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Our Editors’ Oldest, Most Well-Loved Gear

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

Published: 
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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鈥 hearts and kits.

Blundstone Original 500 Boots

(Blundstone)

I鈥檝e had this pair of for probably 25 years now. I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 a better or longer-lasting foul-weather boot. I got them in New York City, where I鈥檇 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. 鈥擬ary 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, it鈥檚 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 boyfriend鈥檚 truck. In about one minute, it unfolds into a plush four-seater with ample tabletop space for cooking and eating鈥攚ay better than cooking on the truck tailgate and using our bouldering pads as a dinner table. 鈥擜riella 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, they鈥檙e pricey, but I haven鈥檛 found anything like them. They鈥檙e perfect, and I still wear the two original pairs I bought. By now they鈥檙e ripped and falling apart, but a ten-year shelf life isn鈥檛 too bad for a $50 purchase that I use multiple times every week. 鈥擲cott Rosenfield, digital general manager


Patagonia Snap-T

(Emily Reed)

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


Handmade Snowshoes

(Country Ways)

When I was a kid鈥攁t whatever age you are in fifth grade鈥擨 . 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 didn鈥檛, 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. They鈥檙e anything but light or sleek, but I wore those snowshoes all over the Rockies in the winter, and I still think they鈥檙e great. 鈥擩. Weston Phippen, senior editor


Primus Propane Stove

(Emily Reed)

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


Vasque St. Elias Hiking Boots

(Emily Reed)

I didn鈥檛 grow up especially outdoorsy. I played outside, sure, but I wasn鈥檛 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 didn鈥檛 look dorky and that actually fit my feet. Six years later, they鈥檙e still hanging on and come on nearly all of my backpacking trips. 鈥擡mily Reed, assistant editor


Tomic Ski Poles

(Tomic)

These Tomic ski poles (circa 1988) were given to me by my friend鈥檚 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 they鈥檝e stayed with me ever since. They鈥檙e not flashy; my adjective of choice would be 鈥渇unctional.鈥 鈥擶ill 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. There鈥檚 also a compass that uses the hour and minute hands to form the needle. It鈥檚 been my constant companion on every adventure since and, I suspect, many more to come. 鈥擭icholas Hunt, associate editor


The North Face Firefly Tent

(Jonah Ogles)

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


Columbia Hiking Boots

(Columbia)

I grew up in Florida鈥攍and of nontechnical adventures鈥攁nd 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 large鈥攂ecause they were men鈥檚 boots, I later realized鈥攂ut 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 hikes鈥攖hough they鈥檙e a little heavy, they are legitimately waterproof, and I still enjoy submerging my whole boot in puddles to demonstrate. 鈥擡rin Berger, senior editor

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