Recycling Old Outdoor Gear: Finding New Life For Your Vintage Outdoor Stuff

 Too many times I've wandered the aisles of the local Sporting Goods store with the same kind of enthusiasm a child has walking down the toy aisle at the local department store. All the outdoor related clothing, boots, fishing gear, canoes and kayaks, not to mention the other things like knives, fish locators, and other camping related gear tend to lure me into wishing I could afford to purchase some of that stuff.

The words stuff and lure are actually appropriate for most of it...as most of it is purposely designed to catch the unwary shopper and does little to improve your outdoor experience. Even so, the majority of the outdoor gear I now use was at one time...new, and even though now old, still functional and useful.

Let's start with my Old Town canoe. As of this post it is almost 20 years old and has developed numerous scars, dents, dings, and gouges, yet it is still a highly functional vessel. It weighs in at around 59 pounds, perhaps a bit heavy to portage over a long distance, but still light enough to be lifted and carried across my shoulders without too much effort. Near the front and toward the stern there are signs of wear and tear, but with a little Marine JB Weld application, the deep scars have been sealed and re-enforced. 

Once a year for the past several years I have removed and refinished the wooden thwarts applying a bit extra varnish to the ends to create a waterproof seal at the most vulnerable places. All the fittings are then securely tightened upon reassembly. There are newer, lighter weight canoes available today, however I doubt they are any more functional than my 20 year old canoe, and I do believe my old one retains the classic lines of a traditional canoe the newer ones seemed to lack. The newer ones are also quite a bit more expensive.I also use wooden paddles. I love the look and feel of a wooden paddle. The newer fiberglass or light weight aluminum or carbon fibre paddles with plastic blades just don't do it for me. I'm a traditionalist at heart and even though the newer ones are functional, they just don't stand the test of time when compared to a wooden paddle.

 Last year I took two old inexpensive Feather Brand wooden paddles and combined them into a single, double bladed paddle. It was an experiment actually, just to see if it might work and to recycle two old paddles I no longer used. Turns out this new recycled double paddle works great and has become my favorite paddle to use on long haul canoe trips. As a bonus it retains the classic look and feel of wood. Someday I will do a Youtube video on how I made that paddle.

Backpacking is an activity I have jump started back to life after some sporadic attempts spaced apart through the years.  Although I had done enough to feel like I was at least somewhat seasoned as a backpacker, the gear I use is and was old school stuff. As a result it was/is also heavy. I needed to reduce the weight I carried. I started with eliminating things I really did not need and did purchase a new lightweight cook stove that saved me several pounds of weight. I also used a packer tent that was just too small and with the supplied poles, too heavy. I did two things that reduced my carry weight with the tent. I eliminated the poles, and then also started using a small tarp in place of a tent. There are times a tent is preferable, but it needs poles to stand up correctly so I simply cut some when I use it. The tarp option is certainly lighter in weight, but the tarp I used was simply too small and provided only a superficial covering. 

That was okay in dry, warm weather, but in cooler and/or damp weather it would not work. That is when I remember having an old Coleman 8 person tent I did not use anymore in my attic. It came with a rainfly, so I extracted it from the case and discovered the rainfly was almost three times the size of the tarp I had been using and only weighed slightly more. It is a perfect example of recycling old gear toward a newer use. The larger tarp can be rigged several ways to provide a safe and secure covering for any kind of outing.

Hiking boots are a vital piece of gear when it comes to backpacking. Mine are probably 15 years or more old, however, the soles are still in good shape as are the uppers with one exception. On one of the boots part of the seam/rim has separated from the upper just slightly, enough though to warrant some kind of repair action. After a good cleaning, I judicially applied ample amounts of ShoeGoo, a kind of shoe glue. After allowing it to season for a day or two, the boot was almost good as new and ready for several more seasons of hiking. A tube of ShoeGoo was a lot cheaper than a new pair of hiking boots or even paying a shoe repairman for a fix.

As a photographer, I will from time to time think of ways I can recycle old gear to enhance my attempts at capturing nature. Sometimes you get caught out in wet weather. Even though most camera gear is weather-proof to some degree, most camera gear do not do well in wet weather. I needed something to cover my camera and large 50-500 lens to protect it from wet conditions. Stuffed underneath some of my old outdoor gear was an old set of rain gear I did not use anymore. It had a camo pattern to it so I got the idea to cut off a leg from the pants to fit as a sleeve over the lens that also extended around the camera body. Worked like a charm. Cost me nothing, and weighs virtually nothing and provides a good waterproof solution.

We have an old sewing machine, very basic without a lot of whistles and bells but functional. I needed some bags to store gear in and checked out the purchase of some various sizes. Cost was way too much so I visited the local Hobby Lobby and for a fraction of the cost I purchased a couple yards of vinyl coated nylon material and a few yards of heavy canvas material. With a few measurements and some careful stitching with the machine, I made several functional and semi-waterproof bags that work great and they only cost me a few dollars and a little time. In fact, I actually enjoyed making them and the satisfaction I received from doing so was worth far more than any store bought bag would have provided. 

Sewing has become a standard and necessary skill for me. Many of my outdoor clothes through wear and tear develop threadbare abrasions, rips, and other assorted holes if not addressed will continue to grow into something more destructive.  I've gotten pretty good at patching up such things. As I already stated I've made simple bags and other containers, but I am far from being able to sew any kind of clothing. I have also added extra tie down loops to my tarps to make securing and hanging them easier and more efficient. My old sleeping bag was becoming threadbare along the inside top portion and had developed a significant rip in the ripstop nylon causing some of the stuffing to come out. I took an old flannel sheet and cut a portion of it to shape, then using the sewing machine stitched in the flannel material across the ripped out section...Good as new adding extended life to my old sleeping bag. With the remainder of that old flannel sheet, I folded it lengthwise and stitched it across the bottom and about 3/4 the way up one side to make a soft, warm, sleeping bag liner. My cost...$0.00...New store bought liner...$30.00 to $60.00.

If I thought about it long enough, I could come up with other recycling solutions for old outdoor gear, but you are by now probably getting the idea of where I am going with this post. Extending the life of the outdoor gear you already have is certainly cheaper than buying new stuff. With a little creative thinking, new useful solutions for gear that has been sitting in the garage for a while can provide you with many more months or even years of service.