Another thread about saws made me think about how far a number of us have pushed over the years to keep improving on our gear selection. Continually upgrading, each time thinking that THIS IS IT!, only to move on, sometimes in a short time, to an "even better" solution.

List here a progression of yours over the years. Pick a category and make a list of the products you used, from your first trips to the present.

No explanations, just lists.

Saw:
Hardware store rigid steel frame bow saw
Sven folding saw
Homemade collapsable bow saw
Bob Dustrude Quick Buck Saw
Irwin coarse blade hand saw w Ragged sheath
Agawa Boreal21 saw w all-purpose blade
Silky Big Boy 2000 w XL teeth

Fun thread, Schweady!

Paddle progression:
girl scouts
brother
family and sons
sons
one son each
solo

Not sure that's a progression. Enjoyed taking my solo canoe with some old friends who took a tandem. Planning Wabakimi not as a solo, so maybe it's actually a regression.

Gear progression: biggest change is probably sleep system:
Alpine tent (stolen in late 80's)
Kelty tent (still have it, sons still use it constantly for bluegrass festivals and so forth)
REI tent
Clark NX 250 (I'll sell it if anyone wants a great hammock)
UL hammock system of various parts - UQ, tarp, hammock, snake skins, etc)
next purchase this winter will be a down bag upgrade.

Not much into paddling trips anymore but still camping and occasional backpacking. For me it's no longer progression but often regression. Too much gear so i rotate from a mix of old and new quite a bit. But to the point,
Saws, What-A-Saw to folding buck saw then Irwin.
Shelters, pup tent, cheap dome, geodesic dome, solo Eureka Mt. Pass, CCS Lean 1+, and a variety of higher end solo tents, BSI Chinook.
Stove, what can I say, I still have 2 dozen+ and switch often.
Sleeping bags, Yosemite synthetic, North Face Cat's Meow synthetic, BA lost Ranger down, to a variety BA and Sierra 850 down bags.
Packs from Peak One frame pack to Chinook portage, Camptrails Torid2, Rei Ptarmigan, GG Nimbus Trace.
Cooking gear as varied as the stoves.
GPS, Garmin GPS Map 12 to Delorme PN20, 40, 60, Garmin GPS62st.

butthead

Sleeping pad progression:
Ensolite foam pads (early 1970’s)
AirLift air mats (1980’s)
Thermarest pads (1980’s - 1990’s)
NeoAir pads (2000’s to date)

Oddly enough, I still have all of the above items and all are functional but not many of the individual AirLift tubes will hold air. They started failing not long after I bought the mats so I would buy replacement tubes.

Therma Rest Pillow to Nemo Fillo

Swiss Army Knife to Leatherman Wave

Single burner gas Coleman Stove to Two burner Coleman Propane stove

Cabela’s collapsable cooler to Kondos Insulated food pack with BWJ insulated poly box liner

Sears sleeping bag to Kealty Cosmos down bag

Grumman 17ft lt. wt to 17ft Souris River Quetico

Berkley Trilene to Berkley Fireline

Fixed Bow Saw to Agwa Borreal 21

Baseball cap to Tilley Airflow

Helinox Chair One to REI Camp Boss with under quilt

for portage packs over the years went from using Duluth packs to SealLine, then back to Duluth Packs, then to Cooke Custom

Cool thread! This really got me thinking about all of the changes over 35+ years of BWCA canoeing--

Sleeping: From nothing but tent floor under my sleeping bag to adding a blanket under my sleeping bag to a blow-up air mattress under my sleeping bag to a roll-up closed-cell foam pad under my sleeping bag to a Thermarest self-inflating pad under my sleeping bag to a Slumberjack low cot under my sleeping bag to to KingCamp low cot under my sleeping bag to a Thermarest self-inflating pad on the KingCamp low cot under my sleeping bag. NOW I'm comfy!

For the food: From a Duluth pack hung in a tree to a duffel bag lined with a cardboard box hung in a tree (this "iteration" did not last long as the pack did not carry well and earned the nickname of "The Herniator" from my trip mates. After a couple of trips they forbid me from bringing it again) to a harnessed barrel--not the "blue barrel" many on this forum are familiar with but a similar plastic barrel set-up that I now like as my permanent food solution, just set on the ground stashed away from the tents. However, based on the new food-storage rules put in place this season it looks like I will now need to "progress" to hanging this barrel.

Under my head: Just some bunched-up clothing to an old feather pillow to a foam pillow to an inflatable pillow to the foam pillow again over my beach/bath towel for a little elevation. Still working on the "ideal" pillow!

Stoves: From relying on just a fire (did that on the first trip only as wet conditions meant we had to eat some cold food) to backing up the fire with a collapsible Sterno/chafing-fuel stove (very slow) to an old big and heavy Coleman "suitcase" two-burner gas stove to a Coleman single-burner gas stove (these took LOTS of pressure pumping) to a Coleman single-burner propane cylinder stove to a Primus Classic Trail isopro stove, which I still supplement with the Sterno stove and, of course, fire, when conditions allow.

Paddles: From a standard Carlisle plastic blade/aluminum shaft to a straight-shaft wooden paddle to a bent-shaft wooden paddle to my current Bending Branches Viper double-bent-shaft wooden paddle.

Have never used anything but a Sven Saw until this season, I upgraded to to an Agawa Boreal21 saw. Loved it!

PFD's: My first trip I brought one of those vinyl-dipped life "belts" which I never wore and was just kind of "in the way". Then brought one of the orange "horse collar" vests with no intention of wearing it but to only have "just in case" (we were young, immortal and stupid!) then had several versions of nylon covered foam vests over the years which I wore "often" but also just sat on as a cushion a lot of the time. Once I made the right decision and committed to wearing the PFD whenever out on the water, I wanted something as comfortable as was practical and have settled on the Onyx A/M-24 self inflator, which I also really like. I do carry a spare re-arming kit tucked away with our first aid kit. After one year that a broken life vest caused one of our group to go without a PFD for part of our trip, we carry a spare life jacket like we take a spare paddle. This also functions as a seat cushion and a backup to my Onyx would it ever actually inflate twice in one trip.

Tents: First trip was a cabin-style four-person tent with the straight-out awning and the inch-wide aluminum poles. Because it was smaller, the next time we brought a cheap "kiddie" tent. We got pretty wet that trip! Then went to a Coleman Sunrise that also failed and we got wet. Then to Eureka Sundowner and then to a Eureka Tetragon (the Eureka tents served us pretty well) to now an REI Basecamp.

Cook Kit: This has just evolved over the years with kitchen cast-offs that I contain in one of my Mom's old stock pots that she used for canning. I remove the handle from any pots and pans and they then nest together in this nicely. After the first trip we did ditch the cast iron pans!

Water purification: From just dipping straight from the lake to iodine tablets to a pump filter (slow and time consuming) to a Katydyn Base Camp Gravity filter, which worked great as far as ease of use but the filter life was extremely short-lived and it plugged quickly. Have now modified this Katydyn set-up as many others on this forum have done by removing the original filter and inserting an in-line filter in the feed tube (I use a Platypus Gravityworks) and this system works well.

There's probably even more I could do on this topic but work is calling!

Tent/Shelter progression:

Eureka Timberline 4-person; to -
REI Half-Dome 4; to -
CCS Lean Plus 2 to -
Superior Gear Insulated Hammock (new this year).

The Timberline died when the person I lent it to actually fell ON the tent, ripping the fabric and seriously bending the poles (it was about 20 years old at that time and was taken out of retirement as a loaner).

The REI tent is now over 15 years old and still kicking - it's also been relegated to "loaner" status.

The Lean is only a few years old and is (was) my primary shelter, depending on how well I end up liking the Superior hammock.

What a fun question to ponder!

For stoves I added the year purchased. The stove buying picked up when I started adding solo trips to the fun in 2012.
1993 Coleman Propane Bottle with Burner on Top
2009 Coleman Propane Bottle with Burner on the Ground
2013 Folding Stick Stove
2015 Trangia Alcohol Stove Set
2019 Solo Stove and Pot
2020 MSR Whisperlite Stove
2021 MSR Pocket Rocket Deluxe

My other item to highlight is the Sven Saw 1993 - 2020. Replaced by a Boreal 21" saw in 2021.

GPSr progression:
1990s - Garmin GPS 45 XL 'Personal Navigator' (no on-screen map) eBay purchase
2006 - Lowrance iFinder ExpeditionC w LakeMaster chip
2007 - First discovered RAM Mounts for attaching items to canoe thwart
2011 - Garmin 62st w LakeMaster chip
2012 - Garmin 62st w Garmin Upper Midwest Fishing Guide chip
2016 - Garmin 64st w Garmin Upper Midwest Fishing Guide chip
2019 - DeLorme inReach SE Satellite Tracker (bought used)
2022?? - Looking at the Garmin 66st...

No worries in the map-and-compass preparedness department:
Compass progression:
Silva Explorer
Suunto M-3
Maps progression:
Fisher
McKenzie
:-)