Absolute minimum gear lives in my headset bag:
- Headset
- Licence/Medical
- Local WAC/ERC
- Tissues (spontaneous nosebleed sufferer)
- Pencil
- SicSac
- Fuel Tester
- one of those double adapter 90 degree screwdrivers
- Extra torch
- ear plugs for pax
- NO BATTERIES REQD FOR MY ENR HEADSET
In the Nav Bag is the rest of stuff I want on most flights:
- Pens and Pencils
- Frequently used Charts
- small folder of nearby aerodromes' approach plates
- CR2 (I use it often, mostly just for doing fractions)
- Spare change (all denominations)
- Spare torch (piece of paper between battery and coil stops accidental draining of power)
- Spare batteries for torches (best that all torches and maybe GPS use same battery size)
- Business cards (company and my own)
- mini-cd with important documents (doubles as extra signal mirror)
- more ear plugs for pax
- more SicSacs
- backup GPS with power cable (not external antenna, this is for backup so no big deal putting it on top of the panel)
- Face shield for CPR (actually on my keyring but I wouldn't fly pax without it)
- my own mini survival kit:
- 1 emerg poncho
- rubber bands
- several bandages
- twine
- fishing line
- 4 Panedol
- 2 hose clamps (each coiled around a 5 cent coin to use as the screwdriver, able to be joined together to make a larger clamp)
- tinder for fire (dryer lint and wooden matches with heads broken off, heads not allowed - refer to carriage of Dangerous Goods)
- tiny signal mirror
- 2 sachets freeze dried coffee (not decaf, that'd be silly)
- 2 sachets salt
- 2 sachets sugar
- 1 non-lubricated condom (not for the ladies, for keeping caught water hence the lack of lubricant)
- 40 cm of duct tape (rolled onto itself)
- 12/24 Volt cigarette lighter (not found in most aircraft these days, at $2 and about 30 grams why not have them in the aircraft's surv kit?)
- plastic zip ties (good for when Cessna windows pop open in flight)
I also try to hide a can of soup (Mmmm, cheap and dirty Coles Mexican Beans) in most of the aeroplanes I fly. This often comes in very handy.
Lastly, and I'm quite proud of this one, I keep some safety matches tucked into that little bit of padding on my headset. Safety matches are not prohibited under the DG regs
if they are carried on one's person. I can't put them in my nav bag or the aeroplanes survival kit and I don't smoke so I wouldn't remember to put them in my pocket. Also, I couldn't find any waterprrof ones but read online about simply dipping them into melted candle wax to cover them from top to bottom. To use just rub the wax off the head.
FRQ CB