What are you carrying?

[Lindorm]

One thing that I have always found interesting and fun in a somewhat oddball sort of way is to see what other people are carrying with them. Are you one of those minimalists who travels for four weeks to Indonesia with only your passport and credit cards? Or are you one of those who lug around with everything but the kitchen sink?

As I mentioned in my introductory thread, I work as a freight train driver here in Sweden, and I tend to carry a lot with me to work, especially since I often have duties where I lodge away from my home depot.

So, this is what I carry in my company-issue backpack:

A quite extensive first-aid kit
Sanitary wet wipes and disinfectant alcogel
A huge handkerchief
A toiletry bag with the essentials
A small travel pharmacy -Ibuprofen, multivitamins, that sort of stuff.

A set of thermal underwear
A set of tea candles and waterproof matches
(If I get stuck in the woods with a power outage, the heat disappears quite quickly from the loco cab. Not fun if it is -20 degrees outside)

A travel alarm clock
A Leatherman multi-tool
A few spare gaskets for air hoses between wagons
A piece of special heat & weather -resistant chalk for marking defects on freight wagons
A roll of extra-strong duct tape
A pair of heavy-duty work gloves
A hi-vis vest

A set of camping knife, fork & spoon
A "Lokmugg", a special large stainless steel mug perfect for use on the hotplates in the driver's cab, and engraved with the emblem for my training class as well as my name and graduation year as a mainline train driver.
A small bottle of homemade spice mixture
A ziploc bag of strong tea-bags (PG Tips or Yorkshire Tea)

Unholy amounts of paperwork:
Documents for the train(s) I am about to work -duty timetable, freight manifests, RID/Dangerous goods listings, wagon lists etc
Copies of any local instructions relevant to the places or trains that I will work
"Linjeböcker", Line description books. These are A5-size loose-leaf folders giving details of the railway lines in a district, showing where all signals, tracks, sidings etc are located, what control centre or signal box controls what area, who controls the electrical supply, any special regulations for a certain place or line etc. We have to carry these for every district we work a train over.
Various forms and report sheets for stuff
Other good-to-have paperwork -duty lists, phone lists, maps and so on

A PDA with lots of company internal documents in electronic form (local instructions, fault-finding guides for locos, company procedural documents etc etc), as well as the rule book for the national rail network. This is actually not a company issue item, but I got tired of dragging around on one A4 and one A5 binder chock full of papers, and switched over to electronic form instead. Also, I can play "Bubble Breaker" on my PDA.

"The little Green Book" -a small A6-size waterproof binder with a guide for faultfinding, diagnosing and reporting of freight wagons and dangerous goods.

Usually also a small notebook and a pencase with some pens and pencils

A MP3-player

Often also a small CD case, with CD:s to listen to in the cab (we have car stereos mounted in the cabs of most of our locos, seen as a mental health preservation device when on long-distance runs)

A packed breakfast/lunch/dinner -whatever. Can actually get quite large, if I am to be away for an extended period of time. And while we do have breaks and lay-overs, they can be at all sorts of hours and in all sorts of places -not neccesarily ones with an open restaurant or grocery store, or even any sort of civilization at all. I usually also pack some snacks and fruits.

Some "energy bars" as emergency rations if I happen to get stuck somewhere. While middle Sweden is not as bad as the far north, some railway lines still run quite a bit from the nearest road or cleared land, and you could get stuck for quite a while if something happened.

A water bottle

Something to read - right now a collection of Avram Davidson's "Dr. Ezterhazy" stories.

A miniature plush rat -a gift from Darlica, to keep me company in hotel rooms far away.

And a change of underwear & t-shirt etc, as well as perhaps an extra sweater or so, if I am staying away for more than a day.

In my pockets are:

Private mobile
Company mobile
Private keys
Work keys -a big lump of them
A small electric torch
Wallet
Fisherman's Friend throat lozenges
Pens & pencils
Sunglasses
Odds & sods
And probably some lint, too.


I have never dared weigh my "work-pack", but it is not light! I have colleagues who travel with significantly less, but I (and Darlica) like to come prepared for just about anything. And isn't it always so, that when you take something out of your pack, you find yourself needing it shortly afterwards?

So, dear Monastarians, what do you lug around in the course of your day?

[Opsa]

Holy carp- that's a lot of stuff, and I thought I was bad.

I work at home, but whenever I leave I take my purse, which is heavy enough to stun a Bison.

In it I have:
wallet
chequebook
address book
car/housekeys
cell phone
digital camera
tissues
bandana
pen and pencil
notepad
business card holder
handwash
mints/gum
nailfile
clip-on shades
lip balm
small comb
small brush
small collection of head, stomach and sinus meds
small collection of sanitary protection
small collection of cosmetics

...and that's not counting various shreds of paper like the grocery list and a raffle ticket from last December that I just removed! Sheesh...

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

I do Heat & Air repair, so when I dress for work, I wear a belt AND suspenders.   No, really... the belt is to carry things, and the suspenders keep my pants comfortably up.  I HATE low-riding pants.... (no "plumber's crack" for this one...)

My belt carries my PDA/phone (HTC 8525), a holster for my AA Flashlight (LED, natch).  I also carry a cell-phone case with a battery headlamp (also LED)... two flashlights is a must, for both are those "drain the last erg of energy types-- full on, then *poof* nothing.  I sometimes have to crawl into an attic or under a house quite a ways, and the last thing I want is to be trapped without light. 

I wear carpenter's pants, so in the left lower-pocket, a multi screwdriver (has 8 different bits, and 2 different nut sizes).

In the right lower pocket, my Gerber Dragon multitool (preferred brand, as it slides to open, faster).  A folding razor knife.  Often a couple of 4-way ratcheting box-wrenches (two wrenches gives me 8 different sizes) 

In the "watch" pocket, I have several bits for battery power-tools.  A service hex wrench. 

In my right pocket, a couple of folding lock-back knives (one is expensive, one is super-cheap.  Which one I go for depends on if i"m using or abusing the knife )  Loose change goes here.

In my left front pocket, usually my earbud headphones and the adapter (I like to use my PDA/phone as an MP3 player-- have a 4gigabyte chip in it just for that).  Also loose screws goes here as well.

Back pockets-- wallet and any miscellaneous tools, depending on what I'm doing that day.

Shirt pocket holds a pen, a tiny screwdriver/valve wrench (and mini-level), a sharpie, and my reading glasses.  Sometimes a mini notepad.

Hat on my head, regardless of the season-- floppy hat if it's summer, stocking hat if winter. 

Then, of course, there's my truck-- a 1 ton dual-wheel diesel, with an extended toolbox bed on back.  And, with all that, sometime I STILL don't have the tool I need...

[Darlica]

Depending on what I'm doing but right now:

wallet
organizer (actually two at the moment)
a small notebook with clean white pages so I can draw without disturbing lines.
a smallish pen case (not small but smaller than the other one)
cellphone+ hands free
gloves (it's stil cold here)
a knitting project.
a small Swiss army knife
chewing gum

lip balm
lip gloss
hand lotion
meds. for 3 days 
Sanitary wet wipes
some discount coupons
sunglasses

That's all for the moment but wait a week or two and there will be much more junk in the bag...

 
 

[Sibling Chatty]

Med Bag has:

Pain med
Nerve med
Muscle relaxer
Antihistamine one (daily)
Antihistamine two (nightly, so I don't claw my skin off)
Proton pump inhibitor (stomach acid)
H2 blocker (stomach acid)
Uuuuhhh--one more pill I don't remember???

AND a vial of octreotide acetate subcutaneous, 3 syringes 10 needles, alcohol preps, my water bottle (small) and something 'snacky' in case my blood sugar goes down rapidly.

Also wipes of various kinds, maybe a hand sanitizer, if I don't leave it somewhere.

(Cash value of monthly meds, approx $3,800 at the moment.   )

Handbag has 'babypurse' with wallet type items, datebooks (medical and regular life) and glasses clip on. Big bag also has hairbrushes (2, one for tangles, one for smoothing out this 4 feet of hair) hair scrunchies and clips, 2 books (serious one and a novel or humor book) 3 travel packs of tissues, my Medicaid ID letter, my medical info for emergencies (NO EPI, NO PCN, NO EGG_BASED MEDS) and currently in there is Spencer's toy sheep, Crivens. Why Crivens is in my bag, Ido not know. Maybe Spencer thinks Crivens needs a roadtrip...

If I am to be gone more than 18 hours or so, I also carry a 'cold pack' bag with extra octreotide acetate subcutaneous vials, in case of need.

And a BIG bottle of water, to help keep meds going in and carcinoid syndrome/reactions down.

[pieces o nine]

Holy carps indeed, siblings!

Although I have fourteen trillion books, an egregious shoe collection, music and vid library, and enough art supplies to choke the Sorbonne, that all stays at home. I like to travel as light as possible.

Only when necessary:
- briefcase/portfolio; briefcase excellent disguise for lunch.
- professional leather bag with 'standard purse load': daytimer, pens, pencils, small 'library' notebook (double-check before buying new books, etc!), small flashlight, wallet & change. Cellphone. Tissues. Inhaler if stressed. Gum. Lipgloss. Aspirin. Anti-Dep's. Pocket mirror. Comb & clear elastic bands for hair. Current favorite custom-blend perfume. Small pocket knife. Digital camera if planning on shooting that day.

First preference:
- 'passport' sized purse with long strap to drape diagonally on self: holds essential cards/id, checkbook, money, change, fresh receipts, mini notebook, pen.
- can't wear a watch (I'm a battery vampire!) so I clip a plain carabiner-type to front compartment zip.
- lip gloss, mini custom-blend perfume vial (doubles as aromatherapy).
- pocket mirror to scare self. tissue.
- cell phone in reinforced, secure carabiner pouch.
- digital camera in reinforced, secure carabiner pouch if shooting that day.
- penlight flashlight on carabiner. Doubles as cat toy. Built-in loud whistle.
- keyring with secure carabiner clips inside front zip compartment.

[Makes me sound like a highschooler with a buncha kitsch dangling from the backpack, eh? Actually, it's all streamlined, black or silver and discreet. I *never* have to worry about setting it down and forgetting/losing it. I project effective YOU ARE VIOLATING MY AURA vibes to discourage people from attempting to sidle up and grab anything from it..]

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

- can't wear a watch (I'm a battery vampire!) so I clip a plain carabiner-type to front compartment zip.

Quit wearing a watch years ago, even though I used to collect inexpensive ones.

Realized that my cell phone kept far better time than any watch I could wear, and if asked for time by a stranger, I cheerfully expose my left wrist with a smile and keep walking....

As for ME checking the time, since I have to drag the phone out, it keeps me from obsessing about the time all the time.... less stress that way.  It get's done when it get's done.   

But that "battery vampire" thing -- my sister is one of those.  She sometimes wears a strictly mechanical watch as a result.  Usually she just goes without.

[anthrobabe]

I carry a messenger bag as a 'purse'.
currently it has
wallet
picture 'plastics' with photos from old wallets
3 tubes of chap-stick
meds
pictures
about 30 hair elastics
brush
a dynamo flashlight
a tube of zit cream
small metal tin (was mints) with nail clippers and 3 Apache Tears in it
small metal tin (was gum) with 2 pair foam ear plugs in it
eyeglasses repair kit
several bandaids in an old eyeglasses repair kit box
a receipts book (when I get cash at weddings/etc I give a receipt)
my dayminder
unpaid bills
a scratch paper notebook (lists,notes,todo,etc)
many, many Coke brand bottle lids (check out coke stuff dot com)
cross word puzzle book
2 magnetic clips for holding stuff to metal surfaces(fridge clips)
deodorant
keys
lanyard with 2 jump drives (thumb drives, portable drives)
keys
acetaminophen
ibuprophen
emery boards
tube of cocoa butter lotion
sticky roller (to clean lint etc off of clothing)
mirror
baby powder
debit card receipts-- gotts shred soon!
pens, pencils
calculator (does not work)
cell phone
my personal business cards (funny the are stuffed in the pocket where the cell phone goes- well, they fit!)
pocket knife
mints in a tin (not Altoids)

Book Bag:
peeks with one eye, blanches, zips it back up

[Lindorm]

So, it seems as if I am not the only one who girds my loins somewhat excessively

I actually forgot something on my list: Earplugs, one pair of soft ones for sleeping with, and one pair on a twisty frame for use when working in noisy environments.

[The Meromorph]

One wallet, with debit card, and various IDs.
One comb.
One set of keys.
One pack of Listerine breath strips.
One Zippo.
One glasses case (with 'other' glasses).
One pack of (5) cigars
One small cellphone holster with small flip phone.
One (Work) ID on a string, clipped to left of holster.
One very sharp Kershaw folding knife clipped to right of holster.

If I wear a jacket, it's an LLBean with a US Army cold-weather cap in one pocket, and goatskin gloves in the other. And another pack of cigars.

[Bruder Cuzzen]

I'm a minimalist , I carry only what I must to get through the day (my clothes , glasses and wallet and keys).

However , an average work day usually means carrying a combined  ton of tools , garbage , and building materials from one place to another .

[Sibling Chatty]

Oh, cigars...

If I ever meet you, please explain to your wife in advance that I WILL lean on you and just sniff. Possibly for hours.

It's an emotional thing...

[The Meromorph]

I have a good friend at work who gave up smoking several years ago, and often comes by my cube and says 'let's go for a smoke break'. We sit on the balcony outside my cube. I smoke, he sits downwind.

[Aphos]

Well, when I go out, I wear my fanny pack which has...

wallet (with, besides the usual wallet stuff, spare house and car keys)
checkbook
pen
notepad
small folding knife
change
pocket watch
tape measure
key ring (which has a small flashlight besides the keys)
and
cell phone

[Bruder Cuzzen]

I'm carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders again , the load becomes heavier each year .