As one gets along in years, and comes to the realization that one’s time on Earth is not only limited, but foreseeable in terms of its ending, certain idle thoughts come to mind. In my case, of course, this resolves itself inevitably into a list — in this case, loosely defined as follows:
Assuming that my health would remain more or less as it is, what would be the things I would get now that would last me the rest of my life, and give me pleasure in the use thereof?
For the sake of argument, let me also assume that I’d pare down all the crap I currently possess — sell almost all of it, really — and would have only the things on this list to keep me amused. Unlike my normal flights of fantasy, this would not involve a lottery win, so economics will play a part. It’s a tough question to answer, but I’ll give it a shot, so to speak, and start with the easiest ones.
Car — almost without question, the Mazda MX-5 Miata RF:
…because it combines fun, performance, fuel economy and reliability in equal measure and compromise. As for space, the only cargo [sic] I’d carry would be New Wife, or my guns to the range, or groceries back from the supermarket, and for the latter two, even the Miata’s little trunk would be adequate (long-gun cases could be carried in the front). The top comes down for the occasional en plein air experience, and I would be perfectly happy to tour the country in it as well. Color is irrelevant, although I kinda like the gunmetal blue as pictured, for obvious reasons. And speaking of gunmetal:
Rifle — it’s a tough one, but to me the Miata of rifles is the Marlin 336 in .30-30 (with a scope because of my shitty eyesight):
Light, handy, reliable, enough punch for most situations, acceptable recoil and the ammo is pretty much ubiquitous in the U.S.A. Realistically, I’m never going to have to make any long shots, and the lever action works quickly enough for those (shall we say) social occasions.
Plinker Rifle — this is an even tougher choice, but I’d choose the Ruger 10-22:
I don’t think I need to explain or justify this choice, do I?
Now on to the handguns:
Self-defense — no choice; my Springfield 1911 in .45 ACP:
Once again, no explanation is necessary.
Revolver — this is a little more difficult, but I think I’d pick the (new) Colt Python 6″ in .357 Mag:
Why the new one? Why not? It’s new, it’s a Python, and every gunsmith I’ve spoken to on the topic says the action is far better than the old one’s, and will likely be more reliable. Of course, I’d prefer it in Colt’s original Royal Blue, but them’s the breaks.
Plinker Handgun — easy enough choice, here: the Browning Buckmark:
Best trigger of any .22 handgun (possibly of any handgun, period), and very reliable. I’ve owned several, and never had a bad experience with any of them. We’re talking hours and hours of plinking fun.
Finally on guns, a shotgun, mostly for clays — I’m going to go with something a little more indulgent, i.e. the Chapuis Chasseur Classic in 20ga:
It’s different enough — not part of the Beretta / Browning / Remington / Winchester matrix, and not insanely priced like the premiums — and of course the side-by-side barrels are mandatory. (I have a 20ga SxS already, but I keep it at Free Market Towers, for obvious reasons. The Chapuis would be my domestic gun.)
That’s enough guns. On to other stuff.
Camera — I’ve done the large SLR thing, and I don’t need that anymore. My current criteria, based on years of travel, are that the camera be small enough to fit into a coat pocket, and must take AA batteries. Hence, the Canon Powershot SX100 IS:
I’ve owned this little sucker for well over a decade, and have no quibbles — except that when shooting in low-light situations, you absolutely have to pop it onto a tripod because its lens stabilization is not that great. Fortunately, I have a mini tripod which travels with the Canon, and fits into the other coat pocket. (My backup camera — a Nikon Coolpix 4300 — is much better in this regard, but it only takes Nikon’s rechargeable battery which means you have to be close to a power source to recharge it — the reason I replaced it with the Canon. Like .30-30 and .22 LR, AA batteries are ubiquitous.)
Books — I couldn’t trim my library down any more than I already have, and it’s creeping up again (to the consternation of New Wife, who reminds me constantly that we barely have enough room extant). Still, I intend to read and re-read several non-classic books for the rest of my life, most notably John Sandford’s Prey and Virgil Flowers novels, as well as any derivatives thereof. Also P.G. Wodehouse, of whose works I have many, and various Ken Follett novels as well. It’s all about the style when it comes to novels, and I love all the above in equal measure. Of non-fiction — history — books we shall not speak.
Binoculars — I don’t use them often, but I always travel with a pair, this being my Steiner AX830 (8×30):
…and while these do okay, especially for their size, I really need something a little more powerful (10x or more, with a tripod mount if necessary, because size is not really a problem). All suggestions are welcome.
Watch — for me, the thought of having only one watch is akin to having only one gun: almost a fate worse than death, but if I’m going to have a couple of watches to see out my shift, they’re not going to be automatic, nor need batteries. Hence, the Longines Master and the Tissot Heritage (depending on whether I need a black- or white face):
Nice big numbers to accommodate my (did I already say?) crappy eyes. The Longines is twice the price of the Tissot, but still under the magic $1,000 mark. Both are wonderfully rugged and acceptably accurate.
Music — forget about it. My music library is quite adequate, not to say extensive, and unless I were forced to sell all of it, I could see my days out with the collected works of Valentina Lisitsa and Genesis (and maybe my Beatles boxed set).
I’m trying to think of what else qualifies under the question at the top, but other than perhaps knives (of which I have many, and just can’t think of any I’d even think of buying today), none come to mind.
As with all exercises of this genre, feel free to participate in Comments. I look forward to your thoughts, as always.
All good choices, but a warning. Twenty-odd years ago, my dear wife and I had the notion to take a little vacation trip in her 2nd-gen Miata. Detroit to Toronto and back with just us and enough luggage for the weekend … 250 miles one way. At that point we’d been happily married 10 years, but still that trip in the confines of that little car nearly wrecked us. Our marriage survived, but we learned a great lesson about elbow room, both literal and figurative.
Kim,
I know you are not a fan of Glocks. I have shot them quite a bit, but I have never been enamoured of them either; they are, to put it mildly, rather “homely”.
However,
A couple of years ago my son gave me his G43 when he upgraded to a G43X. I started shooting and CCWing it, and have come to respect it quite a bit more. One thing led to another, and a couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a Glock armorer’s class.
There I came to realize just how good the Glock weapons system really is.
As the instructor explained: Glocks are designed to be as reliable as possible, while being reasonably accurate(4 inch group at 50 meters). They are designed to go bang when the trigger is pulled, in any enviromental condition. They are the Kalashnikovs of the pistol world.
The parts interchangabililty across the series is amazing. They can be detailed stripped in less than 2 minutes using one $10 tool.
I have a new appreciation for Glocks.
It says something for my tolerance that I allow such filth to be posted on my website.
Just kidding. My only beef with Glocks is (and always has been) that they’re pig-ugly and plastic. My guilty secret is that in terms of accuracy — ANY handgun — I shoot the Glock 19 more accurately than any of the others.
They’re the Honda Accord / Toyota Camry of handguns, and I don’t want to drive either of those as well.
As I continue to age, I find it harder to spend a lot of time and distance in the 911 so as a final car, assuming I can have only one for some reason, I’d want a more comfortable somewhat larger car, plus I know that goes triple for my wife. So we will be driving a Panamera Sport Tourism Hybrid. It’s a Plug in Hybrid done the way a Hybrid should be done. Electric Power adds to the V-8 not instead of. ( although it will do that as well with the selector switch) plus it has things like “Lane Keeping” that my wife says I need occasionally.
The camera on my I-phone does almost everything I need, produces a good high res result and I can fix what it does wrong in Lightroom. Plus it’s always in my pocket so why carry a sperate camera.
For binoculars we have a pair of Image stabilizing Canon 12 X 36 that do wonders as I find it harder to hold a steady image.
I’ve worn the same watch for 20 years and see no reason to change.
My automotive book collection is approaching 300 volumes and it’s not going anywhere.
One book?
Umm… check with me later. In a while.
(There was this thing, published by some expat Irishman in the year of my birth, that i’ve been reading for a few decades, but if I choose that, can I also have the forty or fifty others that were written about it?)
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One book? Impossible. How about my Kindle, with thousands of books and space for thousands more. Hell, yeah I got the largest one they make.
Until “they” turn it off.
Well, I already got a 336 in 30-30, a 10-22, a Colt 1911 Commander, a Python, and about a dozen .22 pistols. So covered. And I don’t do the shotgun thing, so covered there as well.
For vehicles, has to be a pickup. I do too much outdoors stuff to not have one. My current is ten years old and could probably last another 10, but given my age I’m thinking of buying one in the next several years that would last the rest of my life. Still haven’t figured out which one, but given the sad state of auto manufacturers these days, I might be stuck just spending money on my current truck. I mean, Chevy and GMC are putting 4-bangers in full sized trucks? All new Rams are mild hybrids with expensive batteries and no real benefit? A decent spec-ed out Ford is $70 grand? For a F150? Damn. Shit, maybe I already have my forever vehicle?
The only other big item on my list is a fishing boat. I either got to fix up the one I have now (practically an antique I inherited, non-running of course) or suck it up and buy one. Still time and lots of research left to go on that one, but living 15 minutes from the boat dock, I really need to up my game prior to retirement.
Here go mine:
Car: Nope, I’d stick with the Tundra pickup. Roomy inside, decent mileage, and I can tow and haul stuff. Toss the kayaks in the bed and we go fishing. Every geezer here in NW Wyoming owns and drives a pickup until the grandkids take away their license just after the burial.
Rifle: Savage bolty .30-06 in SST w/synthetic stock (Timney trigger); 35 years old, beat to shit, still accurate.
Plinker rifle: Ruger 10/22 with old Butler Creek folding stock and see-through scope mount.
Pistol (self-defense): Springfield SST 1911A1 in .45 ACP (my old bullseye gun now w/standard recoil spring).
Plinking pistol: Ruger 22/45.
Revolver: Nope, wouldn’t bother. Can’t hit shit in double-action anyway. Gimme another one of the .45’s.
Shotgun: Mossberg 500 in 12 gauge. Curiously enough, also my very first firearm bought when I turned 18 (but with barrel and stock replaced).
Camera: Pentax K20D DSLR with 18-270mm walk-around lens; provides wide-angle to strong telephoto capabilities in a reasonably weather-tight package.
Binoculars: Cheap but good Bushnell 10×50’s; easily replaced if dropped off cliff.
Watch: Ultra-cheap no-name $15 thing from Aerostitch with nylon band; it’s had its battery replaced three times now and has been reliable through massive abuse. Replacing the battery this next time will probably cost me more than the watch did originally.
Music: Can’t see getting rid of any of it (CD’s or LP’s) since they take almost no volume. I’m just now replacing my amp and disc-player since the amp is losing a channel and the player drawer doesn’t want to work without forcing it.
Books? We bought a new house with the deliberate intent of finally being able to put all my bookshelves in one place rather than scattered in every nook and cranny of our old, small house. We’ve got three dozen shelves, all 6 ft. tall, almost filled. I read constantly when I should be doing something productive, and I’ll get rid of my books…never. Nope, noppity nope nope nope. Currently reading Bruce Catton’s Civil War history trilogy starting with “The Coming Fury”, and contemplating how little difference there is between the Democrats of 1860 and those of today.
Hope I didn’t take up too much space in your comments.
Never. All such comments are always welcome.
Gibson SG Standard Pro (want). Fender SuperChamp X2 (have). Nikon Zfc (have — more lenses. Always moar lenses.) Car (want): Some kind of big, sloppy boat. Or a Toyota FJ Cruiser. Henry Steel Lever Action side gate in .30-30 (want). Browning Buckmark (want). Beretta M9x (not picky) (want). Why should I advertise my armament status?
I’ve heard some ugly things about the FJ’s reliability: unusually for a Toyota, they’re prone to serious breakdown — something to do with the transmission, as I recall — and Toyota never got round to fixing the problem.
I’m speaking solely as having seen them on the road and liking the cut of their jib. I’ve toyed with the idea of seeing if Toyota will or does make them as hybrids as I’m dreaming of using it as a camera car for SWBO and my photo safaris. We’ve put a LOT of miles on my Kia Soul in the past few years that we’ve been doing road trips. If I can ever get traction in my Art Storefront, I’d like to write off miles as an expense, but wouldn’t mind getting more than 30 mpg. Supposed I ought to check with my local shade tree mechanics.
Vehicle:
1996 Ford CF8000 ExpeditionVehicle we built in 2003.
Two decades full-time live-aboard.
I immediately added a 140-gallon ‘saddle-tank’.
With the 120-gallon diesel tank on the toy-hauler, our range without re-fuelling — in theory — is Anchorage-to-Acapulco.
Comfortable and indestructible.
Air-horns?
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Security:
An extension of me since 1991, my Armalite .308 AR-10 with its forever mate, the lovely Springfield Armory 4-14 scope.
Eyes closed and backward through a mirror upside-down, this combination comfortably gives me two inch groups at six hundred yards.
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Life-Extension Strategy:
We usually have one or two dogs.
For the past couple years, we have six Heelers, the herding dogs.
I honestly truly believe those micro-managing supervisors are adding centuries to my life-span.
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Food:
* Teriyaki.
* Elk jerky.
* Smoked salmon.
And just about anything from the outdoor kitchen.
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1959 Fender Telecaster — a gift from my da in 1968 — neck like a baseball bat.
I was 16yo, i immediately stripped it, then re-finished it in a watery nude varnish.
Original untouched unplayed from a corner of some closet, it would be worth many tens of thousands to a collector.
Dented and crusty stained pick-ups, my ’59 is not for sale.
Anybody asking to play it gets a cold murderous stare…
I love this idea. I’m about the same age as you, so my list should be similar. However, a miata doesn’t work for me. It is everything you say it is, plus practically maintenance free. Loved mine when I had it, today I wouldn’t fit and I don’t bend as well getting in and out. I agree with most of your responders, go pick up. Living in the desert, plus traveling, 4WD is a must. Luckily, I have a ’22 Colorado Bison that will be my last vehicle.
Rifle; how can you limit it to one? Okay, by the rules, my M1 Carbine. Absolute blast to shoot, powerful enough for anything I might need.
Plinker; yeah, how can you go wrong with a 10-22?
Self Defense; I don’t have any handguns that have a history with me. I envy you that! I will go with my Kimber 1911. ( know a lot of people don’t like Kimber, but I have shot mine quite a bit with zero issues.)
Revolver: I’m going to go with my Cimmeron 1873 in 357
Plinker: I going with what I already have, my Heritage in both .22 and .22 mag. Yes, I would rather have a Ruger.
Shotgun: I love your tastes and choices, but I am a simpler man, I have had an Ithica Model 37 for decades and won’t change now.
Camera; My phone does alright. I would like to shoot macro, but I don’t know enough to pick a good camera.
Binoculars; Have a Vanguard that I got on special from Amazon. Best binoculars I will ever own.
Watch: Nothing fancy. I can shoot without a scope, but as much as I hate it, I need a digital time piece.
Books: Not getting my books!
Music: I can listen to what I want with Spotify,
I would add, a small, simple, off road camper.
I can not fault anyone’s choices. In fact, I love a lot of the attachments and know there has to be some great stories behind them. I hope everyone continues to have these.
Butting in to say you could do worse than a Nikon Df, although beware than Nikon is deprecating DSLRs in favor of mirrorless. But the darned things last forever. There’s a kit with a ~40-140mm zoom that goes macro over 50mm. Does a sweet job on flora and fauna (i.e. lilies and bumblebee butts)
Thank you for the advise. I will definitely look into it.
Dustoff:
I’ve been buying used photo gear from both B&H and KEH, and have been VERY pleased with the condition of everything. I’m a Pentax man from back in the olden days of the long-ago, when dinosaurs roamed and I processed my own black and white film and printed in the old coal cellar of my parent’s basement.
You can buy an excellent-condition Pentax K20D (14.6 megapixels) for between $110 to $140, and a like-new 18-200mm lens (that also does macro) for $150. The cameras usually come with a battery and charger, so all you need is a UV filter (to protect the lens) and a strap. For three bills you get a 2009 vintage pro-sumer DSLR with more controls than you’ll know what to do with…or put it on the “Green” setting of the dial and just point-and-shoot.
Thank you for the advise. I will definitely look into it.
I have a 10 year old Toyota FJ Cruiser, bought new and close to 100K miles on the clock.
Aside from consumables like brake pads and batteries etc, I have never had any hint of trouble from it.
Mine has a 2”lift, front “bull bar”, long range tanks, CB radio and serious underbody protection. Many, many miles covered off road in everything from coastal sand plains to endless deserts. Will just about climb trees when asked.
The styling is either “love it or hate it” and passenger room is limited effectively to one in the front passenger seat. A small child might be comfortable in the back seats, but not a normal sized adult.
The automatic gearbox took some getting used to, but there is no manual option. The 4.0 litre gasoline engine is thirsty, but you don’t buy a heavyweight beast like this for fuel economy.
If Toyota made this model in diesel with a manual transmission they would have sold thousands of them in Australia.
P.S Steiner military 8×30 binocs are ideal general purpose equipment. Approve.
The Mazda MX-5 hardtop is hard to get in to and harder to get out of. They are made for little people. I will stick with my 74 Stingray convertible.
Rifle – Remington 700 BDL in 30-06
Plinker Rifle – I have a 10-22 but I prefer my Ted Williams (Winchester) bolt action w/ 7 round magazine
Self-defense – Glock G20, because it makes really big holes
Revolver – S&W 65-2, .357 Mag because it makes really big holes
Plinker Handgun – Colt 1911 Government model in 9mm
Shotgun – Stevens 311 double barreled 12 gauge
Watch – 1972 Rolex Sub-Mariner that needs a service ($1600), 1977 Bolivia Skeleton Accutron, or 1994 Citizen Eco-Drive. I only wear a watch when I dress up. Back in the 70’s-80’s I had an uncle that was a Jeweler that carried the Rolex and Bolivia watches and I got the Rolex and Bolivia at deep discounts because they were trade in’s.
Knife – Benchmade Auto, military only modal that was issued at the beginning of OIF.