Mid 80s Backpacking Stoves

Sure, interested in any other brands other than REI sold?

 

It all kind of depends on life and work. If I can get the time off I'll do the entire trail. Minimum I'll try for 10 days.

I have section hiked about 1/3 of the trail to this point. This fall I will be hiking the entire trail along with the BRT, and the KEK.

I'm looking for anything that was available at the time. Of all the vintage gear available a tent will be the hardest thing for me to get. So as many options as I can get to search out.

 

Pardon my ignorance, but what is a "shaker jet"?

 

I've got a couple of Eureka Timberline/lite tents if you need one.

I'm recuping from a new hip, so pulled down my collection of old Backpacker magz, got done flipping thru a bunch of 80's a few days ago.
Good luck on your trip

 

Nylon is superior to natural materials in many respects, but it is prone to fading and weakening of the fibers by UV radiation. Better known as sunlight! It takes a while, but any well used tent would be suspect.

Another issue although vintage nylon tents aren’t so prone to mildew as canvas, the waterproofing coatings used sometimes start to give off a pretty nasty pukey odor.

But I bet you can find something suitable on eBay if you are patient. I suggest you also pick up a copy of Colin Fletcher’s The Complete Walker to get an idea of the zeitgeist of the times. The original, authentic 1968 edition (before he basically became an advertising mogul).

He was a bit opinionated but he basically invented backpacking in the US - hiking the length of California in 1958 when such things weren’t done.

 

check out what shaker jet looks like. If you have one, you shake the stove up/down and the needle bounces in/out of jet to clean it.
never used one myself

 

Ther is a solution you can buy at the mountain stores that removes the pukey smell of decaying latex components in vintage tents. I forgot the name but it works.

 

Myrazyme

 

That is an excellent resource. If you haven't done so can you add them to the Reference Library.

 

I used a camping gaz Globetrotter and then a svea 123r in the 80s. Quite a few friends used Trangias 27s and then when the KIMM adopted the Trangia mini in 1985, a few used that.

 

Here are the tents and bags. Tents that age which are still serviceable may be hard to find.

 

I think everyone I knew had some variant of a bluet. I got my first Trangia 27 in early 1987 because I needed to fly with a stove. I can remember being teased for his slow it was.

Edit- I'm just thinking about the ubiquity of the bluet, our local Spar (not quite a cornershop but not a supermarket either) carried C206 cylinders.

 

we have very different memories of Camping Gaz v Trangia. The first Trangia I ever saw was in Ireland. I came across a guy while climbing in Glendalough. He had the Trangia, I had the little blue candle. He was washing up and packing by the time I was eating

 

Tent wise I used a Robert Saunders Fellpine. The sloping ridge style was very popular back in the day. It stood up to all sorts of abuse before succumbing to UV deterioration in the naughties. It lasted almost thirty years with a lot of use. Similar tents are made by Trekkertents in Scotland these days.

Regarding the bluets. My parents had one that came in very handy during the three day week in the UK in the seventies. The Globetrotter I had didn't seem slow. The GT106 also came in a butane propane mix so were ok when it got a bit cold. I still use a converted Globetrotter today for when I visit France. It uses the valve off a present day campinggaz stove with the clic attachment. ( I have another that is still original). The problem was the cost of the cartridges.

 

I was always intrigued by the GAZ and Bleuet combination, but the cartridges were a sort of specialized item that only a well stocked Alpine or camping vendor would have. Nobody would have them in the rural or remote areas. The people who did would want too much. Coleman stove & lantern fuel was available just about everywhere. So early on that was the path. I still want to find a Sierra Zip stove, just for the novelty. Everyone who uses them always seems to be impressed.

For an authentic 80s tenting experience, you could easily find an Eureka Timberline, which only recently ceased production. I had a ripstop version in a rust/tan color that blended with the Navajo sandstone in the desert southwest nicely. It had a door at either end, that was nice.

With a the optional vestibule, this was a luxury shelter for one. The mosquitos in the midwest, in the furry areas are especially bad and this was the thinking on my part.

Backbreaking at 8+ pounds, but it was competent in high winds. Room for gear and cooking, spent many enjoyable nights, frog-strangler rainstorms, and gentle and not so midwest snowstorms. There is something special about being high and dry, snug as a bug in a rug, after a foot or so of snow.

 

@Fettler Yours must be a 4 person TL? My 2 person weighs 4+ lbs if I recall. I'm gonna dig them out, set em up, and sell one to @Nicolas Dertinger

 

No, it was a classic 2 man Timberline, as I recall the whole unit with poles, stakes, fly, etc approached 8 pounds. Certainly with tarp & vestibule it was over.

 

I do not experience time delays with my Trangia.

 

I've got three two-man units and none of em have doors at both ends. Hmmm. Gonna go fight my way through the maze to the tents and see if I have em labeled for weight (I did once upon a time) And yes, vestibule add a couple pounds, I have one new in the package.

You're right! I squirmed my way back to the tents, and a green one, like pictured in the ad above, with poles, fly, everything I have labeled at 7.0lbs. But only one door.....

 

I remember seeing the two-door version advertised. I think it was a later addition to the model. The "classic" Timberline has a single door and is green. They are very heavy by modern standards, but (in my opinion) their main claim to fame was their performance in winter conditions, where their bombproof frame, ease of setup, and snow-shedding design made them very attractive to broke students like my friends and me.

....Arch