Gear, gear, gear, and more gear!

• 251 days ago
• 0 Comments
• Making Of
• Gear, Traveler Tip

Packing a new backpack is something that takes practice. I’ve packed, unpacked, repacked, chucked, added, re-arranged, and modified items with my knife all in the hopes of being able to physically carry everything that I need to take to Cape Town to Cape Town. I thought I had it good too – until I got to National Geographic’s Headquarters in Washington DC today and  received yet another camera kit to bring along (but a very useful video camera!). After the camera was handed over to me, my ‘handler’ (my term, not theirs) immediately asked “now where are you going to put that??”

I may not travel light, but I sure as hell know how to pack a backpack.

A note about the photos of the gear all laid out: while this photo is great for this blog about my journey, its main purpose is to remind myself of every item I packed in case I lose the bag in the airport or while traveling. I’ve gone through the headache of insurance claims on baggage once before, trust this traveler’s tip – photograph everything you are taking on a trip before you pack it. When filing insurance claims and claims to the airlines, its absolutely impossible to remember every item you packed after you’ve lost it.

Here is my insurance photo, with a list of every numbered item below. Now what do you think – am I missing anything??

1. Airline travel bag (goes over backpack)
2. Osprey backpack
3. Organics climbing chalk bag & MadRock climbing shoes & two carabiners & belay device
4. Black Diamond climbing harness
5. Jansport day bag
6. Tripod carry case
7. MeFroto Travel Tripod
8. Collapsable water bottle
9. Camel back
10. Trekking poles
11. Cotton Carrier Strapshot (to hold SLR on backpack when walking)
12. Assorted tools/kit for Cotton Carrier
13. Compass
14. USB hub
15. Assorted charging cables
16. USB flash drives, assorted cable adapters
17. Handy cord
18. Thermarest sleeping pad
19. Handy bag for headphones, stereo cables, etc
20. Emergency cellphone
21. Handy clips
22. Lighter
23. Lapel mic w/ 20ft cord
24. Re-useable shopping bag
25. Over-ear deadphones
26. Plugs & apple power adapters & ziplock
27. Various USB adapters for solar panel
28. More adapters for Solar Panel
29. USB SD card reader
30. Backup cellphone
31. Circular polarizing lens
32. 120 Film (5 rolls x  2)
33. Zoom H2 sound recorder
34. Windshield for recorder
35. 120 film roll
36. The North Face sleeping bag (15 deg)
37. Zoom travel case
38. Memory card & Battery travel wallet
39. Canon Rebel T2i
40. Kodak No 1 Diomatic
41. 50mm  f-1.4 autofocus lens
42. 18-55mm f-1.8 USM lens
43. 2 backup canon batteries
44. 2 Lens cleaning wipes
45. Bottle opener
46. Water bottle
47. Sony backup audio recorder
48. Backup headphones
49. Pen, marker, USB flash drives, notebooks, soothing wax
50. Travel toothbrushes
51. Instant coffee
52. Sunglass strap
53. Knife
54. Fannypack
55. Eddie Bauer travel flask
56. Asolo boots
57. Nylon scarf
58. Fleece gloves
59. Down coat
60. Fleece and wool hats, baseball cap
61. Fleece pants
62. Small herd of wool socks
63. Merrell trail runners
64. Sunglasses
65. Passport
66. Yellow fever / medical card
67. Passport wallet and backup cash ($400)
68. Copies birth certificate, passport, social security, yellow fever card
69. Pretzel headtorch
70. Battery razor
71. Gators
72. 2 pants
73. Fleece
74. REI Waterproof jacket
75. 2 shorts (one zip-off)
76. Hessian sprouting bag
77. Toothpaste, soap, bag
78. Apple power cord
79. Assorted hard drive cables
80. Backup USB SD card reader
81. G-tech HD
82. Mobile device Solio solar charger
83. 4 LaCie hard drives
84. Backup battery supply
85. Voltaic solar panel
86. Swim/running shorts
87. 4 long-sleeve shirts
88. Underwear!
89. Cycle shorts
90. Waterproof bag for computer
91. 11″ Macbook Air & Incase sleeve & magsafe charger
92. 15″ Macbook Pro & Incase sleeve
93. Magsafe charger
94. Rolling carry-on bag
95. Compression bag
96. Compression bag
97. Leg warmers
98. Arm warmers
99. 2 tank-tops, 3 t-shirts
100. 2 long-sleeve base layers
101. Fabric/towel!