80/90's kit lurking in the loft

Shewie

Shewie

Chief Slackpacker
Staff member
I've just found my old pack in the loft from when I was a young un, it got me thinking about what I used to take for bank holiday trips to the Lakes with mates from school/college. It was quite minimal but still heavy, time for a list

I've just weighed the first few as I've still got them, I'll guess the rest :) ..

Vango Pumori 65 (in a nice two tone purple) - 2325g
Caravan 3 season synthetic bag (again two tone purple with turquoise lining) - 2308g
MSR Blacklite pan set (I took the whole lot for a two nighter) - 645g
MSR Whisperlite International - 410g + bottle & fuel (900g 'ish?) I always took a full bottle

Kyham Igloo 3 man tent - 4500g? (the current one is around that and it still uses the same pole system)
TAR 3/4 - not sure if it was a precursor to the Prolites - app 500g?
Berghaus bright pink Polartec pullover 300g?
Non breathable PU heavy waterproof trews - 500g?
Nike running jacket which I thought was waterproof and clearly wasn't - 250g?
Mini Maglite torch - 200g?
Stainless steel KFS - 150g?
2L plastic pop bottle of water (sometimes 2) - 2040g?

Not a lot of kit but around 15kg excluding food


No ..

first aid kit
mobile phone (bliss)
compass
GPS
windshirt
water filter (we drank what we had and that was it), we didn't bother with brews
brew kit
MP3 player
spare clothing (surprised)
GORP or any other supplements, energy boosts etc
dry bags
walking poles
Poop pack
pillow
groundsheet protector
mug
camera (sadly)

We had an OS map which was usually soaked on day one or had fallen to bits on the last trip.

Food was a pack of bacon and a tin of beans for two days breakfast, rat packs if my mate could get them off his dad, failing that more tins or just sandwiches from home.

Happy days though, memories are always of the sunny trips but I know we had our fair share of rain too. I remember getting wedged by the massive tent hanging off my pack coming down Long Stile off High Street once, nearly gave myself stitch from laughing so much. We didn't half cover some miles on those trips though, I think that's where I found my hill legs, I've always liked a climb.


Anybody want to buy a Vango Pumori?
 
Teepee

Teepee

Thru Hiker
Nice list Rich. :D I found my first hammock yesterday in a box. Made from white knotted string and done from the SAS survival handbook in 1990. It's awful. :)

How I slept in it i don't know. Underage drinking must have helped a lot.
 
Shewie

Shewie

Chief Slackpacker
Staff member
I had a blue external frame Karrimor at one point, with the shelfy bit at the bottom, and another pack before the Vango but not sure what it was, probably surplus.

Still got a Cyclops II for bushcrafty meets redscotti :)
 
cathyjc

cathyjc

Thru Hiker
Home made tent (-bit like a Macpac Microlight) - 2.5kg
Berghaus Cyclops - 3.5kg (?)
Early version 3/4 thermarest - 800g
Rab 4 season bag 1000 fill - 1.5kg (used all year - the only bag I had :confused:)
Cook kit - trangia burner in a homemade tin can stand (went in the bin last week :oops:) - 2 Alu pots (still got as good and very lightweight :))
Heavy weight Gortex jacket and overtrousers (Scout shop version) - 1kg
Few spare clothes.
Siggy - bottle
Map, compass, FAK and wash kit - none of which has changed much.
Food

I still have a vivid memory of me at the beginning of a week trip in Assynt unable to lift the pack up on my back and lying in the hedge trying to stand up - dead beetle :D
Must have been 20kg++ :eek:
 
cathyjc

cathyjc

Thru Hiker
Shewie, I had one of those external frame packs (yellow and black :cool:) in the 70's, then a Tiso Wild Rover (80's) and then the Cyclops.
 
ADz

ADz

Thru Hiker
Coincidentally the Vango Pumori was the bag I went out with on my first solo wild camp in 2012 :D

Not sure how heavy my pack/kit was but only made it about 2 mile up pennine way before I gave up and pitched up for night lol
 
Mole

Mole

Thru Hiker
Not much lurking in the loft as I don't have one these days.

Started off with Millets gear - Citizen external frame pack, duck down bag with 'cotton cambric lining,
waterproofs were originally pvc 'oilskin' type before progressing to Regatta PVC coated nylon Cagoule and leggings.

Had a Ridge tent from the 'club book' - looked a little like a Vango force 10, but cheap, with upright poles that went inside the inner first pitch.
Lasted for 5 years of heavy use (spent 2 whole summers pitched in the garden when not on trips with mates. -I'd not heard of UV damage!)
Karrimat

Hawkins 'Helvellyn' boots, Fibre Pile Jacket, Home made breaches remodelled from corduroy trousers...

Good gear I saved for/got for birthday Christmas: Berghaus AB65 rucsac, Trangia 27k, a smelly helly baselayer, Survival Aids (Buffalo) Superbag.

The latter I bought from the S.A. shop in Penrith - en route Hitching with a mate when we were 17, to Fort Bill then onto Knoydart and Skye. My first Scottish trip. Spent the first night of the journey bagless, kipped under bushes on a roundabout near Warrington:D

later a Saunders Spacepacker and fleece jacket

Didn't really get a decent (Goretex) waterproof until 1998.
 
el manana

el manana

Thru Hiker
I see that Survival Aids shop in Penrith is closing down, website has 25% off, got Buffalo mitts etc on at a decent price (now Penrith Survival)
I've still got a thermometer keyring and waterproof matches with their original logo.
 
cathyjc

cathyjc

Thru Hiker
Mole - "breaches remodelled from corduroy trousers…"

I made a pair of breaches out of a piece of gorgeous silver grey stretch corduroy - they were 'quite the thing' :cool:. Very sad when I couldn't fit into them anymore :oops:.
 
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supertramp

supertramp

Day Walker
Anyone have or know where i can find a Lichfield combat 1 tent, absolutely dying for one, love the vintage look about them!
 
edh

edh

Thru Hiker
Still got my first backpacking sack. Will look for pictures of it in action !

JRat harness. Fires. Joe Brown sack. Ventile jacket.
 
E

EM - Ross

Thru Hiker
***** pics but was able to peg the transition from moleskin breeks to helenca(?) breeks.

From traditional to token group Rohanist - Aug 1983 to Nov 1983

016-Ross,-River-Tees.jpg

008-Ogwen-snack-bar.jpg

Note also the early KSB boots. Not long after 2nd pic the steel stiffener (shank?) broke
 
Lady Grey

Lady Grey

Thru Hiker
Had a waterproof jacket that weighed over a Kg. The pack must have been nearly 3kg.
The tent was nearly 2kg and used it for years....
Making up for all that past pain, now.
 
Mole

Mole

Thru Hiker
Classic 80's hair:)

I had a pair of KSB3s - bought in 88 the week before my last Ten Tors event (nominal 55 miles in 36 hours with full kit).

Too narrow for my feet, and it was a heatwave for once.
By the end of it my feet had more blisters than whole skin. IIRC, heels, under and between every toe, soles, down both sides.:eek:
Loved every minute:D
 
BlueTrain

BlueTrain

Trail Blazer
You fellows look like an Alpine folk music group between sets, minus your instruments. I do not say that in a mean way, however. Can any of you yodel?

Although I no longer have it (it got experimented on and didn't live), I once owned a Northface Ruthsac, which was an early X-frame, semi-internal frame rucksack which was panel opening. It would hold a remarkable amount of stuff, more than it looked like it would, but the waist belt really rubbed me the wrong way. But I still used it for several trips with my wife, the last time being when she was pregnant with our first child. That would be 32 years ago.
 
S

Stuart

Section Hiker
No photos yet of a look that put me off backpackers for a considerable amount of time: men in a baggy fleece worn combined with tight leggings (Ron Hill type) and a big pair of boots.
 
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