Whenever I find a tent bag in a thrift store I have to check out.
Yesterday I ran across a nondescript green nylon bag in the corner. Check the bag, feel poles in there and a bag of stakes. Tag says $7.
Open it up, more green nylon, smell a little mildew, pull out a rainfly with shock cord loops attached and metal hooks and S clips I haven't seen before. Pole bag seems to have a lot of poles for the size of the bag, set it aside.
Start pulling out the tent I see EUREKA stamped along one edge. Take another look at the pole bag, inside are 1/2 inch aluminum poles.
Threw it in the buggy. Just set it up, everything present including instructions. Eureka Timberline 2
Wow, nice score! There used to be a cbain of large thrift stores in my city, benefiting veterans. I snagged many excellent gear buys at them over the years. It was a great resource when I was a young beginning backpacker and paddler with a very limited budget.
Among my best finds were a new with tags Goretex hooded mountain parka for $5.95, a baffle-constructed expedition type North Face goose down jacket with hood for $20 (too big for me but I sold it the next day for $60 to a guy in my outdoor club who was planning to climb in the Andes), a like-new Coleman stove for $8, a pair of pristine Madshus Birkebeiner cross country skis for $15 and lots of great vintage Woolrich and Pendelton wool pants, shirts and jackets, usually for under $5.
Have really missed those local stores since they closed – there is only one now and it’s clear on the other side of town. Another shop, run by the Jewish Women’s Council, also just relocated in an inconvenient location, but before it did last summer I got a Goretex OR Seattle Sombrero paddling hat for $3 that quickly became a favorite.
My 2 man, expedition, Timberline is still going strong.
Replaced the original rainfly this year; it is back to "good to go condition" again. Has seen many, many camp sites since I bought it new in the early 1990s.
Hail, sleet, snow, heavy duty wind & monsoon rain storms. Never once collapsed; I never got wet once.
The 2 man is a great one man tent.
The expedition 4 man is great for 2 people.
BOB
My best score at a thrift shop was a heavy duty leather, motorcycle jacket. A real primo jacket; top quality. Paid 20 buckets. Local leather shop that specializes in biking gear said, "We'd sell that jacket for no less than $175.00 !
The refinement of the A frame. That takes me back. Slept many nights in one. It was a self standing A frame that competed with the newer self standing Dome style though it was not as roomy.
Folks that run them, especially for the non-profits, often have no clue how to price things, which can be a bonus for those of us seeking bargains, though I sometimes feel guilty getting something for an absurdly low price. When I was in college 45 years ago I spotted a rare signed original Thomas Hart Benton lithograph (Benton was one of the renowned American muralists during the Depression) at a charity thrift store near campus for $10. Being a poor student I only had $5 in my pocket but I rushed back to my apartment to borrow another fiver from one of my roommates. By the time I got back to the shop the clerk told me that a "lovely older man" had not only just bought the print but removed it from the frame and gave the frame back to them to sell. A recent check of art sale sites reveals that the print, "Morning Train", of a soldier kissing his sweetheart goodbye at a rural train station, sold at auction a year ago for $3,075.
As another example of people selling stuff they are clueless about, this listing for a Perception Dancer kayak (obvious from photo) just showed up in my local CL:
"13 Ft Perfection Wavedancer Ocean kayak and 1 oar . $200.00"
I stripped all the cloth stuff off it, cut the front wheel of and added a bar across with some padding. then added a couple of cam lock buckle straps to it, and used it for about five years for portaging the canoe.
After we had that thread here last year about making your own kayak stands, I stopped by our local Habitat resale shop just to see what I could find.
There were two triangular metal gizmos on a shelf, 26" long, 6" high, with a wooden dowel attached to the top. No price and no one knew what they were, although one guy thought they might be window parts. Think I paid $4 for them. Cut a slit down two fat pool noodles and taped one to each dowel. Makes a great low kayak stand on my dock and so far no rust.
I volunteer at a local mission store where proceeds go right back into the local community, so I know what you’re talking about.
We have a lot of usable items come in and many say because a certain big name thrift stores, top dog now gets a 6 figure income, they’ve stopped donating to that company. Our store only has a few salaried part time employees of which when an opening comes up, has multiple prospects because they’re only required to work about 15 hours a week.
Most of our items are inexpensive, not because volunteers know nothing about what they have but to keep items moving. Some items are sent to our dumpsters as you can tell they were brought in so the donor wouldn’t have to take it to the landfill and pay to get rid of it. Shame on them, but most is fairly decent. Quite a bit comes from garage sales and occasionally estate sale leftovers. Very high end items are sold on ebay. If we have too much it’s passed onto other places such as Salvation Army and a mission to Applachia. They also have a food pantry, will pay utilities and/or temporary help with rent for those who qualify, offer medical items such as wheel chairs, crutches, etc. to the community at no cost (just return when they’re done using it/them), have volunteers that make minor home repairs for those in need and have other ways of encouraging people to donate food for the pantry.
Most volunteers are retired, but we also get folks w/part time jobs and high school students that due to their eligibility with the “national honor society” are required to do some sort of community service. They’re a delight to have and work right along with everyone else. As one student remarked, “It’s like working alongside my grandma & grandpa.”
Eddie Bauer goose down parka with zip toff hood, 2 large/inside cargo/net pockets, 2 medium/zippered pockets in chest area, 2 large/zippered pockets in hip area. In hard to find size (XL/Tall) that fits me perfectly.
Basically like new condition.
20 bucks, marked down to 18.
Scooped it up.