Your Top Gear

No, not the show. What are the top five items of gear you've purchased over the years and decades? Not the most valuable, or rarest, but the ones you use the most. I would even say not sentimental items unless they are truly the most used, not just cherished. Also, why?

I'm thinking about my list currently. What's yours?

 

SAKs, mammut boots - 6 years of three season use(non summer), zippo lighter I like that it can stand on it's own and no plastic parts will melt..paracord bracelet - use those during holidays to dry my clothes when swimming in sea i remote places. Izula for all light camping, wild bbq etc. Cargo pants m65 jacket - 5.11 version at the moment. Cheap casio watch - i don't give a fuk what time is in RIO or Lax or Hong Kong, or if the tide is coming and full moon tonight, just want to know the time and if I bash it ir trade with locals for some food or ride to hotel then I won't complain, will buy another one. Zebra pen, some light at the moment some nitecores.

 

1-Rite in the Rain Space Pen
2-Mini Bic Lighter
3-ZT 0770CF
4- Olight s10
5-Taurus 617

I´ll continue and say the Top 10

6- Gerber Dime
7- Zippo Compact Street Chrome
8- Esee 3
9- Paracord Bracelet
10- Suunto Core Black Military

 

1. Spyderco Native 5. It's the right size for me. The knife is beyond comfortable. At $85. I can easily replace it if I lose it.
2. Leatherman Rebar, all the tools I need and none of the trash tools.
3. Olight S1A, perfect for me.
4. Pilot G2 pens. Cheap and reliable.
5. moleskine notebooks. Perfection.

 

That's way more than five.

 

My not at work stuff
1: SAK farmer used daily

2: little maglight aaa torch gets used often. Need to get a better one that last longer per battery.

3: g shock watch, decent solid watch with analogue face for navigation assistance if required

4: klean canteen 32oz bottle

5: Akubra territory, gets worn everywhere

 

Cejay Engineering Sere glo-sticks.

ESEE Junglas

TOPS Silent Hero fixed blade

Eberlestock packs

Lodge Cast Iron cookware

 

In that case
1. SAK
2. Paracord
3. Zippo
4. Some light
5. Some bandana

 

Victorinox SAK (I lose one every so many years, but I carry an 'Explorer' now).
Surefire E2L (I have more than one, but I always have one with me).
Surefire Pen
Benchmade Pen

 

1. ESEE 6
2. SAK Trekker w/classic blade design
3. Suunto MC2
4. Kleen Kanteen 20oz w/widemouth
5. ESEE Basic Fire Kit

All of these items have been part of my kit for almost 10 years and all the original ones except for the compass. The MC2 replaced a MC1.

 

So I did some thinking. It was hard, but here are my findings.

1. Saddleback Leather bifold wallet. No looking at anything else since purchased.
2. Surefire Titan 1AAA. Tried to upgrade but went back to it. Light light and powerful.
3. Moleskin notebooks. Apparently field notes are junk. Learned this on,y after switching away from and back to moleskin.
4. Fisher Space Pen refills. I don't care about the vessel, but the pressurized ink is great for non-surface writing.
5. GoRuck GR1. I've had a lot of packs and for daily use, plain old backpack use, this thing is simply amazing. I don't think I could ever wear it out.

Honorable mention:
Kifaru Woobie. Amazing blanket.

 

I thought this thread could have a great amount of posts but...I was wrong.

 

Me too bump.

 

1. Spyderco Endura VG-10 NEVER EVER EVER leave home without it
2. Exotac lighter cover with bic lighter
3. Maratac titanium, quite possibly the most practical light on earth.
4. Glock with extra mag
5. Leatherman Wave. Life would be even harder without a Leatherman.

 

1-Custom titanium Victorinox SAK Spartan with pruning blade by ALM Knives & Tools (Farmers & Harvesters in the past)

2-Fellhoelter TiNyBolt pen (always been Fisher Military pens before this came out)

3-Titanium Zippo with Z-Plus Extreme butane insert

4-Titanium Leatherman Charge with bits & extension (used a WAVE for over 20 years until recently, same tools)

5-CRK Sebenza 25 (My 2nd choice would be a Southern Grind Bad Monkey)

6-Titanium LensLight MINI (best light I have ever owned or seen for it's size)

7-Rolex Submariner owned & worn often over 20 years now, built like a tank and has withstood a lot with flying colors

HONORABLE MENTION #1: Recycled Firefighter "The Rookie" wallet - I keep trying different wallets and have for years but always end up back with a RF Rookie in my pocket. Fairly minimalist but carries a lot and I am yet to find anything better. It has just become the perfect wallet for me.

OTHER HONORABLE MENTIONS: Red Wing Boots Model 8138, Combat Flip Flops Claymore Bag, TAD OP1, Magpul cellphone cases, Pointer Brand Chore Coat and jeans. My Sig Sauer P250 Compact is on me most of the time and my iPad Pro & iPhone 6 Plus are also almost always with me.

These are items with me I use daily so by that criteria my most important. Over the years I've tried to select what I consider and buy the best in each category, lot's of experimentation, a whole lot just this year. Lots of hits and misses and lots of research.

There are always 7 EDC items with me & if I had to pick by category these are it. So be hard for me to limit it to 5. The large folder is the hardest decision for me and it really comes down to 3 but the Sebenza 25 is the best all around, the Grayman SATU is just a monster that will withstand the apocalypse, and Southern Grind's Bad Monkey may just be my favorite. Really tough choice there.



EDITED: to change large folder, expand comments, & add pics, what this thread is desperately missing. I'll add a better pic if photobucket ever decides to return to life.....

 

Eno double nest
Hennessy hex tarp
Casio classic gshock
USMC ILBE assault pack
Becker BK10

 

Esee 5
Victorinox Farmer
Space pen
G-Shock watch
Shark design strop

 

Esee Junglas
Victorinox hunter
Glock 27L(grip choppedG22) with spare G22 mag
Leatherman kick or PST2
Esee basic fire kit

An esee LS was in tight running for 5th, but with 3 items having blades redundancy was covered.