Regarding the "good ol' days," what's one thing you don't miss a bit? Limit it to one, please:

The strong smell of a canvas tent. They smelled wet even when they were dry.

Cotton Sleeping Bags.

They were big and heavy and always seemed damp in the morning.

The white gas stoves you used to have to pump up before using. Sometimes it was not easy to get it going with mechanical issues. So much easier to screw on a canister and flick a lighter.

I bet ya someone will list more than one :)

we had canvas tents that required you find spuce poles to set up. that was old school.

quote missmolly: "Regarding the "good ol' days," what's one thing you don't miss a bit? Limit it to one, please:
The strong smell of a canvas tent. They smelled wet even when they were dry. "

Heheheheh, I remember the oft heard phrase "Don't touch the sides or it'll start leaking" (LOL)!

I do not miss old Coleman lanterns. Pumping them up and those darn mantles that are the most fragile substance on earth after being "Lit." And don't touch that globe; I have a little reminder of that, a nasty burn on my right forearm from a Coleman lantern on a trip with my brother when he came home from the first Gulf war. I still nave a propane one we keep around the house, but love my Luci lights and my other smaller, lighter lanterns.

quote missmolly: "The strong smell of a canvas tent. They smelled wet even when they were dry. "

That’s funny because I have such great memories of that damp canvas smell as it was the only time I went camping with both parents together. I was only about 3 or 4 but I can still smell that canvas. This brought back some fun memories. Thanks Miss Molly!
Mike

Olympia beer. It did not travel well.

quote Whatsit: "

quote missmolly: "The strong smell of a canvas tent. They smelled wet even when they were dry. "

That’s funny because I have such great memories of that damp canvas smell as it was the only time I went camping with both parents together. I was only about 3 or 4 but I can still smell that canvas. This brought back some fun memories. Thanks Miss Molly!
Mike"

I can see why that would be a beloved olfactory trigger for you, Mike. The olfactory part of the brain is adjacent to the memories sector and it's hypothesized that scent is the most emotive, evocative trigger partly because of proximity.

We'll see, Mike. I could have easily listed a dozen things I don't miss, but had I, I would have hogged the thread and thread-hogging is one of my inveterate failings.

quote missmolly: "

quote Whatsit: "

quote missmolly: "The strong smell of a canvas tent. They smelled wet even when they were dry. "

That’s funny because I have such great memories of that damp canvas smell as it was the only time I went camping with both parents together. I was only about 3 or 4 but I can still smell that canvas. This brought back some fun memories. Thanks Miss Molly!
Mike"

I can see why that would be a beloved olfactory trigger for you, Mike. The olfactory part of the brain is adjacent to the memories sector and it's hypothesized that scent is the most emotive, evocative trigger partly because of proximity.


We'll see, Mike. I could have easily listed a dozen things I don't miss, but had I, I would have hogged the thread and thread-hogging is one of my inveterate failings. "

I don't miss aluminum canoes on BW trips

quote missmolly: "

quote Whatsit: "

quote missmolly: "The strong smell of a canvas tent. They smelled wet even when they were dry. "

That’s funny because I have such great memories of that damp canvas smell as it was the only time I went camping with both parents together. I was only about 3 or 4 but I can still smell that canvas. This brought back some fun memories. Thanks Miss Molly!
Mike"

I can see why that would be a beloved olfactory trigger for you, Mike. The olfactory part of the brain is adjacent to the memories sector and it's hypothesized that scent is the most emotive, evocative trigger partly because of proximity.


We'll see, Mike. I could have easily listed a dozen things I don't miss, but had I, I would have hogged the thread and thread-hogging is one of my inveterate failings. "

I know! It’s funny what someone doesn’t miss another might really miss. I remember a Hunter was saying how much he hated those wool red hunting suits and my dad said how much he missed the wool. Said he was never warmer. Funny. It’s like I heard a retired outfitter in ely tell Tim and I how much he missed the aluminum canoes. He said those were like tanks. You never had to worry about them. Others hated the memories of aluminum canoes.
Great thread
Mike

Water filters which are not gravity flow such as plastic containers/pump style. As worded, this is only one thing not missed. Check with your high school English teacher if needed.

The atlatl. A longbow is more accurate and quicker to shoot again.

Fireing the coal boiler in our oldest greenhouses. 8 wheelbarrows a night. Had to add coal every 4 hours all winter long. Good old days my %#{* !!

Coleman lanterns. I hate those things. I go to the wilderness to get away from streetlights, so I can see the wonders of the night sky. Nothing ruins star gazing like a Coleman lantern.

Like LMB-- Aluminum canoes.
The lightest ones were 65 lbs and we paid extra to get those ones.



oh, and walking to school through the snow uphill...without boots!! :)

I have to go with the big ol' cotton sleeping bags. Took forever and a lot of strength to get them rolled up and back in the pack. I still remember trying to avoid the "banana roll".

The old 110 camera and getting film developed when we got home.

The black closed cell foam sleeping pads. They were ok for my early 20's but I doubt I would get any sleep on one of those now.

Cotton long underwear.

They were OK as long as you didn't do anything strenuous and break a sweat. If you did you were in danger of hypothermia and a long, slow death due to cotton holding moisture next to your skin. Had it happen a couple of times!

Canvas tennis shoes. Wore them for hunting, fishing and school. Very low tech and my feet would probably hurt so much if I were to wear them today, I'd probably quit walking the dog.

quote Zulu: "Cotton Sleeping Bags.


They were big and heavy and always seemed damp in the morning."

Military surplus down bags were pretty awful too.

I do NOT miss those heavy flashlights with the giant lantern batteries

Canvas backpacks with unpadded, straight canvas or leather shoulder straps and without sturdy hipbelts to carry some of the weight. Those were agony to carry heavy loads. Good riddance. I attached pieces of closed-cell foam to the shoulder pads to make the load somewhat bearable.

quote QueticoMike: "The white gas stoves you used to have to pump up before using. Sometimes it was not easy to get it going with mechanical issues. So much easier to screw on a canister and flick a lighter."

Related, fire paste for priming said stoves.

Edit: Just realized I violated the 'one only' rule. This is shame that will burden my family for generations.

quote TomT: "The black closed cell foam sleeping pads. They were ok for my early 20's but I doubt I would get any sleep on one of those now."

I have a few stacked on my bedroom floor right now. Every few nights I sleep there and all the kinks in my back go away! But, yeah, in the woods, no way.

quote QueticoMike: "The white gas stoves you used to have to pump up before using. Sometimes it was not easy to get it going with mechanical issues. So much easier to screw on a canister and flick a lighter."

Man, I love my white gas stoves..........use to Primus Omni's. Love them.

quote Whatsit: "

quote missmolly: "The strong smell of a canvas tent. They smelled wet even when they were dry. "

That’s funny because I have such great memories of that damp canvas smell as it was the only time I went camping with both parents together. I was only about 3 or 4 but I can still smell that canvas. This brought back some fun memories. Thanks Miss Molly!
Mike"

I have a similar fond memory of the smell of my grandfather's canvas tent. They lived in the mountains in Colorado and he set it up for us one summer and I loved sleeping out there in the yard in the cold air.... in his heavy air force survival mummy sleeping bag.

Other people have already mentioned a couple of the ones that first came to mind for me: the white gas stove that had to be pumped and primed, film cameras...

Other than those.... Mine is the old Columbia rubber rain suit that made me wetter with sweat than I would have been from not putting the raingear on at all and letting the rain do its thing.

Wooden paddles.

Sleeping on the ground. Now I hammock whenever possible.

quote dew042: "

quote QueticoMike: "The white gas stoves you used to have to pump up before using. Sometimes it was not easy to get it going with mechanical issues. So much easier to screw on a canister and flick a lighter."

Related, fire paste for priming said stoves.

Edit: Just realized I violated the 'one only' rule. This is shame that will burden my family for generations."

I shall share your shame: Tents with no bottoms. Now, at the time, I didn't realize how good we have it today, as being hermetically sealed in a modern tent is a cozy thing, with nothing coming under the walls.

My second tent had a floor, but it was a tube tent, which is another thing I don't miss. Damn sausage casing!

Wow, I didn't realize how many things I didn't miss. This is interesting to hear what others don't miss and I shake my head, yeah, I don't miss those either.

I really don't miss one of my past paddling partners. Better friends make for better trips!