I'm always curious to see new places and new faces, and it's supremely enjoyable to go somewhere fresh. But sometimes, the most piece of valuable piece of new info I take home comes from someone else who's travelled with me. They'll use or have something that I've never seen before. Sometimes it's the latest "something", other times it'll be an item which you simply haven't come across.
So I'm curious - tell me about the things you always travel with. Let's share some hard-won knowledge. Don't mention the familiar things like your favourite sunglasses or your i-Pod, but treat us all to a hard-earned nugget of usefulness.
I'll start.
I always take my Micro-Leatherman. One has lived in my pocket for the past 12 years and they're extremely handy for toe-nails, trimming knots, cutting line, opening the odd bottle, cutting stuff and screwing tight loose sunglass-screws. I go through a couple every year since heavy mono blunts their wee scissors, but I love them most because you can open and close them one-handed - invaluable under the console when you want to cut a cable tie ! They're also very small and lightweight
I also have a Photon Micro-Light on a cord around my neck under my shirt. It provides me with brilliant illumination at a seconds notice whenever I want it - in the engine room, round the boat at night, looking for your wallet under the bar table, and putting the key in your hotel room door after midnight. I can use it with my teeth too. Great for night passages (available in red light as well as bright white) and visible for over a mile when the batteries are new - always a comforting though if you fall in the water or get stranded on a desert island. Though I do not have one, there is also a clip that you can use to attach it to a baseball hat.
Last but not least is a Fisher Space-Pen. They write on justabout anything, upside down, under water, and on a wet console. They're great for getting skirts off lures too without breaking them. You need to keep them in a zipped pocket as they "escape" frequently.
There ya go, there's three of my best friends that I never leave home without. What do you take ?
On some one else's boat I always bring my handheld GPS, my handheld VHF, and my PLB. They take up no space and did you ever feel like you had too many of these items on board?
I also carry my grunden's. I live up where the water is cold and so are the women...
I like to have my nail clippers, that hang around my neck for snipping tag ends and the like..... Then my Costa's and a hat and I am good to go...
The rest of the fishing stuff I will ask if they have or want before I bring it....I like to bring my tackle box, but I usually don't.
18 lb.Brown on fly: 6x tippet, 106 lb.Atl.Sail: Ft.Laud, 888 lb. Mako Cozumel, 950+ Blues St.T
GO GO GADGET
A swiss army watch with built in flashlight...."night vision watch". My own wiring gloves...light, med and heavy duty.
and lastly one of those s-shaped safety knives or blades gizmos...can't remember who makes em....old x-small binaca bottle with mineral oil...(sorry...i'd have to kill ya...)
For fishing, I always bring my Old Harbor Outfitters Captain's Bag. Whether fishing on a center console or sportfisher, the bag just works well, not too big, not too small. Having my own boat, the bag already has the essentials tucked away neatly in the side pockets, so they're always ready to go and plenty of room for whatever the particular trip requires. The bag always has a pair of leadering gloves, a small spool of 25 lb. line., a lighter, glow sticks (leftover from lobster season) and zip ties. My five year old $8 needlenose pliers always find a way to make the trip as well. I usually bring a good size bottle of water for good measure.
Last edited by Jason @ Melton Tackle; 07-24-2008 at 06:52 PM.
In my younger days it was duct tape and bailing wire, (airboats and swamp buggies) today it's paper towels to keep my glasses clean, and a extra pair of glasses and a couple of white hand towels to wipe my hands with, oh yea don't forget the sun screen.
Great Thread!
On board a boat I carry every last thing I can possibly think we could use and lots of it... I like to go on the assumption that I can't get diddly where ever I go. Rather than ask do we have? I prefer where is?
Going abroad I used to carry a light spin, heavy spin and even a 50w right in my suitcase with break down or telescoping rods. A handfull of favorite offshore lures and a small inshore kit with small jigs and bare hooks has amused me in countless places. Heck, I even set a world record in Plettenburg Bay South Africa on a local fish called Leerfish slinging metal off the rocks.
Another thing I don't leave home without. Unlike Roddy I have not shrunk the size. I carry a pliers holster with full sized manleys, a bait knife big enough to filet in a pinch, a rigging needle with a few feet of waxed nylon and finally a reel wrench/ screwdriver. Sunglasses a must, not fashion but all fishing, tied on with mono of course, solar powered flashlight and crank powered radio in my suitcase, hand held vhf and gps with extra batts always take the ride... Sometimes I bring my own wife cause finding one of them abroad can be tricky...
I think for now on, im going to live by the following expression I heard fellow member chumtini use while we were doing some shopping for the OBMST......
wherever I travel, it generally involves fishing. so that requires me to bring my Costa's and the other two lenses they came with, my mate kit (pliers, 5 yr old bait knife, and release knife) as well as my favorite plugs, some semi-stiff double hook rigs, assortment of crimps, medium crimper, lots of 30# waxed thread and my needles, and last but most important of all, a log of fresh Skoal or Copenhagen
Okay, we're starting to see a couple of answers that I like - Fess with the Swiss Army watch and binaca bottle full of mineral oil (kill me, I need to know, dammit), DEEP has a wind-up radio and flashlight, there's a pair of nail-clippers etc etc.
But guys, we need to know exact models, and your insights into them as a user. Which wind-up radio, how long does it last ? Where's the pic of your watch, Fess ? You know it's all just a "something" till we see a pic and hear a story about why and how !
I want to end up with an informative list as long as a damn marlin, full of really clever, useful, interesting items which we could all do with using. Or a common item which someone uses in a novel fashion for something different. We don't really need tackle lists, makes of sunglasses, types of shoes etc etc, unless they are really really something special - we all take them along for the ride !
Jason, ditto on the Harbour bag. Got one at the Miami show this year and it's a killer. BUT your small spool of 25lb mono - what does that specifically do ?
DEEP - which reel wrench do you take ? Catch Mr Garrick off Robberg ? Been there done that too, great piece of rock. Long damn walk though.......
Parapapam - which PLB ?
Rarhomes - I still take a spool of duct tape !
Floridadeckie - need more info on the interchangeable lenses.
Sea Draggin - which knife sharpener ?
To all who might post, I'm really keen to hear how what you take works and lasts too. I think feedback from users about stuff is really, really interesting - it all helps in the end and if we can develop a nice check-list of things to "think" about taking with us, it'd be nice to keep it handy somewhere for our travels.
Pics are good, places to get stuff from maybe, even prices for really strange items ?
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