Stolen Stove - closure after 38 years

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by hot diggity, Jan 1, 2018.


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  1. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

    Stolen from my tent in mid June 1979, along with my warm jacket. At the time I secretly hoped that some kid would get in trouble with the stove, since I had found the red valve wheel not far from my campsite. It cost me a bundle of my limited funds to get a new lightweight butane stove and a replacement for my only jacket. June might sound like summertime, but in Northern Michigan and southern Ontario it was still cold at night. Cold enough that some very nice Provincial Park Ranger's asked if I'd like to sleep in the ranger station after they saw me crouching almost in my camp fire.

    I wasn't what you'd call traveling light by today's standards. In the panniers on my Schwinn I had the Coleman 502, a 1943 vintage GI canvas pup-tent, (shelter halves), a wool blanket and a rubber blow-up mattress with a leak. I was on the road for a little over ninety days, and had traveled from Southeastern lower Michigan up into Ontario. Crossing the Mackinac Bridge and the International Bridge into Ontario was a real treat, since bicycles had to be transported across. I made a big loop up into Ontario and was back in mid Michigan before I got the word, almost too late, that my date to report to Boot Camp had been moved up several months.

    That was more than 38 years ago, and on the last day of 2017 I finally managed to replace the 502 stove that had been stolen, along with a heat drum that had been lost in a house fire years later.

    They weren't much to look at when they arrived, but I knew they'd clean up just
    fine. I wanted a user stove, not a shelf queen.
    502 with drum before.
    After a quick disassembly and clean-up they were much nicer looking.
    502 and drum after.
    So on the first day of 2018, using the only fuel I had with me ($64 a gallon, but the can is refillable.) I had my first Coleman light-up of the New Year. That nice steady blue flame has helped me to finally feel some closure on the theft of my old Coleman 502 stove. (It's a shame it wasn't a 501. I might have stuck around the campground and listened for the fire trucks.)
    502 first light.
     
    Bandit99, Tully Mars, oldawg and 13 others like this.
  2. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    A beverage, cigar and campfire, what more could a man need. :)
     
    Tully Mars and Sapper John like this.
  3. azrancher

    azrancher Monkey +++

    Mmmm a yellow Lab.

    Rancher
     
  4. Downunder

    Downunder Monkey++

    An m1A and a very attractive, very randy blonde.
     
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  5. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

  6. TnAndy

    TnAndy Senior Member Founding Member

    Hmm...I thought from the thread title this was going to be a "I found the SOB that stole my stove" deal.

    Camping (haven't done much in years now), much like life in general, has probably changed with time. Used to be, nobody would steal anything in a campsite..folks left stuff out on open tables all the time with no consideration it might get gone....I'd like to think yours was the exception to the rule.

    Today with 'entitlement' mentality running rampant, I'd assume you'd have to keep everything under lock and key, or armed guard. Yet another sign we're due for a great big cleansing of useless eaters.
     
  7. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

    I'm reasonably certain that it was kids that got into my camp. They made me pretty miserable for a few days, but I got over everything but the loss of the stove, since I had borrowed it from Dad.
     
    Cruisin Sloth and Gator 45/70 like this.
  8. Oddcaliber

    Oddcaliber Monkey+++

    Nice stove. Got a 533 duel fuel but it's not as classy as a 502. It gets the job done. I checked Flea Bay today and they had 2 pages for 502's, some with the heat drum. Prices were all over but reasonable. Great find.
     
  9. Zimmy

    Zimmy Wait, I'm not ready!

    I’m glad you have the closure. I’ve lost countless camp items over the years, but never in dire frozen situations.

    I’m now fairly sure I lost most of the stuff to a good friend with a hidden drug addiction that I grew up with. The Z scratched on gear gave it away.

    It worked out in the end. Positively for me, his ex-wife, and the mixed group of kiddos for years.
     
    Gator 45/70 and chelloveck like this.
  10. Cruisin Sloth

    Cruisin Sloth Special & Slow

    Thats an open Door MM ;)
    Randy Blond ??
    How about a nice partner across the fire that can help the heat factor !!

    I like TnAndys post
    Sloth
     
    TnAndy likes this.
  11. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    Not sure this is true we had guns stolen from camp (they broke into the camper by some skinny guy going thru the roof vent) back in teh 1960's there will always be thieves.
     
    chelloveck and hot diggity like this.
  12. William Warren

    William Warren Monkey+++

    What ever happened to Svea? I had once when I climbed the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail on Mount Washington. It was less than half of the size of a Coleman stove, took almost anything that could burn, and could heat a pup tent at the same time it heated my lunch.

    William Warren
     
  13. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    Nothing... I still have mine from my two years in the Washington Cascade Mtns... Still makes Hot Coco just fine... Largely replaced with Propane/Butane fueled stoves...
     
  14. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    I have, over the years, lost, damaged, and destroyed and had things from me (of sentimental value and otherwise), but I have found that attachment to that which has gone, just impedes getting on with life. Allow an appropriate amount of grieving, or self inflicted @rse kicking as is appropriate to the circumstances, learn from the experience, and then move on. Perhaps becoming reconciled to the loss, is more important than a closure, which may never come.
     
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