arjunrc

(Update: Jun 2013) - unfortunately, it looks like this oil is resulting in skin acne for me. Too bad - it is by far the best shave product I've used in terms of shaving comfort. I have now switched to CO Bigelow (Proraso)

Well, so I got the pacific shaving oil and used it for a week. So far so good - I am not (yet) seeing any razor gunking. As you can see, it's a huge reduction to my current gel size and helps more with more space towards my onebag objectives.

The process I use:
1. Shave right after bath
2. I use 6 drops per shave - wet my hands, put the drops on one hand, rub my hands together and apply on face
3. Very smooth experience - better than my gel so far
4. I rinse my razor quite often since others have reported it may gunk up

oldpenny16

My thanks to whomever posted the tip about using contact lens cases for carrying small bits of lotions and make up. Works a charm!

I have one set of cases for make up and another for pricey face cream. Gets me through a 3-4 day trip just fine.

arjunrc

As I mentioned before, a key missing element in my onebag items was a 'casual shoe' I could wear with jeans and take it along with me without adding bulk. There is nothing like being able to take off your leather formal shoes in the evening, when you don't have a client dinner and just want to goof off. Obviously, as a ninja one-bagger, a second shoe is not top priority - if it interferes with a one bag, you must leave the second shoe behind for the sake of ninja values. Well, not anymore. That search has ended with the New Balance Minimus Zero Trail shoe

The most important criteria was that it should be really light, and look like a regular sneaker as much as possible (specifically, not look like I wrapped toilet paper around my feet like some other minimal shoes look like).

Remember, the key thing here is a balance of packability vs look. Its a really really light shoe, folds completely flat and is perfect for my needs. I don't intend to run with it, and other stuff - just wear it to walk around. Read about it before you buy it, but for me, you can't get another shoe that's as packable as this and as 'normal looking'. Oh and its got this cool 'Vibram logo' blue under sole without the orangutan five fingers look - who knows, some ladies may think I'm a terrific athlete...





(Side note: I also purchased the Dunham Dillon from NB for formal wear - its a nice shoe, but I don't find it any more packable than my bostonian slip-ons, so I can't really award it "Ninja Status". Not that there is anything wrong with it (ref: Seinfeld) - I'm going to reserve my judgement till I use it for some conferences (like IBC in amsterdam) where there is a lot of walking involved.

Some other updates:

1) The pacific oil I posted above has replaced my shaving gel - its an amazing product and I've been using it for several weeks, everyday now. a HUGE space saving. It offers a far superior feel to my previous gel and does not gunk up my razor at all so far.

2) I've found a great solution (I think) to the water bottle carrying part (my bag of choice does not have an external water bottle holder) - but I'm going to post it only after I give it a few tries. I am off to Canada in a couple of weeks, so I'll use it then and report.

3) Now this is really a luxury item - I never carry a camera when on work, and use my phone camera, but when you are in amazingly beautiful places (say in Europe), you repent not having a good camera. That search too has come to an end for me - I bought the RX100 from Sony. Absolutely the best when it comes to size, range vs. quality (where size means needs to fit into my pocket easily, otherwise I would have bought the RX-1; where range means an acceptable focal length range for street shooting, otherwise I would hav bought the 35mm RX-1). Its amazing and I've been using it for weeks now taking indoor photos of my kids. Doesn't beat a D-SLR, but does give you high quality for memorable photos that can be printed and put on your wall. Thanks to Vikmurthy for this one.

matinicus rock

I always have problems with travel adapters coming out of loosely fitting wall sockets - this one seems to be no different because of how LONG it seems to be from the "dumb" male end to the "smart" female end where you plug in your electronics.

Say you're plugging the Skiva USB charger, a boxy "transformer sized" plug (although I know it weighs nothing) into the end of the Kikkerland adapter that you have configured for a UK plug, then into the Skiva you have 3-4 USB cables tugging on it. Wouldn't that Kikkerland adapter tend to sag out of the outlet??

arjunrc

Hmm, interesting question. I frankly don't know if it will sag or not, but I understand what you are saying. I'll try and do a test at home and post a picture - how about that ?

matinicus rock

Great thank you! And I gotta say, pretty much everything else on your list is sitting in a huge shopping cart on Amazon!

arjunrc

Here goes. Before I post pictures, I thought I should mention this:

Do remember that as long as this adaptor looks, you will only be using one half of it at any one point of time - the other half won't be used and will be detached.

Now on to the pictures:
(Apologies for the blurry images, I invented a new drink today which involves mixing lemonade with rum, vodka, triple sec and mint, whipped around in a blender and we had a jolly gathering around it, so you see...)

So I just realized I can't really test a UK plug mode because I don't have UK plugs at home, so I did a more contrived situation:

Here is a US plug on top of the UK plug, with a Skiva with 3 USB cords hanging out. In this double adaptor mode, there is a sag, which I expect because I'm stacking two adaptors. Its not loose in a way that it will fall off by its own



A closer look below:

BTW note the small yellow button on the left side of the UK adaptor? If you squeeze them, the pins get closer - so it sort of spring adjusts to the socket size, upto its maximum distance. In other words, this may just help you with sockets that are not constructed well, assuming that the maximum width of the pins is larger than the width of the errant sockets. Sockets in Indian hotels are notorious for being wacky sized and often not per regulation, so next time I travel there, I'll use it to see if this helps. Theoretically, its a great feature.



A more realistic litmus test for me is if the adaptor can take the weight of the iBrick charger (mac charger). A lot of universal chargers just fall off with it in tow. This one does have a sag but doesn't fall off (this is with the us adaptor - the uk one is a little longer)




So bottom line, I don't find it worse than any other universal adaptors I've owned (inlcluding this kind)
Cool. It's very satisfying to help deplete the bank balance of friends around me ;-)

matinicus rock

Yep - there's the sag. But the small yellow button is a GREAT feature. I'll get it and try it in the UK next month. BTW this thread has inspired the Mrs to try carry on only for the trip - we'll see if it's really gonna work at T-24

Xericx

Bag: Briggs and Riley 235x. I like the looks, the compartments are separated. I also use a Tumi shoulder bag as a day bag, but I pack that inside my B&R so its still "one bag". recently bought an eagle creek packable daypack. http://shop.eaglecreek.com/packable-daypack/d/1120 will test that out next trip maybe. more for beach locations if i wanted to take stuff with me.




I have the same New Balances as above (same color in fact) and I pack those in the bag.

The B&R is pretty well organized so I don't use too many packing cubes for clothes. I do have a few pouches I use for travel documents, wires, etc. I also use a packing cube for underwear and socks. When I travel extended I use Ex-officio (2 pairs) and wash everyday. Wear blazer on plane, packable jacket in carry on. I have a pair of pants (not workout pants) from Lululemon which are awesome for casual wear around town..pack extremely light, super versatile.

Technology:
Ipad + Bluetooth keyboard
Phone
Camera- CanonS95. I have a 13MP camera in my phone but this takes great low light pics if I'm travelling.
sometimes I have to bring a laptop, macbook air but I avoid if possible.

oldpenny16

Please keep up these postings. I'm learning a lot. Thanks.

Our obsession but One Bagging has made my life easier and much more pleasant.

DrSavant

I travel with a Lat56 RedEye bag, for up to 2 weeks.

I carry:

A suit,
3 dress shirts (2 French cuff, one regular),
a tshirt or two,
swimming trunks,
7 (depending on the amount of days I travel) pairs of socks and underwear (packed in an Eagle Creek two sided cube),
an empty Eagle Creek half cube for dirty underwear,
2 ties,
shaving kit (Gillette Fusion combo razor / personal trimmer),
all necessary toiletries,
all necessary cables in a Delta business class amenity bag (the red cylinder one) - best cable bag ever,
an iPad,
belt,
cuff links,
Apple Airport Express router,
slippers,
spare battery and desktop charger for my Samsung Galaxy Note 2,
an iPhone 4S,
a 5400mAh battery with 2 usb ports, for those "out of juice and no sockets in sight",
a Bellroy travel wallet, and a micro sim card carrying sleeve.

The wallet holds my passport, in addition to all the other good stuff (FF cards and whatever I don't want in my regular wallet, but need while travelling). The sim sleeve was bought based on a suggestion I saw somewhere else on FT. It has room for 5 micro sim cards (mine's full) and an iPhone sim removal tool.

My kit also includes duct tape, zip ties, carabines, ziplocs, velcro, Leatherman PS multitool, first aid kit, thin HDMI cable, a "stuff travel duffel", some snacks, and an extra pair of shoes. Also considering grabbing some paracord as well, and stuffing a small ball of it into the RedEye.

All of my trips are TATL, long haul, Africa, Middle East, South East Asia.

All of the above comes with a disclaimer - I've been doing it this way for over a year, but the iPad just doesn't cut it anymore, because of recent changes to the way I work, so I had to betray my own one bagging conviction, and add a Tumi backpack to carry my Macbook Air - I don't use my iPad anymore, as the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is a perfect replacement for it.

I'm still carry on only, and because I've done the above for over a year, with hundreds of thousands of miles flown, it qualifies

arjunrc

Thanks Xericx and Dr. Savant, for your lists. A few notes:

Those are really nice pants!

1. The Lat56 was one of the bags I was evaluating when I was looking for a one bagger. On an aside, doesn't its landing page look like a DC comics superhero movie about to be released?

Thats a nice wallet.

I am always interested in the real life usecases for duct tape and velcro - in your travel situations, when do you usually land up using these?


But.... but... but the Ninja status is only awarded after deep ruminations, many levels of discussion and.... just kidding. You now have honorary Ninja status (to be strictly evaluated on a year-year basis)

oldpenny16

I've used duct tape to fix a hem in a skirt and a rip in a purse. Also ever handy to close hotel drapes.

Biblioman1

Fun thread. I haven't checked a bag in more than 10 years. Any extra Nija points for my wife and I sharing a single bag on trips less than 5 days? It's the same bag I usually use solo on longer trips. A beautiful Tumi Napa leather bag you can see at http://tinyurl.com/mcsha34. I treated myself to it a few years ago after winning a grand at a local casino. She does bring along a purse, but she gets the Ninja Guest Pass for that, right? It's been discontinued, but I found a terrific, secure, purse for her a few years ago that converts to a small "backpack". I still see them from time to time on eBay like this one http://tinyurl.com/lcavr4n. Thanks for the tips on shaving oils as an alternative. I often manage with soap and water, but that's only if necessary. Finally, I have a favorite shoe to share http://tinyurl.com/lz6r4h3. I believe these run around six ounces, pack flat, and go with pants as well as shorts and workout gear. Last word to all you Ninjas: "Carry on".

Silver Fox

I think you need to redo your links.