High Sierra Topix

What item/items have you packed for years/decades that you have never had to
use and never make it out of your pack? Any items that come along for sentimental
reasons or maybe just habits from earlier years (Boy/Girl Scouts)?
How long has you been carrying this/these item/items, why did you start carrying
it?
Mine would be my compass, it has never been out of my pack while out on a trip.

I always seem to have some heavy lock-back knife. I 've a few that have great sentimental value that were gifts from either my father, brother and a close friend that have all passed. I have a small very sharp, light folder that is always in my cookset. The big blade just takes a ride. Though none of them ever backpacked with me, I fervently wished they would or could have.


Charlie

Since I started backpacking again a few years ago, after an almost 30 year hiatus, I've got my gear trimmed down to the lightest and barest of essentials. So far, I've packed a remarkably small knife (very small Swiss Army type) but have yet to use it. Maybe on one of my trips in 2013, I'll finally have to cut something with a knife. If not, it will start staying home. Everything else in my pack has been used.

Yeah, my knife also doesn't get much usage, it has only come out maybe 2-3 times in the
past 15 years. That is one of the items that I have been carrying since my Boy Scouting
years.

I have always packed a pistol while hiking and backpacking. I don't want this to turn into a discussion on why I do but I do. I did pare it down six years ago to a 12 oz. S&W 357.

I've got a small bag of items that I carry but never use. Like Maverick there is a compass that has never been used, a small length of paracoard, a bottle of iodine tabs, and probably a couple of other things I can't think of off hand. For a couple of years I carried a spare buckle for my waist belt until I bought a new pack with a removable lid/fannypack with an interchangable buckle. I could probably include my first aid kit except for that time I needed the imodium. After having the imodium there when I needed it that first aid kit would hve been worth carrying if it weighed 5lbs.

As for a knife, I don't know how you guys function without useing one. Actally I don't use mine that much but I wouldn't think of being without one. It's just a standard 3 blade Buck pocket knife but I carry it 7 days a week. I have carried a pocket knife since seventh grade, it's just part of me.

Little binoculars. Can't really see far in them...I wonder why I even carry them.

I used to carry heavy stuff, wool insulation, spare wool blanket, heavy stoves and cooksets, canned goods, books, i even carried a lantern on a few trips back in the day.

I dont believe in gun control, but carrying a .357 or any gun in the sierra is just strange

The times I brought a guitar were awesome!!

I recently took some advice that I believe I read here and emptied out the contents of my pack and took out anything I didn't use on the previous trip. Previous to that, it was a pair of army surplus wool pants that I always carried with me, yet never needed.

The only exception now is a deck of cards. Years ago we had some epic rummy games up on the granite, but the last few trips we never break out the cards. I think I may have schooled my hiking partners one too many times.

absolutely nothing. Most of what I carry extra is clothing. That's fine with me because I might have needed it, and they double as my pillow. I carry zip ties, but they weigh nothing and I might use them, like if a friend's boot delaminates. The knife is obligatory. Haven't carried a compass for years; It's almost obvious which way is which in the Sierra. If i need it during a white-out hike, I should have already hunkered down.