View Full Version : Does your kit shine or attract flies?
Squidders
23-02-2005, 23:46
Ok, Kath said:
"Far too much of my kit is bright and shiny when it shouldn't be"
It's interesting because all of my kit is shiny, I'm a serial fiddler, I tend to get things out and clean them, have a play and put them back. I find that it's easier to find potential problems.
On the other hand, I know how it feels to go somewhere and have all ultra clean kit, looking like you've never spent a day outside... it's a little embarrasing :wink:
So, here's the question... nice and shiny or attracting flies... what's your kit like and do you have certain items that you keep clean or all of them?
Joe
Most of it's shiny new or collecting dust. I don't have much time to get out now I'm at uni and don't use overnight stuff that much. I do look after my kit though and it's nice and clean. :o):
I like my kit to be bright and shiny. mainly because i buy the very best i can afford and want it to last as long as possible. seems strange to pay a fortune for kit then leave it damp collecting mildew.
The kit I use doesn't shine! I am hopeless at cleaning my kit. There's probably loads of things I'm supposed to do to my knives but I never do. Just a sharpen every now and then (and more often than not that's done on the kitchen steel! :naughty:)
I do clothes in Nikwax every so often. The billy gets a pot scrubber on it occasionally (but it's older than I am, so any chance of getting the grime out out is long gone). My boots are way past ever being properly clean again let alone bulled. :?:
What I am guilty of is having too much kit that is yet to be used. I've got a brand new sleeping bag that I've not tried out. A knife that's never been out of its sheath. A Hennessy that I'm desperate to use again after having only slept in it one night! A backpack that I've not used on a single hike yet.
And when they're gifts and Christmas presents etc it feels really ungrateful not to have used them. :oops:
RovingArcher
24-02-2005, 02:46
:naughty: I jump up and down on my new gear while wearing my lugged boots. That way it matches the rest of my stuff.:lol:
Actually I keep my gear very clean, but because most of it is mil surplus, it don't shine much.
Carcajou Garou
24-02-2005, 03:14
My old kit is dying so I'm breaking in a new shiny one, even going to buy a new pack, looking at Duluth Packs like the canvass style. RA have you or anyone else used one or heard how they are?
just a thought
ChrisKavanaugh
24-02-2005, 04:10
The Inuit say the two most important survival items are a knife and sewing kit. The bearskin cap worn by Oetzi was finelly stitched as befitting a prestige item, while his goatskin jacket and deerhide boots show rough field repairs. Nothing truly changes.
Nightfall
24-02-2005, 05:11
Most of my kit dose'nt shine. I just received a new haversack. The canvas is waxed and dyed. So even though new still dont shine. Hi Carcajou Garou, Im using a Frost River #7 pack now. Its made of waxed canvas and has a real good tump line. Use it both in the woods and at work. I work for California state parks as a Natural rescource managment maintance aide. Fancy name for a weed puller. But Im out in the rain alot and my gear is yet to get wet. Im very impressed with it.
Aside from brand new kit, none of mine shines.
Most of my kit has a 'lived in' look as its either old or been well used. I do keep everything clean, but as I like to blend in to my surroundings as much as possible, the brasso and duraglit don't go anywhere near my stuff. :rolmao:
bambodoggy
24-02-2005, 12:39
When I was in the TA we were told to make our kits cleanish, 100% serviceable but definately not to shine....I still do this with my kit now as a matter of habit....
The new stuff shines for a while but I have been known to use black insulation tape on any new shiney buckles on my packs etc...
Clean and serviceable is very important, if it's not serviceable then why am I bothering to carry it....if it's not clean then in the case of my mess kit, am I going to become unserviceable myself due to illness....
I think it's a matter of personal preferance and common sence... :o):
Sound and in good repair. I don't leave things in a state that will cause them to degrade but I'm not frantic with the shining bright and freshly ironed look. If it smells bad though, I'll scrub it thoroughly.
Toddy
Dave Farrant
24-02-2005, 13:23
I have a Friend whose brother was a Major General in the British Army and he would "break in" his Waxed cotton Jacket by getting a Tank to turn on it. Then get it cleaned and re proofed.
:yikes: :?:
Tank crew! Wait for it. Wait for it! DEEEE-Stresss.....:rolmao:
Walkabout
24-02-2005, 15:23
After some time away i usually take over the conservatory, bung the heater and dehumidifier in there and give everyting a good airing so it wont rot or mildew in storage and wipe the mud off. Cooking kit gets scoured inside (outside stays black) and bunged in the dish washer. Then every now and again (when im at a loose end) ill get it all out sharpen things, oil things, strip things down and clean them, empty pockets etc. Although everything is clean nothing is really polished up. Its just kept servicable and rot, rust and mildew proof.
My kit is clean and looked after as it will last me longer, allowing me to spend more money on it when it does need replacing. Most kit only really shines when it's in the shop because as soon as you use it it goes dull, well thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it!
Brian
remember stainless steel billy CAN be put in the dishwasher :o):
most of my kit (depending on how new it is i guess) is maintained to the degree that it is like bam says '100% serviceable but definately not to shine' though i am a little lazy and some stuff doesnt get cleaned untill im just about to go out again.. found a bag of oranges in my backpack the other day which were festering to say the least.
my knives are the only thing which i pay special attention to.. and are generally and sharp and shiny as i can get them!
arctic hobo
24-02-2005, 16:36
My kit I always give the due attention, so the odd item may shine, but most of it is used and looks it... I have soot on my Trangia that's been there for about 7 years and will never come off, but the insides I keep clean because of course it's food use! My boots are used and abused but I always clean them very thoroughly. A lot of the rest is just quite plain and wouldn't shine anyway, although you can tell the things I have barely used because they do gleam. You could say that I clean but don't polish.
i'm to lazy to clean it my kit back to a shiny new looking kit. I only clean it till it's clean enough. With most gear that means, barely or never. I like to called it a "experians" look. But i'm also guilty to having to much kit, so lots of shniy things too...
RovingArcher
24-02-2005, 17:38
My old kit is dying so I'm breaking in a new shiny one, even going to buy a new pack, looking at Duluth Packs like the canvass style. RA have you or anyone else used one or heard how they are?
just a thought
Hiya CG, all I know about the Duluth pack is that they are excellent for heavy loads and stow well in the canoe, but can get wet, so everything inside will have to be watertite.
I sure do envy your ability to take the canoe out and wander the waterways at your ease and camp where ever you fancy. That to me seems to be a very peaceful way to travel and is a freedom few will ever experience in their lives. I can hear the loon's call, accompanied by the flute as they echo in perfect harmony over the hazy water of a silky smooth lake. Yeah man, now that's the way to live. :You_Rock_
cal rutstrum likes them :biggthump
The only single part of my kit that is clean and shiney is the edge of my blades... The rest is all dirty, beat up and abused. I hate new things. I feel like they have no "soul". For this same reason I like old houses, old jeans, and old cars... and old people too.
Cheers,
David
Rule number 27, never trust a person with a clean shiny bicycle...
This rule also applies to kit, if it's too clean and too shiny then either they don't use it enough, or they have too much time on their hands. It can be clean, but it needs to be a bit rough around the edges, or it can be shiny and a bit scuffed...but both...I'm generally VERY suspicious of anyone whose too clean and shiny!!!
Squidders
24-02-2005, 21:47
If I had used my kit day in-day out for years, some of it WILL need replacing... when replacing kit, I prefer to buy new. I'm still trust worthy :roll:
Besides that, I would assume Gary is a very trust worthy person but he gets through kit like there's no tomorrow... Always got something new. I think he, like most of us is gradually working his way through every single product on the planet until he finds the holy grail (pink flamingo tent pegs) of perfect kit.
It's like assuming someone with a clean car is a bad driver... It's always hard to look like a newbee but I don't worry about other peoples thoughts on me.
Joe
It's like assuming someone with a clean car is a bad driver... It's always hard to look like a newbee but I don't worry about other peoples thoughts on me.
Joe
I was only joking... :wink: although I wouldn't trust Gary with or without clean kit...!!! :wink: :o):
It really depends on what I've been doing as to how deeply my kit gets cleaned or not. If it's just the smell of woodsmoke that's permeating my swanni, then I won't bother, but if there's loads of dirt, mud and bad weather involved then things will get a little more attention than normal.
I keep my kit clean. There's nothing wrong with looking after it, but like my billy, it's got black over time but I don't polish it to a mirror finish, I just clean it. My knife is well oiled, my clothing and basha are proofed now and again and my backpacks get a good hoover out every now and again.
In a nutshell, my kit is clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy :o):
some of my kit - most notably the inside of bags - causes people to go ewwwww and back away - bad habit of putting found things like flint tools, fossils and fruit in there without wiping them first, then there was that mineral that turned out to be hot....
Realgar
i have a mixture of both as i have been replacing some kit over the last couple of months but like squidders i'm a tinkerer so like to keep it clean and tidy all my billys have stash bags to keep the rest of my kit clean and soot free the only thing i don't do is clean the outside's of the billys to much :wave:
[QUOTE=Kim]I was only joking... :wink: although I wouldn't trust Gary with or without clean kit...!!! :wink: :o):
Ermmm well mother told me as long as I had clean underwear I'd be ok! :yikes:
And thanks Joe - nice to know someone trusts me (scribble Kim off christmas card list).
As for kit I am lucky I need to test and evaluate kit so I get to play with loads, that said my day in day out kit is middling between shiney and fly attractingly rotten - a state I call 'WELL USED'
My top tip here is to clean everything after trip and then to repack it in saud clean state - in the army we'd say the exercise isnt over until the kits been cleaned and this is something I still do today - even if I get home in the wee small hours I dont bed down til all my gear is sorted first.
bambodoggy
28-02-2005, 15:03
[/QUOTE]My top tip here is to clean everything after trip and then to repack it in saud clean state - in the army we'd say the exercise isnt over until the kits been cleaned and this is something I still do today - even if I get home in the wee small hours I dont bed down til all my gear is sorted first.[/QUOTE]
Myself and my fellow intake of new recruits were beasted round and round our training area for the whole three hours of the first Wednesday after our first weekend away with the TA for not doing what Gary discribes below....a lesson learned very very hard indeed!!!!!!! :yikes:
The following Wednesday the intake seemed to have stangely halved in numbers....lol :rolmao: