View Full Version : Your most sentimental piece of kit
Wilderbeast
21-05-2009, 22:28
It doesnt have to be big, it doesnt have to be exspensive; which piece of kit means the most to you??
For me personally there are many to chose from, the clipper was my first decent knife etc. But there are two small bits that mean the most to me, the first is my G4GHB firesteel (Cheers Graham!) because I had wanted a good one for ages and Graham made me the biggest, best one I've ever handled for half the price!
My second is one made by G4GHB again (cheers again graham!! :rolleyes: ) and it's a hipflask wrapped in leather with my wilderbeast insignia (the flame in the corner!!) sewed into it. Just reminds me of BCUK everytime I use it, and the friends on here!! Plus the stuff inside (Laproigh or whisky mac) makes me feel pretty good too!!!
so go on, show us yours!!
It doesnt have to be big, it doesnt have to be exspensive; which piece of kit means the most to you??
For me personally there are many to chose from, the clipper was my first decent knife etc. But there are two small bits that mean the most to me, the first is my G4GHB firesteel (Cheers Graham!) because I had wanted a good one for ages and Graham made me the biggest, best one I've ever handled for half the price!
My second is one made by G4GHB again (cheers again graham!! :rolleyes: ) and it's a hipflask wrapped in leather with my wilderbeast insignia (the flame in the corner!!) sewed into it. Just reminds me of BCUK everytime I use it, and the friends on here!! Plus the stuff inside (Laproigh or whisky mac) makes me feel pretty good too!!!
so go on, show us yours!!
mostly memories to be fair!.............. but love my indian mediecen bag.... holds my memories close to my heart.. contains a little item from each member of my family.............. a spoon it took about 12years to carve but each time i took the time to add to it i can remember.......... happy(er) times
I have a leather pouch that my wife bought me for my traditional strike a light steel, she just bought me a larger version which I've to find a use for. The other thing she bought me is my little wooden match safe, which may have originally been a snuff box. It has a silver lucky shamrock in the lid, holds two dozen matches or so and is possibly the most beautiful pieces of my bushcraft kit. It was also my wooden wedding anniversary gift!
FarPoint
21-05-2009, 23:12
Great thread. My most sentimental bit of kit that still goes with me everywhere is an old knife, fork and spoon. They are full sized, extremely lightweight aluminum and battered to hell. The fit together with a great little locking mechanism-a type of lever on the side to hold them together.
I picked the set up when I was about 12 (I'm now 44) at a second hand flea market in Quebec-they were old and battered when I got them-for about 10 cents.
Now I generally don't even bother with the fork and knife, I just take the spoon.
The best part is that the spoon has the lever mechanism and it makes a great hook to keep the spoon from falling in the pot/bowl/bag when cooking and eating.
FarPoint
All those who wander are not lost-JRR Tolkien.
Tye Possum
22-05-2009, 05:22
Hmm... Probably my Victorinox spartan swiss army knife. I got it years ago as a christmas present from my parents and they also had my name ingraved on the large blade. I loved that thing and swiss army knives were always really cool to me and so to actually have one was awesome, even after I sliced open my finger with it, that was just like getting to know it.;)
If I had of hung around my grandfather more, he might have given me something that would be special to me because he was really into camping and seems like the type of guy who might do that... Still is into it but actually going and doing that stuff is behind him. A real shame, would've liked to go with him when he went to alaska.
drewdunnrespect
22-05-2009, 08:17
my kangeroo leather austrailian bush hat that me grandad gave me the money to buy when i was eleven and then died when i was tweleve. I didnt get the hat till i was seventeen and used the exact money he gave me cos i keot it in my copper collection jar till i went to buy it. and so every time i wear it i think of him and that is why its quite sentimental.
drew
PJMCBear
22-05-2009, 09:19
Good thread. For me it has to be my little camp kettle. It was part of the family camping kit, then went all over the world with me whilst in the forces, and now travels with me most of the time when I'm solo or with a companion. It only boils enough water for two, but has loads of memories associated with it.
I'm also rather attached to a tarp I got from Abbe Osram (Sp?). I always wonder what tales it could tell me if it could talk.
swampy99
22-05-2009, 09:37
I did have an old '44 metal mug that I had from when I was in the army in the late 80's in the end it fell to bits so was replaced with a crusader which is great.
traderran
22-05-2009, 12:02
for me it is a 1963 Randall 1-6 that I got new and has been around the world with me.
And my Rolex Sub also a 1963 mod also had it since new. still wear it
every day
born2roam
22-05-2009, 14:44
Not really into sentimental kit pieces but an old Silverback long sleeve shirt and my drizabone hat have been arond the world with me (only missing antarctica and usa/canada).....and will keep going with me cos they work (still!)
Grtz Johan...
Bulldog billy can set from around 1966 and a Silva compass around the same time.
I'm very fickle with my kit. A cherished piece one week goes out of favour the next when I think of a better option.
The two things I would never be without though (for the last 10 years anyway) are my Peruvian chullo with a thinsulate lining I stitched into it. Toastie so only when it's cold.
and a Cambodian krama neckscarf which is my dishcloth/towel.
Interestingly, they were both acquired shortly after stressful experiences with dodgy border officials and perhaps remind me of more adventurous times!
Damascus
22-05-2009, 21:32
My most sentimental bit of kit is a sheath Knife I saved up for and cost the Ten shillings and six pence (52 and half pence) in 1966. Carried it all through my army years, small as I was only 8 years old when I got it, but still excellent for skinning rabbits and the blade isn't so wide with all the sharpening, love it to bits though.
D:lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:
I like the feel of this thread,
I have a three pronged sliding extendable toasting fork that was one of my great, great grandfathers apprentice pieces when he trained as a blacksmith. Just over a foot long, it slides smoothly out to two feet, so meaning that that roasty fire doesn't melt my eyes as I cook that sausgae or make the morning toast. Must say that I forgot to take it last year and my mate Scotty made a pretty wonderfull copy of the lightmyfire granpa fork in about five mins with a piece of fencing wire. It stays in my fire bag now and is growing in sentiment as it means I can have two sausages at once.:lol:
Goatboy.
JonathanD
22-05-2009, 23:33
My Stuart Mitchell custom in O1. Made to my own design and it's been with me on some of the most memorable trips. I have a couple more by Stu to the same pattern in RWL-34, and a new one on it's way in carbon fibre. This one has character though and I'll never be without it.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a77/darkcrown_1969/DSC02009.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a77/darkcrown_1969/7Mar2009-BunkersHillWood44.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a77/darkcrown_1969/21JULY200817.jpg
Hey Johnathan,
Love the last pic with the blade in the water... nice
Goatboy
Hey Johnathan,
Love the last pic with the blade in the water... nice
Goatboy
Beat me to it!
Tor helge
23-05-2009, 09:38
While I don`t have sentimental thoughts about kit in general, it could all be replaced, I kind of like my self made kuksa, and my Brusletto Storhallingen knife.
The kuksa has been with me on every trip since 1997 when I made it, and the knife I got from a friend about 20 years ago. It is also a discontinued model.
Tor
Ozhaggishead
23-05-2009, 09:46
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a77/darkcrown_1969/21JULY200817.jpg
Now that's a very cool imaginative funky photo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:Wow: :wow1:
for me it`s my Leatherman PST(personal survival tool) the model with the clipped blade, my wife bought it for me just before I went to Iraq, it has never been off my belt ever since it`s been around the world with me, it all ways reminds me to call home and tell her I love her:o
JonathanD
23-05-2009, 11:24
Thanks for the compliments guys. Here's a couple more...
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a77/darkcrown_1969/21JULY200843.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a77/darkcrown_1969/21JULY200842.jpg
sandbender
23-05-2009, 12:53
Thanks for the compliments guys. Here's a couple more...
Lovely pics and a very nice bit of kit :)
I once had a shemagh which I was very attached to, it was twice as long as the usual British Army one and it accompanied me on all my travels being used as a scarf, hat, shopping bag, towel, bed sheet, etcetera.
Sadly I had a small accident in Sweden and at somepoint between driving into a tree and waking up in a hospital bed with a head full of metal it vanished. Its the only bit of gear I was really sad to lose, even having my AW Woodlore (temporarily) confiscated by the Turkish police didn't bother me as much.
:(
This is a bad thread topic for me, I form strong emotional attachments to my kit, its embarrassing.
This last week I did a river kayak trip with my brother. At one point he was fishing and I was shooting some video. It started to rain and I headed back to the tarp, it was about 6:30 PM anyway and I was hungry.
The next morning I couldn't find my hat. Understand this wasn't just a thing that covers my head... this was my HAT! I even dumped out my already packed drybag to make sure it wasn't in the bottom. THINK! When was the last time you saw THE HAT? Conundrum, you don't actually see a hat you're wearing, maybe just the rim up there at the edge of your vision. Backtrack, we're on an island, it couldn't have gone far.
Later I headed out to where we had been fishing and there, perched on a rock... was my dew soaked HAT. I was like, "Wilson! I'm sorry..."
Things that affect me the most: My favorite machete sheath, my leather gloves, and my Hat.
http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/9586/img3275gi4.jpg
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/1472/img1888.jpg
Mac
My little kettle, I love my cups of tea without added ash, which you tend to get from boiling water in a billy, no matter how hard you try to keep the lid on.
BIGWOLFY
23-05-2009, 18:10
I am torn between my old sheath knife a Bowie style knife which i have had since i was 12 and sitll ues to this day. And my farthring laws Sgian Dudh that he gave to me, His last form of defence as the theories surrounding the Sgian Dubh go, I am very attached to both of them.
"QUOTED From Wikipedia"
(The name comes from the Gaelic sgian dubh meaning "black knife", where "black" may refer to the usual color of the handle of the knife. It is also suggested that "black" means secret, or hidden, as in the word blackmail. This is based on the stories and theories surrounding the knife's origin and the meaning of "Dubh" in Gaelic, in particular those associated with the Highland custom of depositing weapons at the entrance to a house prior to entering as a guest. Despite this practice, a small twin edged-dagger, ('Mattucashlass'), concealed under the armpit, combined with a smaller knife, ('Sgian dubh'), concealed in the hose or boot, would offer an element of defence or of surprise if employed in attack. An alternative theory is that the name is derived from the use of bog oak as a handle for the knife, with bog oak traditionally being a black colour.)
My old Ithaca Model 37 20 guage that I've had for 30 years and a very old bird field guide that was given to me by some friends back in the 70s. My most treasured piece of kit, though, is my binoculars.
Excellent thread!!!
I don't have a treasured piece of kit cos I alway seem to find something better to replace it. But saying that the woods I go to means a lot to me, I've been going there since I was five years old, and 33 years later I still love the place!
I've just replaced my knackered pair of CAT boots with a new pair of berghaus, so hopefully these will be my new treasured piece of kit!
a Very emotive thread.
For me its my Tilley hat and my Blackthorn thumb stick.
My wife mocks my panic attacks when I can't leave the house without my hat and my thumbs stick has banged its haft alover the UK. I made it myself but everywhere I go someone tries to buy it off me.
belzeebob23
01-07-2009, 14:26
I have to say it must be my Tilly hat and Leatherman tools .
As my mate GB says I really should get a job testing them..
As i have managed to break every leatherman I have at some piont and wear out not 1 but 2 Tilly hats over the few years. LOL
thank god for the life time guarantee
bob
Mosiguard mosquito repellent, because it smells of so many good holidays. Instant memories!