Who's got the oldest bag you still use?...

I'm not proud to admit it, but I have a Class 5 Equipage bag I've owned and regularly used since 1972! I think they were made in Berkeley. The thread about Western Mountaineering vs Feathered Friends got me thinking about a new bag!

Just found this cool website I had never seen before, all about vintage backpacking gear, here's the Class 5 page:
Class 5

I went camping with my older sister last August and discovered she was still using an REI down bag, the barrel-shaped "Icelandic" model, that she acquired in 1971. Needless to say it had lost some loft in the intervening decades. I recommended a newer bag. She said she'd consider it.

My wife has a big old flannel-lined Eddie Bauer sleeping bag with a cotton cover and lord knows what kind of batting inside that she got as a gift in 1963. She hasn't used it in many years, though. We keep it more out of nostalgia than utility.

We both regularly use some synthetic fill bags we bought in 1984, but only for car camping these days.

My still favorite bag, a North Face semi-rectangular, was bought in 1984. Down lasts a lifetime if cared for.

I still have, but don't use, an Eddie Bauer down mummy bag I bought directly from the Bauer factory in Seattle in 1954: Sewn through construction and not particularly warm. It replaced a WW-II surplus, down arctic bag liner (circa 1943) which I also still have and still use on rare occasions. Both bags have considerable sentimental value and are still in good shape after all these years. FWIW, I still have 120' of hemp climbing rope from my earliest climbing days. I need to clean my gear closet!

REI down mummy sleeping bag from 1970 or 1971. Got it for a Boy Scout 50-miler. Still use it as a winter comforter over my 30 degree WM when snow camping.

I think we have a winnah!

I too have an REI McKinley half-zip (center) mummy bag from circa '70 or so, which I've turned over to the fam for whatever use they may see fit. It's awfully bulky for backpacking but for car camping you won't be cold in the thing--no way, no how. I think I still have an early '70s Eddie Bauer down "liner" bag--sewn through baffles, no zip. I used it for many years as the core of my Sierra sleep system inside a GT bivy with a shorty T-rest. A surprisingly flexible and light system.

Both were made in Seattle. The REI bag freed me from the family's enormous rectangular Coleman bag (kapok?) that was only warm enough for summer camp--barely. I suffered in that dang thing every Boy Scout trip I took. It never occurred to me that you could be warm sleeping in the woods.

Cheers,

1976 down bag, whose down was cannibalized next year for my first DIY (lighter, snugger (?)) mummy bag. Still use it sometimes.

Rick D: right back at you with a North Face down bag that is from 1970 or so. And yeah, our daughter used it this April on our hike through the Inka Trail to Machu Picchu!

Aimless, interesting.

I thought I probably had the last Icelandic in existence; certainly the last one in regular use. One small correction; the Icelandic was made not by REI but by a British (Scottish) company called Blacks of Greenach or, originally, I believe, Thos. Black and Sons. The company was originally a sailmaker, and they made the sails for one of the (I think) Antarctic expeditions (Amundson?) and were asked while they were at it to make tents and bags. They continued to make such gear, and somewhere in the early 20th century were contracted to design and make a sleeping system for the Canadian Arctic Survey.

The system involved a canvas outer bag, two down bags, one inside the other, and a muslin liner, plus a separate hood and (originally) a kapok pad(closed cell egg-crate foam by the time I got mine). The inner bag was about a pound of down, the outer bag, I think, about 2 1/2 pounds. They were/are barrel shape and zip all the way around.

They can also be zipped together too make a double (which is the way I usually use it today. Handy, in summer, the inner on top, in winter, the outer on top. I also use them both in cotton covers as duvets quite regularly. Also, you could get them in either cotton or nylon (by the time I got mine). I had the inner done in cotton, which made it a wonderful summer bag (though a bit heavy). I carried it most of the way on my first thru-hike.

I bought it sometime around 1965, when Blacks had an operation in Ogdensburg, NY. I also have a small two-person tent bought about the same time that is about five pounds and dry as a bone the last time I had it in the rain.

Best, jcp

I have a Holubar double bag from 1962. The down is still great, although the zippers are a bit cranky. I also have some Bedayn biners from about 1960 - no longer used for critical applications.....

I have a Snow Lion Mt. Light puchased around 1978. I used it two trips ago in the Smokies. It kept me warm in much lower temps than rated. I also have a small internal frame Wilderness Experience pack. This pack was purchased at same time and is still used for daypacking and coyote hunting gear. For those of you not familiar with Wilderness Experience gear I beleive they are now called Lowe!