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Our Editors’ Oldest, Most Well-Loved Gear

The stuff we've owned for ages that we couldn't adventure without

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New perk: Easily find new routes and hidden gems, upcoming running events, and more near you. Your weekly Local Running Newsletter has everything you need to lace up! .

These 11 pieces have stood the test of time, earning permanent spots in our editors hearts and kits.

Blundstone Original 500 Boots

(Blundstone)

Ive had this pair of for probably 25 years now. I dont think theres a better or longer-lasting foul-weather boot. I got them in New York City, where Id throw them on with my almost as old waxed Barbour coat, and I was warm and dry walking the streets on rainy days. I still wear them in Santa Fe in snow and rain. Mary Turner, deputy editor


Milwaukee Stamping Co. Picnic Table

I picked up this at a consignment shop for $25, and it comes with me on almost every car-camping trip. Sure, its a bit heavy, but it folds up to a rectangle roughly the size of two chess boards and is easy to slide under all the other gear in the flatbed of my boyfriends truck. In about one minute, it unfolds into a plush four-seater with ample tabletop space for cooking and eatingway better than cooking on the truck tailgate and using our bouldering pads as a dinner table. Ariella Gintzler, assistant editor


Assos Summerglove Cycling Glove

(Assos)

Good riding gloves can be hard to find. Many options wear out, have unnecessary padding, or are just plain uncomfortable. Ten years ago, I stumbled upon . Yes, theyre pricey, but I havent found anything like them. Theyre perfect, and I still wear the two original pairs I bought. By now theyre ripped and falling apart, but a ten-year shelf life isnt too bad for a $50 purchase that I use multiple times every week. Scott Rosenfield, digital general manager


Patagonia Snap-T

(Emily Reed)

Its so classic its almost annoying, but my dads old is one of my most prized possessions. (Never mind that he never explicitly gave me permission to take itit just showed up in my bag one day, I swear.) Theres a burn hole in one shoulder from a campfire spark, a few missing stitches around the cuff, and its definitely older than I am, but this pullover ends up coming with me just about everywhere. Abbie Barronian, assistant editor


Handmade Snowshoes

(Country Ways)

When I was a kidat whatever age you are in fifth gradeI . It was a kit with a wood frame and what looked liked industrial-sized shoe laces you wove in a pattern that I remember getting wrong so many times that I wanted to light the damn things on fire. I didnt, though, and once they were finished, I had a heavy, clunky set of snowshoes that would look at home strapped to the feet of mountain man Jim Bridger. Theyre anything but light or sleek, but I wore those snowshoes all over the Rockies in the winter, and I still think theyre great. J. Weston Phippen, senior editor


Primus Propane Stove

(Emily Reed)

On my first multiday climbing trip to Bishop, California, in 2012, I didnt have much camping gear. I borrowed my parents stove, a Primus that they bought at least 20 years ago. Since then, Ive taken it with me on countless climbing trips throughout the West. Its still cooking and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. Ula Chrobak, editorial production fellow


Vasque St. Elias Hiking Boots

(Emily Reed)

I didnt grow up especially outdoorsy. I played outside, sure, but I wasnt introduced to backpacking or hiking until I was in my twenties. Backpacking gear is expensive, especially on a college student's budget. I researched for weeks about what my first investment should be and eventually landed on these . They were the only ones on the shelf at REI that didnt look dorky and that actually fit my feet. Six years later, theyre still hanging on and come on nearly all of my backpacking trips. Emily Reed, assistant editor


Tomic Ski Poles

(Tomic)

These Tomic ski poles (circa 1988) were given to me by my friends mom more than five years ago after my own poles got bent out of shape while taking a bad turn on some moguls. Believe it or not, these were an improvement, and theyve stayed with me ever since. Theyre not flashy; my adjective of choice would be functional. Will Gordon, assistant editor


Tissot T-Touch Watch

(Tissot)

My father has long believed that you can tell a lot about a person by the watch they wear. So, when I graduated from high school twelve years ago, it was no surprise that he gifted me a timepiece. It was a , which even a decade later sports some pretty amazing tech, like an altimeter, barometer, thermometer, and chronograph, all activated by a simple tap on the sapphire crystal. Theres also a compass that uses the hour and minute hands to form the needle. Its been my constant companion on every adventure since and, I suspect, many more to come. Nicholas Hunt, associate editor


The North Face Firefly Tent

(Jonah Ogles)

Im not sure when this tent was made (I think mid-aughts), but I stole it from my father-in-laws garage a decade ago. Its not an ultralight tent, but it stands up to wind, hail, rain, and anything else I might encounter. Ive used it in the desert and at 12,000 feet, and it has never been anything but exceptional. Im never giving it back. Jonah Ogles, articles editor


Columbia Hiking Boots

(Columbia)

I grew up in Floridaland of nontechnical adventuresand borrowed most of my camping gear from Boy Scouts through high school. So I can pinpoint my first piece of real outdoor gear as the pair of I bought at steep discount the first day I moved to Chicago for college in 2010. They were weirdly largebecause they were mens boots, I later realizedbut I wore them with my thickest socks and they got me through four years of Midwest winters (including a polar vortex!). I still wear them on snowy and wet hikesthough theyre a little heavy, they are legitimately waterproof, and I still enjoy submerging my whole boot in puddles to demonstrate. Erin Berger, senior editor

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