me well in several years of racing. I still have it but it is now more of a museum piece since I soon discovered carbon bents and the G.E.. is a bit too long for my current race paddle comfort. I was advised by another racer to get in contact with "Black Bart" (Bud Moll) in Michigan for his excellent carbon paddles. So I ordered one. It still has the original BB sticker label on the upper shaft.
About two weeks after I received Bud's paddle, I heard that Bud was tragically killed when his motorcycle ran into a bear on the road. I do not know the condition of the bear. Given the timing, I may well have one of the last paddles that Bud ever made. The last time I used that paddle was on one of my Yukon 1000-mile races. It is still in perfect condition and I intend to keep it that way, very rarely using it. Most of my newer carbon bent paddles now are made by GRE, very equivalent in performance to Bud's.
About two weeks after I received Bud's paddle, I heard that Bud was tragically killed when his motorcycle ran into a bear on the road. I do not know the condition of the bear. Given the timing, I may well have one of the last paddles that Bud ever made. The last time I used that paddle was on one of my Yukon 1000-mile races. It is still in perfect condition and I intend to keep it that way, very rarely using it. Most of my newer carbon bent paddles now are made by GRE, very equivalent in performance to Bud's.
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Danners were probably what I would have ended up with but there was a place in Milton-Freewater, OR that sold Nick's boots. (He was a former boot builder at White's.) I started with the Forest Service out of Walla Walla in 1979.
I had a pair of Whites boots when I worked for the BLM doing survey work. Those were great boots, but they are gone now. I do still use an anorak I bought at LL Beans in 1971 when I was in college not far from the store.
Jim
Jim
We didn't have the Expedition here, but that looks suspiciously like the 3rd generation Timberline 4...
I believe that "Expedition" was not the name of an individual Eureka tent, but of a "line" of tents. I think that tent is a Eureka "Sentinel" 2 person. I had one years ago, purchased to replace my Timberline 2 after I took the Timberline beyond the "timber line" once and realized it wasn't the best in strong winds. With its center hoop, the Sentinel was closest to the Alpine Meadows, although with lower ends and heavier materials. The Alpenlite might be seen as its successor.
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