The Gear I’ll Never Use Again

[Loper]

Eberlestock x1. Least it looked kinda cool. In the end it werent much more than a heavy garbage bag with some shitty shoulder straps hooked to it.

I second this. I had an Eberlestock mainframe pack and it was horrible. Any amount of weight would make my shoulders hurt.

 

[Str8shooter]

LiFeP04 is terrible for a camping headlight. About half the capacity of a standard lithium ion battery, which is also brighter due to higher voltage.

good correction, 18650s are in fact Lithium Ion or more specifically LiCo02

 

[Pacific_Fork]

Man my gaiters are 9 years old and probably have near 1000 miles on them and they look new.

I want to say I heard they used to make better gear, these were from last year and they went cheap. The lace buckles both came apart after a cake walk.

 

[jcaud]

Seems like everything I’ve ever bought seems to have problems and I learn the hard way.

As everyone has mentioned, I’m no longer a Camelbak guy.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

Like I said, I’ve done entire elk with a single havalon blade- at least 15 of them. The OE blades dulled significantly faster - definitely not true surgical blades. Although, the bull I used them on was the biggest bull I have taken and I caped him up to the ears. Maybe that had something to do with it. The hide on the neck, not including the hair was almost 2” thick. Either way, I’ll never use OE again when the havalon is so much better.

Same.

Always, only one Havalon per animal. I've never had one break. I could use the same blade on a 2nd animal but I always switch to a fresh blade. I use the zipblade for skin related dissection which I love > saves the Havalon for the non-skin dissection.

 

[tradman]

Ive still got camelbaks that were issued to me in 2001 that i still use. Never had one leak.

 

[DoubleDown]

Kuiu backpack
Beyond clothing
Tikka (no problems, just preference)
Anything Aero
Wilson Combat AR small parts
Monolithic bullets less than 30cal
Heavy hunting rifles
Custom rifles
EV suv

 

[Hnthrdr]

Always fun to see what some people love and other despise.

For me:
Done with CF barrels have them on 3 rifles, they are fine, but I see them for what they are largely hype, looks, and gimmick any new barrels will be steel.

Leupold scopes

Vortex scopes on anything but plinking rimfires

Magnum caliber rifles

That’s about it for now

 

[Q_Sertorius]

Ive still got camelbaks that were issued to me in 2001 that i still use. Never had one leak.

Yeah, I still use my 2010 and 2012 issue Camalbaks. The second one is from my time spent as a combat instructor, so it is blaze orange. Makes it particularly nice during hunting season.

 

[Grassymike]

I find I get headaches when Ive used them. Im a glasses wearer.

Feel free to send any unwanted swarovski to me...

 

[Mule3006Elk]

Kenetreks: I could never make them work for my feet. Hot spots. Blisters on a few occasions.
Crispi: Better than Kenetrek for my feet but I still had consistent heel issues. Hot spots. No
blisters.
Meindl: Better than Crispi boots but some hot spots going up really steep slopes.
Hoffman Boots: for my feet > perfection!! Sadly, this was my 7th pair of boots. Better late than never!!

Layering system: light, medium, heavy shirts. PITA and never impressed with their heat retention (SITKA, FL, etc.). *I still wear a merino LW base layer and LW puffy 90% of the time. I added a 3rd layer LW puffy and a 4th layer heavy weight puffy. Simple, very light, flat out works well for hunting here in ID*

Water bladder/tube: never. I use collapsable 1 liter platypus.

Heavy fixed blades: never. Havalon for me.

BD or similar headlamps that need AA/AAA batteries: gone. Switched to PEAX this year >
I'll never go back.

Complex overthought meals when hunting: switched to basics like PB jelly, jerky, cereal, a
protein bar, etc. I lose my appetite when hunting. I need food that I really enjoy o/w I
won't eat much. This year I added a light titanium cup, 100 g fuel canister, pocket rocket,
premade coffee packets. Coffee mid day is a morale booster for me. Worth the extra
weight.

Plain earplugs: PITA in the moment. Switch to banded earplugs > perfect.

Any upgrade that doesn't change a measurable outcome. Keep the money in my pocket.
Succumbed to the gear fairly more than once especially early on. Lesson learned. LOL

 

[doc holiday13]

Ah, yep. Knives. For me, I'll never take an expensive hunting or skinning knife in the field again. They're usually heavier than needed, and vastly more expensive, given I just consider it a meat prep tool. Anymore I just use the Victorinox Beef Skinner and their Boning Knife. And one of these flip-scalpels for finer work. But yeah, as cool as some of the really nice knives are, I'm not a knife collector, and these cheap ones get the job done very, very well, at a fraction of the cost.

Check with @Slalomnorth . He makes an amazing knife. They're on par with pricing as "big names" but they're not heavy and he does an amazing job at the perfect heat treat. I can do an entire chicken slaughter day with it and not "need" to sharpen. I still sharpen it after a butcher day but don't necessarily need to. I have this weird mentality of needing shaving sharp knives at all times

I did a write up on his knife

 

[Sawitrightoff]

After posts on bashing boot brands just because they dont fit an uncommon size foot, I’m surprised someone hasn’t listed latex gloves, because they’re allergic to latex.

 

[MO00]

Personal preference but I won’t use a cable driven arrow rest again. If you don’t go with the cheapest possible option they just seem too simple to fail

 

[Fitz]

Garmin Oregon GPS because smartphones have basically made handheld GPS a dinosaur

Rugged Ridge Extreme rear support system- that thing is a piece of crap. And why did I buy two of them? Plus there expensive AF

Water purification systems- just not hunting far enough away anymore to justify needing to fill up on water in the backcountry

Any other brand of socks except for Darn Tough. They’re my favorite and I wear them in my everyday street clothes too. Never want to wear anything else

Benchmade knife that i own- hate that thing. Never stays sharp.


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which bench made did you buy?

 

[2531usmc]

Any product that starts with “Eco” as in eco friendly

 

[Backyard]

Personal preference but I won’t use a cable driven arrow rest again. If you don’t go with the cheapest possible option they just seem too simple to fail

Been using, or do I say running, a Trophy Taker since they came out. Yes, I’m that old. Thousands of arrows through em. Never a single problem.


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[missjordan]

which bench made did you buy?

Not sure i will have to dig it out and look


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[Z Barebow]

Big Agnes sleeping bags and Big Agnes sleeping pads.

The bags are rated about 20 deg shy.

Never met a BA pad that wouldn't leak. (Last one was mercifully punctured by a bear, so I final threw in the towel of trying to find leaks)

Now use a WM bag. (I have yet to be cold) and Klymit insulated pad. Sleep is paramount and this combo has worked for me on past 3 elk hunts.

 

[JollyRoger]

Any knife by Montana Knife - never again.

What’s your reasoning for this?