It will Dodat
Very Talkative
- Messages
- 81
- Points
- 300
- Age
- 66
Back in the day (late 70’s early 80’s) when I was young, ripped, good looking and poor...........Now I’m just poor.......
I went out and bought into the Backpacker integrated hiking gear system. Back then, (and still today) Backpacker was just about the very best money could buy.
So I got the backpacker 75L Boulder back-pack, Their sleeping bag, and more to the point, a Backpacker Kestrel tent.
Now the Kestrel is classified as a 4 seasons, and from the picture you will know that’s it’s a ridge tent, which, for some strange reason I have a very strong affinity for.
Today, Backpacker no longer make tents, but, they are still highly prized by hikers and are practically unobtainable.
So about 3 weeks ago I passed by a stall at an open air flea-market, and knowing a thing or three about tents & tent bags and stuff, I catch sight of a bag....
“What’s in the bag” Asks I
“Don’t know, but you can have it for 70 bucks” <ZAR> Comes back the reply........
So there’s me... Caught between a rock and a hard place... Not wanting to totally waste my hard earned scheckels, but not wanting to open up a bag of pure gold, in case the price charges up the ladder......
Eventually the “Not wanting to totally waste my hard earned scheckels” argument get’s the upper hand, and I surreptitiously open the bag...
As soon as the pole ends peeked out the bag I knew I had a bag of gold... So I quickly look at the fly...seemed OK..... Quick open up of the inner <don’t even bother to check zips> .seemed OK squish it all back in the bag... and after much muttering about should have charged me more from the stall holder, give him his 70 bucks, and off I go...
Pumped full of adrenalin, I was prepping for 4 days at a game farm with our local caravan forum fellas, so I decided to wait until I got to the campsite before pitching and micro-examining it....
And this IT!
A Backpacker Kestrel III in almost mint condition! No tears / rips / holes, Groundsheet in 100 % condition full set of poles and all the zips and so on, all 100 %
Now I have two kestrel tents... A beige one <The one I’ve always had> and now this brown one....
But the tale............. She don’t stop there.....
I post about this on a local forum and someone answers and subtly drops the info that he had the Y adaptor for the entry side so that it’s easier to get in and out of without the pole down the middle!
Now me, I never knew about that particular accessory, and even though Backpacker no longer make tents, I still shot a mail off to them, and, at the same time asked the fella to send me a sketch of the Y adaptor, which he did, and BINGO! It’s easy-peasy to make...
So If Backpacker can’t help me I can easily make one myself, and temporarily scavenge a pole from the second tent until I can sort out a pole from my hoard of poles / pegs / bits & bobs...
How’s that for a find? Not only do I get a second bomb-proof tent, I get to upgrade the one I have!