Nearly forever tools and prepping

I was thinking of the tools that have impressed me during my life on approaching 80 and that stand out in my mind for being used by the generations before me and hopefully for those that follow. They have already passed the test of time and use and some have not been improved on. I have and use cast iron cookware that belonged to my grandmother and stainless steel copper bottomed pans and kettles that belonged to my mother. I have glass canning jars and stoneware crocks, butter churn, boiling water caners, and such that belonged to my mother and that she may have got from her mother I have axes, pick axes, grub hoes, hoes, garden spades, animal traps, crow bars, rock bars, chains, logging tongs, felling wedges, splitting mauls, rakes, planting tools and rakes, garden cultivators, a stone boat, and such I that belonged to my parents and some to my grandfather and grandmother. I have bought some new garden tools and also picked up some at yard sales and replaced wooden handles as they go bad, but the basic wood harvesting and gardening tools will last for many years. I have micrometers, indicators, small squares and levels, calipers. anvil, tongs, hammers, hardy, etc that my grandfather used on the farm for metal work and chisels, turning tools, bit and brace, planes, spoke shaves, froe, hand saws, buck saws, coopers hatchet, leather working tools, shoe making and harness making tools that belonged to my dad, grand dad, and maybe great granddad. I have a 1941 Ford 9 N tractor that I picked up from a friend's widow that I have only had a few years, but it has a Dearborn plow, scraper blade, sickle bar mower, wagon, disc, chain drag, and spring tooth cultivator that have been in use since at least the middle 1940's and that still work well. I missed out on the haying equipment that went with it as they are still using it. I have a Springfield 30-06 that was given to me by the ODM when I was 17 and was possibly nearly 40 years old at that time and still works perfectly. I have a Lee loader set that I bought when the government quit giving me ammo for it in 1956 and it all works well. My cousin ended up with grandad's Winchester and still uses it in deer hunting and it predates 1900. I have butcher knives, hog scrapers, meat cleavers, sausage stuffers, meat grinders, meat saws and such that belonged to my dad and some to his dad. I have belt axe, canteen, sheath knife, cook set, pack, blanket, shelter half, load bearing suspenders, 45 pistol, holster, ammo pouches, and such that were bought army surplus or inherited that date from WWII and a German Mauser rifle, cleaning kit, etc that dates from WWI.

What have some of you had passed down from your elders that you cherish and would be handy if SHTF and that you still use even now? Others in the family got my grand mothers quilting frame, loom, wool wheel and carding tools, foot treadle sewing machine, dyeing pots and racks for her yarn, and such.

My all time favorite is a sea chest in a family here that goes to the eldest daughter and was made in the 1400's in Switzerland and has been passed down as a hope chest for at least 200 years that they know of.

 

Might be interesting to start a thread on survival tools that last generations if properly cared for. Buck knife, cast iron cook ware, good carbon butchering tools, good hoes, rakes, etc. Some of the handiest tools, wheelbarrows, pointed sand shovels, potatoe peelers, shoes, clothes, sheets, etc wear out in a mere 15-20 years and have to be replaced.

 

We live in a throw-away and replace world which is sad. Many things are more expensive to fix than to replace, if you can find someone to repair them. Try finding someone to work on a TV. No one does it anymore, or if they do, I have not found them. I have two chain saws I cannot get to run and can find no one to work on them, so, I had to buy another. There is little quality control in less expensive saws so I purchased the best I could find this time. Should have done that to begin with.

 

I collect old hand tools, lanterns, and specifically, Sail era ship building, and on board repair tools, and finally, fighting tools outside of firearms! One of my most prized tools is a single hand bucking saw that gets used every season. I Also enjoy old steam engines from the early 1900s as a way to power things before the gas engine took over. I have a 1939 Caterpiller 2 1/2 ton dozer from the logging days, it has a bull blade, and both nose and tail gang winches for skidding, it needs a complete overhaul and restoration, but while here in OryGun, I discoverd that every part I could need is still available from CAT and combined, all the dealers in Or. Have them all in stock, John Deere what???

 

I got a small pile of old hammer heads with broken off handles from my wife' grandfather. That' probably the oldest stuff I have.

 

I have a pretty complete set of 19th century wood working, carpentry and cabin building tools. They were handed down from two great grandfathers, grand fathers, my dad and what I’ve collected. They are kept in the oak tool chest that my paternal grandpa made. He was a Civil War vet and I’ve got his Grand Army of the Potomac medal!

 

I've got a few old draw knives, and a few other tools from my dad , but there was so much that got wasted away when my dad died , it's amazing how some families get when someone dies.

 

When my oldest son married, I gifted him an 8in Griswold CI fry pan. The seasoning was decades thick. I was gifted a fry pan by my dad when I finally married....

He sent me a little cell phone vid of him making cornbread in it. He also said he'd come close to tossing it out as it was both 'real old' and Cast Iron.

Lesson - if you are going to gift old school tools etc to a youngster, impress upon them them the intrinsic value of old stuff. Otherwise, it may be lost forever...

 

Grandpa left me the old one that I never saw leave his belt as long as I can remember, when he died and in the box with the knife and sheath was was a note from him. My days are about done but take my knife and cut your way through life. I carried that one for years but developed a fetish for the Old Timer/Schrade Sharp Fingers and have bought one every year for the last 35 years. Usually carry the new one for a year and then put it in the crate with the rest of the collection. While they are designed as skinning knives, they serve just about every knife purpose for me. Although I do get some funny looks when we go to a steak house and I toss their junk knives to the side and whip out the sharp finger and start cutting. The other thing he left me in the box was his Estwing hatchet he always kept under the seat of his truck. He always said "all you really need in life is a good knife and axe and everything else is just gravy on the biscuit."

 

Duane ,
I can match your list almost exactly , including the 9N ford, mine has a skip loader as well .
My son carries the wood working tradition and a great many of those tools I've handed down to him.

 

Ball Pein hammers, a draw knife, handsaws, several braces with many bits, and old screwdrivers in a handmade tool chest came to me from my great grandfather who was a railway carpenter and built the interiors of rail cars from the 'teens to the forties at the Spencer Shops.

Southern Railway's Spencer Shops - Wikipedia

I'm the only male in the family to have never worked for Southern Railway (down to my generation).

 

I've left Dad's machine shop in the same basic setup as he left it, and always appreciate how he arranged things. I have his last Zippo lighter, pocket knife, slide rule, fly rods, reloading dies and rifle, tractors, stationary engines (sawmill), and every tool from the farm. I have Grandpa's and Great Grandpa's watches, knives, conductors punch, folding wooden rulers and many small tools. I use cast iron frying pans daily that are at least second generation, and although not from my own family, I know of their history. My family camping gear was mostly lost in a house fire, but I have replaced lanterns, stoves and kettles and use many lamps and lanterns daily that are 70 or more years old. I use a white and blue porcelain stove top percolator that was subject to recall in 1978 and the handle still hasn't fallen off.

These things were all built to last, and have proven value.

My family knows of and shares in my appreciation of durable gear. I would be honored to know that my heirs teach their children to use, respect and appreciate these items, and those I have used in my life that will long outlast me. My automatic watches will certainly still keep ticking, my blades will hold an edge, my 1964 Zippo will still light, and my lanterns will still chase away the darkness. The rifles I've built on my father's machines will still shoot true, and the many notes in the logbook on the reloading bench, and in my online notes were written as much for them as for me.

If anywhere down the line there is another U.S. Marine in the family, I would be honored if they would carry either of my swords.

 

What is the oldest firearm that anyone here has or has shot? Once shot a wheel lock made in Switzerland in the 1600"s, very reduced load I guess, and very heavy. Shot my great grandfathers Civil War rifle with caps, minnie balls, grandfather called them scrappers, and powder that he brought home in 1865 or so and pre Civil War Colt revolving shotgun and pre Civil War Colt pistol and old trade musket, don't know when it was made. Seems like 60 years ago people were a lot more willing to shoot old guns and they didn't cost so da** much. In 1950's guns from the 1880 to 1920 period were common. All of those weapons, as well as knives, would and did last at least 100 years with proper care

 

How long do you suppose these will last? My great-uncle Gus, who was a garbage man, rescued these from the trash at the Detroit Navy yard when the Navy got new flatware and threw all these away shortly after WWII.

 

I have a couple muzzle loading shotguns I shoot that are a bit over 100 years old. Both are percussion single barrel. One I could date only by the proof mark at after 1850. It's near 28ga and built for a very small shooter. It weighs under 4 pounds. The other is a late 1860's heavy 12ga that shoots shot very well, and .690" round ball better than my Brown Bess.

I won a bet for an 1874 Marlin revolver in .30 rimfire last winter. The bet was that if I could make and load ten functional rounds of .30 Rimfire ammo (it's been obsolete since 1919) I could keep the pistol. I had all winter. I made a dozen. Had it done, complete with loading equipment, heeled bullet mold and reloadable rimfire cartridges, and a fitted pistol case for everything within two weeks. I enjoy hearing about firearms you can't get ammo for.