Old Timers don't follow Newbies much
07-26-2015, 06:30 AM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,926
Old Timers don't follow Newbies much
Like rehabing a pair of winter boots in summer that he old timer had for years, while the newbie is looking for an expensive new pair of boots in October.
Like working up a diy leather prep that will do the job on old boots, but isn't modern enough to prep some new boots.
The newbie looks for new products he doesn't have and the old timer has stuff that's useable that's ten, twenty and thirty years old.
Like working up a diy leather prep that will do the job on old boots, but isn't modern enough to prep some new boots.
The newbie looks for new products he doesn't have and the old timer has stuff that's useable that's ten, twenty and thirty years old.
07-26-2015, 07:13 AM
#2
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 12,746
As an Old Timer as you put it I can sort of relate. But I do use some modern things like range finders with angle compensator, mechanical broadheads, Thermocell, etc. But the reason some of us don't use the "new" stuff is because it's not as well made as the older stuff. Some of the junk put out today I wouldn't want to trust my hunt to it. There are too many items made today where the end outcome is profit and craftmanship and reliability are not the priority.
BTW I shoot a new Mathews bow with carbon arrows and Rage Hypodermic broadheads. I also carry a Streamlight LED flashlight in my pack and wear polypropolyne under garments and some of the latest camo patterns. But I rely on my old Buck Folding Hunter knife and a good pair of broken in Herman Survivor boots.
BTW I shoot a new Mathews bow with carbon arrows and Rage Hypodermic broadheads. I also carry a Streamlight LED flashlight in my pack and wear polypropolyne under garments and some of the latest camo patterns. But I rely on my old Buck Folding Hunter knife and a good pair of broken in Herman Survivor boots.
Last edited by bronko22000; 07-26-2015 at 07:18 AM.
07-26-2015, 01:16 PM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Illinois
Posts: 3,695
LOL Gotta love the old Hermans! I finally had to put mine out of their misery a few years back. Damn things were old as dirt. After 4 resoles and they just gave up the ghost no matter how much sealant I put on they were leaking like a sieve. But I still carry an old Baron belt knife (commonly called a "Jack Knife") that's been on my side for 45 years.
07-26-2015, 01:25 PM
#4
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: south eastern PA
Posts: 15,436
I didn't think you could wear out a pair of Herman Survivors, I can't tell you how many years I had on mine and they were still servicable when I swotched to a lighter insulated water proof boot. I hope they are still making them as well as they did in the 70's when I bought mine. Mostly, we seasoned citizens use what works and is servicable, no sense replacing what doesn;t need replaced just because it is there. That is not to say we do not use new devices such as range finders but we don't discard what still works. Of course many times the newer bunch uses gadgets and gizmos to replace experience and skill we older folks had to learn.
07-26-2015, 04:27 PM
#5
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 12,746
Isn't it crazy? With all the "must have" stuff out there these days its a wonder we ever got any deer at all! Our secret honey holes weren't found by following a way point on our GPS. They were logged into our brain which didn't rely on batteries. Cell phones??? Shoot, most of the places I hunt today still don't have cell service. Range finders?? That tree is about 10 yards, so the deer must be about 20!! But it didn't matter because we shot our recurve bows so much it was like throwing a baseball. You just drew back and released - all by instinct.
And how about an ATV?! Holy crap, if you shot a deer way back in the boonies, sometimes it took 3+ hours to drag it out. I could go on and on. But that's just the way it was and we loved every minute of it.
And how about an ATV?! Holy crap, if you shot a deer way back in the boonies, sometimes it took 3+ hours to drag it out. I could go on and on. But that's just the way it was and we loved every minute of it.
07-26-2015, 04:43 PM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,903
More words of wisdom from our friend, Valentine...
Bad habits have nothing to do with age - except older folks have had more time to develop them, and younger folks haven't had enough time to learn the difference...
So... you're saying that there's something wrong with a young guy that doesn't have boots going out and buying boots? How is a guy that doesn't have boots supposed to wear his 10, 20, or 30yr old boots - that he doesn't have? Is he supposed to go buy 30yr old boots from some old guys widow? I can't really follow your logic on this.
My son is 2yrs old, in 16yrs, he's not going to have a 30yr old pair of boots to put on - how is it not logical that he has to go buy a pair of boots? People that don't have things have to buy them - I can't buy a Model T off of the showroom floor today, just like I can't get the certain model of Redwings I used to wear to work any more.
Guys have to buy what's available for them to buy at the time they're going to buy it; it's pretty hard to go back in time to buy a pair of boots.
I'm calling 100% bullschitt on this. Young guys might fall for marketing gimmicks on new junk, but I'll say it has NOT been my experience that older guys take care of leather worth a d@mn. At least the younger guys know they're supposed to use SOMETHING on leather, or they don't buy leather at all - old guys are prone to abuse and neglect leather.
As a young(er) guy... wait, lemme elaborate on that - as a younger guy that started leathersmithing 20yrs ago as a YOUNG guy... I've spent a lot of time rehabbing old leather products for old farts that didn't have the sense to properly maintain them; I even make a lot of money repairing and replacing leather gear that old guys didn't treat properly.
I've also made a lot of money buying and reselling horses from old guys that thought the horses were "rips," because they'd buck for them. Then I see the broken down saddles and the corresponding sores on the horses withers, and it all makes sense. Those old farts swear, time and time again, that there's nothing wrong with their old saddle, they've been riding it for 30yrs... But the reality is that they're crippling their horses, or causing them to behave poorly because it doesn't fit their horse properly, nor protect their horse properly. But it's pretty d@mn hard to teach old guys anything - so they sell me a "bucking rip snort" that they want rid of for cheap, I feed it long enough for the saddle sores to heal, get a properly fit saddle on them, polish off the rough edges, and sell them for double to quintuple the price.
And I'll be 100% honest, you must not get out much if you have boots that have lasted 30yrs. Men that wear boots outside will wear out boots... That's a fact of life. Even with proper treatment, boots, like any heavy use leathergoods, are not life-long accessories.
Older guys have tended to be the least diligent at cleaning and maintaining rifles/firearms as well. I first noticed that when I was part-timing at a gunshop in college, and I still get a lot of repair work through local guys that know "DJ fixes guns." More often than not, I find that older guys have never done any more than hit them with WD-40, maybe Hoppe's No.9 if the gun is lucky, and run a brush and a few patches down the bore. I pulled apart an older Win 1400 autoloader this winter, a friend's grandpa's shotgun, that had been misfeeding and misfiring on him. There was, without exaggerating, a half inch thick carbon cake in the end of the piston tube, and the rings were dry as a bone. He'd never pulled the thing apart since he'd owned, it, at least 40yrs.
Age doesn't necessarily beget wisdom nor diligence. More often, it begets habit. If the "habit" is diligence, then great, if not, then not so much...
Bad habits have nothing to do with age - except older folks have had more time to develop them, and younger folks haven't had enough time to learn the difference...
My son is 2yrs old, in 16yrs, he's not going to have a 30yr old pair of boots to put on - how is it not logical that he has to go buy a pair of boots? People that don't have things have to buy them - I can't buy a Model T off of the showroom floor today, just like I can't get the certain model of Redwings I used to wear to work any more.
Guys have to buy what's available for them to buy at the time they're going to buy it; it's pretty hard to go back in time to buy a pair of boots.
Like rehabing a pair of winter boots in summer that he old timer had for years, while the newbie is looking for an expensive new pair of boots in October.
Like working up a diy leather prep that will do the job on old boots, but isn't modern enough to prep some new boots.
Like working up a diy leather prep that will do the job on old boots, but isn't modern enough to prep some new boots.
As a young(er) guy... wait, lemme elaborate on that - as a younger guy that started leathersmithing 20yrs ago as a YOUNG guy... I've spent a lot of time rehabbing old leather products for old farts that didn't have the sense to properly maintain them; I even make a lot of money repairing and replacing leather gear that old guys didn't treat properly.
I've also made a lot of money buying and reselling horses from old guys that thought the horses were "rips," because they'd buck for them. Then I see the broken down saddles and the corresponding sores on the horses withers, and it all makes sense. Those old farts swear, time and time again, that there's nothing wrong with their old saddle, they've been riding it for 30yrs... But the reality is that they're crippling their horses, or causing them to behave poorly because it doesn't fit their horse properly, nor protect their horse properly. But it's pretty d@mn hard to teach old guys anything - so they sell me a "bucking rip snort" that they want rid of for cheap, I feed it long enough for the saddle sores to heal, get a properly fit saddle on them, polish off the rough edges, and sell them for double to quintuple the price.
And I'll be 100% honest, you must not get out much if you have boots that have lasted 30yrs. Men that wear boots outside will wear out boots... That's a fact of life. Even with proper treatment, boots, like any heavy use leathergoods, are not life-long accessories.
Older guys have tended to be the least diligent at cleaning and maintaining rifles/firearms as well. I first noticed that when I was part-timing at a gunshop in college, and I still get a lot of repair work through local guys that know "DJ fixes guns." More often than not, I find that older guys have never done any more than hit them with WD-40, maybe Hoppe's No.9 if the gun is lucky, and run a brush and a few patches down the bore. I pulled apart an older Win 1400 autoloader this winter, a friend's grandpa's shotgun, that had been misfeeding and misfiring on him. There was, without exaggerating, a half inch thick carbon cake in the end of the piston tube, and the rings were dry as a bone. He'd never pulled the thing apart since he'd owned, it, at least 40yrs.
Age doesn't necessarily beget wisdom nor diligence. More often, it begets habit. If the "habit" is diligence, then great, if not, then not so much...
Last edited by Nomercy448; 07-26-2015 at 05:15 PM.
07-26-2015, 05:01 PM
#7
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location:
Posts: 5,130
This should be good........................
I heard it my whole life growing up; "Don't tell me I've been doing this for 30 years son !"
I would tell them; "I've seen your work, you've been a shoemaker for 30 years !!!"
I heard it my whole life growing up; "Don't tell me I've been doing this for 30 years son !"
I would tell them; "I've seen your work, you've been a shoemaker for 30 years !!!"
Last edited by Sheridan; 07-26-2015 at 05:13 PM.
07-26-2015, 10:11 PM
#8
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Illinois
Posts: 3,695
Maybe I'm a rarity Mercy but I don't think I am. I hog hunt with a group of old farts (granted I'm the oldest but they aint spring chickens either) and each and every one of them follow the same cleaning rituals that I do when it comes to their firearms. "If it left the house clean the damn thing". It's how my old fart pappy and my older fart great grandpappy taught me. And I don't just swab the bore and call it clean. I break it down and clean it all. Whether it was fired or not! Just because YOU live in an area where proper gun maintenance wasn't taught doesn't mean ALL us old farts are the same there youngin 
Where I grew up, it wasn't like what I have nowadays where I can just go out and get whatever I want. We weren't poor but whatever I had I kept immaculate and in proper working order because I worked hard every morning and afternoon after school taking care of stupid cows to earn the money for my firearms. Only firearm my dad ever got me was a New Win MDL 70. All others I got myself and was raised to keep damn good care of them. Most all the old farts I know and hunt with (and there are many) was raised the same way.
Where I grew up, it wasn't like what I have nowadays where I can just go out and get whatever I want. We weren't poor but whatever I had I kept immaculate and in proper working order because I worked hard every morning and afternoon after school taking care of stupid cows to earn the money for my firearms. Only firearm my dad ever got me was a New Win MDL 70. All others I got myself and was raised to keep damn good care of them. Most all the old farts I know and hunt with (and there are many) was raised the same way.
07-27-2015, 02:09 AM
#9
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 12,746
Nomercy I'm with Super on this. I treat my boots a couple times a year and clean my firearms within 24 hours of shooting them. At the end of every season they get stripped, cleaned and lubed. Except my muzzleloaders. They get stripped down and cleaned immediately after use.
I believe you missed the gest of the originator's post. It is my contention that he feels that newer products on the market today are better than items that have been out there and proven themselves in the field. Yes it's true that bows are faster and most are well made, rifles are becoming more accurate with the advancement of better machinery.
As for having boots for 30 years it is possible when you have several pair. I have a pair of Browning boots for about that long. The bobbed soles are worn flat but they are so comfortable that I keep them to wear around the house. Can't use them hunting anymore because they are too dangerous without traction. I hunt, walk, etc in various temps so I have somewhere around 10 or 12 pair of quality boots in various styles and from non-insulated to very heavily insulated with Thinsulite, some waterproof, some not. My knives are kept sharper than razors via a Lansky system, diamond steel and leather strop.
You must have met some real slobs in your past experience to make statements like that. Almost all of my friends are very meticulous when it comes to their hunting gear.
I believe you missed the gest of the originator's post. It is my contention that he feels that newer products on the market today are better than items that have been out there and proven themselves in the field. Yes it's true that bows are faster and most are well made, rifles are becoming more accurate with the advancement of better machinery.
As for having boots for 30 years it is possible when you have several pair. I have a pair of Browning boots for about that long. The bobbed soles are worn flat but they are so comfortable that I keep them to wear around the house. Can't use them hunting anymore because they are too dangerous without traction. I hunt, walk, etc in various temps so I have somewhere around 10 or 12 pair of quality boots in various styles and from non-insulated to very heavily insulated with Thinsulite, some waterproof, some not. My knives are kept sharper than razors via a Lansky system, diamond steel and leather strop.
You must have met some real slobs in your past experience to make statements like that. Almost all of my friends are very meticulous when it comes to their hunting gear.
Last edited by bronko22000; 07-27-2015 at 02:12 AM.
