Thank you to those persons who reached out via email, and to visiblink
for mentioning me in your phlog. I appreciate all of you.
## Gear
My new job is one of pretty much constant travel. This leads me to
many thoughts of gear. I have a lot of gear, but need to decide what
is needed and what is allowed in modern airports.
I think I am going to actually use the molle backpack I bought in
2016. It was manufactured by SOG, and is plenty roomy. I have a
molle water bottle pouch I will pair with it. In the pouch will be
a 36oz water bottle with an 18oz nesting cup. This should be legal
if I go through security with the water bottle emptied out. I have
made a mini first aid kit housed in a small leather envelope from
Hide & Drink. I feel naked without a pocket knife, but I can pack
that in my checked luggage. I cannot decide between my Swiss Champ
SAK and my Leatherman Wave so I'll likely pack both. I need to cut
down my possibles pouch to a smaller and legal (for airports) setup.
I have a lot of things I likely will not need in there, a lot of
redundancies. Do I need a millbank bag, a compass, 3 lighters, char
cloth tin/flint & steel, fixing wax, or ferro rods? Likely not.
Maybe one ferrocerrium rod and a 1/2" roll of gorilla tape... things
to figure out. I am not going camping, just to customer sites to
perform maintenance, true. I feel better with some of these items on
my person.
I have a leather dopp kit, but will need to stock up on travel sized
containers and items. I like a full sized toothbrush, but everything
else can be bite sized. I shave my head, but I do require beard care
items. I won't spend too much time screwing with this part, it is
pretty straight forward.
## Sidenote on the State of the States
It is crappy that the American people have allowed their rights to be
so eroded, because I hate traveling without a firearm. I'll be
researching solutions to this issue (such as obtaining the magic two
CCLs, traveling through the NE United States and other Dem strongholds
is still difficult when armed even with these credentials). In
Wyoming, a concealed carry license is not required for adult state
residents. I always assume that everyone around me is armed.
## Wardrobe
I wore a uniform at work for the 15 years I was in the oil field. Do
I have the clothing I need to present myself properly in this
industry? IDK. I am going to play this one by ear.
## Mindset
I think this is mostly already handled. I have traveled plenty
previously for work. I do have the bad habit of being a shut in. I go
back to the hotel room after work and veg out. This is a great
opportunity to see things, go places. I would like to make myself
leave my room and go experience the country. Maybe I could attempt to
camp while out on the road? My mentor at this job is a good friend of
mine I've known for fifteen years. I'll have a chat or two about this.
Overall I am pretty damned stoked about this new career. I intend to
make it just that. Looking for work is shit, and I'd of course like
not to do it again.
