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Your oldest piece of gear...

A slight hi-jack....
I Can't rememeber if I mentioned it here, but a pastime of mine is to scrounge around at the local garden refuse collection site...

The "shopkeepers" all have their own "spot"and gather things whichcould be possibly sold and you go on ther scrounge...

I call it the "make your own price store", because, depending on the level of inhebriation, you can get stuff for anything you offer even for free..... If the "shopkeeper"is now snoring away blind drunk...

Problem is you got to get there before the so called "antique dealers" and dealers in high value metal arrive....

Anyhow, two Sunday's ago I got me a Husqervena sewing machine, 100 % working for about 2,5 USD & a military issue backpack for about 1,5 USD.... 30 & 20 ZAR

So Saturday I dumped the backpack into a big plastic basin with very soapy water and let it soak and It's come up pretty nice.... Got a bit of "character"but it's 100% servicable...

From the straps ETC I think it's about 80's issue....

Photo's are from befor the wash

I'm hoping someone will be able to tell me it's origin.....
 

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A slight hi-jack....
I Can't rememeber if I mentioned it here, but a pastime of mine is to scrounge around at the local garden refuse collection site...

The "shopkeepers" all have their own "spot"and gather things whichcould be possibly sold and you go on ther scrounge...

I call it the "make your own price store", because, depending on the level of inhebriation, you can get stuff for anything you offer even for free..... If the "shopkeeper"is now snoring away blind drunk...

Problem is you got to get there before the so called "antique dealers" and dealers in high value metal arrive....

Anyhow, two Sunday's ago I got me a Husqervena sewing machine, 100 % working for about 2,5 USD & a military issue backpack for about 1,5 USD.... 30 & 20 ZAR

So Saturday I dumped the backpack into a big plastic basin with very soapy water and let it soak and It's come up pretty nice.... Got a bit of "character"but it's 100% servicable...

From the straps ETC I think it's about 80's issue....

Photo's are from befor the wash

I'm hoping someone will be able to tell me it's origin.....
Its certainly not something I recognise mate
 
My father worked at our local refuse tip when I was growing up. Barely a day went by without him bringing something home. A lot of it would be scrap to sell on , but there were clothes , timber and antiques and when there was a problem with the freezers at the local coop he'd come back with frozen foods that had begun thawing and couldn't be refrozen. That did the family in meals for the nest three days or so. There were brand new unopened bottles of spirits , , tools , furniture and we had so many bikes , vacuums and lawn mowers although he kept the 6ft pile of porn mags at work .
Compare this to nowadays . I went in a little while ago to dump some remains of fence panels and got talking to one guy who worked there. He was throwing brand new shoes into a large bin and said he'd like them himself but daren't take them as the whole place is under CCTV and he'd loose his job if he did.
 
The oldest thing I own is a Bone Handled Penknife.........had it for a good 25 years I reckon.....it lives in my shooting bag now.
It was in a box of old tools I bought off of an old boy years ago.
 
How different the worlds we live are....:crying:

There is a veritable community that lives off what is thrown away....

On the most basic levels, there are simply dozens and dozens of people who have built shelters around the dump, joined collectives and harvest different things. One lot will harvest soft-drink bottles, others again cardboard, and so on...

On a secondry level, there are a bunch that makes carts & trollies for them to move what's been collected......

Then there are the flea-marketeers.... Basically people who live <probably> just on the breadline, who have the resources to “take stuff away” <car LDV ETC> and go and flog it at yard sales / flea-markets and the such...

Then you have fellas like me who, just go there to see what’s what & grab a bargain / something useful / do the magpie thing / and so on, pay over a few bucks and contribute to “that” micro economy

Then you get the second hand shop owners / <so called> antique dealers who scour the dumps for collectable things, whip out the really good stuff for a pittance and go and flog it for a king’s ransom in the wealthier areas...

The guys who work there have dibbs on all steel / aluminium / copper / brass ETC and have even contracted a driver with a small truck to come round every so often and empty the skip and get the scrap to the scrap yard....

Sadly, without that <the dump> as a source, many people would be driven from the breadline to below the poverty line, and thus exacerbate......... <Now, how’s that for a word from an Africkaaner> the crime levels....

They quite like me because, on more than one occasion, I’ve told them what’s of value <obviously when I don’t want the item>:whistle: / given them 10 bucks when they have nothing / and so on....

Hehehehe I’m not above digitying-dooing a bargain for myself though.....:sneaky::sneaky:

But they kinda know what perks my interest....

Case in question, <See the pictures> one day one fella attracts my attention saying he’s got a tent....

Well long story short, this, dome tent 3 x 3 x 2.2H, All zips OK only one small tera above the door, minus the poles was the tent... Got it for 100ZAR <say 10 USD>, based on that I might not get poles, which, was a calculated risk, because I do know a thing or three about tents & poles went to the camping supply shop, borrowed a set of poles they fitted plug & play, paid 800 ZAR = 72USD for the poles and basically had a military issue, cammo print <sublimation process> worth 7000zar < 636USD>!

So feeling a bit guilty, went back and gave the dude another 100ZAR!..... Don’t want to make them tooooo greedy!:rolleyes:

Pics are "first time pitch" after getting the poles.....

Now then what do I actually want to do with it?.... Well, as I mentioned, I like to do "theme"camps, So This, plus a whole bunch of smalls is the basis of a 1975 SA Army base bungalow ready for inspection!!!!!!
Tent dome overview front door open.jpg
 

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also 2nd War map case...and betting modern, my Blacks Good Companion tent....mid 60's
 
should have read GETTING not, betting modern......sorry

:rolleyes:
 
My father worked at our local refuse tip when I was growing up. Barely a day went by without him bringing something home. A lot of it would be scrap to sell on , but there were clothes , timber and antiques and when there was a problem with the freezers at the local coop he'd come back with frozen foods that had begun thawing and couldn't be refrozen. That did the family in meals for the nest three days or so. There were brand new unopened bottles of spirits , , tools , furniture and we had so many bikes , vacuums and lawn mowers although he kept the 6ft pile of porn mags at work .
Compare this to nowadays . I went in a little while ago to dump some remains of fence panels and got talking to one guy who worked there. He was throwing brand new shoes into a large bin and said he'd like them himself but daren't take them as the whole place is under CCTV and he'd loose his job if he did.
I get a lot of materials from out local tip for free...timber, fine hardwoods, glass and steel. There are working power tools and white goods. Last month I brought a lister static engine home from the tip and sold it on almost strait away, I'm never too proud to make money off other people's wastefulness or stupidity.
 
I acquired the nickname "skippy" at one point that stuck for many years. It derived from me not being able to walk past a skip without looking and very often taking stuff out. Didn't really matter what it was , if there was some intrinsic value , either useful or monetary wise I'd take it home. If I didn't have a use eBay came in very handy later on.
 
Thank goodness for that Joe. I thought you'd started repeating yourself (post#5). My Gran used to do that when she started to lose the plot.
Thank goodness for that Joe. I thought you'd started repeating yourself (post#5). My Gran used to do that when she started to lose the plot. :confused::eek::eek::eek:
I'd forgotten about that entry
 
My oldest bit of kit?....Me! It's a bit forgetful, some of the top colour has faded to grey, the joints creak a bit sometimes, but has served me well........

Or my Trangia burner that seems to have been around for ever......
 
Thank goodness for that Joe. I thought you'd started repeating yourself (post#5). My Gran used to do that when she started to lose the plot.
Thank goodness for that Joe. I thought you'd started repeating yourself (post#5). My Gran used to do that when she started to lose the plot. :confused::eek::eek::eek:


….did she find it?:sleepy:
 
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