What's the best piece of athletic/sporting equipment you've ever owned and why?

[Xenomorph]

Mine is the Apple Watch. I've gone from a few years ago thinking it was a silly gimmick to firmly believing it's the best product ever to aid me in keeping active. Heart rate monitor, fitness tracker, GPS, it streams music, makes calls, reads me texts.... If it would make me a sandwich and get me a beer I'd marry it.

 

[GloryDawg]

Athletic Supporter (jock). For obvious reasons,

 

[ZombieKissinger]

I have a Peloton and a treadmill desk in my garage with a mounted TV. Love having that available so I can walk/ride while watching sports or a movie

 

[ababyatemydingo]

Mine is the Apple Watch. I've gone from a few years ago thinking it was a silly gimmick to firmly believing it's the best product ever to aid me in keeping active. Heart rate monitor, fitness tracker, GPS, it streams music, makes calls, reads me texts.... If it would make me a sandwich and get me a beer I'd marry it.

Ping Eye 2 irons, custom fit

 

[thatsbaseball]

Remington 16 guage Model 58 Sportsman. First automatic shotgun I owned and I must have shot that gun for 25 years. My dad offered me other guns but I just stuck with it. Brings back good memories to just think about it.

 

[FISHDAWG]

toss-up between a Browning 30-06 BBR (forerunner to the A-Bolt) ... and a Browning Citori

 

[BoDawg.sixpack]

Prince Graphite II oversize tennis racquet. I dominated 5A high school tennis with that thing.

 

[Shmuley]

Osprey 70 Liter.

 

[jkpz28]

Planet Eclipse Ego

 

[Cooterpoot]

Apple watch is a damn purveyor of anxiety. Always making me feel guilty and like a failure. My wife was already doing that.

 

[Car Ramrod.sixpack]

Two items from my upland hunting gear.

Filson pro strap vest because it had a padded waist belt so that you carry the weight on your hips and not your shoulders. Carrying two boxes of 16 and 5 pheasant roosters it can be a life saver.

Beretta A400 28 gauge is hands down my favorite quail / dove gun and I will keep it till day I die. It's much lighter than my over unders and that third shot comes in handy when you find a wild covey of quail.

 

[Bulldogbilly]

Remote control for my LG 75 inch tv.

 

[Bulldog Bruce]

My 35 inch 31 ounce B5 "Green" Easton bat that helped me tie the NCAA Home Run Record and set the NCAA Grand Slam single season record in 1981. Definitely the piece of athletic equipment that did more for me than any other.

 

[CochiseCowbell]

For a non HOFer like myself, I'd have to say my current best athletic gear are these bad boys the wife buys me.

https://www.shinesty.com/

She bought me one, kind of as a gag gift. I won't wear any other kind now.


ETA:

Just read the phrase "EVER OWNED." I did not understand the assignment. Leaving the above, for they are a game changer, while I ponder the "new" question.

 

[Dawgbite]

Wilson Combat 1911. I never could justify the expense until a good friend who had one was having some medical issues that both affected his ability to shoot and was also a financial burden. He offered it to me at a very reasonable price so I bought it both as a lifelong desire and a small way of helping him. I never could imagine how a $4000 gun could be that much better than a $1000 gun but it is. It isn’t a gun, it’s a piece of art.

 

[Herbert Nenninger]

I was a catcher growing up, and my dad got me my own chest protector and rigged up some extra foam padding behind it. I could take a fastball or bat to chest and barely feel it.

Speaking of jocks, i never had any significant knocks playing catcher or infield, but I got a freak blow playing tennis one time that left me nauseous and laying on a bench for two hours. Bless whoever invented those banana cups.

 

[aTotal360]

[TWEET]951549912612769793[/TWEET]

 

[Xenomorph]

Green and black... I remember that racquet. Couldn't believe how light it was the first time I held it.

 

[Mr. Cook]

Dallas Cowboys helmet autographed by Dak. For all the obvious reasons

 

[BoDawg.sixpack]

Compared to the racquets that are out now it feels like you're swinging a guitar. Still has a place in my closet though.

 

[Dawgbite]

Apple watch is a damn purveyor of anxiety. Always making me feel guilty and like a failure. My wife was already doing that.

I wore an Apple Watch for years until I retired two years ago. I may have worn it three times in the past two years. I still charge it occasionally but it reminds me of a time when all that crap on it mattered.

 

[DerHntr]

Beretta 12 gauge over and under Silver Pigeon III. I had always wanted a high quality bird gun. It’s well worth the money.

Second place would be my Garmin Forerunner 35 but for different reasons. It’s the entry level Garmin running watch but has more than enough features for my needs. I love the heart rate monitor on my wrist. The old school strap on your chest sucked in previous models.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

Wilson Combat 1911. I never could justify the expense until a good friend who had one was having some medical issues that both affected his ability to shoot and was also a financial burden. He offered it to me at a very reasonable price so I bought it both as a lifelong desire and a small way of helping him. I never could imagine how a $4000 gun could be that much better than a $1000 gun but it is. It isn’t a gun, it’s a piece of art.

1911s are the best shooting handguns I've ever shot. The only issue i have is most are single stack thus holding fewer rounds in the mag. I would love to come across one for a decent price. I bought a Colt 1917 from my uncle, I love it.

 

[Cooterpoot]

That old Green Easton was so easy to load with tennis balls. End cap was almost like a screw off. Had an end cap come off and tennis balls go flying in a game one time. Good times!

 

[cowbell88]

That old Green Easton was so easy to load with tennis balls. End cap was almost like a screw off. Had an end cap come off and tennis balls go flying in a game one time. Good times!

How’d that work out for you?

 

[Ralph Cramden]

If you ain't cheatin you ain't tryin

 

[Cooterpoot]

How’d that work out for you?

Got tossed and ran til I puked. Told to not get caught again. It was pretty common back then.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

I played a lot of softball in 70's, 80's, and early 90's. Our little town had no little league and our high school baseball team had no money and played in their bluejeans and football jerseys so I never played baseball when I moved away from another town with little league at age 12.

What I did have was an awesome men's slow pitch team with my church that played in another city league. These guys were awesome and taught me a lot when I joined them at age 15.

Anyway... I invested in two custom ordered bats in the late 80's that. I can't find a picture one was an Easton Black (Not Black Magic) 34 inch/35 oz. and a 35 inch/38 oz. which I can't remember the brand but it was silver with a green brand print. Later in my late teens and twenties I played league ball M-F and played in B, C, and D class tournaments on the weekend as a free agent. I got to play a couple of years on a really talented and great C class tournament team that played on the bigger 300 ft plus fence fields and those two bats really helped me hit the occasional long ball to the opposite field.

I really wish I was mobile enough to play in an old farts league

 

[Hugh's Burner Phone]

Playboy magazine

 

[Mjoelner]

Hope it didn't lead to Tommy John surgery.

 

[Hugh's Burner Phone]

Hope it didn't lead to Tommy John surgery.

Carpal tunnel.

 

[DawgInThe256]

Bowflex 1090 adjustable dumbbell. It was my home gym during the pandemic, so there’s recency bias

 

[mstateglfr]

Road bike frame I built in a class 4 years ago thru a local builder. It was 14 Sunday afternoons spent designing, filing, brazing, filing, sanding, filing, brazing, and filing some more.

The result was a perfectly fitting road bike that was designed and built(mostly) by me. It's carried me across the state three times, handled multiple centuries, and will provide years of upcoming fun.

 

[was21]

Winchester Model 12 20 gauge shotgun. My father bought if for me. That was a long time ago. In later years, Brooks Ghost running shoes. Health matters.

 

[mcdawg22]

Ping Anser 4 from @ 2010. Couldn’t tell you the exact model. I bought it and asked them to cut 4 inches off of it because every other putter I have used, my bottom hand was on the steel. I get over my putts to keep my lines true and I am deadly from inside of 8 ft. Only drawback is long putts on slow greens. I let a friend’s son borrow my clubs for a tournament they were playing in and he is 6’4”. The first time he pulled that thing out to use it he put it back in the bag and used his Dad’s putter.

 

[blacklistedbully]

Really like my Callaway FT i-brid irons. Forgiving, but also just damn good clubs. I like the extra weight in the back, and the longer irons play like hybrids.

Several years ago I bought my HS oldest daughter a top-end Mizuno fastpitch softball infielders glove. Impressive quality. Bought as a replacement for another Mizuno mitt she'd worn out from years of playing. That first one was a slightly lower-tier, but still fantastic glove...one of those that are made with that soft leather. It had got just a little too "worn-in" with the web overly soft.

When I was a kid, my dad bought me a "Buffalo Bill Commemorative" Winchester 30-30. Still own that beauty.

 

[karlchilders.sixpack]

Not sure I understand this open-ended question?

Golf clubs ...Ping plus a bunch of others

Exercise Bike .... Schwinn Aridyne

Tennis racket ... Numerous

Fishing boats? Currently War Eagle, have had others.

Many baseball bats

Baseball Glove.... A Gene Alley is now the only one that I won't part with

Hunting Rifles? YEP

Specifically what do you want? ... I can continue. Rather broad question.

 

[Dawgbite]

1911s are the best shooting handguns I've ever shot. The only issue i have is most are single stack thus holding fewer rounds in the mag. I would love to come across one for a decent price. I bought a Colt 1917 from my uncle, I love it.

Para Ordnance made a couple of double stack 1911's back before Remington bought them and ruined them. I had one but sold it. I have small hands so most double stacks just don't fit me. Para's were excellent guns for the price, I still own two. The 1911 with the DA only trigger was the ultimate carry gun for me.

 

[3000lbchicken]

Marlin 30-30 since I was a kid. Can't wait to hand it down.
Close second is the Callaway Big Bertha Steelhead Plus. Nothing sounded or felt better off the tee.

 

[Awwhellnaw]

Beer can signed by Dak at the CWS. For the obvious reasons.