I met a super cool old school climber, been up down and all around climbing in the Himalayas, Denali, Rainier, El Cap, etc. He's 77 now and parting with his gear, but I'm going to keep his stoves running in the alpine.
I used to hike West Tiger 3 (east of Issaquah, WA) once, or more a week. On Sunday I often came across an old Polish man. His real name I could not pronounce, so he said just call me Jay. Anyway, he used to climb with the Whitaker brothers. He did stuff in a lot of places. As an old climber the said "When in doubt, chicken out" Now I am old. I think of his wisdom of discerning risks. He had family that he would hike with. A really nice man.
Consider yourself a lucky guy to have a couple stoves with actual climbing history. Can only dream where mine have been. I do have a Svea and 99 that has seen Denali from a far and have been at the base of El Cap.
Those old goats can really pick ‘em up and put ‘em down. When I was about 20 this flatlander was on a mountain trail, and of course as a greenhorn I was heading up the hill like a jackrabbit. I’d stop to catch my breath, and this old SOB and his god&@mned hiking staff would appear around the current switchback plodding along at this ridiculous pace, though strangely, a whole lot sooner than I thought possible. This process repeated itself a few times. I couldn’t believe it! I still am a fairly lousy hiker, but I never forgot the lesson.
Yes I have a thing for objects that have provenance, they have a life all their own and I almost feel a custodial duty to keep them going if they come into my possession. Especially something as personal and important as a stove used on many alpine adventures.
Morning, All, As for keeping up with the Old Timers, we had that experience on the first 850 miles of our PCT trip, back in 1991! We met an 87 year old backpacker, who's name was Pete. He carried one gallon of bottled water in each hand, and he had a pace that was as steady as can be! We hiked and camped with him for a while, but easily saw that we just could not keep up with his pace, even though we were much younger, and in excellent condition! As for stoves, one of my most favorite is my original Sievert Svea 123. I bought it from an older couple, who had purchased it, brand new, in the 1950's, to take along on a float plane trip across Canada! They used it all the time on that trip, and later on subsequent adventures. Then, they decided to sell it, and after corresponding with them for a short while, I bought their stove, and fettled it back to action. It is one roaring little machine, and I'm proud to own and use it. They included some photos of them using the stove, back then, and are very happy that I brought it back from "the dead", and love their old stove! It's a sad thing that, so many of the Old Timers from back then, have now passed on, and the new campers and backpackers have NO knowledge of those wonderful, and intrepid men and women! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
When I was in Scouts, one of the leaders still carried his old Trapper Nelson wood-frame pack. ....Arch
LOL "old timers" @Doc Mark Ill try to make this short but I used to work at REI in Manhattan Beach a LONG TIME AGO. Had a customer come in who was really old, long hair everywhere but bald on top, skinny, cantankerous who wanted help... "real" help and a girl who worked in the camping department asked if I would go see him as she was not familiar with his old stuff. Hell I wasnt either, but I went down and the better part of an hour I found out... 1) he was divorced 2) he was a lot happier after the divorce 3) he had more money after the divorce 4) he wanted to get back in the hiking and fishing but needed more newer stuff. I just said "bring in your old crap...we can go through it piece by piece" I got a call from my manager a couple days later asking if it was ok if I gave my schedule out to a customer who called in to find out when I worked...and did he show up?? YES. He has a cardboard box full of crap. Canvas metal frame external frame backpack a green military "for winter" cold weather sleeping bag from the army or something like that small "cowboy pan" or whatever is a thin old steel pan that said "cool handle" on the handle and described using sand to clean it... even his stove was old, a primus 8R that had a lot of miles on it and didnt close right because he dropped it a lot. This is back when REI used to have that table to test burn stoves in the store so he lit it up for us. Candle lanterns, compass, big hunting knife....is was all old school and really heavy. Metal fuel bottles for his "personal" fuel which was whiskey or vodka...dont remember. He bought everything he could except the fishing stuff since we didnt sell it. had to pack in in the backpack he bought so he could walk around the store to see how it felt with all the stuff in it. I think if I remember he went with an MSR pocket rocket with the red triangular case....dont remember but I know he took the whole box of crap he had (it smelled like old tent anyways) and said he was going to goodwill to drop it off. Many years ago and I still remember that guy, his name (weird name) and that crap. I should have went to the goodwill after to snag that stove now that I am into them. He was a character for sure haha.
The first wave of post-war hikers, climbers, ski bums and the rest did use a lot of GI surplus equipment, it was plentiful and inexpensive, if not the most fashionable or lightweight. But those old timers spawned what I like to think of as the “Golden Age” of hiking and climbing and outdoor pursuits related gear. Dozens of companies started in their garage and kitchen tables. They might not always have been very good businessmen but they did design and manufacture some great gear that made it possible to visit wild and wooly places in relative comfort. If all they had were Trapper Nelsons and wool blankets, I’d have stayed home. A neat website for Nostalgia : http://www.oregonphotos.com/Backpacking-Revolution1.html
