The I.T. Life

My tax return is coming soon so I’m going to use it to buy some new toys for the summer, help me get active. I’m going to MEC this week and picking up a nice pair of hiking boots, so that I get out more with SAR and stop complaining about my old work boots. Also going to Canadian Tire and getting a bike rack for my Jeep. A buddy of mine told me he wants to buy a bike and from that we are going out together and getting in shape. I’m going to get a bike rack to help us get where we want to go! I can’t wait!

So Valentines day is coming up and I convinced the wife to order me some new EDC toys. Don’t worry, I’m gonna get her just as nice a gift. I’m planning on getting the Fenix EO1, which is a nice little 10 lumen single AAA light, I’m hoping to use this as a keychain light if its not too big. Next is a Nite Core Defender Infinity R2, a great 145 lumen single AA light. This will have 2 main purposes, a backup SAR / hiking light, and a primary EDC light when I want to cut down size or weight, instead of carrying my D20 R2. A really cool thing about this light is it can use rechargeable lithium batteries, which boost run time, and can possibly boost output as well. Lastly, the  Princeton Tec Eos, a 50 lumen three AAA headlamp. This probably won’t be a EDC for me, since I usually EDC at least one light, however this will be used for hiking and SAR.

Currently, I carry a pretty heavy SAR Bag. I’m not going to bother listing all my stuff, but what I am going to say is this year, I am going to start spending less money on new gear, and more money on smarter gear. I want to buy some new clothes, lighter weight clothes, this will cut down drastically on weight. I want to find a lighter weight pot, to replace my stainless steel 3 piece set. I want to start focusing on weight, and functionality.

So, I’ve been trying my very hardest to not buy toys, and not drool over toys. I end up with huge lists of things I want, and just putting them away. I have added a few more items for my EDC/really cool crap that I want, and have some uses for. I recently had a few bucks for my bday, so I bought a few random things, most significant is a CRKT M21-14SF

In addition to this beautiful knife, I’m drooling over a NiteCore D20 R2.

A great flashlight, about 6″ in length, running off 2aa batteries. Capable of 200 lumen for 1.5 hours before power decreases. This will not be my EDC light, or my pocket carry light, 6″ is too big for that, this will be my backpack light, my camping light, my SAR primary light. I was hoping to buy this light for my bday however I ended up needing to spend some of the cash for bills, so, I am out of luck on that one. I’m hoping to have it in my hands for some of my training in the fall with SAR, or even sooner for my camping in PEI with friends. I’m going to have to look at the budget, see what is happening with the house, and figure it all out.

Now, also on my list, is the uber cool Leatherman Skeletool, a great stripped down Leatherman, with a new design.

Its light, simple, and effective. I don’t know how I will carry this, or what I will use it for though. I have a Leatherman Wave in my backpack for SAR, and that is also in the Jeep so, its easy to get to. I carry a pocket knife now, and have a bigger knife on the way. Perhaps I will giveup carrying my c33x and start carrying the Skeletool, or just rotate them. Perhaps I will carry both the CRKT and the Leatherman in my laptop bag, in addition to my NightCore D20 and my various other things.
I find I am carrying too much junk, last weekend for camping I loaded 3 bags in the jeep all for myself. My SAR/survival backpack, that basically lives in the Jeep, or in the house and is carried to the jeep whenever I am going anywhere, my big camera bag, and my over the shoulder laptop bag. My SAR bag will be staying in the jeep, so that leaves me 2 bags. Perhaps I choose limited camera equip for weekend travel and use my laptop bag. Perhaps I can put my laptop in my camera bag. Perhaps I can travel without the laptop, without all the camera gear, and without the sar gear, then find a small, ie smaller than shoulder bag for my edc/weekend gear, that will hold knives, lights, etc, and my camera…. Perhaps… I’m hopeless…