Why the '90s Were Actually Better

The gear. The outdoors. Growing up before everything got smart — and why the good parts should probably come back.

 

By Chirp Sticks·August 2026·5 min read

Maybe it's nostalgia. Or maybe the '90s were actually better. Not everything, obviously. Nobody needs dial-up internet back. MapQuest was terrible. And trying to call your parents for a ride home involved finding a landline and hoping somebody answered. But when it came to being outside, messing around with your friends, and owning stuff that lasted forever? The '90s had something figured out.

01 Everything Looked Better

Open an old family photo from 1996 and look at the gear.

Teal. Purple. Forest green. Navy. Blaze orange. Weird geometric patterns. Giant logos. Nothing matched. Everything looked awesome.

Coolers looked like coolers. Ski jackets looked like ski jackets. Hockey bags were enormous. Fishing gear came in colors other than tactical black.

Somewhere along the way, everything became gray, beige, matte black, or something called "sandstone."

We'd like the purple back.

02 Gear Was Allowed to Get Beat Up

The best stuff in the '90s wasn't supposed to stay perfect.

Your dad's Coleman cooler had scratches all over it. The tackle box had hooks stuck in places hooks definitely shouldn't be. The hockey bag smelled terrible. The thermos had a dent in the side.

Nobody cared. Actually, that made it better.

Gear wasn't something you carefully arranged for a picture. It was something you threw in the back of the truck and used.

"Gear wasn't something you carefully arranged for a picture. It was something you threw in the back of the truck and used."

03 The Garage Was the Original Rec Center

There was always something happening in the driveway.

Street hockey. Basketball. Rollerblading. Working on a bike. Trying to jump something you absolutely shouldn't have been jumping.

Nobody organized it. Nobody registered online. Nobody received a confirmation email.

You knocked on somebody's door and asked if they could come outside. Five minutes later, there were eight kids in the driveway.

04 Being Bored Was Actually Pretty Great

This might have been the secret.

You got bored. And then you figured something out.

Grab the fishing poles. Ride bikes somewhere. Build a terrible fort. Go swimming. Play street hockey until somebody's garage door took a slapshot.

There wasn't an unlimited supply of entertainment sitting in your pocket. You had to make your own.

Turns out we were pretty good at it.

05 Going to the Cabin Felt Like Disappearing

The cabin was different before Wi-Fi.

Once you got there, you were basically gone. Nobody from work could reach you. Nobody was checking notifications. Nobody cared what anyone else was doing that weekend.

You fished. You swam. You grilled. You played cards. You sat around a fire. And if it rained? You figured something out.

06 Cars Were Basically Equipment Lockers

Look inside a family Suburban from the late '90s and you'd find half of a sporting goods store.

Hockey sticks. Fishing rods. Rollerblades. Baseball gloves. Coolers. Old sweatshirts. Probably a folding chair nobody remembered putting there.

Nothing was organized into a sophisticated "vehicle storage system." It was just back there.

Somehow, we survived.

"A jacket could be purple and teal. A hockey stick could have ridiculous graphics. A ski suit could be visible from space."

07 Stuff Had Personality

This might be what we miss most.

Things used to look fun. A jacket could be purple and teal. A hockey stick could have ridiculous graphics. A ski suit could be visible from space. Your dad could wear a forest-green fleece with jeans and white New Balance shoes and somehow look completely correct.

Nobody was trying to create a perfectly coordinated outdoor aesthetic. They were just going outside.

Maybe we don't actually miss the '90s.

Maybe we miss what came with them.

Less scrolling. More screwing around. Less planning. More spontaneous weekends. Less worrying about whether you had the right gear. More using whatever was already in the garage.

The good news is we don't actually need to bring back dial-up internet to get some of that back.

Grab the cooler. Throw some gear in the truck. Call your buddies. Go fishing. Play outside. Head to the cabin. Stay out longer than you planned.

And maybe bring back the teal and purple while we're at it.

The '90s aren't coming back. But the good parts should.