I was rooting around down in the basement and found my old blue MEC backpack that I used to take hiking with me back when I used to actually go outside. Now it doesn't do much except sit in the basement and collect dust.
It doesn't just collect dust, it also holds my crap. But what kind of crap you ask? I'm pretty sure you can see where the rest of this post is going.
Most of you have seen this pack before, but did you know it had those patches hiding under the red pouch? I've got the cliche, yet absolutely crucial Canadian flag patch and another patch which most people won't even get it. If you do, then you have damn fine taste and I tip my invisible hat to you.
Here is a fun fact about the red pouch. MEC sold that pack in a couple different colours (red and blue!) and the pouch was the same colour as the pack itself. My dad had bought a red one and I got a blue one, so I just switched the pouches on them. I think it makes it looks better and it also helps distinguish itself the many other packs out there at the time. This was back when my brother and sister still ski raced and my dad used his pack up working at ski races. There were probably 3 or 4 guys who used that exact same pack.
The contents of the pack dumped all over the basement floor.
First up, a couple of old bags from the Gap. I just like the Gap bags because they came with a drawstring at the top.
A dollar store disc shooter which works surprisingly well for something from the dollar store.
It's a bag of stuff inside a bag full of stuff!
The inside of that bag holds many magical items like a pair of disposable sunglasses, foam brick, cap guns, caps, plastic police badge, SAIT screwdriver, tin of pellets, a carabiner and a band-aid dispenser.
A band-aid dispenser from the El Centro Regional Medical Center in El Centro, California. There is only one band-aid left in it, so I must've used it at some point.
Yet another bag of stuff inside the bag of stuff!
Three different packages of fake facial, plastic handcuffs, a lot of caps, ninja wristbands and a Bargain Shop bag full of darts, but no actual dart gun. If you read my blog then you've seen some of that fake facial hair
before.
These items weren't even stuffed inside a bag, but were just loose in the pack; some fake barf, a wrinkled clip-on tie and a bag with two bow ties and a pair of sunglasses. I know you guys all recognize the tie as it was screen worn in
Crapola Pictures' Badge of Betrayal. I've had those sunglasses forever because I thought they looked like Roy Orbison shades which doesn't actually explain why I kept them for so long in the first place.
It's not an actual hockey mask, but a flimsy plastic Jason-esque hockey mask. I'm not even sure why I own this. I often ask myself that question.
This is an super old first aid that I had to put together as part of a Cubs project.
It currently isn't up to "code" or whatever. It houses some incredibly old handi-wipes/wet-naps, some Blistex and some Anacin from back when it came in a metal tin. This stuff is so old it would probably do a lot more harm than good if you tried using it.
My mom put some fabric tape with my name and phone number on the back of the plastic case. That is good because if I ever got lost they could use it to identify my body. Thanks mom!
I saved the best picture for last...GUNS. These are awesome cap gun because they look real and aren't some stupid neon orange colour. The Berretta is an old school Larami cap gun I've had since I was a kid, I got it from Toys and Wheels. I also used to have an Uzi/Mac 10 Larami, but it got left outside and wrecked. You can even remove the clip which houses spare strips of caps. I like it because when I hold it, it makes me feel like a big man.
The two cap guns above it are a little newer and I got them from a toy store in Cranbrook that was downtown. The store would also accept Canadian Tire money which how I payed both guns. The store didn't last too long, it probably would've been a better idea had they only accepted real money. But why two guns? Because I got two hands! Woo style!
Those guns are metal and pretty sweet. I pulled out the red plug that was in the end of the barrel, so they would look more realistic. This makes firing it cool because if it's dark there is actually a small muzzle flash. Also, bits of the cap and stuff would fly out the barrel when fired. Cody found this out the hard way when we were filming once as he got shot in the face almost point blank. After several painful and grueling reconstructive surgeries you can hardly even tell now.
That is all the stuff from my old backpack. Was it interesting? Definitely not, but at least I got a blog post out of it. At least it's better than a picture of a tape deck from the thrift store or picture of a dead worm.
