A collector of nothing

[brettlandon]

Here it is Kyle:  
 Matthew
19.  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
 20.  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
 21.  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
KJV

I couldn't agree more.  I have three piles of stuff.  Six months, one year, and three years.  If I haven't used it in six months I pitch it or put it in the one year pile (must have good value for this).  And so forth.  I tend to gather things, rather than collect them, but have threatened on more than one occation to "get rid of it all and move into a teepee."  I sometimes think the simpler life would be most preffered.

-Brett

Oooops!  There are two pages      Figures my wife would beat me to the post.

[Jeff Strubberg]

I haven't reached the zen point of not accumulating stuff yet, but I've trimmed the heck out of things I will carry around with me.  

I tend to tell everyone I see struggling with a mountain of stuff....The more stuff you have, the more time you spend taking care of your stuff.

[chrisg]

Handmade old tools and weapons seem to hold many stories and mysteries, half the fun of 'gathering' them is trying to figure out who owned or used them, restoring them and using them yourself. No one said to keep them forever. It is remarkable how much you can learn from an old item and often by asking around you may stumble into a person who really knows what you have in your hand. Kind of like a 3D, interactive mystery novel! I once found most of the metal from an old bridle in one place, no leather left at all...whatever happened to the owner or his horse?
chrisg

[adirondack46r]

....If I haven't used it in six months I pitch it or put it in the one year pile (must have good value for this).  And so forth. ...

My wife and I use the same criteria. Fortunately we're like minded on this issue. If we weren't I imagine it would be tough.

I remember when my grandfather passed away and we went through all of the things he had collected in his barn. Boxes and boxes of things that I'm sure seemed to have some use - bolts, nuts, parts, tools, scraps of metal, wood, on and on and on. He lived through the depression and I'm sure that might have had something to do with it. It tooks us days to clean things out and sort through them all.

I honestly think my aversion to collecting stuff is a character flaw. I own rental houses but I refuse to keep old plumbing and/or electrical parts or wood in the hope that I can use them some day. Everything I don't use gets tossed. I view Home Depot as my own personal (albeit expensive) storage unit.

[Killdeer]

chrisg, you and I travel the same paths in thought and reflection. I envy those with bare tables and sparse decoration on the wall. Expanses of vacuumable carpet, room to sit on the sofa, room for more than one person in the kitchen...

But these are fantasies, carefully arranged rooms for the furniture mongers and photographers. Not life as I know it. From beads to bows, coins to rifles, if you can find more than one, then there is a minute difference somewhere, and I want to explore it. A victim of my own collecting, I cannot undertake a project without a major rearrangement of stuff, just to find a space to work in.

I have not seen the surface of my reloading bench for years. Arrowmaking activity is largely accomplished on the balcony, where I cast my roundballs, cool pies and repot plants.

I wish I could keep it simple, I really do. The only thing simple around here is me.

Killdeer  

[Lookinforlunkers]

My wife says pack rat, I say collector of fine things (even if they're not worth anything)

[Labs4me]

I do collect outdoor related gear, weapons, etc. and have enough of everything to outfit a small sporting goods store. But everything else gets purged every several years. My basement , garage, etc. are as clean and organized as my great room. House rule. No exceptions!

[Brian Krebs]

As a hospice volunteer; I once shared my time with a man who had cancer for many years. He was of course on hospice; which means the end of his pain was coming.
 I asked what he did for a hobby; and he said he collected stones. I saw a metal detector and asked if they were gold stones; and he said no- just stones he thought were interesting.
 He had piles of small stones. Just ones that caught his eye; or that he liked the feel of.
 I really had time enough with him to think about that; and I figure that he was probably pretty welcome in heaven.
 Afterall; how many of us apprecitate the little things like that?
  Some things just have a value that you can feel; or sense. I have some 'pack rat stuff' myself.  

[adkmountainken]

i love knives and buy and trade for many. also give most away when the feeling hits me that it belongs to someone else. i seems to allways say "ain't now way i'm parting with this one!!! ", only to make it a gift to someone down the road.

[CJ5]

I guess I fit the collector (or pack rat) criteria in that I rarely sell or trade something I have aquired. This does lead to things accumulating around the house    . I do actively seek out US service rifles (Garands, Springfields, etc), so I guess I'm a "true" collector in that regard    . Its strange because when I go on hunting or camping trips, I'm a notorious minimalist...lol.

[alaskabowhunter]

I am the owner of nothing, just the caretaker for now.... someone else will be the caretaker of my bows when I am gone.  good luck.

[finger lakes bowhunter]

How can you use just one fly rod? I did that for over 10 years and I could kick myself for all the missed fish b/c of the small trout rod I was using. I now have five rods, each one is for a particular set of streams. I once lost a walleye that was huge  while using a 7' 9 ' four weight rod my fav shore breakfast.. never again.  While the older bamboos are nice I am very much into a local builder - lesh rods.  incredible rods, the people I see with them  will put tippet right up to the line.  all the tools to make them are hand made by lesh and the finishes are made from local wines.

[adirondack46r]

Hey finger lakes,

One rod - 8' 5 weight Winston IM6. It has done it all for me for the last 5 years. Now, I only fish the mountain streams and tail waters of East Tennessee. It does everything I need.

By the way, I lived in Ithaca for a couple of years. Been through Groton many times. The first 3 deer I ever killed were on the hill side across rt 13 from Robert Treman State Park. Ithaca is "Gorgeous".

Tight lines.

[finger lakes bowhunter]

Treeman is a great spot, it is bow hunting only and becomes the best place to go when gun season starts.  There was a buck that scored 155 taken outside the park 3 seasons ago.  I saw one that was in the 150s last season there. Love the winstons, also love sage

[CJ5]

46r.......ever fish any of the Park streams that flow into Fontana? Hazel, Eagle, Forney, etc....

[Hackbow]

adirondack46r....great thread, you have a PM

[Adirondackman]

46r - I have been trying to simplify my life for years now. It has been a challenge though. My Grandfather had always preached to me to save everything because you will never know when you will need it. I used to do that and found that you rarely use any of the junk that you save. I believe that all this junk bogs you down and distracts you from the important things in life - like family,friends and experiances. Thanks for the thread, it reminded me of where I want to go in life.

[adirondack46r]

CJ5, I have spent all my time on the watersheds of the TN side of the smokies - Little River, Abrams, Little Pigeon, Clinch and Hiawassee. One of these days I going to do a backcountry trip on the NC side.

'dackman, Well said, and I have become even more aware of the "vanity" of "things" as I creep up in age. (I'm about to celebrate the 11th anniversay of my 39th birthday.) Not only that, watching my son with my first grandbaby makes me smile like no custom bow ever could.

Having said all this, I'm not a hermit living off the land. I just have an aversion to piles of stuff.

Frankly, you guys have surprised me by resonating with this topic. I thought it would get ignored, or that you would politely point out that I was off my rocker.

I'm going to give you one more Bible verse that puts a nice bow on this topic. (Thanks mods for tolerating the evangelical undertones.) It is 1 Timothy 6:7.

"For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out".