Old Gear: At Some Point Let It Go

I was out on a mountain bike ride a few weeks back with an individual who was wearing a torn up pair of bike shorts. The shorts were torn almost a full year ago in a crash. It got me thinking, and now, as my mom taught me to do, I'm sharing with you!

Who doesn't love gear? I know that you love your gear. I definitely love my gear. We spend a lot of time researching it, time using it, and money on it. Our gear becomes an extension of our body, and slowly over time it starts to define us and becomes part of our ego. But at some point you really need to let it go.

My Gear Bunker

Now the obvious reason for getting rid of an old piece of gear is safety. If it's broken, torn, or no longer working as it's originally designed to then it is no longer safe for you to be riding, climbing with, or utilizing in anyway. Not only should you not being using it but you shouldn't be subjecting your friend's to you still using it. I guarantee you that your friends are tired of waiting for you to "fix" your "whatever" for the billionth time. If they were a true friend he/she would be telling you exactly what I am right now, and if he/she has been telling you this then it is time you actually listen because now a stranger is on your case.

Busted Boots

If your gear is out dated, over used, and needs to be retired please for the love of everything holy retire it. You are not vintage because you still use the same pair of ski's that you did 20 years ago, and no they do not work just fine. When they are being held together with duct tape, bailing wire, twine, or are in need of a foreign object apart to hold it together it's time for something new. And no you cannot just get a new piece and retro fit it to your 800 year old tent.

Gear in Use

There is another reason to get new gear. New technology. Now you might think that your old gear is still the hippest and coolest thing since sliced bread, but it's not. Whether your belief on the theory of evolution in life is you have to accept that when it comes to gear and technology that evolution exists. There is new gear because there are new discoveries in materials and how those material work and respond to the stress's they are put under while in use. Therefore, each year the gear evolves into a stronger, lighter, and maybe just maybe even safer.

I don't really care what you do with it (e.g. build a fence, bench, hang it over your mantle, or use it as a scare crow in your garden) as long as you take it out of commission. Please don't just pass it along to your niece or nephew because that isn't fair to him/her. Maybe you can donate it to a local fire department for fire testing or recycle it.

If you still use this stove then this post applies to you

A good rule to live by is that if the company no longer exists, no longer makes that piece of gear, or no longer sell's replacement parts for it you should take it out of commission. Also, if your bike shorts are torn please get new ones cause I don't want to see that.

I want to clarify something. I am not saying this to you today because I work in a gear shop or because I want everyone to run out and buy the most recent "whatever" just because. I want people to be more mindful of their gear and when you break it, it has it's 50th birthday, or you have to reinvent the wheel just to make it work please for the love of the snow gods let it go.

Frankie

This is a clarification post. Now you know.




Okay, so here is the deal. There is this thing called a whipping post. The whipping post was used a form of punishment in the oldie day's of lore. It was a brutal form of punishment, and wasn't severe enough to actually take the life of the punished therefore it was highly feared.



As society has developed and human rights have increased forms of "physical" punishment and torture such as the whipping post have been removed from our day-to-day culture. However, intellectual, rhetorical, and emotional punishment is harder to control. If you have read a my blog you will have noticed that I've made reference to an individual as the particular source of my rant. I have each time named this individual "Frank."



Frank is a real person. Frank is my colleague, coworker, roommate, and friend. Unfortunately, for him, Frank is my whipping post!



His name has become the call tag for my rants. Therefore, he will always be associated with what I am criticizing. He may not always deserve this but I have to have some sort of word association for the reader. Now I could change it up and use different names each time, but I don't feel that is fair to you as readers. Familiarity to the subject is crucial to my subject matter.



There was nothing he did to initiate this abuse (although he did shoot me at close range in the ear with a rubber band) but his reaction to it was so priceless and beautiful that it stuck. If I am murdered in my sleep then you probably know who did it because he might end up killing me over this.



I feel like I should redeem myself and say some good things about Frank, and there is a lot I could say, but I think that would defeat the purpose. I mean, after all, it's not going to kill him.