What sentimental things have used in making your gear?

[ScottyDale]

So that "TV stand" in the back bedroom of my folks house turns out to be a mid 1960's Sears Kenmore Model 95. Never realized Dad was our resident thread injector. He showed it to my son and I and said it had been froze up for a few years. I took it to the shop and they got it working great. My 5th grader and I used it to build his history quilt ( Boston Massacre/ Boston Tea Party). Looking forward to many years DIY'ing gear with my family using a legacy machine!

[grannypat]

I think lots of people were traveling, in the woods, etc. and are just catching up. Don't take it personally. So far I haven't used any sentimental items. I've been trying to get rid of stuff--too much stuff and I intend to die (though hopefully not soon) with nothing.

[Hangs4Fun]

I am still on my first roll of thread. But maybe someday I will get to the end of it. If I keep measuring incorrectly I will be to the end of this roll of thread sooner then anticipated.

Just lay down a lot of triple stitches and you will be on to your second in no time...

[Hangs4Fun]

ScottyDale.. Discovering your dad was a closet thread injector.... Priceless. :-). That ole machine has a hundred years left and what you are doing with your son is awesome!

GrannyPat, I was wondering because I was seeing hundreds of views on other threads I started with no replies. What I didn't think of is that the view counter may have been mostly visitors, I don't know.

I have several projects I have completed that wrote down detailed steps to with lots of pictures. I was about to start posting them with the intent of helping noobs save time on things that stumped me and share new design elements I hadn't seen before.

I was honestly starting to look elsewhere to somewhere more inviting and with more participation. But I see your point. I was going to post a couple more projects and see how it went. After all I'm here to learn, share my findings on what confused me and share my ideas. As you all know it takes a lot of time to do detailed step by step posts and provide comments, encouragement, and feedback where possible. If its not reciprocal why waste my time here and not find another one (there are several out there).

That being said I really do think this is the best site as per the original intent from the original guys. I was beginning to think the new more profit minded owners had ruined a great thing, I don't know, time will tell there.

So with that said, the community of people is more important to me than the domain name our the hundreds of thousands of posts that while very informative can be difficult to search through and make heads or tails of things. That's where the community spirit steps in and the ole timers assist weed through the noise. I wasn't feeling that spirit and quite frankly was wondering why I should spend any more time here and give time to another hanging site.

I truly hope it was just as you say GrannyPat, that would def make me a happy hanger with lots of energy and anal attention to detail to share.

Happy Hang'en...

[hikehunter]

My grandmother and my mother had truckloads of fabric, they had collected for decades. A few years ago my mother was donating and trashing mounds of it when I found the material to make my first home-made tent. I have sense made more than half dozen hammocks from the nylon and poly that she had. My nieces have hammocks, my son has one, and I have three. I have taken the stuff my mother and grandmother collected and passed it on. Stuff sacks, a tent, hammocks, a two-night pack, and even two lawn chairs.....

[dynamicsnail]

GrannyPat, I was wondering because I was seeing hundreds of views on other threads I started with no replies. What I didn't think of is that the view counter may have been mostly visitors, I don't know.

I spent about a year around here reading hundreds of threads (many more than once) before I actually registered and posted anything. Trust me, all the knowledge shared on these pages is SOOOOOOOOO helpful to so many, and I, for one, appreciate all the hard work and time taken (even if my checking account feels otherwise).

It's cool to see that so many people still have their original hammocks. I broke the first one I made by using it as the 'top bunk' for hammacrobics last weekend

[charley]

After making a hammock, I needed a watchamacallit that hangs on the ridgeline to put flashlight, earplugs,etc in. I made one from some scraps from my first bugnet.Then I found an old nighty from long ago in a bag of stuff to be thrown away. A little cutting here and sewing there and my wifes old black nighty hangs on my ridgeline.

[f k]

I have not made anything from sentimental items yet, but I have something that I would love to use. I have my dad's old sleeping bag from when he was in scouts. I used it growing up and I love the thing. I had to cut off the zipper a long time ago because it was missing so many teeth it would not work. The fabric on the inside is printed and looks kind of like a treasure map. The only problem is that the inside fabric is very worn so it rips easily and the outside fabric is getting there. One of these days I may turn it into an underquilt for in the house or something like that. I would love to make a top quilt out of it but I don't think it would last long.

[Syrrka]

Love this thread! My first tarp was an old one that my Dad had made. Both he and my mom sewed, but dad made camping stuff. He would take old Army surplus sleeping bags and make them shorter for us kids and he made a ton of tarps. Anyway, the tarp was so old it wasn't waterproof anymore, (and it was heavy) so I bought an Eno Profly, but I saved all the different kinds of rope he used for the guy lines. I also found an old A-frame style tent he had and cut up one of the aluminum poles to make toggles. The tent was worthless, so I figured I could at least use the poles. I also use one of his old aluminum cooking pots and that gripper thing that holds it when hot. Love using these things, They bring back great memories while making new ones.