My Berghaus Alto Attak boots now getting on for about 15 years old

Hehehehe - Actually, every time I've tried to use it was at an event in NYC - kinda hard to dig a cat hole in concrete. First time, I can still remember - I was helping at a walk-a-ton in March/April, and it was about 32 degrees, with light mixed rain/sleet. It was around 7:00am on a Sunday, and there was no open delis in my "Operations area" - I was FREEZING cold. Shal we say "fail"

I rapidly decided to keep my Coleman Peak One (1st Generation) in the truck, with a nice, real stainless pot, a jar of instant coffee, sugar, no calorie sweetner, non dairy creamer, and a sleave of paper cups. That, along with the case of water (and a hydrant wrench) has made me a hero at more than one event...

Looking back over more than two decades, it's the Bic lighter that's a constant for me.

Maybe that's a cheat, because of course it's not the same actual lighter. I've gone through dozens and dozens. But it's the same design, the same concept.

I have one in my pocket right now, and one in each pack and each jacket. A constant companion, and I've never had cause to regret it.

I have lots of "old favourites" like my SAK, Leatherman, custom hunting knife and whiskey travel bottle. But I think I am going to say my "classic", is a 20 foot length of 1/4" green cord. I found this piece of rope about 20 years ago and my work partner at the time called it "Bomber Cord", I suspect it is actually from the edge of a commercial gill net. It is very strong and just stiff enough that it does not tangle. I use it as the haul rope for lifting/lowering my firearm when I am hunting from a treestand. It is also the rope that I use to drag big-game out of the bush and tie them onto a vehicle. Evey time I lend it to someone I am careful to tell them not to cut it and that I want it back. After so many years and memourable trips I actually do maintenance on this length of rope, I clean it when it gets dirty/bloody and hang it up to dry, before I stow it away in my hunting pack.

It has got to the point now that my hunting partners do not even carry rope any more as they know I will have mine. They call it the "Gang Troll Rope" because in a certain steep gully where we are often successful, it takes the entire gang pulling on that rope to get a deer up the hill to the ATV at the top.

Odd but true "Classic".

Mike

I agree with the USMC Kabar. Not the best or the fanciest but good for doing what needs done. Throw in a decent SAK and a Bic lighter and you can handle a pretty wide assortment of what if type of stuff.

Of course getting the Kabar into the office can be a bit of a challenge , I guess that is why I end up carrying the SAK more these days.

- Eric

It seems to me the most obvious - which just about everyone carries today - a cellphone.

#2, a headlamp flashlight.

I have a flathead screwdriver on my keychain that my father gave me when I was 10. It is flat, the size of a key, and has been used more times than I can remember. Even though I normally have a multitool with me now, 35 years later, I still enjoy using this if for nothing more than the nostalgia. I suppose it is also my first and longest lasting piece of EDC.

Not sure how this fits. I've gone through lots of stoves and still have most of them, Coleman Peak 1, Svea 123 & 123R, Optimus 111, et al. . . latest stove is an MSR Pocket Rocket which is in the Get-Home-Bag.

The one item that I've had and used since the late 70's and is now in my truck kit is an old Revere Ware all copper kettle. It saves a lot of fuel when heat transfer is efficient and the vessel in enclosed. Unfortunately it's too big for the GHB which has a small Ti kettle stuffed with an assortment of goodies (not a classic).

#1 for me is the survival tool between my ears.
#2 would be a sharpened object (stick, rock, RSK, your choice)
#3 Mr. John Browning's finest creation, the M1911A1 in the variation/clone of your choice.

All three items have saved my posterior at least once, and are generally with me all the time.

Another vote for the Leatherman Wave. It's the one and only tool in my kit that I've used to make a living with, and it is my security blanket abroad and at home. If there was one thing I would want with me to get by in tough situations, my LW is it.