How long does your kit last?

A snowHead

I've only had 3 jackets since I was 18, now 60.

A snowHead

My wife bought me new jacket and trousers last year as she was fed up with me looking like a ragamuffin around her and all our friends who have lots of regular new kit. My old stuff was pretty worn out but still functional and comfortable, I was sad to see it go in the bin. Bought new helmet this winter and had new googles last year, had my Hestra gloves for about ten years now and they are going strong and probably my fav piece of kit! Unless it’s falling apart I tend not to throw anything away including regular clothes, T-shirts have to reduce to 51% holes!

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I have had Scott 3L shell gear for the last 5 years.I ski 3-4 weeks a year in it and I ski at my limit so probably go down fairly hard in it every other day I ski. Quite surprised it isn't ripped every time I get up from a fall to be honest but its still fine. Looks like new tbh. Haven't got anything to compare it with. I bought two pairs on trousers and a jacket and i haven't had to use the second pair of trousers yet.

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Is there a prize for the oldest gear still in use? I’m female and my current jacket is about 7 years old, but I do still have my Rodeo C&A jacket that I bought around 1996. I wore it for one day in Les Arcs in January this year.

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Apparently the prize is that you get a Willy to wave….

After all it is free

Using this thread as a reflection.

Started skiing in 2019
- written off 6 pairs of skis, 5 in the last 2 seasons. All delamed, snapped or pulled out the raceplate. Also sold three pairs in total.
- onto my 5th pair of boots
- 3 pairs of salopettes
- 2 jackets
- 3 pairs of goggles. broke the last pair (EDITED)
- 3rd set of poles, previous ones all snapped.
- 4 pairs of gloves. All previous and current pair chewed up by the edges. Latest pair lasted about 10 weeks since last year and will need a new pair at the end of the season.
- 2 helmets

Apart from skis, boots, gloves, poles, helmet and goggles, the rest are low cost decathlon products (or equivalent)

I had a pair of Ski Poles bought from Gros Sports in Sauze D'Oulx when I was 18. Whilst I changed skis, boots, jackets etc. I didn't change the poles. They worked. No need to buy another pair. One finally broke its tip in Val D'Isere when I was 65 a few years ago. I was rather sad because they had skied with me everywhere since I was 18. If only I could access their memories.

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My ski kit last quite well. I usually do between 4-8 weeks a year.

Jackets particularly last well. My oldest jacket is around 15 years old.
Salopettes I suffer from the same as a previous poster, regularly slicing them (I think when unclipping). Thank god for duct tape. Around 5 years a pair.
Boots every 8 years or so.
Skis similar, though the rocks on Gentiane once killed a pair of Elans in their second year. Skied a pair of Salomon Pocket Rockets until they disintegrated mid-piste.
Gloves are probably my fastest wearing bit of kit. They rarely last more than about 5 years.

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Strolz boots with custom made inners (the painful foam expansion job) - I think I had them made in St Anton in 2008. Some running repairs at their UK agent a couple of years ago. Still fit like a glove, a comfort game changer.

Bought a posh Eider jacket in 1998/99, it lasted about 15 seasons, finally falling apart. Replaced with a very similar Arc'teryx jacket, expensive, for the first time it now needs a repair to a seam.

Socks, base layers, mid layers, gloves are worn until they first develop a hole. Base layers and mid layers are worn at home all the time in the cooler months, so great use is made of them.

For many years I loved Icebreaker base layers and didn’t mind paying £60 a pop. But then they upped the ££££ ante plus I found they wore through at the elbows from me using them in desk work. Rival brands don’t do that.

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You know it makes sense.

Funny.. I’ve been in Ellis brigham today getting my boots tweaked. The young chap that could have been my son Laughing

asked me how long ago I bought them.. with a single raised eyebrow when he heard 6 years ago. Are they at the end of their UEL? I mean.. I thought they were still good to go tbh. Aside from my foot slipping issue.. which the adjustment should hopefully fix??

How long do folks keep boots for??

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

My alpine boots generally last 3-4 seasons - but when I have skiing an entire season of 90 days or so, they have pretty much been done by the end. I could probably have had new liners fitted in some cases, but often the tech moves on so I just replace them.

I am hard on boots as I am 85kg, and like jumping and bumps.

Exception is my current ones are such a good fit for my problem feet, and just such great boots (Atomic Hawx Ultra 120GW), that I bought two pairs at a massive discount and had them fitted, and thus should have them for ages.

A snowHead

How long is a piece of string?

Some of my gears last longer than I care to keep them. Most clothings typically “last” up to a decade or more. (I have quite a few piece of clothings that are faded in color but otherwise structurally sound. In the meantime, I’ve put on weight over the decades I’ve owned the clothings that they barely fit any more Embarassed

)

Hardwares don’t quite last as long. Helmets, goggles, skis all got bumped, used, scratched or what not, enough they no longer function like new at some point. Some I run them to the ground, till they actually break. Others, I replace them when those blemishes starts to bother me.

Back when I only ski a couple weeks a season, I found my gears “age out” while sitting about. Plastics crack or lose their flexibility etc. But since I started skiing quite a bit, I actually wear out some of my gear. A friend who ski A LOT made a comment “Isn’t it great you don’t have to feel guilty to buy new and improved gear?” Yeeeah!

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Ages. Most winters I do a minimum of 50 days (had some 100+ day seasons and I can't think of anything that hasn't lasted at least 3 seasons. Even skins I tend to get 3 seasons out of (150+ days) before the glue starts to get clumpy. Exception would be thin gloves liner things that typically last a season before starting to get holes. Although this year's decathlon pair are still going strong after a few weeks.

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Jacket is 14 years old and still going strong but with a fairly lengthy break in that time with no skiing due to children. Trousers are 7 years old, bit faded but perfectly serviceable. Snowboard is 14 years old and boots at least as old (can't remember when I got them tbh).

Not used the board since 2019 as I've been skiing for the last 5 years but bringing it out of retirement this Easter so we'll see if it stays in one piece. Boots might need a bit of duct tape Laughing

Had to replace my ancient Dragon goggles and Dakine gloves last year (they were pretty shredded). Helmet is a few years old.

Spend enough replacing various bits of the kids equipment every year so I feel like I have to hang on to my stuff as long as possible!

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My boot bag is still the one I got with my first pair of boots about 40 years ago from Ski Exchange near Cambridge. Various detritus in the bottom including 3V & La Plagne ski passes from the early 90s. Must have been through 6 or 7 pairs of boots. In contrast most of my kit and clothes are less than 12 months old.

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@Richard_Sideways, in the style of Toy Story 3? Smile

After all it is free

Goggles - bought in 2021 as a replacement for my faves that sprang off into the abyss at the top of Pic Blanc
Pants - Decathlon sale rack jobbies, had for a few years and they go with anything
Jacket - selection of retro Westbeach jackets that I've saved from landfill. Nothing newer than 2012 I think
Bindings - 2012 Ride Beta that I won; leatherette is flaky but they're still going strong
Board - K2 Raygun and LibTech Skunk ape, both 2012 models. They still do what they're supposed to. I'm not good enough to warrant a fancy new board.
Gloves - my winter cycling gloves that finally gave up the ghost at Christmas, weren't designed to be holding skies on the sharp edge.

Only things I've bought in recent years are new base layers, socks, and a new helmet (on sale) as I don't like old helmets.

I'd like to think that I'm retro aesthetic but not cringe. My kids probably think otherwise Laughing

Used a C&A thermal today. Reckon it was bought late 80s!!

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I have two Craghopper fleeces bought from Outdoor Action in 1987. They are still in good nick(my wife thinks otherwise) and regularly used.

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How does one find a wife that keeps stuff till its worn out, asking for a friend rolling eyes

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Gear that is getting replaced ready for next trip:
Spyder salopettes. Had for four years, been a bit tough on them, lining fraying away in the nethers, seams giving up the ghost, but they've served me well.
Glove liners. Cheap and cheerful, almost regarded as consumables.
Julbo goggles. Brand spanking new, but thanks to a balloon brain carrying skis turning to talk to his mates, now sporting a brand spanking new impact scratch right in my eyeline. I suppose they did their job, protecting my eye etc, but it still rankles.

I have one pair of skis in good condition that are 20 yrs old, but I've had two pairs of skis that I have destroyed in less than a week

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

We have a Poma tow and a skidoo from the mid-late 60s still going strong, though they are a bit like Triggers Brush, lots of replacement and refurbished parts. The skidoo was not used for 10 years snowHead

A snowHead

I'll have to come back to this in a few years! We're very late to the party, bought cheap last year in case we didn't like it, now starting to buy proper kit. Planning to ski around 10 days a year going forward (week with family, long weekend with mates). I think I'll be disappointed if I don't get 10 years out of the stuff I'm buying now (excluding gloves by the sound of it) Smile

A snowHead

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Boots have done 11 weeks, Jacket, which was lightly used second hand when I got it for £50, has done 9.

Maybe soon I'll justify new boots as newer ones do look so much better and are significantly lighter.

The jacket though, seems very much out of style in that its insulated, decent number of pockets, snow skirt, thumb loops... everything these days is a "lightweight shell" requiring a separate technical midlayer and then probably a bag if you want to take a drink of water or spare goggle lenses with you.

It shows its age by having a slot for you to put your wired headphones through, labeled "mp3" ; and the only downside is the non-removable hood which functions only as an air brake, which was clearly designed pre-helmet as its a tight fit over a beanie, no chance it would go over a lid.

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Just replaced my snowboard boots,Salomon f22s that were probably 15 years old. The sole fell off. Replaced bindings too, probably the same age. Board is 5 years old and going srong. Jacket and trousers are probably in the 5-8 year old range, and accumulating repair tape and patches at an increasing rate this season.

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New Spyder trousers arrived yesterday ready for the SOPiB. I see from photos that my new Odlo jacket debuted in 2020 & is already looking a bit worn & faded. My older Spyder jacket debuted in 2017 & still looks fairly new. I tend to like Spyder because it’s so hard-wearing & if you buy in the Spring it’s good value. New trousers rrp £300 bought for £126 inc delivery…

After all it is free

Surely when bored with it or it's knackered are the obvious answers? If remotely fashion or trend conscious, you may wish to 'move on' with trends and fashion. If not, replace when it's worn out, or close to. Those whom are loud and proud re. their donkey's years old mismatched kit are as much making a statement to others as those in the £3k designer outfit. The 'oh I don't care as long as it's functional' statement causes moi to raise one eyebrow. wink

Buffalo midlayer/outer jacket, purchased 40 years ago, still wear 3 to 4 weeks a year and regularly in the snowdome. Still found to work better than any others I've tried. Warm, highly breathable. Still manufactured. Still looks like new!

It was relatively expensive then, but has stood the test of time and could considered therefore as cheap.

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It's my Icebreaker base layers which truly amaze me. I can't even remember when I bought them and I wear them literally all the time in the winter, at home as well as skiing. I wash them in the machine, albeit in a delicates cycle and, without wishing to tempt fate, they appear to be indestructible.

Help!!

How long does your kit last?

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