Tuesday, February 26, 2008

1st Tahan Expedition, part 7.....Some Surviving Mementos

Photos:
This is the original haversack which I used for the historic expedition in April 1969. It is more than 40 years old as I had bought it from the shops then located in the old Sungei Road. In fact, most of our camping items and gears were from there.
It is very small compared to haversacks today. However, there are many straps and clasps located conveniently at the front, side, top and even the bottom of the pack. This allowed us to
attach many bulky items securely leaving the cramped space within the pack for important stuff such as dry clothes, foodstuff, medical supplies, camera and film and other essentials. The pack is coloured jungle green and made entirely of thick canvas which is much stronger than the packs of today. But a major drawback is it gets heavier when wet.
This haversack of mine has outlasted all my other haversacks including my alpine pack from the mid 70's.
The stick lying on the haversack is the original "Tembusu thumbstick"which I crafted from the Tahan jungle while crossing the rivers towards Sungei Teku.
Both these items are still with me today, 40 years after.......surviving mementos of that expedition. I have my original sleeping bag with with me too. I bought an entire white nylon parachute from the same Sungei Road shop and paid for it to be folded and sewn into 8 layers. No downing feathers added. Just this 8 layers of nylon and it was sufficient to keep me warm at the peaks of G Tahan and other mountains.

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