This Classic G-Shock has been through it all and just wont die. I keep it strapped to my dry bag when not diving.

Yeah, I went thru the Leatherman phase, and several other brands of multi-tools, plus inumerable cheap knock-offs that I recieved as gifts from well meaning family members that dont understand the concepts of Quality, Minimalism, and beauty of design.
But after years of spare knives pilling up, I decided to work my way through the spares and find out why they sat on the shelf for all those years. 
At the time of this writing, I'm carrying a genuine single folding blade, half serrated, stainless steel Victorionox knife. Works fine.

This waterproof bag is by Overboard, and what’s in it.

As a sailor, I’m always aware that I might at a moments notice be required to jump into a little boat, either from the deck of a ship, or from a pier, and head off to sea for an unknown period of time. It has been as much as a week, and I have a friend that hoped on a tug on an august day and didn’t get off until December.

A rule of the universe, you can never have everything, and you will always be missing something crucial. With that in mind, a few comfort items…

A sweater

A wool watch cap, red

A spoon

A tin of sardines

A copy of ‘le Scarabee d’or”

Back up sunglasses

A swim suit ( ewe)

Goggles ( mask takes up too much room)

Pencil

Write In The Rain brand Notebook

Leather gloves

A plastic Whistle with a compass in it

A pocket knife

Sunglasses

Waterproof wrist watch

$10 in ones

A spare t-shirt that doubles as a face gator

My flask

My Backpack is about worn out, and its only 10 years old. When I get another one, I expect it to last for the rest of my life.

Thats why I fell hard for the SaddleBack Leather Brand. Their catch phase caught me; " They'll Fight over it When You're Dead"

I have been carrying this loop in my courier bag for years. It flips open and closed, doesn't take up much space, but its so heavy you could use it as a paper weight.
I don't know who made it, but I'm pretty sure I nicked it from my wife.

Blunnies, and why

Have you ever fallen off your own ship with our boots on? I have.

Have you ever jumped on a sinking boat, with a pair of steel toed boots lashed to your feet? Me too. There is no feeling more helpless. No wait, yes there is.

Have you ever had to bob back and forth between an elegant dinner party on Persian rugs and dirty engine room on a tramp steamer?

Been invited to enjoy an indulgent, far eastern style pants off massage in a hurry?

All of the se situations require a set of sturdy work boots that can be slipped on easily, and more importantly, slipped off under duress.

Blundstone Style 500 fit the bill. There is probably something better, and I don’t like the sole, as at least on of the 10 pair I have gone through fell apart. And for the price, they don’t last that long.

Awesome advertising campaign, But poor design in my book. Part of my problem is with the technology itself. After a few hours of wearing the noise cancelling headphones, my mind is so agitated I can t think strait. The problem with the Bose brand, is that you cant listen to anything without activating the noise cancelling, no passive, regular listening. Plus they cost a lot, and that hurts when you leave them in the seat pouch in front of you and they take the next flight to Addis Abbaba without you. (True Story)

On the other hand, I bought some cheap ones from a drug store and used them while recording sound on a documentary film and they were great and you could use them with or without the noise cancelling feature, and when I was done I gave them away to an amazing guitarist in The Drakensburg without any regret. ( Also note; the other cameraman on that shoot just used his ear-buds, for checking sound

I got this bag at J.Crew On 5th Ave. in New York, to carry several bottles of very special Olive Oil my wife had received. It was really practical as a camera bag, and although it doesn’t look very outdoorsy, I ended up using it for my Sony HD 2000 Video Camera, Senheuser microphone, and Cheep Noise Cancelling Headphones ( NOT Bose) while climbing 3 Volcanos in the Andes.

Like all NASA Jobs, there was a NASA patch issued for that one, so I sewed it on the bag. It had worn a little on the bottom, so I sewed on a patch from the sponsor of another mission. Now it has quite a few. It might be kind of Gaudi, but somewhere  out there in the world there is somebody that might think its cool.

This might not have been my first choice if it was mine to choose, but I’m stuck with it.

Swiss Army Brand, stainless steel band, monogrammed back plate reads “ Relic Smith. Manager de l’Equipe, 1994 Paris-Dakar-Paris”