So it’s that time of year again, when someone on the gun forum I frequent started the (usually biannual) “What do you carry in your pockets?” thread. Basically, it’s an “I carry these items, and here’s why” listing, usually with a photo. Of course some of the guys have more stuff on their person at all times than others, but there’s generally a theme of keys/light/blade/fire/firearm that most guys have. It’s a gun forum, so there are a wide variety of carry pieces and assorted holsters, and although I don’t have my concealed carry rig here with me, I figured I’d play along.
Contents of my pocketses:
Reading the contents in standard fashion, here’s what I’ve got.
-M9 in Fobus kydex paddle holster, +1 mag. Always have this, and if I’m headed to the IA side I’m usually (though not always) also carrying my M4.
-Standard Zippo lighter. Note that there are no cigarettes in the photo. Today is my first “no smoking” day… we’ll see how it turns out. No reason to take the fire source off my person however.
-Assorted keys. I have gotten in the habit of only keeping the single key in my pocket, and the rest I attach to a belt loop. Will probably continue this on redeployment, at least in uniform.
-Benchmade AFO auto-folder. Damn good knife. Not quite razor sharp, but my abilities with the whetstone have gotten better over the course of the last year.
-Rite in the rain notebook, field expedient notebook (3×5 cards with clip), ID. Have something to write on, have something to write on and hand to people. Always. Info removed from the ID for obvious reasons, but it’s my temp badge to get into the “Camp Dracula” portion of the FOB.
-Surefire G2 Nitrolon flashlight. Given the state of the power on the IA side, I’ve taken to always having a light on me. I’d like one of those Surefire executive LED models, but am not quite ready to drop the $100 or so one would cost.
-T-Mobile Shadow (HTC) cell phone with MTC-Atheer/Zain sim card. This phone has taken a beating that even exceeds the one I gave the Nokia that sheilded my hip when I wrecked my bike. We came back from a patrol and I forgot it was in my calf pocket, so it went through a wash, 2 rinses, and a spin cycle. I took it apart and let it dry, and it still works. I took the back cover off and cleaned the inside of the plastic cover over the camera lens, and even that works again. The ‘alt’ key doesn’t work anymore, but given what it’s been through, I think I’ll live.
-Laser pointer. A good S2 should never be without a pointing implement.
-2x Pilot G2 Mini pens. They don’t poke the bottom of the pen pockets and wear holes in them. Sweet.
-8x 750mg Tums EX in plastic meds baggie. Hopefully shouldn’t need this as much now since I’m quitting smoking (heartburn was an occasional nasty side effect of the cigs), but it’s come in handy too many times to count after bad DFAC food. Not as much an issue on this FOB as the DFAC is much better.
-Wallet. The leather tri-fold my parents got for me when they were in Italy is stashed away at the house. This one is smaller, and holds less stuff, but then again I’m deployed…
Not pictured: The Canon Powershot SD850IS that I used to take the picture. Carrying the camera around everywhere has taken it’s toll, and image quality is visibly reduced over the beginning of the year. But then again it still takes photos, and they’re decent, so I can’t complain too much. There’s sand inside the LCD screen, and the lens makes funny grinding noises when it extends on power-up, but that’s why I bought the cover-everything extended warranty when I picked up the camera at BestBuy.
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