Old School

A Shakespeare Triumph 1958 Reel

When I was adventure racing, weight was everything.

You bought the lightest mountain bike you could afford, the lightest canoe and the lightest pack.

Everything was about weight. 

Food?  The most calories for the lightest weight.

Use the heavy race-provided paddle or carry your own break-down paddle?

Shoes?  The lightest shoes that drained the fastest when they got wet (and this was the right side of the country, so feet were ALWAYS getting wet).

Trying to figure out how much (or how little water you could get away with carrying until the next fill up opportunity, 'cause water is heavy).

The smallest trowel that would meet pre-race gear inspection.

100 weight or 200 weight fleece? 

Carry a rain jacket or will the weather hold up until the next Transition Area, where you could restock and change out for the next section of the race?

3 inch folding knife or 2 inch folding knife?

How much food will we need until the next TA? 

We screwed the pooch on that one a couple of times, by carrying too little.

Every decision about what to carry had to take into account the weather, the time of year, the race conditions through each section, whether it was a day or night section of the race, mandatory gear that had to be carried at all times, specific gear required for each section of the race, what you could hold off carrying until the next TA, how fast or slow you wanted to travel. 

Ultimately it all came down to weight.

Heavy gear, heavy packs, heavy bodies all slowed you down.

Now that my racing days are over I don't think of weight in quite the same way.

On a personal level I still pack carefully. 

I still have tons of gear from my racing days.  It's not the latest and greatest gear anymore, but it's still high tech and still lightweight and still serves me well.

And I know my gear. 

I treated it respectfully when training back then (but generally treated it awfully during races) and it all held up.

So me and my gear are like old, familiar friends.

We've been through a lot together.

Over the past few months (and without really trying), our store has managed to accumulate some interesting, way cool, totally old school gear.

Some of it is interesting.  Some of it is unique.  Some of it is heavy.  Some of it is just as functional and efficient as uber, ridiculously high dollar, new gear.

When we first opened OAR we imagined that it would contain only "new skool", high tech, breathable, wicking, synthetic stuff.

But when you open a consignment store you have no idea what will come into the store.

OAR is not the same deal as retail outdoor stores such as Sierra Trading Post (which receives regular and predictable shipments of gear sent to it by its distributors).

We find what we find, and what walks in the door is what we share with the community.

If you look this stuff up on-line (and we have) you'll see buzz words like vintage and antique.

I guess it IS vintage stuff.

But when we look at this stuff we see Made in America, great gear in great shape even though it has been used for many years, the history of outdoor gear development, the military service of previous owners.

We love the newest, latest and greatest gear.

But we also LOVE our old school stuff.

It's awesome, sometimes heavy, and always totally bomb proof gear!

Outdoor Life Complete Book of Fresh Water Fishing / Complete Book of Hunting

A pair of vintage GALIBIER RICHARD PONTVERT hiking mountaineer boots. They were made in France, likely from the 1970's, in great shape for their age, weigh a ton and are virtually indestructible. The sole looks brand new and is screwed to the upper (not glued like the newer, lighter, high tec boots).

Carman Super Gator lined gaiters.

Based on the little we could find on-line, and the background of the man who brought these in, we believe these are 1960's military ski poles.

A Sunshine Of The Night Model 2420 Coleman Lantern

These are an awesome pair of boots!  They look brand new but are actually Adidas Thunderstorm boots from the 80's.  They include attached gaiters.

A Kelty external frame pack and a 60's military cot. 

THREE REMINDERS

1.  Check out our Facebook page.  We post up gear info and pictures almost daily.

2.  Hunter Gear Swap is scheduled for Saturday June 29 (10am-2pm) in the parking lot outside the store.

More info on the gear swap can be found in the Special Events section of this blog.

3.  The 25% discount for former, retired and currently serving military and law enforcement ends May 31.

Please No More!

PLEASE NO MORE!

When a lady brought in a roof mount ski rack and two pairs of cross country skis last week, we did the paperwork on them, she walked out the door and I thought "What am I doing?"

It's mid-April and effective as of now, OAR will no longer be accepting any more winter sports equipment (including skis, boots, helmets, boards, poles etc.).

It's time to move on.

We took the old downhill skis off the floor this week (and they'll make an AWESOME bench when we cut 'em down this summer), but still have some gear left out, for those folks looking forward to the 2013/2014 season (which is only six or seven months away).

People are totally beginning to look for warm weather gear - camping, hiking, biking, boating, hunting, and (especially) fishing stuff.

Aside from the obvious gear, people have asked for things I would never have thought of (and it continues to be a learning experience owning an outdoor store in a place like Cody Wyoming).

People are looking for good, technical, name brand day and multi-day packs, but there is also a market for old-school beater packs (so guys can haul meat out of the mountains and not worry about messing up a good pack).

They're looking for lightweight and tiny back-country stoves, but they're also looking for cast iron cookware so that they can car camp.

They're looking for good, high quality fishing rods for themselves, but they're also looking for lightweight and cheap rods for their kids.

And soccer cleats!!!!!

TWO THINGS:

1.  If you have a good, high quality, name brand road or mountain bike, or a boat (canoe or kayak), we'll find room for it at our little store. 

At OAR we still have high hopes to be able to expand back, take up the entire garage bay we are currently renting and effectively double our space by the end of the summer.

We need your help to be able to do that.  The more great stuff we have at OAR, the more people will come by to see what we have.

The more great stuff we have at OAR, the more fun it is to dig through and check out what's new!

2.  If you're not sure we can use it, just give us a call.  You'd be surprised what people are looking for and what they'll buy.

We've been surprised many times over the past few months!

We have the awesome-est pair of boots in the store right now! They are a pair of vintage GALIBIER RICHARD PONTVERT hiking mountaineer boots. They were made in France, likely from the 1970's, in great shape for their age, weigh a ton and are virtually indestructible.

The sole looks brand new and is screwed to the upper (not glued like the newer, lighter, high tec boots). I LOVE these things! They're small - we couldn't find a size on them but I tried them on and would guess they're a ladies Size 10 (maybe a man's 8 1/2?). Totally old school and totally bomb proof.

Looked them up and found reviews on these boots: http://www.trailspace.com/gear/galibier/super-guide/

The boots came in with a pair of vintage Carman Super Gator lined gaitors. VERY COOL!

Area Public School And College Students Receive 10% Off All Their Purchases Everyday

We have a group of Outdoor Recreation students from Northwest College who drop by here regularly, and we say THANK YOU for your support of OAR!

YOU GUYS ROCK!!

Don't forget to follow us on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Outdoor-Adventures-Revived-OAR/295312997264285?fref=ts

Dumb And Dumber

I picked up this pair of Bauer Vapor IX youth hockey skates a few days ago.

They are Size 7, in excellent shape, and a really great pair of skates.

A young man came into the store yesterday carrying a bow and soft shell bow case.

The bow is your basic issue Bear Magnum Hunter right handed compound bow.  It is in great condition and looks barely used.

He also brought in a really nice Cabela's bow case.

Both are on consignment and available for sale at OAR.

In our last blog entry I mentioned that a local professional photographer brought in two of her pictures this past week.

Nena Trapp has taken many wonderful pictures of areas throughout the western United States.

She displays her work at a photography studio here in town (and also maintains a website that displays and sells her work), so we are very lucky to have some of her pieces at OAR!

Thank you Nena for supporting our new business!

The link to Nena's website:

http://www.nenatrappphotography.com/

Examples of some of the really nice decorative items we have in one dedicated space at the store.

We have nature and wild life photography (including Nena's Yellowstone picture and a beautiful still life), metal and wood decorative items, and other interesting stuff you won't find just anywhere else in Cody.

OK.........my husband and I played "Dumb and Dumber" the other day.

I bought this clock (that says No Hunting - No Firearms, and has three "bullet holes" in it) at a yard sale while still living in Tennessee, and didn't realize until I got it home that it didn't work.

It was stored in a box for a couple of years, and when we opened the store here in Cody I hung it on the wall with full intentions of getting it working and then selling it.

Me and my bright ideas. 

I bought a cheap clock at a yard sale a couple of days ago, pulled the hunting clock off the wall at the store and asked my husband to take the working mechanism from one clock and put it on the deer clock.

Uhhhh.......no.

He's a pretty handy guy, but within five minutes of pulling clocks apart (and scattering parts and pieces all across the counter) it became obvious that parts are not necessarily interchangeable and that my bright idea wasn't such a bright idea after all.

I'll just have to go buy new clock workings, and that's what I get for being so cheap.

Facebook Hates Me

Facebook hates me.

I've been trying to post pictures and text on the OAR Facebook page for a couple of days now and it won't let me.

Maybe this tech-nerd changed a setting on the site without meaning to.

Or maybe Facebook really DOES hate me.

Either way, we'll get it figured out and post again as soon as we can.

At the store we have some great gear that needs to find a new home.

A lady brought this beautiful little Rossignol youth snowboard/ski helmet in a while back.

It's in brand new condition, has ample padding to protect a little athlete's head, and is filled with all the hearts and flowers and pinkness that a little girl would love.

Oxygen Element 580 snowboard (size 152) - without bindings, has a few scratches but no major dings, and the graphics on both sides are still in great shape. 

This little MSR Pocket Rocket (yes, that's the actual name of this baby) is a tiny camping stove.

It comes complete with plastic carrying case, and is sturdy but lightweight enough to throw down in the bottom of your pack when you head out to camp or go into the back country.

Quite a few people have looked at this thing, then looked at me bemused and said "What IS that?"

It's a wind resistance bike trainer.  Designed for those who want to ride their bike indoors when the weather outside is too nasty for outdoor riding.

It's in excellent condition, simple to install and use, and breaks down easily when you want to store it away.

Burton Ranger snowboard boots that are in very good shape and a pair of Vision youth snowboard boots that are in excellent (barely used) shape

This is a Graber trunk mount bike rack, designed to hold 3-4 bicycles.

If you need to transport bikes and don't have the room to haul them in your vehicle, this tight little bike rack will do the trick.

If you have any of the following and want to consign them, we would LOVE to have them to sell at OAR, because folks are beginning to head back outside again:

packs - headlamps - trekking poles - camp stoves - hiking boots - trail shoes - paddles and life jackets - wet suits - wind and rain proof jackets - gaitors - tents - camp chairs - anything to do with hunting

Cutest Little Cowboy

Mom gave me permission to post this picture.

The cutest little cowboy we've ever seen!

We had a blast at the Beast Feast the other day!

There were tons of outdoor related businesses and booths set up, and it was awesome to see what other local folks had to offer. 

It was also GREAT to meet with and chat with hundreds of residents who came out to support the event.

Thank you so much to the Cody Bible Church for putting on such a great event, and thanks for inviting OAR to be a part of it!

We had some x-country skis and boots come into the store today.

Yes.......the season is on the wane, but there is still a lot of cross country skiing to be done before the snow all melts out in the Northfork!

The boots (in excellent condition) - Salomon SR301 and Salomon SN Air

The skis (brand new) - Salomon Jarvinen Control 3 Base 318R

Drop by OAR soon to check them out, and remember that we have 30% off almost all our winter gear throughout the month of March.

We have skis, a great snowboard, winter jackets, snowboard boots, ski boots, hats, gloves, scarfs, goggles, poles, helmets, and more.

Gorillas And Other Hunting Gear

A couple of days ago someone came into the store toting some awesome hunting gear.

I already had the Gorilla replacement tree stand cushion (above).

The Gorilla tree stand below is brand new - as in never-been-used brand new.

I forgot to ask the history behind these tree stand climbing straps, but they are in brand new condition.

We couldn't find much information online about this Browning Coyote cx9a compound bow.

It's an older bow and when we couldn't figure out how much it was worth, we took it to one of the local archery stores for more information.

We got a price on its resale value.

While we were at it, we also got a quote on how much it would cost to get a string rewound, because this bow needs it done. 

It's a cheap fix.

A great and solid older bow, that comes with quiver and arrows.

We LOVE this Coleman Powerhouse Duel Fuel Lantern.

It has been used only once, comes with a hard plastic carry case, and is in excellent condition.

Link to information on this great piece of gear:

http://www.coleman.com/product/premium-powerhousereg-dual-fueltrade-lantern/3000000946

Great stuff keeps walking in the door, and we are grateful every day for the support we have received from the community. 

Let your next adventure begin at OAR!

REMINDER

OAR is closing at 1pm tomorrow (Saturday March 16).

We hope to run into many people at the Beast Feast tomorrow afternoon!

The Power Of Duct Tape

When I was adventure racing, one of the items that was always on the list of mandatory gear we were required to carry with us at all times, was duct tape.

Early on in my adventure racing career I resented having to carry six feet of duct with me.  It wasn't heavy to carry but it was only one of many pieces of mandatory gear they nailed us with, and the totality of all that stuff was a heavy pack.  Sometimes our packs were only fairly heavy, but for other races (depending on the length of the race, how many transition areas we had out on the course, the time of year we were racing) some of our packs were crazy heavy. 

I resented carrying it until the first time I needed it, and then I was sold.  There's an expression in adventure racing related to duct tape.  Pardon my French (and we spoke a lot of French out in the field) "If you can't duck it, f*ck it".  Meaning of course, that if you couldn't fix it with duct tape, it couldn't be fixed.  I saw a whole lot of McGyver-ing over the many years that I raced.  And I did some of my own.  Just a couple of examples:

1. 12 hour race in North Carolina - my team was up in the mountains outside of Asheville after dark.  I had a headlamp mounted on my bike helmet, but had foolishly not put new batteries into my handlebar mounted bike lights before heading out.  Yes........the batteries died only a couple of hours before the end of the race, I didn't have replacements and ended up duct taping my tiny back up headlamp to the handlebars, so we could book out of the mountains and complete the race.

2.  6 day race in West Virginia - leading up to the race we had been told that we could either use our own paddles or the race-provided paddles, but if we brought our own we would have to carry them with us for an unspecified amount of time during the race.  Stupidly we elected to use the race-provided paddles.  They were single blade, very heavy, we were the ONLY team who was not using kayak paddles and within the first couple of hours of the race we were already at the back of the pack.  We had to paddle in one direction to pick up a checkpoint.  We then had to paddle back the way we had come, pass by the race start and head further down first lake and then river.  As we passed by the race start we saw more canoe paddles laying in the sand.  My team-mate suggested that we duct tape canoe paddles together to make make-shift kayak paddles.  As I held paddles and as he taped the ends together, I doubted that they would hold for the duration of this first paddle section.  They did.  They lasted all 15 hours.

3.  Same race in West Virginia - during the first freezing cold bike leg, my rain pants got caught up in the chain ring and they got badly ripped.  Funny - when you're in the middle of a race it never even occurs to you to get upset that a $80 pair of rain pants are now trashed.  All you're thinking about at that point is that they're ripped and it's freezing cold and you need to keep all of your layers of clothing functioning.  I wore the same layer upon layer of clothing for almost six days straight, and my duct taped rain pants held together for the entire race.

4.  24 hour race in North Georgia - the sole of my trail shoe got caught on a rock and tore away from the rest of my shoe.  I looked down at my beloved Salomon shoes sadly knowing that they were gonna be trashed at the end of the race.  In the meantime I reached into my pack, grabbed the duct tape and wrapped layer after layer of the stuff around my entire foot so that the shoe would hold together for as long as I needed it.

I've seen duct tape used to cover blisters, used as a compression bandage, used to slow down leaks in canoes and rafts and bicycle tubes, to repair a ripped rain jacket, to repair a ripped pack, to repair a cracked water bottle and a leaking water bladder.  The uses are endless and that sticky stuff is priceless anytime you are away from civilization.  I would never head out into the woods or up into the mountains or out on the water without duct tape.

There is no need to carry an entire roll of the stuff (and most people don't need to carry around 100 feet of it anyway).  While I was racing it was second nature to wrap tape in one spot around trekking poles, to wrap it around the base of a water bottle (yes........the bottle will still fit down in a bike cage), to wrap it around a small piece of cardboard or a stick.  

So there you go.  The Power of Duct Tape.  Don't leave home without it.

One of the things we have really enjoyed about opening OAR is the people that we have met along the way and one of those people is a really nice guy who drops by the store about once a week just to chat.  This man is one of my favorite store visitors and the other day he brought this gun case into the store.  It is an older 4-handgun hard-shell carry case, and comes with one slide-out shelf and one static shelf.  Stop by OAR soon to check it out, and don't forget that we have a March Madness Winter Gear Sale going on now - most winter gear is 30% off!

Looks What's New

I was planning on writing an entry today on the Power of Duct Tape.

When I head out into the woods or into the mountains, I never leave home without duct tape, but you'll have to wait to find out why until next post 'cause I need to share some of the great stuff that came into the store recently.

I am including links to each of these pieces for more information.

To enlarge the images just click on any of the pictures.

All these pieces are of the highest quality and are in excellent condition.

Above is a picture of a pair of Dalbello ski boots.  These are an extraordinary pair of boots and a link to specs can be found here:

http://www.blue-tomato.com/en/Ski-Boots/Dalbello-IL-Moro-T-11-12/product.bto;jsessionid=0a1e042a1f49519e9ed260ed41ba8a788b0f574972ca.node2?product=300467243

We also have a pair of Therm-IC Battery Boot Heaters:

http://www.seisports.com/?,browse,25,198,121,044525

Oakley snowboard jacket and pants.

The pants have only been worn once, and the jacket has never been worn (still has its original tags).

I've been buying and using gear for many years but have never owned anything of the quality of these two pieces.

The jacket:  http://www.powdermag.com/buyers-guide-2011/2011-oakley-corked-simon-dumont-jacket/

These are not the exact pants, but they are very close:

http://www.oakley.com/women/products/gb-insulated-pants/521394W-82R

A beautiful North Face down jacket:

http://www.altrec.com/the-north-face/womens-nuptse-2-down-jacket/

This Head back protector and lined jacket (contains internal Velcro tabs to hold the spine protector in place) are being sold as one unit.

A link to the specs on the back protector:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Head-TH1-Unit-Back-Protector-Snowboarding-Skiing-Medium-/120972688609

OAR is currently open Wednesday through Saturday until April (when we begin our spring hours).  Drop by the store soon, if you are interested in checking out this great gear.

A Note To Those Who Live Out Of The Area

OAR would be pleased to ship any of our great gear to your address, anywhere in the United States. 

Please contact the store directly for more information.

All Kinds Of Gear

I guess I've been living under a rock somewhere but I had never seen a candle lantern before one walked in the door about a week ago.

It comes complete with brass candle lantern, replacement candles, instruction booklet and mesh carry case.

A link to some information about this very cool thing:

http://www.shopping.com/Rei-REI-Original-Candle-Lantern-Brass/info

Just a reminder that our March Madness Winter Gear Sale begins tomorrow.  All winter jackets, skis, ski boots, fleece vests, hats, gloves, ear and neck warmers etc. are 30% off our already low OAR-prices.

Included in our sale are these two great pairs of snowboard boots.  The larger pair are Burton Rangers and the other pair are youth Vision boots.

This very compact and lightweight MSR Pocket Rocket Stove is also for sale. 

More information here:

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/41374?productId=685075&subrnd=0&qs=3016887_pmd_google_pla

OK.........we admit that the Arctic Comet snow boots are not what we would call high fallutin' top name outdoor gear.  But I bought two pairs of them really cheap a while back, because I know that there are people out there who just want warm feet and don't have a whole lot of money to spend to get them.

These boots are in great shape and have liners, and if you just want to spend a little bit of money, we may have an option for you!

Two pairs of climbing gloves. 

We've got a climbing helmet, a couple of pairs of climbing gloves, some webbing, a few harnesses and a few pairs of climbing shoes for sale at OAR

One of the groups that we would like to be able to serve better at OAR are the children and youth of the community.

They outgrow their sports gear in the blink of an eye.

Which means kids are always needing new stuff and parents are always paying for new stuff.

It gets EXPENSIVE!

We have these youth Fox Racing Pants in the store right now and they are in great shape.

We also have a children's bike trailer, a couple of pairs of little (very little) roller blades, a couple of youth ski/snowboard helmets and a couple of pairs of youth skis, bike helmets and a random variety of winter clothing (jackets, vests, boots, gloves, hats, scarfs etc.).

All youth winter gear is also 30% off through the month of March.

If you have young-people gear and clothing that YOUR kids have outgrown, consider consigning it with OAR and giving them new life for another youngster in our community!

A cool postcard that a lady we know in Montana sent to us over the holidays.

She is an avid fisherman and hunter, and caught this on the Bitterroot River.

Great picture!