Miscellany: COVID-19 Holiday Travel EDC

 

Like everyone, I've been limiting my travel in 2020, but I did hazard a flight to my extended family over Thanksgiving. From left to right, here's what I carried during the trip:

Hand sanitizer: Even before the pandemic, air travel was notorious for spreading disease. For those times when there's a line for the bathroom in the airplane cabin, a small bottle of hand sanitizer makes a lot of sense.

Uniqlo AIRism face mask: Like nearly all the masks and face coverings out there, this mask doesn't do much more than act as a portable sneeze guard, but it's comfy and easy to pack. I wore a real-deal surgical N95 for the flight, which does offer at least some protection from infection.

ChapStick Medicated lip balm: As I learned during a recent trial, wearing a facemask all day can be hard on your lips. A small tube of lip balm helps with that, and also comes in handy for winter weather in general.

Apple iPhone 7: My family generally gives me a hand-me-down iPhone every so often, and they pawned this off on me during the trip. Four years ago, this phone was state of the art, and even today, the battery holds up so long as you don't do too much web-surfing or movie-watching.

SureFire Stiletto Pro: I'm testing this USB-rechargeable flashlight, and I'm liking it so far. I'll post a review eventually.

CRKT Williams Pen: A writing instrument first, but also useful as an emergency self-defense device. Note that I'm not a fan of the other "tactical" pens CRKT puts out (including the sequel to this pen, the Williams Defense Pen II).

SlimFold MICRO softshell wallet: This slim, lightweight wallet is still holding up fine, though I'll probably switch out to something with more card sleeves once this pandemic ends and everyone carries business cards again.