Nice little shopping trip......
 

Well got out and about and came across some really nice swag. 25 pounder shell boxes, nicely labelled, just need a little cleaning up. Top one has been cleaned. Will look good in the 15 CWT especially with the TNT side showing outward.Still have the manufacturing labels inside. British Jerry Cans, Korean War era. Couple of nice 2 5/8 inch sockets (free). Pick axe head (free). AND the surprise, CMP tow cables. Not complete, but the hardest part to find. Did I say free? Got them all.

Enjoy.....Robert :cheers:

Hey Mr. Morrison, nice haul!!! Do you want to download that pick head? I need one for my HUW.

Was it the word "free"????
 

Hey Bruce: Yeah, I'm pretty sure I have a couple more to meet my needs. Let me check and I'll get back to you. Cheers....Robert

Looks like you made it to Ribtors. Waybe Hingley got me a dozen or so of those ammo crates and I was picking up another 3 or 4 every time I visited them again. I bought dozens of the pickheads and the handles from them a few years ago....afraid I didn't leave you much. They also had the longer tow cables, and the chain ends for the tow cables. Almost cleaned them out of those too. They also had a ton of the CMP funnels, grease guns, and a host of other treasures.

The amazing thing is that the warehouse is even still there. The store got converted into condos about a decade back. I have to think it is getting close to the end though.

You're late Rob!!
 

God Rob....I thought you would respond to this quicker than now. Only you would know! Yeah, picked through most of the stuff. That was the last pick axe head they had. I grabbed all the cables that were on the shelf. There are bits of chain here and there, but wasn't sure whether they applied to CMP's. They had boxes of Bren Gun pouches that had a long strap sewn on the bottom of the pouch. Not the usual hardware I've seen. Meant to take a photo, but didn't. They are all marked ZL and T 1940/41 C Broad Arrow and new to boot. Still lots of webbing/parachutes/kit bags/gas mask bags/ammo boxes etc etc etc. Really....it's just one big S...hole. I got into the second warehouse, but was covered with dirt and dust by the time I got out. You can see that on the Jerry Cans. If you know your hardware and all the war time STUFF....it's a 4 hour visit.
Anyway, the price was right. And great complimentary kit for any display. I just have to go out and buy a 25 pounder. Any ideas where I could find one Rob? :devil: Robert

Was in Winnipeg and Steinbach for the day, so thus the late response.

The pouches are part of the auxiliary pouches rather than the usual webbing pouches we are used to. There was a front pouch and a back pouch...they only have the front pouches, and lots of them. I bought a bunch of crates of them just to use the long strap from the pouch....certainly worth a couple bucks although my friends think it's sacrilege to cut NOS webbing.

We stop in there for about 4 hours every time we go to Calgary for the gun show at Easter. The biggest impediment to buying more stuff is that we run out of room on the truck and trailer.

They also have rivets and machine screws, although they are starting to scrap a lot of their inventory. Screws or bolts were $5 a box.....didn't matter i fthe box weighed 5 pounds or 1/8 of a pound. Best thing is all the screws were slot drive and unplated...just what a guy needed for CMP restoration. I would buy $100 worth each time I would go there to build up the machine screw selection.

I'll miss that place when it is gone. There are very few like it anymore.

As to 25 pounders, I find they usually show up in pairs.

By the way, I'm not so sure those are CMP tow cables. They are 8 or 10 feet long I believe. No idea what those cables are for.

Not sure....
 

Rob: As for the cables, I'm not sure. I'll have to check, but given they sure looked like them and they were free, I'd worry about that when I got back to Vancouver. The picture of them is on the tailgate of my truck, so I figure 4 to 5 feet in length. Let me know if you find out. I just love having my dreams implode!!! Robert :bang:

What the hell!!!!!!!
 

We spent lots of hours there every year for years and I used to bring my big money bills (10's & 20's) with me but never got anything for free and we wanted to go into the 2nd warehouse but were never allowed! What did we do wrong? I think our eager excited faces gave us away. There was one year that after visiting Ribtor's first I was ready to head home and forget about the gun show!
Regards,Derk


Damn,I still can't believe free!

West Coast Charm......
 

Simply West Coast Charm Dirk....simply West Coast Charm. AND that includes getting into the second warehouse! Call me if you need anything. :devil:

Robert :cheers:

Rob Love & I don't get nuthin!

By the way....
 

Another deal was Jackson Triggs Merlot wine which sells for $11.99 a bottle here in Vancouver and is made here.....was on sale there for $6.99 a bottle there. Came home with 3 cases and am enjoying a glass as I type.

And on another note as you and Rob can attest to, I was down to Crown Surplus and had a great chat with Gordon Cumming's son, John. A lot has changed since I started shopping there in the late 70's. Now I AM dating myself!!! The Bofors still remains a "fixture" in the outside lot, although it is starting to look a serious case of surface rust. I will post some pictures. Got to go into some of the back rooms (did I mention West Coast Charm?). God....some of the stuff! AND there were hand grenades (pineapples) like everywhere!!! Plus stuff they don't give a pig's eye about and all of us consider it Gold. There were a couple of areas John was going to indulge me in, but due to his father's health (Gordon) it just didn't come about.
If any Canucks who have had the pleasure of meeting Gordon over the years, he was truly a Gentleman. Crown Surplus was and is still an Calgary Institution just like Ribtor. Men who came home from the war and profited in the surplus business. We used to buy the killer size Camo Nets from them at $40.00 each and they had this lingering smell to them that I can still identify with to this day. John and I laughed about that smell because recently they found one from years gone by and the smell is still the same.
Unfortunately time and age has caught up with Gordon and at 88 years of age, he suffers from a form of dementia, that goes by another name. It will be a sad day when he passes. Anyway STOP cutting into my wine time Dirk! Robert :cheers:

Not quite true Dirk. When we were there 6 months back, the disposal/cleanup was already under way. They had pallets of the 1950s neck tie material in rolls. I asked the guy how much for a roll and how much for a box of rolls. He said: Take as many as you want....they are heading to the dump next week. So I took two boxes....one for me and one for the museum. The material is fine for folding over to use as edge material for canvas work. And besides, you never know when you will want to wear a green necktie.

We did get into the warehouse #2 about 5 years back. They had the smaller mk2 carrier funnels by the dozens, and mixed in were some of the more desirable mk1 funnels. I was buying all I cold find at that point.

That store was the source for the rivets I used to use when re-assembling carriers. There are more than a few carriers sporting them.

Regarding drinking $7 a bottle merlot, Mr Morrison must be wealthy. This hobby has led me away from drink due to expense. My vice is 35¢ a can coca cola (this is the price of the elixir when bought in flats of 24 and the environmental taxes are factored in). Besides, out here in the real prairie provinces, wine is considered either a bit of a girlie drink, and was something you used as a teenager for panty-remover.