Facebook recommended the vintage backpacking group and I joined. It’s such a wholesome group of folks who are just so enthusiastic about old gear and fun times they had with that gear back in the day. I knew nothing about the 70s era of hiking, so I look forward to learning more about such an interesting outdoor subculture
You pulled out the shirt and I smiled. You pulled out the shorts and I laughed. I swear I had those I just gave my external frame pack to my son for his bush crafting trips.
Your video piqued my interest so I climbed up in the garage to look at my old backpacking stuff. I’m 76 now and I haven’t really looked at any of it for years now. Most of my stuff is from the early 70s. As a boy I had lots of “Official” Boy Scout gear, well used on treks on the John Muir and Silver Moccasin trails back in the late 50s, but I replaced almost everything after the service, Vietnam and marriage. I still have a much-used and much customized Kelty Massiff pack frame with a Kelty Sonoran bag attached. The gear still inside consists of a two-man Eureka tent, a 3/4 therma-rest pad, a USMC poncho for a ground cloth, a Coleman backpacking stove in its aluminum pot container, an aluminum fuel can, an MSR water filter, a Nalgene-ish water bottle, an Eagle Claw take-down fly rod and reel in a PVC case, a Stansport 8” frying pan, an OLD Boy Scout folding pack saw, an old 9” steel fire grate, and an old, really small coffee pot. Oh, and an old 3 pound coffee can with a wire bail I used as a billy can. My old 2 1/2 pound goose down White Stag sleeping bag was still in the stuff sack I had added onto the pack bag. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Lots and lots of miles there.
Oh my gosh!!! Everything is what I had in the 70s! I swear it weighed about 45 ponds. My backpack was exactly your orange one!, Chippewa leather hiking boots, svea stove, I think my tent was a kelty lodgepole! I hiked my most miles in the mid 70s. Yeah, wool socks, huge wool sweater, and jeans, & t-shirts. I would relive those day for sure!!!
My parents would take us camping with gear like this! Including a MASSIVE flashlight, like yours but yellow. It took D batteries, maybe 4 of them. (Or maybe 8????) At one point my dad got a head lamp, but it was so heavy and uncomfortable. I remember my dad's water bottle was a clear LDPE bottle with a beefy lid, he called it a poly-bottle. And we still use squares cut from a blue foam sleeping mat to sit on... my parents called them sit-upons. I think the stove they always used was one that had a hose that went to a red fuel bottle, I've seen a similar one at REI recently. I've inherited their packs and their old self-inflating 3/4-length therm-a-rest pads, both of which have never had a leak. We definitely use these things. I can't understand it, the packs weigh the same as modern internal-frame packs, and they're very comfortable. Why do so few people use these packs anymore?
Super fun video, I will copy your modified pack to make mine useable again. You're dad wore leather hiking boots every day of his life and ate his own Gorp with M&Ms all the time.
Perfect timing with Dixie doing a Grandma Gateway video with "classic gear". My back hurts just thinking about you carrying all that stuff. Hope you have a great time.
👍 I just began my interest in “vintage” backpacking, but at 73 I must admit most of it is gear of my youth. Unfortunately I did not save any of it so starting from scratch. I have 2 Kelty external frame packs built in the 1960s and am thinking about replacing the cargo strap (short) hip belt with an A.L.I.CE. pack belt. Very jealous of your SVEA Optimus 123. I hope you had a great trip.
Don’t know how I missed these episodes….just watching this a year later. I still have my dads svea 123R from the 60’s or 70’s. I take it out a couple times a year for fun. I also still have his external frame pack and a few other pieces of gear from the 70’s.
I had the green version of your backpack, I still say to this day it was the best backpack I ever had. Camping food for me was a can of corned beef hash and cherrie pie filling, I took them on every trip.
LOL I'm still vintage, having most of the stuff you show here! Actually I am getting into David Wescott's and Steve Watts book "Camping the Old Style" with canvas tents etc. Equipment from the Golden age of camping 1880 - 1930
I have one of the SVEA stoves also. In fact, I used it until about 8 years ago. It’s exciting to light (fire ribbon in the bowl is a little less so) but it works very well and is indestructible. My father and I purchased it in 1976. Rebuild kits used to be available but since it’s just gathering dust now, I haven’t looked. I enjoyed the video, the clothes portion made me smile- thanks!
@@BackcountryPilgrim I will. It’s actually in pretty good shape. I am assuming the O-rings are a hardware or auto parts store item. They have a cotton “wick” in the tank that I understand can go bad. That might be harder to find. Otherwise, it worked perfectly the last time I used it.
I’m down (see what I did there?) with everything but the clothing choices. My first backpacking trip was at Point Reyes in 1981, wearing an E frame Kelty pack and lugging a Coleman sleeping bag with Canadian geese on the liner. For a walking stick I used dish soap to affix a bicycle grip from my old Schwin to a random closet pole. But what everyone wore was Levi’s and flannels. Yes on the bucket hat. Yes on the Spirit of 76 sweat bands. Yes on Danners. That’s how you knew who was serious. (I wore Converse.) Yes on a Buck 110, 102 or 053. The rest of the apparel is more like the the 90’s does the 70’s. Nonetheless loved the video. 👍🏼’d and subbed
Well done! Yeah I swapped out those shorts pretty fast haha and they were a bit over the top but I did see a lot of 70s pics with similar apparel haha. I was at Point Reyes a lot back then with my dad - maybe we passed by each other!
Fantastic video! I'm staring at my old Sunbird and Jansport packs while watching! Maybe I'll do a little backpacking trip with some vintage gear after watching this.- I may pass on the t shirt tho! Take care!
Okay, that's a neat idea for a trip. But my back would never carry that weight today! I started backpacking in the mid 90s, and the gear from that era is far more like what you are showing here than like modern gear. My minimum backpack weight was 35 lbs, and 37 lbs+ was more common, even for a 1-night trip with a companion. Good luck on the trip!
lol the flashlight is so ridiculous. I suppose with regular bulbs they would be dim and only last a couple hours. Damn the tech has gotten so much better, both in battery and light efficiency.
The hand lamp seems to be a modern one with LEDs, I have two otiginal ones from the 70s that are still unused in the original packaging. I would give one of them away cheaply, but since I'm here in Germany it probably won't be worth it with the shipping price...
Yeah I was on a budget so I focused on the big items (and that dang stove killed me LOL!). Well, if you ever visit California let me know and I'll take you on a hike in exchange for a vintage headlamp! ;)
Back in the 70s we didnt carry a big flashlight like that. We would buy the old throwaway flashlight that was good for a trip. It was battery included all-one-piece. Whennit woee out one simply threw it away n bought another.
Excellent video, Doug. Looking forward to the actual hike, should be lots of laughs with plenty of interesting comments regarding your 'choice' of clothing! An unrelated question, Doug. What type of cellphone do you have and is it a special trail phone as I need one that's more robust for the rigours of my upcoming Te Araroa thruhike?
Glad you enjoyed it - yeah lots of laughs and tears regarding the pack LOL. :) I just have a cheap Android with a good case. I also carry a Zoleo satellite locator for emergency / texting. It blue tooths to the phone for texting, very convenient!
My gear 1982 was a Wild Ex Europa, a Summer weight long down bad, a GI army poncho, Army canteen and cup, a mesh hammock, MSR 90 stove. Water purification pills, and a Buck knife or Opinel 8
Yep, wool sweater n poncho. Good on the boots but really you do need to use the red shoelaces. Balance out those shorts, haw haw. Onething thou lackest- wool shirt…. Long sleeve. And a white t shirt. One other thing- we never used stoves. Nope, it was good ole fire. SO you need a small hatchet. Can’t believe you left it out.
Well you couldn't have open fire in Yosemite when I went so no hatchet and that stove is 100% the real deal haha. I used the red shoelaces of course! :)
Rainmaker here. I have been hiking since the mid 60's. Still have my Kelty BB5 (1972) and my sea stove (1971) which I needed for winter since my Bluet Stove (1969) did not perform well in colder temperatures because it used only butane fuel at the time. They have since mixed propane and butane to help with this. I own a North Face Mountain tent (1973). Since the early days I have updated all of my gear many times. I am still backpacking and I am 68! I am glad I have kept my old gear especially since it is in top condition for its' age. Note that I am the only piece of "original" equipment!
![เปิด อาณาจักร หมื่นล้าน "สาระตั้ม" l [Nickynachat]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3XE0nPF4YkQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Are you into vintage gear? You might want to check this out: facebook.com/VintageBackpacking
Facebook recommended the vintage backpacking group and I joined. It’s such a wholesome group of folks who are just so enthusiastic about old gear and fun times they had with that gear back in the day. I knew nothing about the 70s era of hiking, so I look forward to learning more about such an interesting outdoor subculture
Glad to have you!
You pulled out the shirt and I smiled. You pulled out the shorts and I laughed. I swear I had those I just gave my external frame pack to my son for his bush crafting trips.
The shirt was a huge hit! The shorts....nit so much hahahaha. External frames are great for the heavy gear bushcrafters use!
Brings back some memories
Your video piqued my interest so I climbed up in the garage to look at my old backpacking stuff. I’m 76 now and I haven’t really looked at any of it for years now. Most of my stuff is from the early 70s. As a boy I had lots of “Official” Boy Scout gear, well used on treks on the John Muir and Silver Moccasin trails back in the late 50s, but I replaced almost everything after the service, Vietnam and marriage. I still have a much-used and much customized Kelty Massiff pack frame with a Kelty Sonoran bag attached. The gear still inside consists of a two-man Eureka tent, a 3/4 therma-rest pad, a USMC poncho for a ground cloth, a Coleman backpacking stove in its aluminum pot container, an aluminum fuel can, an MSR water filter, a Nalgene-ish water bottle, an Eagle Claw take-down fly rod and reel in a PVC case, a Stansport 8” frying pan, an OLD Boy Scout folding pack saw, an old 9” steel fire grate, and an old, really small coffee pot. Oh, and an old 3 pound coffee can with a wire bail I used as a billy can. My old 2 1/2 pound goose down White Stag sleeping bag was still in the stuff sack I had added onto the pack bag. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Lots and lots of miles there.
Awesome!!! You should check out the Vintage Backpacking Facebook page if you're on there. We have some legitimate folks on there!
You sure have lots of cool stories to tell!
Oh my gosh!!! Everything is what I had in the 70s! I swear it weighed about 45 ponds. My backpack was exactly your orange one!, Chippewa leather hiking boots, svea stove, I think my tent was a kelty lodgepole! I hiked my most miles in the mid 70s. Yeah, wool socks, huge wool sweater, and jeans, & t-shirts. I would relive those day for sure!!!
The good old days! This was a blast but I think I'll stick with my current setup haha.
@@BackcountryPilgrim I don't think I could hike with the old gear, lol.
It wasn't easy haha. :)
That stove is awesome. That flashlight! 🤣😂🤣Can’t wait to see the trip video!
I love the stove but it's over a pound lol! Trip was painful but fun. :)
Love this video and all your gear 🙏🏼God bless you n your loved ones
Thank you, and yours as well!
Love that shirt.
Between the gear and your clothes I feel like I’m back in the 80’s 😁😁
Loved this video and idea. 👍🏻👍🏻
Thank you! (And it's 70's baby, yeah!) LOL!
@@BackcountryPilgrim 😂😂😂😂😂😂
My parents would take us camping with gear like this! Including a MASSIVE flashlight, like yours but yellow. It took D batteries, maybe 4 of them. (Or maybe 8????) At one point my dad got a head lamp, but it was so heavy and uncomfortable. I remember my dad's water bottle was a clear LDPE bottle with a beefy lid, he called it a poly-bottle. And we still use squares cut from a blue foam sleeping mat to sit on... my parents called them sit-upons. I think the stove they always used was one that had a hose that went to a red fuel bottle, I've seen a similar one at REI recently. I've inherited their packs and their old self-inflating 3/4-length therm-a-rest pads, both of which have never had a leak. We definitely use these things. I can't understand it, the packs weigh the same as modern internal-frame packs, and they're very comfortable. Why do so few people use these packs anymore?
Well they're hard to find unless you go looking for them so the internal frames become more popular by default.
Super fun video, I will copy your modified pack to make mine useable again. You're dad wore leather hiking boots every day of his life and ate his own Gorp with M&Ms all the time.
It was a labor of love haha. I don't remember those boots or the gorp, but I remember the pack!
I had so much fun watching this and the hike itself. Thank you! I love vintage gear.
Glad you enjoyed it! If you're on Facebook, check out facebook.com/groups/vintagebackpacking
Very interesting load out Doug. ✌
Thanks 👍 It was a challenge!
Perfect timing with Dixie doing a Grandma Gateway video with "classic gear". My back hurts just thinking about you carrying all that stuff. Hope you have a great time.
Dixie always copies me lol. ;) VIDEO drops live Sunday at 9am pst!
I can see that...can't wait till she copies your haircut. That should have been Grandma Gatewood.
Nah, she couldn't pull it off. 🤣
Dude what a throwback! Such a cool idea Doug. I'm such a nerd for gear old or new.
It was fun! Jump on vintage backpacking fb page!
Being relatively new to backpacking, this is absolutely fascinating! Can't wait to see this trip Doug!
It's been a fun project!
👍 I just began my interest in “vintage” backpacking, but at 73 I must admit most of it is gear of my youth. Unfortunately I did not save any of it so starting from scratch. I have 2 Kelty external frame packs built in the 1960s and am thinking about replacing the cargo strap (short) hip belt with an A.L.I.CE. pack belt. Very jealous of your SVEA Optimus 123. I hope you had a great trip.
If you're on Facebook come check out the Vintage Backpacking page, we have tons of fun on there!
Awesome idea. Love the gear
Thanks!!!
Don’t know how I missed these episodes….just watching this a year later. I still have my dads svea 123R from the 60’s or 70’s. I take it out a couple times a year for fun. I also still have his external frame pack and a few other pieces of gear from the 70’s.
Never get rid of it!!! :)
A bota bag is for wine only good sir. 😂😂😂 looks like a great setup. Cool to see everything coming together. Excited to see the trip…minus the shorts🤮
If you have enough wine you might enjoy the shorts. ;)
The heavy steel pot you have is the same one I use all the time. 20+ years equals a damn good pot that lasts.
I hear ya!
This is cool
Thanks!
I had the green version of your backpack, I still say to this day it was the best backpack I ever had. Camping food for me was a can of corned beef hash and cherrie pie filling, I took them on every trip.
Love it!
LOL I'm still vintage, having most of the stuff you show here! Actually I am getting into David Wescott's and Steve Watts book "Camping the Old Style" with canvas tents etc. Equipment from the Golden age of camping 1880 - 1930
Nice! You should get on my Vintage Backpacking page in Facebook and put up some gear pics!
I have one of the SVEA stoves also. In fact, I used it until about 8 years ago. It’s exciting to light (fire ribbon in the bowl is a little less so) but it works very well and is indestructible. My father and I purchased it in 1976. Rebuild kits used to be available but since it’s just gathering dust now, I haven’t looked. I enjoyed the video, the clothes portion made me smile- thanks!
I had thought about getting one of these at one point, but the modern "Svea" stoves don't appear to have the quality of the originals.
Probably not.
I know a guy who can fix it up / restore. Let me know if you want to contact him!
@@BackcountryPilgrim I will. It’s actually in pretty good shape. I am assuming the O-rings are a hardware or auto parts store item. They have a cotton “wick” in the tank that I understand can go bad. That might be harder to find. Otherwise, it worked perfectly the last time I used it.
Great! Well, if you ever need him, this is his website:
www.berniedawg.com
I’m down (see what I did there?) with everything but the clothing choices. My first backpacking trip was at Point Reyes in 1981, wearing an E frame Kelty pack and lugging a Coleman sleeping bag with Canadian geese on the liner. For a walking stick I used dish soap to affix a bicycle grip from my old Schwin to a random closet pole. But what everyone wore was Levi’s and flannels. Yes on the bucket hat. Yes on the Spirit of 76 sweat bands. Yes on Danners. That’s how you knew who was serious. (I wore Converse.) Yes on a Buck 110, 102 or 053. The rest of the apparel is more like the the 90’s does the 70’s. Nonetheless loved the video. 👍🏼’d and subbed
Well done! Yeah I swapped out those shorts pretty fast haha and they were a bit over the top but I did see a lot of 70s pics with similar apparel haha. I was at Point Reyes a lot back then with my dad - maybe we passed by each other!
Fantastic video! I'm staring at my old Sunbird and Jansport packs while watching! Maybe I'll do a little backpacking trip with some vintage gear after watching this.- I may pass on the t shirt tho! Take care!
Chicks dug the tshirt.... :)
@@BackcountryPilgrim I'll take your word on it!
Watch the trip video, you'll see! ;)
Okay, that's a neat idea for a trip. But my back would never carry that weight today!
I started backpacking in the mid 90s, and the gear from that era is far more like what you are showing here than like modern gear. My minimum backpack weight was 35 lbs, and 37 lbs+ was more common, even for a 1-night trip with a companion.
Good luck on the trip!
I started then too, I had an internal frame but heavy gear for sure!
lol the flashlight is so ridiculous. I suppose with regular bulbs they would be dim and only last a couple hours. Damn the tech has gotten so much better, both in battery and light efficiency.
Lol for sure!
The hand lamp seems to be a modern one with LEDs, I have two otiginal ones from the 70s that are still unused in the original packaging.
I would give one of them away cheaply, but since I'm here in Germany it probably won't be worth it with the shipping price...
Yeah I was on a budget so I focused on the big items (and that dang stove killed me LOL!). Well, if you ever visit California let me know and I'll take you on a hike in exchange for a vintage headlamp! ;)
@@BackcountryPilgrim I let you know ;-)
Back in the 70s we didnt carry a big flashlight like that. We would buy the old throwaway flashlight that was good for a trip. It was battery included all-one-piece. Whennit woee out one simply threw it away n bought another.
Never heard that before!
Excellent video, Doug. Looking forward to the actual hike, should be lots of laughs with plenty of interesting comments regarding your 'choice' of clothing!
An unrelated question, Doug. What type of cellphone do you have and is it a special trail phone as I need one that's more robust for the rigours of my upcoming Te Araroa thruhike?
Glad you enjoyed it - yeah lots of laughs and tears regarding the pack LOL. :) I just have a cheap Android with a good case. I also carry a Zoleo satellite locator for emergency / texting. It blue tooths to the phone for texting, very convenient!
@@BackcountryPilgrim Thanks, Doug! Go well.
My gear 1982 was a Wild Ex Europa, a Summer weight long down bad, a GI army poncho, Army canteen and cup, a mesh hammock, MSR 90 stove. Water purification pills, and a Buck knife or Opinel 8
Awesome kit!
How about a MOLLE 2 ruck? Empty weight is about 6 lbs so it should qualify. Rated to 200 lbs.
Awesome pack but not Vintage enough. Haha! ;)
If I still have my "vintage" gear from the 70s
Does this make me vintage also?
Heck yeah!
Yep, wool sweater n poncho. Good on the boots but really you do need to use the red shoelaces. Balance out those shorts, haw haw. Onething thou lackest- wool shirt…. Long sleeve. And a white t shirt. One other thing- we never used stoves. Nope, it was good ole fire. SO you need a small hatchet. Can’t believe you left it out.
Well you couldn't have open fire in Yosemite when I went so no hatchet and that stove is 100% the real deal haha. I used the red shoelaces of course! :)
Make sure to film with your Polaroid
LOL yeah...gonna go with modern tech to film. ;)
Iodine tablets for water purification?
I went with Chlorine but no filter!. :)
C Rations MCIs
About 80% of my gear is vintage, I never liked the modern stuff 🙂
I like both for different reasons - but if I had to survive a zombie apocalypse, I'd go vintage all the way!
Rainmaker here.
I have been hiking since the mid 60's. Still have my Kelty BB5 (1972) and my sea stove (1971) which I needed for winter since my Bluet Stove (1969) did not perform well in colder temperatures because it used only butane fuel at the time. They have since mixed propane and butane to help with this. I own a North Face Mountain tent (1973). Since the early days I have updated all of my gear many times. I am still backpacking and I am 68! I am glad I have kept my old gear especially since it is in top condition for its' age. Note that I am the only piece of "original" equipment!
Right on! Yhays some great stuff! Hike on. :)