Gear Nuttery Gone Horribly Awry

[Wook]

Since getting my Maxpedition Jumbo, my gear nuttery tendencies have got a little out of hand. I've been slowly modularising my bag by adding extra pouches, and the increase in what I've been carrying around with me has been so gradual that I didn't even notice. Today I decided to do an inventory, and this is what I came up with.

My wife pointed out that there are two completely different lives in that bag, one bushcrafty and outdoorsy, the other my academic teaching job.

The contents of my bag were:

• Car keys (with monkeys fist lanyard and Victorinox classic)
• Food thermos
• 8x21 Binoculars
• First Aid Kit
• Vaseline
• Hand sanitiser
• UKPK
• Work notepad
• Backup hard-drive
• Projector remote
• Spare biros for students who forget
• Whiteboard markers
• Glasses
• Work keys
• Business cards
• Flash drive
• Mini tape measure
• Teabags (I don't drink caffeine)
• Buff
• Medication
• Thinsulate hat
• Kitchen towel for cleaning whiteboards
• Gloves
• Maxpedition Rite in the Rain notepad
• Wallet
• Headphones/handsfree kit
• Fenix E11 torch
• Silva carabiner compass
• 2 disposable lighters
• 2 spare torch batteries
• Collapsible tin whistle (and case)
• Space pen
• Victorinox tinker
• Sunglasses
• Cleaning cloth
• Symptoms diary (for recording attacks of Meniere's)
• 2 Pencils (with caps)
• Phone
• Change
• Supermarket trolley token

The thing that really troubles me when looking at all this is my first thought was "Crap, I forgot to add a length of paracord......"

My wife suggests that I don't need to carry my work stuff when bushcrafting, or my bushcrafting stuff when working. It might be good advice.

 

[Robbi]

Sounds like your wife has given you the OK to buy another bag

 

[sandbender]

Maxpedition, it can be a slippery slope.

 

[Man of Tanith]

I have two pieces of maxped stuff.
a wallet and a personal admin pack thingy.

I can see the appeal but I'm resisting....

that a heck of an edc right there

 

[John Fenna]

You need another bag!
Sorry to see you have Meniere's - I get occasional attacks of vertigo so know how debilitating that kind of thing can be!

 

[Wook]

You need another bag!
Sorry to see you have Meniere's - I get occasional attacks of vertigo so know how debilitating that kind of thing can be!

On the plus side John the last entry in my symptoms diary is 29th November last year, so mine now seems pretty well controlled. The medication in the photos is Betahistine, which may or may not be helping. I think cutting out salt and caffeine definitely is though.

 

[John Fenna]

On the plus side John the last entry in my symptoms diary is 29th November last year, so mine now seems pretty well controlled. The medication in the photos is Betahistine, which may or may not be helping. I think cutting out salt and caffeine definitely is though.

I could never give up salt and definitely not caffeine!
My "chewing coffee" is a need not a luxury!
My triggers seem to be stress and altitude plus they tend to hit a few days after I get over a cold...
I no longer go to any height and try to avoid stress
I also keep my pills handy (can't recall their name though ... simple anti nausea stuff, quite powerful though.
I really do not like turning over in bed and then having to hold onto the mattress for endless minutes until the bed stops moving!

 

[Wook]

Sounds like Buccastem John - the kind you stick under your gum right? It was actually developed as an antipsychotic, but they found that whenever they prescribed it not only did it help control Schizophrenia, it resulted in Schizophrenics with much less nausea They don't use it as an antipsychotic any more, but it is still widely used for nausea.

I keep some in that first aid kit in case I have an attack of vertigo while out and about. The Betahistine is meant to be more of a preventative. It supposedly works by lowering pressure in the inner ear. Salt, alcohol, stress and caffeine all raise inner ear pressure so I try to avoid the lot.

 

[John Fenna]

I ain't giving up anything on that list but the stress!
Just looked up my treatment - prochlorperazine ... also used for Schizophrenia and mania!

 

[ozzy1977]

Yup you need a new bag