Essential Supplies for Flying The Line
 

What are your most precious items that you carry with you while flying a trip? Just trying to get an idea of what to carry, maybe some things are essential, some are just nice to have along. List 'em here. Pilot Gear, Luggage, Coolers, Electronics/Chargers. Geek stuff. How about Phone Apps?

Dollar bills for the strip clubs

My newest gadget that I am obsessed with is the Stratux ADS-B receiver paired to foreflight.

Luggageworks Stealth Air
Strongbags bag for efb headsets and cooler
Small travel iron, because hotel irons have damaged my shirts in the past
Wall plug with multiple usb plugs to charge everything simultaneously
Bose wireless earbuds for commute
Anker battery to charge phone on the go

Thanks PDT - good tips. I have a few of those checked off my list. Good tips on the others.


JayBee - don't tell my wife and kids. ;)


How about Apps - do you guys use anything regularly - Uber/Lyft, etc?

I have three bags plus a headset case. Standard 22” roller, a luggageworks flight case and a cooler.

Cooler has two ice packs and mostly frozen burritos, grilled chicken, sausage, and other prepared food. Try to avoid hard Tupperware and pack everything in ziploc bags, they’ll pack better. Collapsible bowl and titanium spork in there as well. It has a large top compartment I’ll occasionally throw a battery or other useful things in.

Flight case has a gaming laptop, iPad, mouse, chargers (get the anker 5 port usb charger, it’s a lifesaver.) current book I’m reading, vitamins/supplements, melatonin, Pepto bismol, wet wipes, contact solution/dopp kit, noise cancelling headphones for deadheading, two large battery packs and other odds and ends.

Headset case has backup glasses, a notebook, headset, and pilot docs (I keep them all in a passport wallet, makes it dead simple to know you have all your stuff).

Roller has 6 days worth of undershirts/underwear, running shoes, one pair of workout shorts, a pair of shorts, two graphic t’s, Uniform shirts, Uniform pants, swim trunks and flip flops. I try to keep it light so it fits in the CRJ overhead without much swearing.

After every month or two I clean everything out and trim items out that I didn’t need or use and add items that I do. Overall I’ve pared down quite a bit.

I don’t bother with an iron, I just wet a rag and set the hot iron on top of it before I clean my own clothes.

Don't get caught using that in an airliner cockpit unless your FOM/SOP says you can.

Way overkill. If the iron in room has leaks or melted polyester just call the front desk and have them bring a new one.

Let the iron warm up completely and then test it on the bottom part of the shirt first (the part that's tucked in).


If you must carry a battery (most devices now have enough battery capacity to easily last an entire FDP), use a good quality one (Anker works) and if it gets damaged get rid of it. A Li battery fire in the cockpit could ruin your whole day.

I’m lucky if my iPad mini makes it through 80% of my day without needing to plug in. And that’s with brightness at zero and only company approved apps. Agreed though the battery is not the place to skimp.

To each their own. Thanks for YOUR input. How about instead of giving your opinion on how what I carry isn’t right you give a list of your **** and he can decide what he would like to carry.

don't forget your kneeboard and foggles for practice approaches. Oh and you will need a fuel sample cup for your first day of IOE.

Many of the brand new FOs I fly with show up with it.

Beat me to it :p


A plotter is a good item to have for your VFR sectional. And an E6B...gotta calculate that TAS ya know

Trojans(at least a 6pk)

Wouldn't want to get a hepatitis from the grannies serving cokes. ;)

DarkSideMoon - Great list. Thank you.

Although the Frozen burritos and sausage?...there must be a fart checklist in there somewhere too :D

That guy is the real life version of the "ackchyually" meme. Every single post he makes, hes got a "better" idea or correction

Good to know, ty.

Here’s a good list: :D

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vPwW7RaPO_g

Don't forget the Astroglide for the freaky ones 😉

Hmm must haves.

Take what you can to make your life comfortable and enjoyable. For me that’s electronics. A gaming laptop, mouse, game pad, a Nintendo switch. Those are my musts in addition to regular packing things (underwear, overnight shirt, ball powder).

Another must that someone else posted... a multi port usb charging station. Mine has five ports. Normally I use two... one for my phone and efb. I have used all of them before... phone, efb, watch, noise cancelled ear buds, switch.

Remember, he is right. Your suggestion is illegal 99% of the time in the flight deck.

Must haves
 

I echo the multi port charger. I got one off amazon that has 3 ports....one of them works as a fast charger for my Samsung phone.


Flew with a captain a few weeks ago that had a battery pack with a solar panel on it. I since got one and just lay it up on the dash. I end a five leg day with EFB, phone and battery all at 100%

Thanks dad.:rolleyes:

Only bring one thing in your toolbox of success...

https://i.imgflip.com/2f2zra.jpg

I'm a minimalist, and I think your list is all overkill.

You don't want to be the noob who shows up with more bags than the old lady FA's.

Apps
 

Good stuff guys, thanks. And I appreciate the humor mixed in as well.



How about Apps - what are you guys using (if anything) to check crew schedules, flight loads, weather briefings, company communication, Uber or Lyft for crews? etc. Stuff that doesn't burn through your battery!

I think I've seen just about every packing strategy
from a guy that traveled with 3 large heavy bags and 2 coolers (1 cooler just for fill size condiments. Mayo, mustard, etc... No kidding.)
To the guy that packed a four day into a 3 pound half size roller board.

Usually there will be company-specific schedule apps, either provided by the company or available from a third party. You'll have wx apps on the EFB. Flight aware is always useful to find the status of an inbound flight.

Hopefully you won't need ride sharing to get to hotels, vans should be provided and you don't want to pay for that anyway, but you'll definitely want ride sharing in case you need to get somewhere on an overnight.

I can pack a 7 day trip into one 22 inch roller and that includes the winter layers.
Combination of rolling clothes and using 2 packing cubes. I use multiple laundry bags so dirty clothes replace clean clothes as the days go by.

Under clothes for each day, jeans, shorts, swim trunk, 2 t-shirts, 1 long tee, tennis shoes, flip flops, fleece, outer wind/rain shell, 1 pair exercise clothes (wash in sink with powdered detergent if you get sweaty), 3 way charger, melatonin, multi vitamins, small toiletry kit, and that's about it

Note about melatonin, it works great and I use for vacation and mil travel... but at some point the FAA put it on the no-fly med list.

A small over-the-counter medicine kit with things like Ibuprofen, Tylenol, Imodium, Tums, Cough drops, Carmax, small sunblock, etc.
A Sewing kit.
A couple safety pins, I pin one inside my EFB kit bag.
Small assortment of band-aids.
Extra pair of black shoe laces.
Extra pair of cheap sunglasses in a crush proof case.
Folded up baseball type cap that stays in rollerbag.
Spare key to unlock your car or house.
small flashlight.

“Occasional or limited use of sleep aids, such as for circadian rhythm disruption in commercial air operations, is allowable for pilots.”

Straight from the FAA. Every operator I’ve flown with has encouraged its use to lessen the effects of circadian rhythm shifts as needed.

There's some confusion out there, and it's changed over the years. These guys seem to think it can be used but with approval, and you have to use it continuously. I only ever use it to adjust my sleep cycle, and certainly have no need or desire to use it daily.

https://www.leftseat.com/faa-medical...ion-melatonin/


Where did you find the FAA policy?

https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/offices/aam/ame/guide/pharm/sleepaids/

Really? That's stupid. It has no side effects. And my quality of health has improved dramatically with higher quality sleep in crappy hotel beds. I only use it on the road. Don't need it at home in my nice bed. Thanks for the heads up tho. I'll never admit it irl

I agree, although it looks like the policy changed again for the better (see post above).

However... experiment before you use it online. It will impair you for some number of hours, for me it's about six, so I never take it less than eight hours before I need to be doing anything.

CRJ Water bottle
 

What size (diameter) cup holder does the CRJ 200/700/900 have for BYOWB bring your own water bottle?

Small.
.........

the 200 has a micro cup holder. probably holds one of those 6 ounce coke cans. a standard coke can won't fit.


the 700/900 hold a normal can.

Damn, that sucks for 200. Hydration #1 priority in my mind. Probably just store it in my cooler pack with lid on tight.
How about flashlights. You guys carry your own LED for night time preflights, or does the aircraft typically have one?

Don't Leave Home Without it...
 

Most Essential:


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