What gear have you ever taken on your BW trips which you decided to get one more year out of it before retiring the item. One case involved an older style one burner stove which I decided was good for one more trip. Crapped out half way through. No fire ban was in place, so had several unplanned cooking with wood experiences.

Several clothing pieces over the years have done well their last trip.

My REI Half Dome from 2001. I keep thinking I will replace it but I never do.

For winter camping I keep bringing a heavy synthetic bag (winter bags being a tad expensive).

I test my equipment out before every trip. If in doubt I toss it out. The BWCA is no place for marginal gear. The place tends to weed out the sick gear.

My first Bending Branches paddle that I got when I was 15. I chipped the end of the blade on a rock and it developed a split that got wider and wider by the end of the trip. My brother and my dad helped me fix it, but it re-broke in the same place the next year. We fiberglassed it, and fixed it once for all, but it had already been replaced by that point. Even though it's been retired from BWCA tripping, I'll never get rid of it. It's heavy, and a little ugly, but it still sits in reserve because it's a reminder of some truly awesome times. Under "favorite possession" in my senior yearbook caption, it reads "my canoe paddle".

Heheheheh, well, I remember trying to get one last trip out of some old Browning boots. The last two days the sole was held on by an extra bootlace. I tried Duct tape, but it was too slick on portages. Thank goodness I always have an extra pair of laces (LOL)!