A rifle: I personally suggest the Classic Army KM10, but the KM12, Delta 10/12, EC1/2, and ISSC MK22 are exactly the same internally. G&G Combat Machines, like a G&G CM18 are also very nice and popular starter guns.

Extra mags: My personal favorite are G&P High RPS. They're pretty tight in most guns but are well priced, look nice, and feed well. They fit well in Combat Machines, but I've never tested with Classic Army. Some others that fit in Combat Machines, and probably Classic Army, are Ares Ameobas and PTS EPMs. For mid-caps you'll need a speedloader. For high caps, it's not needed.

Battery: I'd suggest a 7.4v Lipo or 9.6v nimh. If you're going Lipo, buy from Hobbyking. They sell decent batteries for cheap. I'm not sure the exact dimensions of the stock each uses, but this 7.4v 2000mah 15-25c would probably fit in both and run them fine. It has a huge capacity so it'll last a while. For a charger, the Imax B6 will do everything you need it to (Charge, discharge, some other stuff) and the price isn't bad. I'd also suggest a Voltage checker for Lipos. The Classic Armys will come with a 9.6v nimh and a shitty charger. For those, just get a new smart charger. The G&Gs have a battery bundle that'll give you a 9.6v nimh and smart charger.

Head protection: For eyepro, I love Pyramex. Pyramex I-force are my personal favorite, and the V2G-XP are very good as well. They're also rebranded by Valken and are known as Valken Zulus and Sierras. The One Tigris mesh mask is by far the best lower face protection I've used. Hard cover where you need it (teeth, nose, lips) and still covers your cheeks. It's also very comfy and lets you get good cheek weld, so you can see down your sights easily. I also wear a hat and Howard Leight impact sports

Gloves: Hand shots hurt. A lot. Some nice gloves like Mechanix M-pacts are a god-send in game.

chest rig: If you want to carry extra mags, the Condor Rapid Assualt is a nice and cheap way to carry them. 6 M4 mag pouches and a lot of MOLLE to attach other pouches. It's also super adjustable and can fit almost every body type.

BBs: I almost exclusively use Elite Force .28g Bio. They're just the best BBs I've used and aren't crazy expensive. You'll have to find a weight that's best for you (Maybe buy a sample pack?) but .28s are generally best in stock guns.

Camo isn't that important, but I love my LBX Combat Uniform. The shirt uses a thin-ish material in the chest and back which is great if you're using a plate carrier or chest rig, while the arms, and pants, are made of a thick material that really takes away the sting of BBs, but still leaves enough that you can feel hits. I also like having an outfit specifically for airsoft. The pants also fit knee pad inserts. All that being said, jeans and a hoodie are perfectly fine.

> Price Range: UK, up to £50 - the only batteries I have and have experience with are disposables like AA and AAA but I am willing to learn about new types. I have charging cables like USB-C
>
> Battery Type & Quantity: Recommend me whatever you like battery wise

I recommend you get these ones (make sure your battery specifications match the packaging in this photo):

• New battery day! 24 AA Eneloop NiMH batteries in 16 and 8 cell packs. : r/AAMasterRace
  
  Get this package first to get the highest quality charger on the market:
  
  
• AmazonSmile: Panasonic K-KJ17MCA4BA Advanced Individual Cell Battery Charger Pack with 4 AA eneloop 2100 Cycle Rechargeable Batteries: PANASONIC: Electronics
  
• HKJ Review of Charger Panasonic BQ-CC17 - lygte-info.dk
  
  > A nice -dv/dt termination with only a small temperature increase and no trickle charge, this looks very good. [...] The charger is very good at filling the batteries.
  
  You need that charger to get the full life out of Eneloops. If you take care of them, Eneloops will last at least a decade, maybe longer. They achieve maximum longevity when you charge any time before they reach 60% depth of discharge (40% remaining capacity). So, if you charge them when they're half discharged or sooner, that's easy to remember.
  
  > Purpose: Main purpose - used to find correct door numbers when I am delivering in evenings
  >
  > Other uses would be as an emergency lighting source in my flat in case of a powercut and to take along with me when I'm on a motorbike again for emergency usage. If I could use it randomly in countryside settings where there is not much light pollution that would be great as well
  >
  > Size: Something easily held in one hand, not to head heavy and not too heavy, needs to fit in a backpack easily
  >
  > Type: Handheld
  >
  > Main Use: Whilst in residential areas shining light to find the right door numbers - IMPORTANT must not disturb residents with too much excess light
  
  You said you want handheld, but if you're using it from a motorbike while delivering, then it really sounds like what you need is a hands-free headlamp, but one that can also be used handheld. I did a search for you:
  
  
• http://flashlights.parametrek.com/index.html?type=headlamp&battery=1xAA+2xAA+3xAA+4xAA+5xAA+6%2BAA&runtime=_+_+dec&features=regulation&price=_+62
  
  I'm not sure how to use the search features to minimize the amount of spill light, but maybe u/parametrek can explain how to do that. I see beam angle, intensity, and throw that might be useful in filtering for that kind of feature, but I'm not sure if it's actually possible to filter that way.
  
  In any case, the Zebralight headlamps can be used handheld without the headlamp holder, and they include a pocket clip for that purpose too. I recommend the Zebralight H53c because it uses AA batteries:
  
  
• AmazonSmile: Zebralight H53c AA Headlamp Neutral White High CRI: Sports & Outdoors
  
• H53c AA Headlamp Neutral White High CRI - Zebralight
  
  The Armytek Tiara lights are similar, and imitate many of the features of Zebralights, so although I haven't used one myself, they get recommended often and they might be equally versatile as a handheld light - I just don't know if they come with a pocket clip. The quality of Armytek is good, but is praised less often than Zebralight. They might have some features that are different from Zebralight, in addition to a lower price, so they're worth considering.
  
  I almost always use my Zebralights without the headlamp strap, although I do use the silicone holder because it makes it easy to swivel and point the light. I put some zip ties on it for a lanyard so I can attach it to the exterior of my EDC bag, without risk of losing it. It's tiny, so it's convenient to always have it ready. I don't need to fish around in my bag or pocket to find it. I just tap the on-button, and go. I don't need to fumble with it or even bother to put it away when I'm done using it. I think in your job, that would be ideal for you too, because it will save you a ton of time, which adds up every time you use it.
  
  They do have some spill light, but you have fine control over the brightness, so you can dial it down to only the amount of light you need, and you can make the light on time very brief, even though the button isn't quite a momentary on switch, which would be ideal. The way you select brightness by clicking the button might be even more useful than a momentary on switch anyway, so you can minimize the amount of light you use to the point no one will notice you, even if they're nearby while you're shining your light.
  
  EDIT: Formatting.

I wrote this up earlier today for someone who wanted to start getting prepped on ~$75/Month but also wanted to not have to cook the foods. I did include some long term storage as the first step anyway because it's so cheap and easy, but so far as consumables go, this is a good start for you.

--------------------------------------------

A lot of this is a shelf life and storage space issue. If you have plenty of room for storage, I'd start like this:

• Month 1: This doesn't meet your doesn't-need-to-be-cooked guideline, but it's a really solid start to bulk up on available calories and requires minimal cash and effort, so it's going in anyway. Ignore it if it's not for you.
  
  Buy two 50lb bags of white rice from a place like Costco or Sam's Club. Find 3 food safe 5 gallon buckets with lids. Get Mylar Bags and O2 Absorbers. Then hit Youtube for instructions on what to do with them. If the Mylar bags bit will hold you back from doing this, then skip them and just clean the buckets then dump rice in them straight. Seal, date, set aside. That's 160,000 calories in month 1. Given normal pantry supplies that stretches things out quite a ways. Plan on rotating out at 7ish years if put straight into the bucket and 20 years if you use the Mylar. Realistically, with Mylar, white rice may be good for much longer than 20 years (most people say 30, but for the minimal investment I'd rotate earlier to be safe).
  
  
• Month 2:
  
  Grab a Water Bob (not right now though, hurricane season has prices high and stocks low for them). Also, a Sawyer Water Filter or two. That gives you an opportunity to grab an extra hundred gallons of water in your bathtub initially given enough warning, and some water purification options later on.
  
  
• Month 3:
  
  Assuming you have storage capacity, start looking at #10 cans of food. Those are the cans that are around a foot tall and very wide. Look for things that you would eat and would be usuable in your daily lives, but also ones that would be calorie dense. For example, refried beans, nacho cheese, baked beans, white potatoes, chick peas, chili with beans, etc. Those are things you can use in recipes at home, but can pick them up and store them for a couple of years first. Getting them in the larger can is a better return on investment/dollar than buying smaller ones.
  
  
• Month 4: This is probably more what you were looking for.
  
  If your pantry isn't topped up with the things your family normally eats, drop that money to get a little deeper on those things. Velveeta cheese, crackers, cans of soup, noodles, peanut butter/jelly, canned vegetables/fruit, pasta/sauce, salsa, dried/canned beans, seasonings, canned meat, canned chili, etc. Date them and make sure to work through the oldest first. Having the normal foods you eat in bulk will likely end up being what gets you through most things (like the current hurricane season, job loss, winter blizzard, etc). Spending on these things can be used to fill out whatever is left of your budget when it gets partially used up on other things. I'd also maybe consider having some flats of bottled water at home as well. I usually keep 4-7 Costco sized ones on hand for my SO and I.
  
  
• Month 5:
  
  Start looking at longer term bulk water storage. I like 5 gallon stackable water cubes as they're easier to move and use and you buy them as you have a little extra cash here and there, but if you want to bump the budget up a bit for a month and your wife won't look at you like you're crazy, a 55 gallon barrel is a better price per gallon than the individual cubes. Sometimes there's just no replacing having your own clean water source ready to go. Barring all of that, if your family will use them just grab a bunch of flats of bottled water and rotate them. Stacked high they don't take up a ton of floor space.
  
  
• Month 6 and Beyond:
  
  At this point you're pretty well set initially for both water and food. Keep the pantry stocked and rotating. Add on for long term stored water as you see fit and maybe invest in something like a Big Berkey if you really want to drop some money into it. At that point I'd probably begin considering longer term food storage. More rice, add in some dry beans (roughly 5 year shelf life in Mylar/Buckets), and if you're feeling really into it you can get unground wheat and that will last 30 years or better in Mylar/Buckets. You'll just need to have a hand crank grinder or two to use it.
  
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  
  I get wanting ready to eat foods, and that's pretty easy to do and a great place to start, but as one last recommendation... grab yourself a Propane Burner and a high pressure hose for it so that you can use regular propane tanks. You may be able to eat cold soup out of the can, but it's a lot more comforting when it's warm, and you can pretty easily have the ability to add more of your foods into your diet (like spaghetti or mac and cheese) when you can still have a burner to work with.

First things first, see if there are any fields nearby that have rentals. Go out and play with a rental before dropping $500, last thing you'd want to is spend that much money on a loadout only to find you don't like playing airsoft.

Now that being said, $500 is actually a very reasonable starting budget. I'm already going to assume that you have a good pair of boots, if you don't then you def are going to want to add that as something to purchase. So I have a basic loadout, it's going to be 3 different stores because airsoft retailers are an awful place to buy lipo batteries. A lot of these items I've either owned or know people personally who do.

So let's start off with the basics.

• The G&G CM16 SRXL - It's a step up from their basic Combat Machine lineup, but still sub $250. It has a basic MOSFET from the factory that can be programmed to shoot either full auto or 3 round burst when set to auto. One negative about the MOSFET is I've heard reports of it burning out on 11.1v lipos, so stick to 7.4v ones for now. It is going to shoot just below 400, which makes it perfect for field play. It is a keymod rail, but the one downside is it's "airsoft spec" keymod so keep that in mind when buying keymod accessories. Overall it's a great gun for the price and very much a good starting gun.
  
  
• ALTERNATIVE ICS PAR MK3 - This gun is on sale right now, down from $340 to $214, so if you can get it while it's this cheap then it's a steal. ICS guns are tanks and they are very easy to work on down the line due to their split gearbox design. My first gun was an ICS CXP-16 and it is still running for the dude who bought it from me to this very day. You may need to drop a new spring in, but again due to the split gearbox that's super easy.
  
  
• G&P High RPS midcaps - Great mags for a great price. The will handle damn near any ammo and any rounds per second you can throw at it. They are a bit tight in some guns, you might have to give your mag a bit of a love tap to get it to lock in, but at the same time that means there is very little mag wobble. 5 mags is more than enough for your basic open play. If you're wanting to go to longer events down the road, you can just buy another set of 5 and you're golden.
  
  
• G&P CompM4 Replica - I use this red dot on my shorter M4. It's got a great build quality, comes with a kill flash to keep your scope protected, and takes AA batteries. That last bit about taking AA batteries is my favorite part, I am awful about forgetting to turn off my red dot and it's nice to know that it takes a very common battery.
  
  
• LBX Lock and Load Chest Rig in Project Honor - The LBX Lock and Load chest rig is one of the most underrated chest rigs on the market. It can hold damn near anything you'd need for a day of playing. It's very easy to take off and put on thanks to the large zipper up front. It has plenty of padding in all the right places to keep you comfortable throughout the day. It's overall just a great value. The Project Honor camo one being only $25 is an absolute steal, I personally picked one of these up when I saw that price and it's well worth it. It may not be the prettiest camo out there, but you can't even come close to that quality in the $25 price range.
  
  
• Krytac .25g BBs 4000 count - Great BBs, never had any issues with them feeding. It's one of the 4 brands of BBs I will use in my rifles.
  
  
• 6mmProShop 500 round speedloader - A nice, basic speedloader. Better than the smaller pistol mag sized ones since you don't have to fill it up after every freaking magazine. I had one of these for a while, only reason I don't still use it is because someone stole it at an open play. A step up would be the Odin Sidewinder but that puts your budget over $500.
  
  All of this with the Free3Day coupon code puts you at $410.
  
  Now we get to protection gear (and a charger)
  
  
• Pyramex I-Force Dual Pane Goggles - Great pair of budget priced goggles. I personally use these on longer games or days when I just don't feel like running my larger goggles. For anyone that doubts the quality of these Valken rebrandes them for their Zulu goggles and charges almost twice as much.
  
  
• OneTigris mesh lower facemask - Better than the full mesh ones because the cloth on the sides conforms to your face better. There is still plenty of padding on the cloth sides to protect your face and it gives you a better cheek weld on the rifle. Only complaint I have is they do tend to get a little hot if it is very hot outside, but that's the tradeoff for protection.
  
  
• Tenergy lipo charger - Nice, basic lipo charger. You'll need this for the batteries I'm linking later. I use this charger personally, haven't had any issues with it yet.
  
  If you have Amazon Prime, that put's this portion to a total of $53. Overall we're at $463.
  
  Now for the batteries. I always suggest HobbyKing for purchasing lipos, they have by far the best prices on lipos. These 1200 mAh 2s nunchuck lipos should work great for your gun. Lipos are going to give you a better trigger response than NiMH batteries. I'd order two of these, which are about $13 total. Shipping will cost you about $9.
  
  Overall total: $485

Yeah, low income can be a bear... but since you don't seem to be allergic to work, there are possibilities, even for the "too young" to work. Traditional stuff like mowing neighborhood lawns, less-so like dog-walking... or whatever.

Definitely rent first. Getting in to play the game will help you to figure out what role(s) you want to play when you do start buying gear and allowing you to focus on gear that lets you, as well as helps you, do what you enjoy.

Budget for your rental trips. Locally for me, a day's airsoft as a minimum rental is about $60US. That's $30 field fee, and $30 rental (covering mask/goggle, AEG, battery, and a single hi-cap mag. Additional mags and a chest rig can be rented for an additional $15, but usually, that's unnecessary. BBs are extra, ~$22 for 2700 rounds, (I use .32s and .20s are going to be cheaper) but you can save the ones in the bottle you don't use and use them on subsequent trips. All told, you're looking at about $70 per person, per trip. Once a month is probably a good rate.

Start saving now for gear if you can, don't burn gear money on rental fees if you can help it. Every dollar invested in your starter gear is going to (usually) improve the performance and longevity, especially in a gun, which will probably (and should) be your greatest single startup expense.

There are low-cost options for basic gear.
A set of Pyramex I-force goggles and a One Tigris foldable mask (or similar) can be had (collectively) for less than $50.
Condor makes some (at least in my limited experience) cheap but reasonably good quality gear.

My current cheap gear setup (less than $100US here, without shipping):
Pyramex I-Force
NO B Tactical Folding Mask w/ Ear protection (really a One Tigris knockoff, but it works)
Condor Modular Chest Panel
Condor Triple M4 MOLLE mag pouch

This setup, over street clothes, is functional and cheap, and I have personally had no major issuses with it. Minor issues include some condensation with the goggles (more "why am I staring through a fishbowl" water than fogging really, and that after several hours of play), and the mask straps loosening on occasion.

Changes I would have made looking back:
- Color choices on the mask, panel, and pouch. The olive drab I went with on the panel and pouch didn't match the rest of my eventual gear setup (black), which started with the black mask. Didn't plan that well enough. I would stick with a color (probably olive drab for cheap or Multicam for more expensive) if I did it over again.
- Should have gone with a set of three single pouches, rather than the triple. The ~50% (or about $10) increase in price would have been worth the increase in loadout flexibility. I seldom find myself needing six spare mags.

High dollar things you are going to want to budget for (at least eventually) when you buy gear:
- Boots. Regular street shoes are ok, especially indoors, but you really want to have a set of high-quality boots to play in, especially outdoor fields with broken terrain and obstacles. The ankle support and all-around toughness of a good set of boots are going to be worth the expense. Add to that the ability to switch out of your boots for the ride/drive home is great, especially playing outdoor fields where you might get rained on or have to wade through a building ( >1 inch deep puddles inside buildings, ISYN), and you'll feel a lot more comfortable doing so if you know you won't have to wear wet footgear home.
- Defogging system. I bought an ExFog system recently and ran it the first time last weekend (same time as the rain and indoor puddles) and I'm over the moon. Cleared up the condensation issues with the goggles I was having completely. I can't recommend this enough. But at >$75, it is definitely in the "luxury" category, so buy it when you can afford it, but consider it as soon as you can.

Something you might be able to get cheap:
BDUs/Combat Uniform. Old military combat uniforms and such can be found occasionally at thrift stores or places like the Salvation Army. Actual military uniforms are going to hold up great (even if they're not in perfect condition when you get them) and they are already camo. Much cheaper than buying them new, or buying civilian equivalents.

Seems pretty legit, but Yohimbine is cheaper at smartpowders. Although the chocamine dosage seems a tiny bit low because the only study I've seen dosed at 1g/day.

-------------------

You could make it a year supply if you wanted?

6/9g Yohimbe for $12/18, 16.5/25mg a day

20/40g Theanine for $7/14, 55/110mg/day

400g Inositol for $20, 1.1g/day

250g Chocamine for $25, 685mg/day (a bit closer to 1g I guess)

-----------------

Things to potentially add:

500g Choline Citrate for $12, 1.4g/day. It's good for exercise related stuff too and you know how much silvy loves Choline.

200g/400 Tyrosine for $8/17, 0.55/1.1g/day. It's a precursor for dopamine and norephinephrine, great for a pump and also helpful too supplement during times of stress and such.

500g Taurine for $8, 1.4g/day. It's great for the heart (potentially preventing any problems associated with Yohimbine or even Tyrosine), and an anxiolytic too. Definitely one of the top supps I'd recommend you consider adding.

36.5/73g of Caffeine(but you'd have to buy 400g) for $12, 100/200mg/day. Or you could alternatively just start drinking more tea (less coffee though =P)

500g of ALCAR for $17, 1.4g/day. It's a great 'kinda stimulant', great for the brain and heart, and also helps you better burn fuel (both fat and carbohydrates). It also improves exercise performance long term if you use it long enough, helps you retain muscle mass and lose fat mass. There's also a study in rats showing that caffeine+alcar+choline = weight loss, but I'm sure it was probably mostly the caffeine.

Total cost for the year with all these additions: $121-143, or $0.33-$0.40/day.

------------------------------

In terms of pairing though, the things I would add together:

Yohimbine, Chocamine(although you may want to check with silvy if this is okay to take pre-workout, I don't know enough about it), Caffeine(optional), Tyrosine(optional but recommended), Choline(optional but highly recommended), and ALCAR(optional but recommended) all taken preworkout.

Theanine, Inositol, and Taurine(optional but highly recommended) at night, like an hour before bed. All have relaxing effects

-----------------------

Oh also, for $8 you can get these glasses that'll help you get to sleep. Just throw them on a couple of hours before sleep and be surprised that glasses that make you look you like a total douchenozzle also help you get to sleep. But you're already used to that right, with your douchey kettlebell on your desk, and douchebag 300 pound bench (congrats again!). Also, flux (which I'm sure you've already installed because I recommend it to the same people like twice a week).

----------------
That of course is all just for stress/fat loss/appetite suppressant type stuff (but of course a lot of them are useful for a bajillion things too). If you wanted to add other crap (for workout) so you stop buying at GNC-yourwalletbecomeempty.

500g/1000g of Beta-alanine for $17/34, 1.4/2.8g/day (although silvy uses I think like 5g a day). It's great for improving long term exercise performance (endurance stuff), and I remember reading a rat study showing taurine and beta-alanine having stress relieving/anxiolytic effects together.

1000/2000g of Creatine for $12/24. 2.8/5g/day. This one doesn't even need an explanation =P.

Pushing your total cost to: $150-201/year, or $0.41-$0.55/day (not including the glasses).

You can stick beta-alanine and creatine into the preworkout mix obviously, although I'm still not 100% sure if chocamine should be in there. But I know a lot of people toss cocoa powder into their preworkout shake, so there's that.

-----

/wall-of text

Hey, you've got a lot of good stuff going on here. I'll do my best to outline some of the ways you could save a good amount of weight without breaking the bank.

• First off, your tent is really heavy especially if you're sleeping in it alone. Something like the SMD Lunar Solo or one of the many choices over at Tarptent could help you save ~32oz.
  
  
• A lot of people around here do not bring sleeping base layers. Just sleep in the clothes you hike in. That'll save you 13.5oz.
  
  
• Do you really think you need both shorts and pants? If you want that kind of versatility than convertibles might make sense but most will advocate for not bringing both.
  
  
• Obviously a lot of weight comes from the camera, and additional accessories. If you can live without extra lenses you could save ~20oz and get an RX100. Personal call there though.
  
  
• I don't know too much about resupply and recharge points on the JMT, but a 20000 battery AND a solar charger seems excessive. Solar doesn't get much love on this sub as it is heavy and fairly poor when it comes to charging things. You could drop it and save ~13oz.
  
  
• The headlamp is heavy, and personally I don't think they are overly practical. If you're night hiking, you are better off with a light coming from your hip, or else you will lose a good amount of depth perception (due to lack of shadowing). A little handheld like the ThruNite Ti3 would save you ~3oz.
  
  
• Your trowel is pretty heavy. The Deuce of Spades would save you ~1oz, and there are other even lighter options. I can just personally recommend the deuce.
  
  
• Your first aid kit seems pretty heavy. Most weigh in around 2oz. You can search this subreddit for some suggestions, there are plenty of them out there.
  
  
• Do you really think that you'll get much use out of the hammock? I'm not sure what your hiking style is, but if you're trying to hike for most of the day and then just sleep in camp the ~11.4oz for the hammock doesn't seem worth it. If you're planning on spending a good amount of time in camp it might be worth it.
  
  All together, you could save almost 6lbs. Obviously some things are based on comfort. For the best bang for your buck, dropping the extra clothes and the solar is free. Getting a lighter tent will also have a great impact.
  
  Hope this helps!

Ya I could give some recommendations.

First, that 200 lumens claimed by Black Diamond is more than likely inflated. How long do they claim that lasts?

Second, a lot of people who enjoy the outdoors believe that a red light is best for keeping night vision. Over at r/flashlight it has been debated a lot and the general consensus is that a "sub-lumen mode" is better than a red light for keeping night vision. That would be a mode that is below 1 lumen, and I could not agree more.

Now for the recommendations (Please note I did not have time to find the best deals out there, so please look around for better pricing. Also, I recommend for all the below recommendations that you go with the WARMEST tint.):

Wowtac A2S- Well regarded as one of the best starter headlamps out there at a great price. Comes with a rechargeable battery.

Skillhunt H03- Another highly praised light at a decent price. Does not come with a battery. This light would require a battery that could be charged or a battery with a charger.

Olight H1R Honestly, I don't know much about this one as I am not a fan of Olight. However, Olight is a well regarded brand and I gurantee many people out there enjoy that light.

Armytek Wizard Pro- My personal favorite of the group. Very well regarded light with an amazing beam pattern and vast range of setting. Although a little expensive, this is an amazing light I have no problem recommending. Also check out the Elf and the Tiara

Zebralight Again, I don't know much about Zebralight. However, most people over at r/flashlight debate whether Zebralight or Armytek makes the best headlamp. If you like Zebralight and want a specific model recommendation, check over in the sub reddit.

There are a lot more out there. u/parametrek has created a database where you can put in your requirements and it will show you basically every light under the sun that is a good fit. Check it out http://flashlights.parametrek.com/index.html

I wouldn't go for quite the same size. There's not much point to the length, and the weight makes it unwieldy. The thickness is good though. We have what we call soda can lights because they're about the size of a soda can, and I think you'll like that size.

The BLF Q8 sells for around $50. It's a great light. It costs more on Amazon right now, but occasionally it goes on sale. I'll warn that this light was created to work very well in ways that you can't see without taking it apart, and to avoid other lights that look the same because they took a lot of shortcuts that make them perform horribly that can't be fixed without spending more than it would cost to buy a Q8. There's also a Sofirn version of the Q8 that's legit, but it has a colder tint that I recommend against if you want to see rattlers.

The next light I'd look at is the Emisar D18. It's a little skinnier, and twice as expensive, but twice as bright. The best thing about it is the LED options. I've found that rattlers are easier to see with a light that has a slightly rosy tint, so I'd get warm white 3000K LED's. That one also has great CRI, so things will look more natural. I think the D18 would be a better match for you than the Q8.

You'll need batteries and a charger, and you'll need to be careful where you buy batteries. The type of battery you get is a big deal too. The "30Q" is a solid battery. Mtn Electronics is a safe source, and he lists some other batteries that will work at the bottom of the page. Illumn is also a good source. Note that these are button tops. You can find cheaper batteries elsewhere, but they will probably be flat tops that may not make a solid electrical connection.

These two lights will blow you away. They're also side clickies like the Maglite. Honestly, if you've only used that Maglite, then you'll probably be very happy with this Wowtac A1S that only costs $26, and it comes with a battery that can be charged via usb. Make sure you buy the NW version.

I've mentioned tint a couple of times. Even if you don't buy any of these lights, you should pay attention to the tint. Avoid cold white lights. Those are about 6000K or higher. A neutral tint (4000K to 5000K) should be okay. Warm white is around 3000K or lower, and makes the colors on a rattler pop more.

Pretty much any single cell 18650 light will do that with the utmost ease. The best way to describe the performance of a single 18650 1000 lumen light that hasn't used one is that it's brighter than you expect it will be multiple times over.

The wowtac a2s in neutral white is a great low cost high quality light. It's a headlamp, but it can be removed from the headband for handheld use. Being able to do both is very useful.

Someone else reccomended the wowtac a1s. It's great too. Its handheld with a better user interface. Better at handheld use. I just reccomend the headlamp since it does both and you might end up using it more than you expect.

Make sure to get the verson with the s at the end, the plain a2 is a 500 lumen cheaper model and the amazon page tries to merge them for some reason.

It comes with a usb rechargeable battery, but i consider it a freebie, not something to depend on permanently in my opinion. The charger built into the battery gets kinda hot and the cell is of unknown quality and true capacity. The ones i gifted to people at Christmas are still going strong though with heavy use. You could very well just buy the light and see how the included battery does.

If you decide on a higher quality battery get an NCR18650GA and an xtar ant mc1 plus. This light needs long protected cells so that one is perfect.

Links:
Wowtac A2S https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075ZN5LJY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_-BnQAbZY2WE4A

MAKE SURE A2S NEUTRAL WHITE IS SELECTED. Annoying shared page with the a2 and cool white version (tint of light emitted).

Recommended battery.
http://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=59_88&product_id=55&sort=rating&order=DESC

Inexpensive and good charger:
http://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=79&product_id=496

Ignore everyone else in this thread saying Maglite. They're decent, but you can do much, much better. Bring your wallet.

If you're looking for unbeatable reliability, the king of the hill is Surefire. I'd suggest their G2X Pro. However, they take sort of weird lithium batteries; if you'd prefer more normal batteries Streamlight has a number of options in their ProTac and TwinTask series. Streamlight is pretty much on a par with Surefire and massively better than Maglite. In any case, make absolutely sure you choose an LED-based model, rather than one with an incandescent bulb.

If you'd like to save some money and still get a flashlight which is massively better than anything you can buy in a hardware store, come by /r/flashlight and fill out a questionnaire to better qualify your needs. There are approximately a billion different flashlights out there, and people who are genuinely passionate about such things, so it's sort of hard to narrow down your options without knowing what you need it for.

If you don't feel like going to such lengths, I'll summarize a couple of options for you.

1. That Surefire G2X Pro I mentioned above is insanely, stupidly bright and will always work, even after it's been sitting in your shed with batteries installed for ten years. Unfortunately, you must order batteries online, or you'll pay about $15 per set locally.
   
   
2. The Streamlight Protac 2AA is half as bright, takes normal batteries, and is otherwise of similar quality.
   
   
3. The Streamlight Stylus Pro is a further half as bright but smaller. It's still not dim, though; this should rival pretty much any flashlight you've ever used, including massive 6v lanterns and 2-3 D cell hardware store lights. And it's inexpensive; I keep one in each of my cars.
   
   
4. The Fenix E25 is made in China, if that matters to you, but I've generally been quite pleased with Fenix products. It's similar in size to the Streamlight Protac above, but is the first thing I've mentioned from a boutique flashlight manufacturer. It's brighter than the Streamlights and has more brightness levels to choose from. It should be just as indestructible in use as the Surefire and better than the Stylus Pro if not the ProTac. However, Fenix has a bit of a reputation among flashlight nerds for firmware issues (yes, they're microprocessor-controlled), so it's possible their lifetime reliability isn't as good as the others. It should still be about a thousand times more reliable than anything else you've used.
   
   Like I said, the number of options is just ridiculous. I could have made a list of about a dozen lights and made a compelling argument for each one. If you really want to buy a nice flashlight, you need to ask in /r/flashlight. Clearly explain what you're looking for, and fill out the questionnaire from the sidebar. Or just buy one of the four above; I don't recommend them lightly.

People’s experiences can obviously vary, but I was diagnosed as depressed which then switched to bipolar II after my first (and arguably only) hypomanic episode, so my experience might have some good lessons for your girlfriend.

1. Find a good doctor you trust who works with your girlfriend and isn’t afraid to (carefully) experiment with her meds cocktail to get her to the place she needs to be. Medication with bipolar is hard. It might take a good while to figure out what keeps her in a good place, but please remember that it is possible. I couldn’t even tell you the names of most of the things we tried for me post-BP diagnosis if I tried. Your girlfriend may be luckier. Also, and this is just my two cents because it was my experience, but if your girlfriend’s bipolar tends toward the depressive, as many people’s does, SSRIs should not be out of the question. Obviously I am not a doctor, but I’m bipolar and have been on both lithium and SSRIs and it didn’t make me manic. It did, however, help me manage my depression. Some doctors worry about mania with SSRIs, but not all.
   
   
2. Sleep hygiene is very important for managing bipolar. Get some blue light blocker glasses (I use these but there are less-dorky looking ones if that’s important to you) to wear for about an hour before bed. Consider a light therapy lamp for about 20 minutes in the morning to cement her circadian rhythms and potentially stave off depression. Go to bed and wake up at the same time as much as humanly possible. This is a big topic, and you can read about it plenty online. It helps a lot with preventing mania to get a solid 8 hours a night. I recommend prioritizing this.
   
   
3. On a similar note, self care is a big part of keeping yourself steady. Read a book like the power of habit or atomic habits to put in place some small, everyday things she (or you both) can do to take care of herself. This also just makes your life better in general. Meditation is hugely helpful in all aspects of life and would be my number one recommendation. Exercise is also terrific. Generally stay away from drugs or excessive drinking, if that’s a thing for her.
   
   
4. She really has to take her meds every day. For a long time I resented medication as something I HAD to take, to the point where I flat out stopped taking them at all for a while. That was a terrible idea. The better perspective is that this is something you’re lucky enough to have access to. Thank Christ I don’t live in the ‘60s when they would have just put me on Thorazine or locked me in an institution. Thank god I have access to modern MAOIs that don’t make you obese. Thank god I have pills I can take that virtually erase my manic paranoia. As far as the vast majority of bipolar people throughout human history go, you girlfriend and I are the lucky ones.
   
   
5. For me, the first year after the diagnosis was the hardest, emotionally. Being bipolar was a really, really difficult thing for me to accept. She may have an easier time, but I’m given to understand that it can entail a lot of grieving for a while. That’s normal and necessary.
   
   If you want, DM me and I’ll give you my cell number. I’m happy to talk to you or your girlfriend about it at length. She should know that my medical history looks a lot like hers and it hasn’t stopped from me from living a fulfilling, stable life.

My personal suggestion:

• Zebralight SC64c LE: $80
  
• 2x Sanyo NCR18650GA: $11
  
• Xtar VC2S or VC2 Plus: $15 or $10
  
  Total: $125ish with shipping
  The flashlight itself is very compact, has a versatile and customizable UI with shortcuts to low, medium, and high, and lots of other great features like temperature regulation and low voltage protection. It also uses a great high CRI LED. If you're not familiar with the term, it makes things look like they actually look in terms of color, as oppoed to a low CRI LED light which washes out a lot of color. On top of all of that, it just has great build quality. Zebralight really knows how to design a great flashlight.
  The Sanyo GA cells are the highest capacity 18650 cells on the market, and they can put out a fair bit of current too. They're the best option for this flashlight. You'll only need one, but having two is much more convenient.
  The chargers are both great. Anything by Xtar will be. These specific chargers are very similar. Both take USB power, both can charge either li-ion or NiMH cells, both can function as a power bank, and both have adjustable charge current (you'll want to charge at 1A (1000mA) or less). The differences are that the VC2S can charge faster (one cell at 2A), and takes a standard micro USB cable rather than a semi-proprietary barrel plug USB cable.
  
  Other options:
  
  
• ThruNite TC15: $50. This is actually brighter than the SC64c LE, at a fraction of the price. You're losing some of the compactness, the high CRI, and all of the fancy UI. That might be what you want though. Zebralight's UI is fast to get used to and really nice to use (especially if you set one of the mode groups up differently), but it can be a bit intimidating. The TC15's UI has shortcuts as well, and is a bit easier to pick up. The TC15 also comes with an 18650 cell (though not as high capacity, it's higher drain, which is necessary) and it has built-in micro USB charging. It's a complete package.
  
• Lumintop FW3A: $40 (with the coupon code mentioned on the page), depending on the emitter choice. It also comes in purple, blue, olive, and shiny. This flashlight is the result of a couple years of work between a couple big flashlight forums, a Chinese manufacturer, and a group of passionate flashlight enthusiasts. It's designed for flashlight enthusiasts, for flashlight enthusiasts. It has a very pleasant ramping UI (you can choose whatever brightness you want) that also has lots of other features. Oh yeah, and it can burn/melt stuff, so that's neat. You'll want a higher drain cell than the GA for this, but the same chargers will still work fine. The main drawback to the lower price tag compared to the Zebralight is the worse QC. It's not entirely uncommon to get one of these that has problems with it, though virtually all of these problems can be fixed with two hands, a pair of tweezers, and five minutes or less of your time. Because of the tailswitch, it's also not uncommon for them to get switched on while in your pocket. I've noticed this more when I'm wearing jeans.
  
• Xtar MC1: $4. This is a charger. It's possibly the most bare-bones li-ion charger that's any good. This thing will charge your 18650 (and smaller) cells without any problems, but that's all it does. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done.
  
• /r/flashlight's Arbitrary List of Popular Lights. This was compiled by /u/Zak, a very knowledgeable flashlight enthusiast. This edition of the list was made this summer.
  
• /r/flashlight recommendation form. If you have something specific in mind, make a post with this form and /r/flashlight would be more than happy to find you a light that suits your needs.
  
• Just browsing around /r/flashlight. Get some ideas of what people like by looking around.

May I recommend my two lights (I walk 1-3hrs most nights) that I use in heavily wooded counrtyside:

• Thorfire S70S - very good throw and decent flood, rugged and a serious heavy light, 3960lm, 2x18650 or 2x26650 (my use), fast shipping from Amazon at $56. You will need batteries and charger (VC2 for me). I run mine on High (1800lm). IMO the advertised Turbo setting at 3960lm is not worth the heat and reduced run times, and barely noticed output improvement. I use flat top unprotected batteries but most say to use protected ones.
  
  
• Wowtac A2s right angle Neutral White My essential light, great for its size decent throw and flood, light and comfortable to wear, ~1000lm 1x18650 button top protected included, which charges via USB port. Same criticism running on Turbo; I run on High (~400lm) and still seriously bright which does 4-1/2 hrs it is said. Again, fast shipping from Amazon and an amazing $30 value. Note: For best results, use button top batteries. Flat tops cut off with vibration.
  
  How I use my lights: I walk a lot, and wear the headlamp and carry the S70S on the included sling. My hands are free. The headlamp is on all the time (High) and when I need huge reach, it's one button press away on the handy S70S. No fumbling around. The headlamp lights the way for my feet (especially important because of where I walk), and about 40 yards ahead. The S70S is great for seeing the wildlife (deer, coyotes, etc) across fields. My observation on distance: If you can't make out details you care about, at 500 yards in the day time, don't expect it at night with any light. Your eyes are a limiting factor.
  
  Finally, a headlamp is a no brainer if you need to work with your hands in the dark.

I'm going to start with battery recommendations, basically the best combination of power and size is a cell called the 18650. It's slightly bigger than an AA, though one of them has the power of about 5 AA cells. They're are a bit fatter, but nowhere near C size. A light that uses one of them is likely your best bet for both EDC and a weapon mount.

For the EDC light, assuming the single-18650 is small enough (tons of people carry them with no issue) I'm going to recommend a Thrunite Neutron 2C. It has as ramping interface, hold the button down and it will gradually increase to the highest level, then back the other way. Let go to choose exactly how much light you want. Additionally, it has shortcuts to the lowest mode (hold down), last used mode (click) and highest mode (double click.) It comes with a battery, and has a built in charger. While it has a strobe, you have to deliberately try to get it, it isn't in the main modes. It's a very commonly recommended first light on here, and I think would serve you quite well.

If that sounds too big, we have a bunch of recommendations for AA-size lights as well. Any of them on this list are awesome.

​

For a handgun light, I recently picked up an Olight PL-Mini Valkyrie, and it's awesome. It's a great, compact fit on my Carry-length Sig P320, has as built-in battery with magnetic charging that does a pretty consistent 400 lumen for about 80 minutes, has a good beam shape, and intuitive controls.

​

For an AR Mount, we're going to use a bit of your leftover pistol light budget. An Armtek Predator would be a good way to go, it has an optional remote switch. It's a ~1" body tube, so it fits into any mount (theirs isn't the greatest.) Here's a cheap option for that, better are certainly available.

With that light you'll need a couple of batteries and a charger. These will also be compatible with your Neutron 2C. I like getting batteries from Illumn, as Amazon has a not-insignificant danger of getting sketchy counterfeits.

​

​

You may find a few other opinions on here, but these will all serve you quite well.

Yes, sleep hygiene is very underrated (to the point that most people probably haven't even heard of such term). I'll add a few more good tips:

• limit exposure to blue light a few hours before going to bed, it disrupts melatonin. This one helped me the most. A lot of people know about F.lux and similar software, but I highly recommend taking it a step further and getting blue light-blocking glasses. I used these ones, they work much better than some of the more expensive options. And you can even wear your regular glasses on top. There's also an option with installing lightbulbs with a warmer colour temperature.
  
  
• try to get enough daylight exposure during the day. Take a walk or exercise outside. It can get tricky during winter, in that case blue light lamps could help, they imitate natural daylight exposure, and are considered an effective treatment for seasonal affective disorder but can be helpful for those who don't have it too but suffer from insomnia or lack of energy due to not getting enough sun exposure. Vitamin D deficiency is also related to sleep issues.
  
  
• I haven't personally tried this myself, but there's a lot of anecdotal evidence from people who use daylight-stimulating alarm clocks, saying it makes them wake up easier and have more energy in the day. For someone who hates being shocked out of bed with a loud alarm but would prefer waking up gently and in accordance to their sleep cycle, this could be a good option.
  
  
• Diet as a whole matters too. Actually going to bed hungry can make it harder to fall asleep, so maybe it's best to experiment with what works for you. Certain vitamin and mineral deficiencies, like magnesium, are associated with sleep disorders, so it's a good idea to eat a healthy and nutritious diet.
  
  
• try to have a before-bed ritual. Doesn't necessarily have to be reading a book, just try to unwind and give your body and mind time to adjust between the "awake" part of the day and "night" part of the day. I light some candles, burn essential oils (something sweet, not invigorating, that would have the opposite effect), turn off the light, brew myself a herbal tea and read in bed while giving myself a foot bath. Doesn't have to take long, you could make it 2 hours or only 20 minutes, but it would sort of signal to your mind that it's time to sleep soon.
  
  I used to have utterly fucked up sleeping patterns for years and finally managed to make myself a healthy sleeper, all of those helped me immensely.
  
  I also have one theory that I've never seen explained this way anywhere, but it makes perfect sense for me: most people would agree that if you wake up too late in the morning, you wouldn't be able to fall asleep easily if you went to bed very early that day, you simply wouldn't feel tired yet. However, I noticed that if I'm used to that sort of pattern, even waking up early one morning still doesn't make it easier to fall asleep that day, even though I'm supposed to feel more tired. It's not exactly a new theory, it's all about circadian rhythm, but my view is, the internal clock in our bodies expects the day (the "awake" part of our day) last a certain amount of time, and it gets so used to that amount of time that even being more tired can't instantly change it. I just don't feel like the day is over yet, it doesn't really register as "night" for me yet. I figured out that for me, the "awake" part of the day has to last 15-16 hours (I need a bit less sleep in summer). So even if I don't go to bed at the same time, I try to make my "day" the same length. For example, if I get up at 7am, I'll go to bed around 11, and then get up at 7 again, which would give me 8 hours of sleep that I need and fit neatly into 24 hours so that I can have the same schedule every day. Or I can push it around accordingly as I see fit or as needed. I could wake up at 9am and then would go to bed at 12am, maybe it would take me longer to fall asleep and next morning I would wake up before 9, but it would still be similar enough.

I believe a 11.1V LiPo might be a bit too strong for a cheap AEG (Automatic Electric Gun) like the CM028, so for a beginner I'd recommend a 7.4V LiPo. Also important is to get a balance charger like the IMAX B6. If you don't use a balance charger, the battery may die or even burst into flames (since there is always a tiny risk of LiPos catching on fire even if you do everything right, store them in a fireproof container).

As for eye and face protection, a good and cheap combination are the Pyramex I-Force Dual Pane Anti-Fog Goggles at ~$16 and the OneTigris Foldable Mesh Mask at ~$15-17. You could play without lower face protection, but it's very easy to lose a tooth if you get shot in the face and replacing teeth is extremely expensive.

I personally use a paintball mask (the Dye i4 to be exact), because it's more comfortable and basically impossible to fog up, but a paintball mask is usually pretty expensive ($90-180) and won't be welcome at Milsim events.

If you have some money to burn (like $500+) and want to acquire really easily transferable skills (great demonstration of that here: https://youtu.be/qQDfwyUgtjg), you can go down the GBB (Gas Blowback) route. Those guns are more expensive to buy, spare mags are more expensive and they need routine maintenance, but training with and using them constantly will yield great improvement in your skill with real firearms because they function almost exactly like real firearms (if that's something you're interested in). And also GBBs are extremely fun xD

Or for a compromise between realism and budget, get an AEG rifle and a GBB pistol. Good GBB pistols can be had for as low as $100, a great budget choice here is the WE Glock 17.

Goggles + face shield: I would recommend the Pyramex I-Force goggles. They are extremely light and dependable for all types of gameplay. For some reason, I can't make them fog (which is really good btw), and the price is pretty damn good too. Also, stay clear away from mesh goggles. For face protection, I would use a metal mesh mask. Any will do (I haven't seen any company screw up mesh masks yet).

Batteries: For a battery, my input would be to start with a 9.6v NiMH battery (you seem to already have one). If you know how to take care of them, upgrade to a 7.4v LiPo battery for the best performance. The 'C' rating should be around 15C if you are just beginning your use of LiPos.

Charger: For different battery types, it depends. A lot of people say that Tenergy Smart chargers work great with NiMH batteries, so I'll throw that on (feel free to correct me if there is a better one). For LiPos, I personally use a Turnigy Accucel-6, which has had no problems for me yet (again, please correct me if there is a better one).

Internals/Tools: I wouldn't say to open your GB yet if you aren't willing to devote some time. If you are, then I would say to pick up a set of allen wrenches/hex keys in multiple sizes, a set of screwdrivers in varying sizes, tweezers, pliers, wire cutters, Dremel, soldering iron, and a couple neodymium magnets (for keeping things in place, like ARLs).

The first things you want to upgrade (in my opinion, your build will vary) would be your motor and hopup bucking. Your motor basically drives the trigger response, rate of fire, and torque (ability to pull strong springs) of your gun.

A good 16TPA motor like the SHS High Torque or the ZCI Balanced will be good for most applications. They both have a good mix of trigger response and speed, and get you about 20RPS on a 9.6v NiMH, M120 spring, and 18:1 gears (results may vary). For higher torque builds (M125 and above), use a 22TPA motor for good trigger response and loss of fire rate. Do some research to find which motor is right for you.

Your hop-up bucking is one of the most important things to upgrade. Upgrade to a Prometheus Purple, Maple Leaf, or Lonex bucking for better consistency. In almost every application, flathopping the bucking is vital (you can search up how to flathop. there are plenty of articles out there).

BBs (Pellets): For your BBs, go with Elite Force BBs (.25s work for most applications). They are well-priced, and are some of the best BBs that I have used.

Guide: Search the forums and this subreddit. I don't want to type an essay, and it would do you much more good to search it up yourself (you learn more if you find it yourself instead of listening to me).

Maintenance: Refer to above, but do lube your gun every one in a while. (also research on how to do that).

A good 416 would be the VFC HK416 CQB, or the TM Recoil Shock 416 (can't find link sorry). Either are good choices and are relatively low-priced.

An AEG will serve you well. A well-upgraded AEG is dependable and cheaper to run than a GBBR. Most airsoft guns have Picatinny rails that can take real-steel attachments, so you're good there.

Do NOT get the 'discoveryline' one. It's not worth it. The two I mentioned above are the best, and will let you upgrade as you wish.

Best of luck!

I think it's cool you want to pick up a hobby your father had. It will be a nice reminder every time you pick up the gun.

I use this 100% for miniatures, and it works great!!

​

Alright, here is the list I bought. It's a bit more than you want to spend, but this will ensure you can get going right away, and not be frustrated. I did a fair amount of research on different forums, sites, and youtube videos. If you want to know why I chose something, feel free to ask. I was going to bold the ones that you absolutely need, but I would say everything in the first set are a must.

​

• Airbrush - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BQKFAI/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
• Compressor - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TDNKBMC/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (One of the quietest compressors - I use it in the house and my gf can't hear it kick on, and she sleeps in the room right above it.)
  
• Airbrush Hose - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BF7NJ78/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
• Moisture Trap - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BQO8WY/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
• Couplers - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003TFE7WK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (Didn't need this big of a set, but if you end up with tools for the compressor they will come in handy.)
  
• Airbrush Cleaner kit - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06Y3MG6Z4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
• Respirator - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004Z4EB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
• Extra Filters - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NTP9MDO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  ​
  
  
• Cleaner - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003TJA0S6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
• Thinner - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002X6DTHK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
• Improver - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QD780G0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  ​
  
  
• Primer I use for minis - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004BMZVMK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  ​
  
  For the compressor, I keep mine at about 18-20 while doing miniatures and it's perfect.
  
  I do 1 drop Improver, 5 drops thinner, and 6 drops primer and have perfect flow.
  
  ​
  
  Feel free to ask any questions! Good luck!
  
  Hvstle

Ah, something I'm unfortunately an expert at! Skip to point 3 if you just want to read about the light, I'm pasting in something I wrote on a different thread. I have suffered from really dramatic SAD for years (Minnesota) and have finally got a handle on it.

For me, it revolves around 3 categories: Exercise, Vitamin D, and Light. Especially blue light. Also, I didn't realize until I started really digging into it how poorly researched SAD is. . .

1. Exercise: The "easiest" one. Getting your heart rate up once a day appears to be very effective in combating depression generally, and seasonal depression specifically. Being a ginormous nerd, I bought a smart trainer to strap my bike into, and cycle fast for 30 minutes every morning through virtual lava fields in Zwift. https://zwift.com/ It definitely seems to help, and I'm no longer 'foggy' in the morning, but I'm still having issues fitting it into my schedule. . . it probably takes 45 minutes more in the morning, total, to fit this in. . .
   
   
   
   
2. Vitamin D: My entire family is known to be chronically deficient in Vitamin D, so I supplemented with the suggested dose of 2,000 IU a day for the last year. While getting a blood-test for an unrelated reason, I asked if the doctor could also check my Vitamin D levels, and they were hysterically low, ~14 nmol/L. Normal levels are around 85, and anything below 30 is deficient. With this new knowledge I started dosing with 25,000 iu a day, and noticed an immediate improvement in my mood. I've considered really cranking this up as there seems to be no documented negatives from too much vitamin D (if you drink adequate water, at least) but 25K seems to be working for me.
   
   
   
3. Light: The tricky one. . .
   

• I had a standard "10,000 Lux!" light box that was a hand-me-down from someone who hadn't found it effective. . . I didn't find it effective either. Some research showed that these were only rated at 10,000 lux when you were 8 inches from the light and looking at it. That's not going to happen. This model made no difference at all.
  
  
• Looking around for a DIY solution with many more lumens, I ran across this blog: https://meaningness.com/metablog/sad-light-lumens and https://meaningness.com/metablog/sad-light-led-lux This seemed like a good way to go: find the maximum lumens per dollar possible and spend what I could justify. Out came the spreadsheet, and at 183 lumens per dollar, this LED floodlight won the prize: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KFVFQFW. I was thinking of getting 2 or 3, but I've only gotten one so far as a trial. It is SO BRIGHT. I'm intending to mount this over my bike trainer to get a blast of light while exercising. . .
  
  
• Blue light is king, apparently. . . a fairly narrow band of blue (Lower than 540nm) controls the circadian rhythm. In an effort to get enough of the blue wavelength, I tried having a very bright white light at my desk at work. This was ridiculously over-bright, led to a lot of eye-strain, and seemed to have only nominal effectiveness. To try to deal with the 'blue issue' I was going to do two things:
  Wear blue-blocking glasses every night starting 90 minutes before bed. Richard actually got me turned on to these, and they seem to work really well: https://www.amazon.com/Uvex-Blocking-Computer-SCT-Orange-S1933X/dp/B000USRG90
  Wire up some LED's in the specific blue wavelength to use at my desk at work. However, I happened to find an (overly expensive) ready to go solution to this from Phillips: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M3SGCUE This sits on my desk just below my monitor and beams JUST blue light into my face, within my field of vision. I can comfortably have this on for several hours in the morning, and it seems to make a huge difference. I think.
  The light and the glasses seem to agree, as wearing the glasses makes the light very nearly disappear. . .
  
  TL;DR: Use a LOT of blue light in the morning, block blue light late at night.

You have a lot of recommendations to get a headlamp and a reflective vest, I wanted to weigh in on what kind of headlamp you should consider.

Ideally you'd get something lightweight, with enough power to see in front of you and make yourself somewhat visible (although that's more what the reflective vest is for). You should also get something with removable batteries so you could bring spares.

Most of the recommendations on here are for climbing lights by companies like Petzl which are colorful and fun and if you go with one of those you'll probably be fine.

But there are much better options. Those climbing lights (at least the cheaper ones) aren't waterproof, they're splash/sneeze resistant. Might last a while in rain. But IPX8 waterproof would be better. Also they're mostly plastic. The expensive ones are insanely expensive. Here are some cheaper, more bombproof options (all single AA, there are other AAA and 18650 options too but 1xAA makes for a very lightweight package):

Zebralight H53c ($59)
Excellent light, I own it's bigger brother the H600, fantastic build quality all around. 79 grams with battery.

Manker E03H ($35) Another good option. Go for the Nichia LED, much better color accuracy. 103 grams with battery.

[Fenix HL23] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UHZXAYG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_kglPBbREJNAKJ) ($35) Reputable brand, good light. Not as waterproof, only IPX6. Still solid. 75 grams with battery.


There are a few more options, especially if you want more (18650) or less (AAA) power and weight. Check out /r/flashlight for more info. Or hit me up. Good luck and stay safe out there.

I am not actively treating lyme currently. I have done longterm antibiotics and haven't seen good results. Due to concerns about longterm abx and gut flora issues, I have decided to treat mold issues and detox first and then come back around to eliminating lyme. I am currently not on any pharmaceuticals.


Mold/ Mycotoxin Binders: I am on activated charcoal (Bulletproof activated charcoal) to help bind and excrete mycotoxins. I couldn't tolerate Cholestyramine (Compounded without aspartame), it made me very ill. I also cycle chlorella. I go slowly because personally, when I take binders, I feel very sick and get very weird mentally, especially in regards to anxiety.
I also couldn't tolerate welchol, which made me suicidal but after going off it I felt fine.


Other considerations:

-Moved out of a water damaged building

• Threw out belongings that I believed to be contaminated. (Many items that were thrown out had did not have visible mold.)
  
  
  Supplements:
  
• Liposomal Glutathione (I take the brand "readisorb")
  
• Vitamin D3 + K2 (10,000iu daily)
  
• Creatine (5g daily)
  
• N-Acetyl-Cysteine
  
• Magnesium Glycinate
  
• Phosphatidylserine (200mg a day)
  
• Fishoil (Nordic Naturals up to 4grams a day of EPA/DHA)
  
• Probiotics
  
• Prebiotics
  
• Folate and b12 +other b vitamins
  
• Curcumin
  
• Minerals
  
  
  Other:
  
  -Bluelight blocking glasses at night Heres some cheap ones: (https://www.amazon.com/Uvex-Blocking-Computer-SCT-Orange-S1933X/dp/B000USRG90)
  
  
• Infared Sauna
  
  -Clean diet, organic as much as possible, No gluten, low sugar, and I play around with dairy. Lots of grass fed beef and good veggies. (I was dairy free for a few years however when I eat it I feel fine.)
  
  -Avoidance of conventional household products. Instead: Natural detergents, soaps, toothpaste, shampoo, etc... I do use conventional aluminum containing deodorant because I have some less than ideal odor if I don't.
  
  
• I keep journals on symptoms to help alleviate anxiety and monitor progress or lack thereof.
  
  -Air oasis filter to improve indoor air quality (bedroom)
  
  -Water filter in shower, Reverse Osmosis filter to drink from. (Ideally, you'd have a whole house filter but I do not.)
  
  -Exercise as tolerated. (I can only lift sometimes, I cannot tolerate cardio.) DO NOT overdo it.
  
  
  
  Things I will try soon:
  
  -More regular sun exposure
  -epsom salt baths
  -Alka seltzer gold (Helps alleviate detox and herxheimer symptoms in some people.)
  -Actual sauna (Not infrared)
  
• Attempt to meditate successfully again (I did a few years ago)
  
• Practice mindfulness and gratitude
  
  
  For more info on mold check out:
  
  
• http://www.survivingmold.com
  (Ritchie shoemakers site, not a huge fan of his personally, I disagree with a few things he says but still worth reading and learning what he has to say.)
  
  The best article I have found: (Non-Shoemaker)
  
  https://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/2013/767482/
  
  
  I have summarized here but feel free to ask questions and I will go into further detail. Good luck to everyone in regaining health. Cheers.
  
  
  
  
  
  

Hi there. Welcome to an unfortunate club where membership sometimes has steep prices. I am glad you have gotten an early start on preparing 12 cases of water may be enough. The guidance is normally 1 gallon per person per day for 3 days. This includes enough for food preparation, drinking, sanitary, and hygiene needs. You may also want to consider a bathtub liner that acts as a storage tank (like this one ) to aid in toilet flushing or if your water delivery system fails. This did happen for some folks during Harvey, so its importance cannot be overstated. The same amount of food and water should also be stored for your pet.

You also want to make sure you have non-perishable food on hand. If you can eat it, Peanut butter is a great source of energy when you need it during problematic times and clean up. Otherwise think like a hiker for food options. They are usually light easy to store and have high yield for you.

Consider power banks for electronics. Also purchase a hand crank radio as these will be vital to you for communication and information from local authorities in the event your power is out. Flashlights and batteries too. It is hard to see you at night if you need rescue, waving your hand in front of a flashlight is a basic but amazing beacon. Also entrainment like some music and a deck of cards are an extreme comfort when it sucks most. I can also say, from personal experience, extra socks and underwear are GOLD!

Your local and county OEM will be the best people to listen to for evacuation advice. They are paid to constantly consider and revise plans on this.

I hope that all of this is for nothing and that you are spared a major incident, but this is a good start for an all hazards kit. Check out Ready.gov for more specific information on this in case I missed something.

Above all being prepared is being safe.

I wish you ease in this time and hope that Irma decides to vacay somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic instead of any land.

This is my first EDC post, hope you all enjoy

1. Samsung Galaxy S5, Black 16GB
   
2. Samsung earbuds
   
3. My Knives that I rotate every now and then.
   Kershaw 1830 OSO Sweet Pocket Knife
   Kershaw 1304BW blackwash: this came in the kershaw walmart gift set (2015)
   
4. My flashlights that I rotate as well
   Streamlight 66318 MicroStream C4 LED Pen Flashlight
   ThorFire PF01 Tactical LED Flashlight Pen Light
   
5. My Watches
   Pebble Smartwatch Black I wear this one the most, as I love being able to control my music with it
   Invicta Signature model 7376 This is my Fancy watch. I bought it on a cruise a couple years ago, I only wear it for special occasions.
   
6. Kindle PaperWhite 5th gen I’ve been reading lots of programing books lately
   
7. Victorinox Swiss Army Huntsman with Free Pouch
   
8. Quick Info Cards with wake turbulence separation, and mandatory advisories, handed out by my Air traffic Control Professor. I’m a ATC Major.
   
9. Kershaw keychain tool, Also included in in the kershaw walmart gift set (2015)
   
10. 8gb Key flash drive
    
11. Sony VAIO® E Series Laptop Model # SVE14A27CXH, great laptop I grabbed before college. Has a I7 and 8gb of Ram. Good for games and school work.
    
12. Mophie Juice Pack Charger I love this thing, I waste so much battery browsing Reddit on my phone when I have free time in-between classes or when I have down time at work.
    
13. Handmade wallet from Dollywood, theme park, TN. Not shown in the Picture
    That’s it.
    

Before anything else: Someone else said jack stands - get them. Don't die under a car. I almost did, it's easier to fuck up than you think.



I have the 1.5 ton HF aluminum jack, I wish I had gone for something a little bigger. It doesn't really have the lift height for bigger jobs.



Another thing I don't see mentioned: LIGHTS. I keep two of each of these in my garage:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06W2HTGFL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015UC17E/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Plus I have the Braun (HF) flexible work light:
https://www.harborfreight.com/390-lumen-magnetic-slim-bar-folding-led-work-light-63958.html
This thing is great, but I have the typical HF complaints about quality especially around its willingness to charge all the time. I put a washer on the battery and that seems to have solved the issue for now.



I wouldn't mess with a pneumatic impact unless you find yourself in a situation where you really need one and can't afford an electric. Your compressor flow rate has a lot more to do with its ability to run air tools than anything else, and unless you really have a shop quality compressor you won't run a pneumatic impact very long.



I'd wait until you really need an impact and if you find you do, I'd suggest this one:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/DEWALT-XR-20-Volt-Max-1-2-in-Drive-Variable-Brushless-Cordless-Impact-Wrench-1-Battery-Included-and-Charger-Included/999947862



Now it's not the best electric impact you can get - the Milwaukee and Makita versions are both marginally better - but it's available at every big box store, and when you factor in the cost of batteries it's WAY cheaper.



For hand tools, I'd go 100% harbor freight (pittsburgh). Most things can be done with 3/8" and a lot of extensions, but having 1/2" is really helpful. If you use it enough to break it, upgrade then. I use 1/4" for lots of things but it's a luxury for the most part. Get metric deep and standard depth sockets. I also consider ratcheting box wrenches nearly a necessity. Again, the pittsburgh set is a great deal for what you get. Get all the lengths of extensions you can.



If you find you want (or need) nicer hand tools, my next step up is generally gearwrench. This set is one of the few things I might consider a splurge on out of the gate:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BTEXPDK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1



You need a torque wrench. Someone else suggested the tekton 1/2" drive and I 100% concur if you had to pick one to start with. Make sure you learn how to use it and how to properly store it. A deep lug socket (19mm or 21mm usually) is your friend, figure out what size your lug nuts are.



I can't live without a couple pairs of vice grips. They're by far my favorite tool for grabbing spring-loaded hose clamps.



You need at least one dead blow hammer. They're cheap as hell at harbor freight (noticing a theme?)



Magnet trays are usually free at harbor freight with a coupon and purchase. Get a nice stack of them, they're priceless.



Other Odds and ends that I use a bunch:

• I keep a 10mm T-handle which makes my life easier disassembling little crap under the hood
  
  
• The $20 set of t-handle hex wrenches from harbor freight gets used more than just about anything in my garage
  
  
• telescoping magnet
  
  
• telescoping inspection mirror
  
  
• Oil filter socket that fits the things you will work on. Will save your hands and knuckles.
  
  
• 9 mil (black) harbor freight rubber gloves
  
  
• you'll probably eventually need an O2 sensor socket. Get the crowfoot kind
  
  
• 5/16" nut driver gets an absolute workout on screw-type hose clamps.
  
  
• With the age of things you're working on, you're probably gonna need a mapp gas torch too
  
  
• pumice soap, like fast orange or something of the sort
  
  
• I get a lot more use out of my punch set than I expected, but not a must have
  
  Finally, abuse www.hfqpdb.com - there is often a coupon for whatever the hell it is you're gonna buy at harbor freight. If not, use the 20%.
  
  I'm sure I'll think of a bunch more stuff later on
  
  Edit: I told you I'd forget some stuff.
  
  Prybars are a must have
  
  A pick set is nearly a must-have
  
  One of my favorite things I've done is get a big bulk food scoop from GFS and put it in a 5-gallon bucket of oil dry. You end up needing it a lot.

For airbrushes, I'm personally a fan of the Neo by Iwata, especially their gravity feed (cup) model. The brush is well built, fairly easy to take apart and clean, and has very few issues with most paints and other products you may put through it.

I picked mine up on sale for around $50, and if you have a Michael's or Hobby Lobby nearby, you may be able to pick it for less with one of their one-item coupons they release occasionally. It's also nice if you have a hobby store near by as you can drop in a pick up replacement needles or nibs if you accidentally drop it >.>; . Needles and nibs typically cost in the 10-15 dollar range for replacements, so not too terrible.

For compressors, a simple compressor with a tank will work wonderfully, so long as it has a proper pressure regulator and water trap. I have this compressor and it works well, after I got the correct airbrush hose to attach to the NEO.

There are a couple extra tools that can help with airbrushing as well, but most can be picked up at a later point. Something I would recommend that you get with the initial purchase is a spray booth. This allows you a place to spray into and capture many of the errant particles of paint from your airbrush. Combined with a proper respirator mask, it will ensure that you don't breath in any of the particulate from airbrushing, and hopefully don't have airbrush paints drying on items they weren't directly sprayed on. I would say of the two, the mask is the most important to have.

A quick-disconnect is useful for cleaning and swapping airbrushes, but isn't really necessary at first. A cleaning pot is also useful as it gives you a dedicated space to spray out leftover paint and cleaing fluid, and should stay fairly contained.

I would also look at purchasing a ultrasonic cleaner further on, as it is amazingly helpful for cleaning the airbrush when paint has leaked into the body, or spilled into places it shouldn't be.

Other's can probably offer advice as well, but that's what I currently use. Hope this helps!

Seconding the flashlight and multi tool.

I carry my flashlight with a pocket clip just so it can be attached to the brim of my ballcap if I need light and both hands. Much easier than fumbling with my phone.

Also, if I’m in a situation (ie: truck broke down, power’s out, etc) I don’t want to waste precious phone battery for a flashlight, which uses a ton of juice. Gotta save those sweet amps for mobile gaming, or emergency comms.

I just picked up a Thrunite Ti3, very happy with it. It’s very small, study, great output, multiple settings, and the clip is amazingly (surprisingly) strong.

ThruNite Ti3 EDC Cree XP-G2 R5 AAA Torch Max120 Lumens LED Flashlight, Mini, Cool White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LUO028U?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

Also, a good multi tool is a must for me.

I have several, a Gerber and a Leatherman, as well as a half dozen cheap no name models, but I carry the Victorinox SAK Tinker daily. Fits well in the coin pocket of my jeans. It does have a blade on it though, so be wary of that. If you don’t go with the Tinker, another Victorinox would still be great.

My Leatherman has been with my for well over a decade, and is my daily work carry, but I’m a firm believer that they don’t make them like they used to (mine is a 2002 model).

The Gerber is a forever backup. It was a gift, and my least favorite. Feels cheap in my hands when I use it, but I know it would get the job done if necessary. It stays in my range bag normally.

As for the Tinker, here’s a link;
Victorinox Swiss Army Tinker Pocket Knife, Red,91mm https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004YVB4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_jGmKAb8QN9QH9

Good luck and happy hunting.

I've been researching this myself. I do think you need to specify a few things first though:

• Do you ever need to use it as a headlamp?
  
• Do you care about weight/size?
  
• Prefer floody vs longer throw/spot?
  
  The ones I'm considering are mostly mentioned in this thread, but I'll list a few:
  
  Headlamps:
  
  
• Wowtac A2 and A2S - cheap because it includes a rechargeable battery. No neutral white for a few more months, though. $20-$30.
  
• Skilhunt H03 - seems to be my favorite option with a coupon. Considered more floody than the wowtac above, and can swap out the TIR for 45/60 degree if you want. $30 with coupon
  
  Regular lights / slightly cheaper:
  
  
• Atactical A1S and A1 - similar to wowtac above. Dirt cheap good lights. $20-$30
  
• Convoy S2+ - also a good cheap small light. People seem to think that the 7135x6 driver is the best option and choose one of the neutral white emitters (4.5-5k or so). The brighter temp is on sale for 9.99 right now, but you might want the 5A or 4C options. Considered a floody light. Custom firmware can be loaded onto it. $10-$16.
  
• Astrolux S1 - was designed the budgetlightforum. Similar to the Convoy, but has a custom driver for more brightness but also runs a lot hotter. Has a custom firmware. $23.
  
  Battery options:
  
  From my research, the best values batteries are these, depending on category:
  
  Highest capacity, current good for maybe 6A (some say 10A):
  
  Panasonic 35E or Sanyo NCR18650GA
  
  Need high current: (10-20A)
  
  Sony VTC6 or Samsung 30Q

Do you have a bathtub in your apartment? If so, get one of these waterBobs - average price is usually $25-30 shipped. You can use that in conjunction with a Sawyer filter such as this (but there are many options). Time how long it would take you to fill your bathtub up completely (or research average time). If SHTF, you'll need that much time to fill it up completely. 100 gallons of water should last you quite a bit of time if you use it sparingly, and if you live alone, even 30-50 gallons will last you a good amount of time.

As for food, look for kits that offer you 30+ days of food that don't take up much space. Get a good variety of foods that are ready to eat immediately, require a bit of cooking, or foil pouches that you can just add boiling water and wait. This gives you flexibility (and potential mobility as the circumstances dictate).

Flashlights and batteries are important. Headlamps are very practical. If the power goes out, nighttime is dark. Super dark. If you're in the city, it's pitch black. Get yourself two headlamps, two flashlights and a lantern. Using common batteries is ideal. Calculate the lifespan of their batteries, then make sure you have enough batteries to last you a month of moderate use. (This is less than you'd expect, some headlamps can run 10+ hours on a single set of batteries, and good LED lanterns Like this popular one have up to 90 hours life on low setting. Use it 5 hours a night on fresh batteries, you have potentially half a month of use (so just two sets of batteries would last you a while).

You'll need a way to cook, too. Make sure the area you decide to cook if you need to bug in is well ventilated. Cooking by a window is ideal. Again, most the food you have will mostly just be boiling water and rehydrating the food, or heating water up for extra disinfectant. So figure if you're going to use alcohol, fuel gels, solids, etc and get yourself a good supply of them. Stock up on matches and lighters.

Have a bug-out bag with 72 hours worth of supplies near the door. This should be completely self contained and under the assumption that you'd leave EVERYTHING in your apartment behind except for the clothes on your back and whatever shoes you put on. People like their packs being tactical, others say nondescript. I say whatever is comfortable for you to travel in.

And that's just the very tip.

I really like this sub, but sometimes it has some strange articles on it that I don't personally believe in (everyone's entitled to an opinion), which can also turn other people off to the idea behind it. Not all good alternative health options have studies to back them up, but its good to at least try and find some science to back up the claims.

Anyways, I worked in Ophthalmology for a few years and found that reducing blue light at night is a great way to aid in better sleep (and has other positive effects). This is especially important for ages 0-20.

There is a relatively easy way to lessen the effects. Get glasses lenses that block blue light (they look kind of orange) which is the most effective (amazon has cheap options http://www.amazon.com/Uvex-S1933X-Eyewear-SCT-Orange-Anti-Fog/dp/B000USRG90). Another option which is less effective is to download an app that lowers the amount of blue light given off from screens (I think its called twilight for android, f.lux for windows, not sure about ios). This should be used about 2 or more hours before bed.

Another tip:
For eye fatigue (which is good for people on the computer all day as well as using handheld devices): the 20/20/20 method: every 20 minutes look 20 feet away for 20 seconds or blinks to let your eyes relax.

I have my own stethescope; I'm not a fan of other peoples junk in my ears. It's easy to go down the path of having all the gadgets, but honestly, most of the stuff you'll cary will be ambulance/company stock. Things like pens, penlights, trauma sheers, extra gloves.

I always have a small folding blade on me (I'm in NH so no clue whats legal there). As far as essential supplies I keep on hand all the time, a bottle of 5 hour energy for that 3AM transfer, a pack of gum and a zippo. Multitools are pretty standard fair, as well as a beefier penlight. I like mine cause It beats the giant maglights we keep on the truck and it's useful for probing into pockets (You told me there weren't any needles on you, and yet what's this in your breast pocket?)


Remember it's less of what you have and more of how it is presented. Dont be this guy

Wow, I'm amazed you guys haven't heard about the massive importance of lights on your energy level. I'd actually rate is as way more important than any kind of supplement/nootropic.

Light in the blue spectrum boosts the production of seretonin, giving you great, pure and clean energy. I often go from being grumpy, borderline depressed in the early morning to downright joyful after using my lamp for around 30 minutes.

The lamp I have is a Philips goLITE BLU. It's downright awesome. It's small, effective, easy to use (touchscreen) and portable. Some may think it's expensive, but it's actually not considering how big an impact it'll have on your life and for how many years it'll last you.

While blue light is great during the day it's harmful in the evening, since it prevents you from producing melatonin (the sleep hormone), both reducing your tiredness/ease of falling asleep and your sleep quality when you eventually do. To combat that I use glasses that filters out the whole blue spectrum, Uvex S1993X - just $8. It's much more effective than solutions like F.lux (it covers everything, not just your computer screen - and Flux can't stop all the blue light from the screen), and much easier to use too.

http://www.amazon.com/Uvex-S1933X-Eyewear-SCT-Orange-Anti-Fog/dp/B000USRG90.

I have a Streamlight Microstream. Using the pocket clip, I forget it's there until I want it. Using the recommended AAA batteries, it's brighter than a phone's LED, but I ran it almost exclusively on 10440 lithium-ion batteries, on which it is many times brighter at a cost of short battery life and heat. It has a forward-clicky switch, meaning that pressing the switch will activate the light before it actually clicks, for momentary use.

The trouble is, the switch broke after a month. While I'm sure I can get it repaired under warranty, I don't want to rely on it anymore and don't recommend it to others. I'm told the Pelican 1910 is a better version of the same thing, and I think I'll get one of those to replace it.

As others have covered, your bigger light should probably run on a single 18650 and it should not be from a Chinese brand with a name ending in "fire". Many of these have the option of running on CR123 lithium primaries as well. It's probably not a bad idea to keep a few of these around as they have a shelf life of at least 10 years so you can be sure you have working spares for emergencies. These lights usually use a Cree XM-L2 emitter and put out 600-900 lumens.

For situations where I think I'll need a light, I have a Nitecore SRT5. I like this light a lot, mostly due to its mode select ring. Lights like these usually either have a bunch of modes with a user interface that requires something akin to keying in Morse code using the main switch, or if they're generous, a separate mode select button all with the light on, or very limited functionality, such as high/low only, selected by turning the head to one side or the other. The SRT series uses a ring to select from several blinky modes and continuous dimming from a very low moonlight mode to 750 lumens on high. It's possible to tell by feel which mode the light is in before turning it on and to select a different mode while the light is off. I find that having a lot of modes does not get in the way with this UI, and given that, I do like having the beacon, strobe and SOS modes. There's also an extra red/blue LED, which I find minimally useful.

The SRT6 and SRT7 are similar lights with larger, longer-throw heads, but I like that the SRT5 fits in my pocket more or less comfortably. SRT5 kits with a battery or two and a charger go for about $100. An SRT5 by itself is around $75. The kits seem to be a good value. There are some other lights with mode select rings, and I listed a few in this thread. Absent from that list is the Thrunite Lynx, which seems to have limited availability and an MSRP of $130. The Lynx puts the selector ring at the rear of the light so it's easier to operate from the same grip as the power switch.

Edit: illumn.com has the Lynx in stock, but only two of them at the time of this post: http://www.illumn.com/flashlights/thrunite-lynx-xm-l2-1000-lumens-1-x-18650-2-x-cr123a.html

Yo! Honestly I have the same problem and have always had issues sleeping. Lots of things you can do to help sleep.

1. in order to reduce the blue light messing with melatonin production wear blue light blocking glasses. These are incredible for the price.
   
   https://www.amazon.com/Uvex-Blocking-Computer-SCT-Orange-S1933X/dp/B000USRG90/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1537638419&sr=8-4&keywords=blue+light+blocking+glasses
   
   
2. take magnesium citrate, it's a great form of magnesium that will help with serotonin and melatonin production along with hundreds of other processes in your body
   
   
3. last is L-theanine. another supplement I know. but it'll help you feel relaxed without sleepy but it can help you counteract all the bright lights you constantly are exposed to while streaming
   
   Hopefully this helps somewhat. Definitely worth the $8 investment for the glasses, the others are if great if you don't mind supplements.

IGNORE ALL OF THOSE GOGGLES AND BUY Pyramex I-force dual lense

jk (:

Well you don't have to ignore them, but these goggles are so cheap you can buy like 4 for all your friends and still spend less than on revisions.

I can tell you that they are very low profile, I can get my eye past the relief on my trijicon, and they do NOT fog at all!

I sweat a lot on hot days and that would usually fog up my lens but these.. super comfortable, do not fog. Just make sure your eyelashes are nice and soft because they will brush up agaisnt the lens a little bit but it doesn't bother me. You don't even feel it.

HERE

I was messing around with it to the point where I thought I would break it but it is very flexible. Only problem is if you sweat too much it will drip down the lens, you can just wipe it off. It's not as bad as fog, which you don't get with these (:

These ThorFires are considered pretty good lights. Probably the best in the cheap-chinese knockoff category on Amazon. You can get better lights for cheaper from banggood and dealbest, like the BLF-348 that's been recommended multiple times, but shipping takes a few weeks. Only issue I have with the ThorFire TG06 is the PWM (visible flickering) on the low modes and the very blue tint. I've become a bit of a tint snob as neutral whites have become more common.

But for a few bucks more I'd go for a Thrunite Ti3 with the neutral white LED. I've gotten a few for a few girl friends (and my girlfriend) and they all keep them on their keys and LOVE them. Instead of using the included chain and clip I just put a small split ring on the light and slip that on their keyring. Only problem is a lost head every now and again.

A cheaper, similar option is the Olight i3E series which also come in fun colors for $11. Cool white only Comes with a Luxeon LED so the tint is probably actually quite nice.

My girlfriend is now carrying an Olight i3S-EOS Brass on her keys that I bought for myself, but she really liked the aesthetics of the brass, and I liked that it pumps out a blistering 180lm (I'd say it's a fairly accurate claim) on the first turn, so it's actually a viable self-defense light. Enough to disorient somebody, kick 'em where it hurts, and run. It's cool white, but a fairly neutral one. I lucked out.

Best to run them on eneloop rechargeable batteries, but they add a bit of weight and initial cost. Performance and runtime is best with those batteries. Lithium primaries ("Energizer Ultimate Lithium") are a good option for a rarely-used keychain light because they are very light, about half the weight of a rechargeable, and they do not leak or self-discharge. With an aluminum light and a lithium cell, the light only weighs a few more grams than a key. I never recommend alkalines (regular duracell, etc) batteries because the leakage can and will ruin a light, especially one exposed to lots of abuse, temperature extremes, and seldom use. It's basically impossible to clean lights that can't be full disassembled, so you may never recover the original performance if it even works at all after a leak.

I didn't have the dorm experience, but I lived far enough from campus that I would hang out there all day most days.

Quality shoes - you will be walking quite a bit. Depending on your style, consider something like a waterproof hiking shoe that will last through some like snows.

Reusable water bottle that will fit in your backpack well. Sparty's will fill it up, or you can use the drinking fountains.

I'm a fan of some of the /r/edc stuff as well, a small flashlight can be very useful, and shouldn't run over $20.

A small plug splitter, would be very useful. I have a more complicated one, but if I did it again, I'd get this. A lot easier to charge your laptop/phone when you don't have to convince someone to unplug theirs.

Either a collapsible umbrella or packable raincoat.

Extra headphones. I'm lucky enough to have accumulated several pairs of iphone earbuds, so if I lose/break one, I'm still okay.

So, right off the bat you've got two criteria that tend to start fights around here:

• Starting fires is entertaining, but is extremely inefficient. You waste a huge amount of battery power to do it, and can only light certain materials like dark paper. It's a party trick, not a camping tool.
  
  
• The best use of a flashlight for self defense is to make sure you don't trip while running away. The second best is holding the light in your off-hand while your gun is in your dominant hand. Other than that, if it's possible to disorient someone with light, just about any flashlight we like will be good enough.
  
  Ignoring those criteria, I'm going to suggest a Thrunite Neutron 2C. Click the button for on/off, push and hold to smoothly raise or lower brightness. Includes a good-quality 18650 and charges on USB.
  
  And grab a BIC lighter for your fires. If you want something fancier, get a Zippo and a butane insert that won't dry out every three days.

Do you mean put the whole light in/on some kind of charging cradle? Those are available, but you'd be limiting your options greatly.

USB charging is more common. There are a number of great lights that'd meet your requirements that have USB or magnetic charging, so you plug a charging cable to the light. Again, your options will be more limited than if you were okay with removing the battery and charging it in a charger, but you'd have more options than if you require a cradle.

For a light with built-in charging you can buy on Amazon, and considering you can probably fit a 1x 18650 light in your shorts pretty easily, I'd recommend the Thrunite Neutron 2C Neutral White. Up to 1,100 lumens with useful lower modes and smooth brightness ramping.

EDIT: Although, the Neutron 2C is closer to 5 inches long than 4. If you want something really small (3.64" by 1") and high quality, you should take a look at the BLF FW3A (not on Amazon and not USB-rechargeable though).

First off, many of these things are intentionally cheap, because I do tend to break and/or lose things, so... Here goes.
All have Amazon links, because that was what was easiest.


Jewelry:

• Elder Scrolls Imperial symbol arrowhead necklace - I made this from scrap a while ago for a basic metal-arts class.
  
  
• Kris knife necklace - Got this at a Renaissance Fest last year, and I also like wearing it.
  
  
• UP by Jawbone (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A17IAO0) - Really great sleep tracker, plug-and-sync
  
• Fitbit Flex (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BGO0Q9O) - The de-facto fitness tracker, wireless sync
  
  
• Pebble watch (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BKEQBI0) - Simple smartwatch
  
  
  Right front pocket:
  
  
• Frame-lock box cutter (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016KHW2W) - Was using a frame-lock knife, to open boxes. Replaced it with this, been happy since.
  
  
• Precise V5 RT (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001E6A9M8) - My favorite ball-point pen. Looking forward to the arrival of a Lamy Al-Star fountain pen.
  
  
• Zebra M301 0.5mm (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003BLC7FG) - Great intro engineering pencils.
  
  
• Galaxy S5
  
  
• Chapstick
  
  
• Pentel plastic eraser (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001Q4HQVU) - For the larger-than-one-character mistakes.
  
  
  Left front pocket:
  
  
• 4-in-1 screwdriver (similar to http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0014KMDZ0) - Thin profile screwdriver. Awesome. Clips away in a corner and you can forget about it until you need it.
  
  
• Streamlight MicroStream (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00143JZ08) - Tiny little flashlight, amazing little clip. Clip it in a corner and forget it until you need it.
  
  
• Mighty Wallet (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0036FN60W) - I keep it relatively thin in contents, and it's amazingly thin by itself.
  
  
• Sennheiser CX300IIs (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EZYMF4) - Some of the best little cheap earbuds. I have over-the-ears for desk-work, but these can go with me easily.
  
  
• Yubikey Neo (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LX8KZZ8) - For my 2FA needs, both on the phone and PC. I use it with LastPass.
  
  
• Spare AAA Battery
  
  
• 12" baton (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MHDLF8E) - For self defense, since I stopped carrying a knife, and it's more actually useful for defense than my old knife was anyway.
  
  
  Wallet highlights:
  
  
• Band-aids - I chew my cuticles and pick at scabs. Bad habit. Nice to have these around.
  
  
• Bottle opener - Got this as swag from a startup I used to work for.
  
• Sewing kit - For emergency mending
  
  
• Guitar picks (I like http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002D0CGC)
  
  
• Safety pins
  
  
• Handcuff key
  
  
• Handcuff shim - Nice when handcuffs aren't double-locked; sometimes easier to manipulate than the keys.
  
  
  Left back pocket:
  
  
• Field Notes graph-ruled notebook (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006CQT2KU) - reasonably durable, cheap notebooks.
  
  
  Not shown:
  
  
• Keysmart Extended key holder (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JXQQNC6) - Nice to keep my work keys from jangling around
  
  
• Car keys

After a headlamp for long miles but don't want to break the bank because it's a potential christmas gift?

Get the Wowtac A2S a 18650 L shaped headlamp and it's perfect for running (unless you're in fog or the clouds and its dark!)

https://www.amazon.com/Headlamp-Headlight-Rechargeable-Waterproof-Headlamps/dp/B071HW5XQH/&tag=crtrftrd-20

Been running with this for a few months now and it's incredible, has firefly 1 lumen mode which apparently lasts weeks, then 10, 60, 200 lumen modes, i run with the 60lumen mode around the mountains and it's perfect, occasionaly clicking in to the 200 lumens to see ahead. Also has turbo and strode modes which I don't use but might one day for some photography stuff.

The reason I got it is that the 63lumen mode can run for 19+ hours, and it's 18650. Everyone needs to start migrating to 18650 running headlamps/torches. It's also a third of the price of any petzl or other "named" headlamp runners use and imo better. If you head over to /r/flashlight they will all say the same.

I am comparing this to a Nextorch Eco star (2xAAA) headlamp which is fantastic but comes in at 40lumens which just wasn't bright enough for some runs. Many different torches (I have a big collection) and i've tested friends petzls and other overpriced head torches, the wowtac beats it hands down!

Here are 113 lights that run on an 18650, have a sub-lumen mode, cost below $90, and have a max output of at least 900 lumens.

Right angle lights double as headlamps and are super versatile. The Armytek Wizard Pro is an amazing option that comes with a battery and integrated charging for $55, and the Wowtac A2S is a budget option with a rechargeable battery for $30

The Zebralight SC64c is special because it has high CRI, which means it renders colors better than typical LEDs - this could be extremely useful for an EMT. Zebralights are very well built and most people that have them love them. They also have similar headlamps, such as the H604c. These lights don't come with a battery or a charger.

If you need more help then help us by narrowing down exactly what you're looking for.

Great, super light, can hold in hand for better trail illumination or clip on to a hat for hands free.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LUO028U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_b2l2Cb31GDXSB

Awesome headlamp. Super light, lots of levels and a red light and lockable. Get it from Litesmith.com with the shock cord band for an even lighter option.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077Z3LNX9/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Q3l2CbTEV8FDE

I have both and love both.

Shudders are good. I also use 3M security film. It's completely clear and my condo association has no idea. 3M only sells their stuff to professional installers but you can buy DIY quality stuff off Amazon cheap. Just look up '3m security film', and you'll get dozens of brands. Many very highly rated.

For water, I love me my Water Bob. Cheap and easy to use. If a hurricane is in bound, this is a no brainer.

For power that was the first thing I did when I bought my condo.

I did a ton of research and found indoor generators (all need professional installation that I was researching). Basically mine is tucked in my utility closet with my HVAC and water heater. But most places also make them to be concealed looking like benches or bars, etc.

Anyway, the grid keeps it full. Once the grid drops it instantly kicks over and powers my whole place (I spared no expense, but you can get them wired to just do a refrigerator, microwave, hot water, stuff like that).

Once the grid comes back, it recharges the generator.

Now, mine lasts full 12hrs under full load. Because my city is pretty good at restoring shit.

But! All of them get optional solar integration. Which I will be getting next year. Where I can pull the panels out of the closet, put them against my windows and plug them in.

So a lot of options here.

Google: indoor battery generators

I'm 28, in the Navy, and here's what I'm usually carrying.

Maxpedition Pocket Organizer

NM Flag patch

Old coin given to me a while ago

Sparrow's Tuxedo Pick Set It's a great set, and a cool thing to learn. The linked set has a different case, I guess they don't do the leather cases anymore. I also had them put rubber handles on mine when I ordered, makes all the difference.

USB cord that came with my phone

Tekton 4" adjustable wrench

Zebra pen. Forgot which specific one...you probably know it though, it's one of the popular choices on this sub. My main pen I keep in my breast pocket, the Fisher Bullet. That's the best pen I've ever had, hands down.

Fine point Sharpie

Rite in the Rain notebook. It's ok. I much prefer Field Notes Expedition which I also keep in mind that breast pocket. Just wish the pages were perforated.

Streamlight Microstream. Awesome little light, and the AAA battery it takes lasts quite a while.

Chapstick

ThermoWorks surface thermometer. Sorry, can't find a link. My buddy gave me this last Christmas. Comes in real handy in the field, to see if my JetBoil is too hot to put away. Also, I dunno, I can tell you if stuff is hot or cold or whatever. Neat.

>What do you guys recommend for a lantern?

Redundancy:

• Get a good LED lantern and test it out while camping, make sure it is bright enough to let you cook in the dark and also doesn't drain batteries super quick or inconvenient for some reason. If it sucks, try a new one.
  
• Get a headlamp. If you've had to cook in the dark while camping, you'll realize how damn useful it is to have. You've got both hands to work with and you see everything you look at. Test out while camping.
  
• Some non-electric alternative
  
• I love this thing. It can be a NOAA radio, it can charge a USB device, it can be a flashlight. It can be powered by charging through USB, through hand cranking, and through solar. Loved it when I was camping. Don't even have to worry about batteries.
  
  I've discovered camping is the perfect time to test out lots of your preps. You don't know how useful this stuff is until it's pitch black and trying to fry up some burgers and also mix your girlfriend a margarita and multi-tasking. I've found some things awesome (headlamp) and some things just impractical this way. It's made me remove and add stuff to my BOB. I highly recommend taking your BOB and other prep gear camping and trying it out for real.
  
  Going by amazon.com reviews is almost always a good idea in my experience. Whatever battery lantern has 4.5 or 5 stars and 150 reviews is almost always a good pick. Buy spare batteries too!
  
  Q2: Do you have a tub?
  
  I think the main thing here is you want >72 hours of spare water already without doing anything fancy. You should have some water ready without having to filter anything. If your faucet turns off, you're not going to go start filtering ocean water. The sidebar has info about requirements, suggesting 2 gallons of water per person per day, and 5 per if it includes hygienic purposes.
  
  Chances are you'll way more often deal with not having water for a couple of days rather than not having water ever again. If you can't go a few days without water comfortably, you should focus on that. Get something to store water and fill them. Buy a few packs of bottled water and keep it in the closet. Get that waterBOB. Have at least 72 hours worth for your family just directly from stocks. After you've got that done, then maybe consider "long term solutions"... but arguably you've probably got a lot of other stuff you should take care of before that, like extra beans and rice and cans of food.
  
  I don't think there's any easy way to handle ocean => potable. Here's the thing. Let's say you'd benefit from something like that. That means you have no more water? Your city is completely water-free, as in everyone is trying to get water? Shit will get hellish. What are you going to do, go to the ocean, grab a few buckets of water and take it home? Either you've got a stealthy way of getting a lot of salt water to your house (live near the ocean?) or you are going to be noticed and people will start begging you for water for their grandmother, infant, etc. Get ready to have families lining up on your door step, begging for your help, fighting over half cups of water.
  
  My point is, if you're prepping for never having water running again, you've got a lot more to handle and it'd be absolute chaos. It'd be better to make sure you can go 2 weeks safely at home without food and water, and if you've got that covered, then you can maybe consider long term homestead craziness. You prepare for a flat tire before you prepare for lightning striking your car, know what I mean?

Gun:
G&G CM16 is solid. It has rails, is pretty light, and is suitable for CQB. Get him a couple of hi-cap magazines, 9.6v butterfly battery and smart charger to go with it and he's set gun wise.

Eye and Face pro:
I really like my Pyramex I-Force, never fog, low-profile, and meet the ANZI impact requirements so his eyes will be safe. The OneTigris mesh mask is really comfortable and will protect his face and more importantly his teeth. There are some that clip onto FAST and BMP helmets as well. Small version and one with ear-pro attached.

Honestly if he holds the barrel, there's no need to spend money on a grip, you can always go back and buy it later if he wants it. Same goes for the other equipment and attachments, stick with the basics and make sure he likes it before heavily investing.
A lot of people stand by Just Airsoft Ammo for BBs. Only use .2g BBs at the minimum. .12s and cheap BBs will mess up the gun's internals and may shatter on impact, potentially seriously injuring the person who was shot.

Yes and no, phone flashlights can help find something on the floor or follow a path in a pinch but having a dedicated light last longer, is much brighter, can see farther, and can be used in many more types of situations. A phone light will kill your battery very quickly also.

But, again it’s personal preference, really. I like to be prepared for those unique moments. Friends always ask me for my flashlight and I get to be the hero every once in a while lol.

Check out the stream light microstream

microstream

Or the olight s1r or I3T EOS

Olight

Bright, tiny, and cheap. You will get hooked if you get one of these.

That reminds me to go dumpster diving myself. I've got a coworker who goes all the time with his wife and I don't know how but they are always scoring a lot of goodies.

Anyway it seems like there are some lights out there many would skip over because of better a little more expensive alternatives, but those lights also seem to fit your needs pretty well so there may not be any need to spend the extra money. One such light is the Wowtac A2S I saw reviewed not too long ago. There's also the A2 for ten bucks cheaper but it's half as bright. It's your basic angled 18650 XP-L headlamp that comes with a battery with the built in microUSB recharging port. Again, not the best light for the price range, not the best included battery, but it sounds like you would get good use from it in an all inclusive package.

Agreeing with others that it does have blue light. Here's a great guide

https://fluxometer.com/rainbow/#!id=Kindle%20Paperwhite/Kindle%20Paperwhite

The key things to look at is the Melanopic lux, getting that below 5 in the few hours before bed is the goal. Also the spectrum between about 420 and 540, shown on that page as a transparent curve in the background.

The kindle paperwhite is at 12, vs iphone/android phones at about 50. At half power (light level 13) the kindle is down at 2, which is pretty good.

You can also use blue light filter glasses. They should look orange, any that are clear will not work at all. Yes, the advertising is lying.

I like these
https://www.amazon.com/Uvex-Blocking-Computer-SCT-Orange-S1933X/dp/B000USRG90/

Which are also great for looking at your phone, or going to the bathroom.

It's a great site, it'll answer most of your blue light questions with every variation of device you can think of.

Hi! Thank both you and /u/redpiano for the replies, I really appreciate it. If you both don't mind I have a couple more questions. Thank you again for taking the time to help me out, it's put me at ease more here and I'm thinking this might not be so bad. (Also pricing HEPA filters because of these posts which is probably a good idea anyway.)

When you say "put an air filter over it", do you mean literally just buying something like this and taping it over the end of the flat slot portion of the tube? I'm a little confused on that.

Regarding thinner, is Vallejo considered safe? I picked basically Vallejo everything just in case there was any cross-brand problems. Also, I take it that alcohol paints and lacquers are considered harmful because of the noxious fumes as well? I use Tamiya spray primer, it's actually what I have the organic vapor mask for, and I know from experience that it's pretty wicked and it sticks around for a long time (I went outside during the summer months and fall but I've had to commandeer the bathroom with an open window in the next room in the past month and a half and just warn people to stay out for a half an hour or so afterwards). I usually end up having to shut the drying pieces in my laundry closet because they are just that potent. (Somewhat related, does anybody know if Stynylrez is any less noxious? I've been trying in vain to find a primer that is as smooth as Tamiya to no avail, but I was hoping that thinning this and spraying it through an airbrush might take care of that.)

There are a couple things I can't avoid using alcohol based paints for (unless anybody knows water based alternatives to things like Tamiya's transparent colours, particularly their red), but I was hoping to just set up a second booth in my other room to do those in short doses.

(Also, this is alright for painting, right, as long as I'm not using stuff with fumes? Like I mentioned before I'd really rather not use up my expensive cartridges for my organic vapor mask too quickly if at all possible.)

Depends on what you need it for. [Wowtac A1S] (https://www.amazon.com/A1S-Flashlight-Pocket-Sized-WOWTAC-NW/dp/B07M5BV8P7/ref=sxin_3_ac_d_rm?ac_md=0-0-d293dGFjIGExcw%3D%3D-ac_d_rm&keywords=wowtac+a1s&pd_rd_i=B07M5BV8P7&pd_rd_r=87edd49d-3423-4285-b39a-a400c6f26d02&pd_rd_w=3a87c&pd_rd_wg=aj6I2&pf_rd_p=983984df-2ad2-4c97-ba7f-4c5a90291c2b&pf_rd_r=SQZ7VJBHA7P696C8KF1D&psc=1&qid=1570875957) or [Sofirn SP31 v2.0] (https://www.amazon.com/Tactical-Flashlight-Features-Rechargeable-Battery/dp/B07FKJDH93/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=sofirn+sp31+v2&qid=1570875985&sr=8-1) for good budget edc lights, $26 and $36 respectively and both come with batteries. Looks like there's a 10% off coupon for the Sofirn on the listing so that's closer to $33. [Skilhunt H03] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QNPHB43/?coliid=IO5EZ9P7F0TH8&colid=LVIYOC1TPTP9&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it) for a good right angle headlamp that you can use as an edc, about $50 for the bundle that comes with a battery. [Sofirn SP40] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XKST56M/?coliid=I28PCTS2ZHHV8I&colid=LVIYOC1TPTP9&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it) for a more wallet friendly headlamp/edc thing, $31 and comes with a battery. [Sofirn C8T] (https://www.amazon.com/Flashlight-Lumens-Powered-Battery-Included/dp/B07PGNVTY9/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=sofirn+c8t&qid=1570877317&sr=8-1) for a super budget friendly throwy light, $23 and comes with a battery. Others mentioned are good, the [SP36] (https://www.amazon.com/Powerful-Flashlight-Rechargeable-Brightest-Excluded/dp/B07KFF5BGZ/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=sofirn+sp36&qid=1570878581&sr=8-3) would be right around your max if you have batteries laying around. $70 for the bundle that comes with batteries.

OK. Here are some EDC options, knives and other things.

• Great utilitarian folder: Spyderco Paramilitary.
  
  
• Great "gentleman's folder" option: Benchmade 707 (as well as a few other models), Mcusta, a few spydercos... let me know if you want more options in these.
  
  
• Maxmadco pen, or Fisher Space Pen.
  
  
• Rite in the Rain notepads I keep a small one in my back pocket.
  
  
• A nice leather wallet.
  
  
• Key chain multitool (I love this one).
  
  
• Small EDC flashlight.
  
  ummmm, let me know if you need more suggestions.
  
  Edit: you will have to shop around for best prices... no idea where it would be cheapest for each of these products.

Multitool: Leatherman Skeletool - $41.03
Knife: Spyderco Manix 2 Lightweight (S110V) - $114
Light: Thrunite Ti3 - $20

Total: ~$175

Edit - I got the Skeletool for $20 when it was on sale at Home Depot and the Manix 2 on massdrop for $98; so you could get everything for $138 or possibly less if you look for deals.
Edit2 - How about some reasoning:
> Skeletool - this is my favorite multitool because it has only the tools I would forseeably need on a day-to-day basis, and leaves out the tools I associate more with camping (saw, can opener). It rides the pocket comfortably with the secure pocket clip. The carabiner-style clip is clever, because it works double-duty as a bottle opener. The screwdriver and bit/holder gets the job done. My favorite feature, though, is that the (liner-lock) knife can be deployed and folded away with one hand, without unfolding anything else. The most common complaint I hear is that the pliers/wireclippers aren't spring loaded. (And that covers all the tools on the Skeletool!)


> Manix 2 Lightweight (S110V) - this is my most frequently recommended knife because it is:


> 100% ambidextrous
> super lightweight for its size: 2.9 oz (82g) for a 8.03" knife (blade length: 3.37")
>* low maintenance: riveted construction means you can't take the knife apart even if you wanted to. S110V steel is known for its edge retention (I think... I actually don't know anything about bladesteels)

>Thrunite Ti3 - I don't know much about flashlights but I've had this for over a year on the same AAA battery cell and it's going strong. It is tiny, very bright and easy to use.

This is an awesome giveaway. Thank you!

Listed at $29.99, Wowtac A2S LED Headlamp Headlight 5 Modes Max 1050 Lumen USB Rechargeable 18650 Battery Waterproof Headlamps, Super Bright Outdoor Sports Running Walking Camping Reading Hiking Fishing Neutral White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075ZN5LJY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_ILP1Ab2PV9A36
And
Listed at $7.99, Flashlight, DLTND Super Bright 500lumens Water-resistant 3.7" Mini Tactical Flashlight for Camping Hiking Fishing Hunting Outdoor Emergency Hurricanes Stormes Outages https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0721FFT8Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_0IP1AbFSMFWG7


I have to say I like the format of setting a dollar amount and letting the recipient pick their prize.

Materials aren't impact rated, eyepro is because part of impact testing is that it has to remain in place on your head, but that's besides the point. To put it very simply:

$15 for 16-Joules of impact protection backed by MIL-PRF-32432 impact standards, ANSI Z87.1 high impact standards, and Pyramex, an industry leader in PPE.

Vs. hoping that you selected a strong enough material, hoping that you built your homebrew mask correctly, and hoping that the field allows your homebrew mask (which any field worth their salt will not), backed by your personal, non-expert confidence in your own work.

You can't replace your eyes. Buy the freakin' eyepro.

> I was wondering what your thoughts on the Tiara C1 Pro were compared to the standard Wizard?

It is bulky for a 16340 light but okay for an 18350 light. You can't lock yourself out of the Tiara Pro (or the regular Wizard), while you can lock yourself out of the Wizard Pro.

The Pro features include a boost driver, flashing modes and a battery voltage check. It also comes with a magnet but Armytek sells the magnetic tailcap as an upgrade for the plain lights.

The biggest downside is the headlamp mount. The 18650 lights have a great plastic clip. The Tiaras are still using the old silicon rubber mount. The new mount is more comfortable and very easy to pop the light in/out of.

Another small 16340 option to consider is the Olight H1 Nova. Though I prefer 1xAA for a small headlamp, like a Thrunite TH20.

I'm a sound guy, I can help:
-Six pack of plain black tee shirts
-Pack of black hair ties for his pony tail
-Gift card to Old Navy (so he can restock on cargo shorts)
-Nice beard trimmer for his goatee
All kidding aside, a simple but often appreciated gift would be something like a nice small flashlight. You can never have too many. I like this one.

I am one that uses a flashlight a lot. I don't have a dozen different lights in my collection, I have 2. Those two are very similar, but there are a couple of differences.
The Thrunite Neutron 2C V3. I like this light a lot. It's my "use it 10+ times a day" light. It runs off of 1x 18650 cell (battery), 2xCR123, or a couple of other options. It has built in USB charging, it comes with a 18650 cell, it has adjustable brightness (ramping), and goes from .5 lm to 1040 lm. This thing is bright! Or dim, whichever you want. It just feels good.
My only 2 gigs against it: It takes a while to get used to finding the flat side switch in the dark. I no longer have any problem locating it, but when I first got it, it was a bit challenging. Second gig is that the lens is not replaceable. The lens being broken on mine has not affected the operation in the least, but I would like to replace it. Thrunite says that it's glued in and is not replaceable. ~$50 USD
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XXFC1VN

My other light is a Thorfire TK18. It's pretty similar to the Neutron, but it has a tail switch. It does NOT come with a battery. It does not have On-board USB (or any other) charging, which means that you would need to buy cells and at least one charger. It feels ok in my hand, but I prefer the feel of the Neutron.
It is also adjustable brightness, but also has a Low/Med/High/Turbo mode which I prefer on this light. ~$29 + cell & charger.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0787Z97ZK

Avoid those Atomic lights and their clones.

With the battery and charger you have on there they don't match. you can't use a nimh charger on a lipo you'll blow it up.

If you're going to use a lipo battery I use this charger

https://www.amazon.com/Tenergy-Cells-Li-PO-Balance-Charger/dp/B004FGWY54/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1510907253&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=airsoft+lipo+charger&psc=1

also with that battery it will only work if your gun is front wired (the plug for the battery is in your handguard) if its rear wired it wont work because you need the battery in the buffer tube.

as far as the gun sack you can pick up a hard rifle case at walmart for under 25$ and it will keep your rifle safe and you can lock it with padlocks if you'd like

I also really wouldn't recommend a paintball mask either cause they usually fog unless you get a really nice one like a dye i4/i5. they are also almost impossible to aim down sights with. I use arena flak jaks as I just pop out the vents and they never fog and you can get cheap replacement lens on ebay

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Arena-Flakjak-Tactical-Eye-Protective-Goggles-Tan-Airsoft-Paintball-Tactical-New/253221912379?epid=1001535811&hash=item3af533bf3b:g:sNEAAOSwCmNZxI2I

others recommend the pyramix goggles as they are lower profile but I just find it easy for them to move off my eyes by just moving facial muscles

https://www.amazon.com/Pyramex-I-Force-Sporty-Anti-Fog-Goggle/dp/B006WPSDXS/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1510907577&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=pyramix+i+force

with those if you want lower face protection most people recommend the one tigris as it makes it easy to aim down your sights

https://www.amazon.com/OneTigris-Comfortable-Adjustable-Protective-Available/dp/B01MTS1611/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1510907635&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=one+tigris+mesh+mask&psc=1

bamf mags I've heard many different things on them so i guess it just depends on your gun if they fit they will be good if not kwa k120s, g&p skullfrog, and pts epm are all good mid caps and those go in order from least to most expensive

I highly recommend the Thrunite TH20 headlamp. Durable, fairly lightweight, simple usage, waterproof; perfect for camping. It can get pretty bright if you need it or has very low levels, too. More floody but with a defined hot spot. I recommend the neutral white version. Uses a single regular AA battery or you can use rechargeables if you like. A single battery gives decent run time unless you run it on high all the time. For camp use, I generally don't use it past 15-25% brightness. $29 on Amazon.

ThruNite TH20 Neutral White 520 Lumen CREE XP-L LED Headlamp https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FCV32SI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_ayOYAb2GT9JK5

Edit: the TH20 isn't bulky on your head like an 18650 based headlamp, but if you need lots of brightness for longer run time, you might consider one of those instead. I use it in pitch black backpacking situations and don't need anything brighter, in fact I've mostly used comparatively very dim headlamps for over 20 years, until getting the TH20.

Pen Light It's probably a little too bright but it's still awesome none-the-less
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00008BFS5 The stylus might be more appropriate

I have also heard great things about the book The House of God even if you are not religious. I have not had a chance to read it yet but it's on my list.

If you are trying to spend a little more money an engraves stethoscope (I recommend the Cardiology III) is always appreciated.

One thing I find helpful is to wear a pair of Uvex SCT-Orange safety glasses. Those are what dentists use to protect themselves from the blue and ultraviolet light in their filling cure tools. There are lots of far more expensive products that are intended to do the same thing, but these safety glasses do a better job and are cheap as dirt.

Blue light is how your body determines whether it is day or night. Electronic screens like a laptop or phone emit a LOT of blue light due to the way they are color balanced. Wearing those an hour before bed helps me relax, because my brain has time to realize that no blue light = time to sleep. There is a program you can install on your computer called f.lux which tints you screen to accomplish the same thing.

Of course, being ADHD I am very very inconsistent in using these tools myself hah.... But at least I have them available!!

Seems to be lots of multi comments this time!

Here's my option though, https://www.amazon.com/Zebralight-H53c-Headlamp-Neutral-White/dp/B071ZTPLPD/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=h53c+zebralight&qid=1568655530&s=gateway&sr=8-1

As for less frequent or lower prize value. My thought would be less frequent. When I first joined they were every few months which was amazing. Frequent enough they new people would happen across them, not so frequent as to (hopefully) bankrupt you. I can imagine the big sub 10k ones wont keep going as big as some of the previous ones. I'd rather see great giveaways at every 25k than mediocre ones at 10k.

Of course having said all of that, any giveaway is amazing and the community should be incredibly thankful. (and they seem to be). It's a great place here and you shouldn't feel like you have to do it to keep it what it is.

I can't find the ones I own (I actually stepped on my pair, but my mom is lending me a set) but these look about right, for some reason I didn't see many orange ones when I looked for cataract sunglasses. Anything advertised to block blue light will help. I don't use them every night but when I feel wired they really get me back into bed time mode. I also use them when I have a migraine or when I need driving sunglasses. It's seriously the best $10 I've ever spent!

I can't believe I didn't mention this, but programs like twilight or f.lux will help reduce blue light from your laptop and phone! I know you don't use them at night but I think they start with the amber shift pretty early in the day so it might still help.

Honestly, this is a shitty thing to have to do. You should make it as easy for yourself as possible. Get something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/3M-Paint-Project-Respirator-Medium/dp/B00004Z4EB/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449263583&sr=8-1&keywords=respirator

The active charcoal filters actually take away a lot of the smell while the particle filters make sure there's no danger from aerosol particles (can be an issue if noro or rota are involved and also if you're dealing with rodent droppings). I have one like that (different brand) and it's well worth the money. Much more effective and more comfortable than the standard dust masks. Plus, it looks badass.

In your area keep an eye out for an event called "Stop the Bleed". It is a free event that teachings how to teat medical trauma. Other than that you can go to 2nd hand book shops and look for books related to prepping topics. Other cheap suggestions.

• LED Headlamp
  
  • you can find these as cheap as $7 but this is what I suggest
    
• LED Flashlight
  
  • you can find these cheaper but that is what I suggest
    
• Edible plant books for your area on amazon.
  
  • Usually around $10 to $20
    
• Medical herbs book
  
  • you can find more like this on amazon
    
• Ask your parents to start gardening with you or at least let you do it. Seeds are cheap.
  
• Make yourself a hobo stove. There are videos on youtube on how to do it.
  
• Candles.
  
  • Cheap stuff you can get at thrift stores and on clearance. You'll slowly learn what are good prices on them over time. Right after the holidays are the best time for these.
    
    I've run out of time. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you as always Para! I like the spirit of these new giveaways.

Wowtac A1S for me please. I love my A1S BSS v2, but they're not made anymore and only came in cool white. If I can somehow acquire a dual-switch reprogrammable driver I'd absolutely love to make a better version of that with this as the host.

Wow, thanks for doing the giveaway!
My home country's Amazon only carries books but I'm pretty sure either the German or British Amazon would also ship here.
The Wowtac A2S I see a few people mentioning here looks like an interesting right-angle light. I think that'd be my first choice.

Ok. Keeping in mind that I'm US-based, I'm linking to US-based sites. Everything should be available through UK/European sites as well, I just don't know them as well(I'm assuming you're UK/European-based due to the currency). I'm also not including BBs into the initial cost, as I consider those to be a consumable item and tend to factor those into cost-of-play per day of playing.

Gun: I like this G&G Raider Shorty. $150. Alternatively, This CYMA AK is a good option as well, and comes in at $128.

Battery Charger: This is what I use $33

Battery: This one should fit both the Raider and the AK. Important note: If you're using lipos, and the gun is stock, you'll need to use a 7.4v lipo. The 11.1vs are going to shred your wiring. $13

Lipo Sack: You'll need one for charging your batteries $7

As an alternative, Amazon has a package deal for $40

Eye Protection: I like these Pyramex i-Force goggles $16

Face Protection: One Tigris makes this mask $16

Magazines: AK style Mag for $10/each or AR-style for $12/each. I'd recommend getting one extra for starters, and then get more as time and budget allow.

Belt: My normal choice would put you out of your budget, so there's this one that I've never used before that's normally $9, or there's this one from Condor that's $15.

Pouches: It's gonna depend on which rifle you choose, but there's this AK-style that's normally $9 or this AR-style also normally $9.

Almost forgot, barrel cover: It's generally considered good etiquette to have one of these on your gun when not in-play, and mot fields here in the US require them when not on an active field $2

Total Cost for AR-style: $254USD bundling where possible(you could save a little by not getting the belt for now. If you normally wear a belt, just attach the mag pouch to that belt. That'll bring the cost not on-sale to $245USD). Total Cost for AK-style: $230USD, also bundling where possible.

Personally, I'm more of a fan of ARs, but I'd go the AK route and spend the extra $$ on either a third magazine, or an extra battery.

As I'm thinking about it, a second important note on lipo batteries: charge them with the small white connector on the battery, NOT the one that connects to your gun. It might explode if you try to do that.

Hope this helps you out.

Hey just in the nick of time!

I would love to put the mass of 18650's I have left over from before I quit vaping to use. This light seems super cool!

Thanks for the opportunity brotha, some good karma coming your way!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H5CQY41/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_UOg3CbXHCACZE?th=1&psc=1

if this is your first delivery job make sure you get a good small flashlight and buy some good pens to keep in your car at all times. I also bought a mini clipboard for a few bucks and had the credit card receipts on it. It increased my tips by a lot because when someone didn't fill in the blanks I handed it back to them and told them "You need to fill out the entire receipt" and 80% of the time would add a tip. Also, countless comments of "Fancy/Convenient!" as it is hard to sign a receipt when you have to find somewhere to do it at.

If you drive a older car MAKE SURE you have:

• a good jack
  
• 1 full sized spare in the trunk (junk yard sells these for under $20)
  
• lug wrench - it makes it much easier
  
• jumper cables
  
• rain coat/poncho
  
  use the maps as much as possible and use google maps in a pinch. This gets you used to learning the lay out of neighborhoods and what not as google maps just tells you where to go.

• Blue Cerulean Zippo
  
• Taste-T-Picks mint-flavored toothpicks
  
• Blue Fisher Space Pen
  
• Streamlight Microstream (coating worn off where it rubs against my knife)
  
• new Spyderco Manix 2 in S110v - I linked the image to BBS, but you can actually find it cheaper on BladeHQ and Knifecenter.
  
• new +B Victorinox Castaway SAK in Blue Alox - Link is just the newsletter because it isn't available in the webstore.
  
• Leatherman Skeletool CX - I love this tool. I've purchased 4 or 5 of them and given them away to friends and family because I love it so much. I'd recommend to anyone. The blade on this thing is amazing.
  
• Burt's Bees chapstick
  
• Car/Jeep/House keys, Blue anodized WTF tool (Wrench-That-Fits), Blue Leatherman PS4, and iTP A3 EOS upgraded all attached by lobster clasps on Copper Corter Bottlehook and keyring.
  
  EDIT: Added links to everything and corrected some details.
  EDIT_2: Grammar.

Overkill for you, I think but I'm grabbing a non-playa tested WaterBOB and yes you can use it without a tub. Seems decent. We shall see. I'd totally spring for a military bladder if I could, but, I can't. For you, I'd just get gallon jugs to supplement what you have. It makes it easier to distribute the weight in your car as well. The homer buckets aren't food grade IIRC, so, your milage/smell may vary. You'd probably be alright. If you want to do that, you'd be best off swinging by a restaurant or bakery and asking them for some food grade 5/7 gal buckets.

You could get him a FitBit One (that's what I got my father, also 60 this year) or any such wearable health tracker. It'll encourage him to stay active. If he already has an iPhone or some product that can be synced with the device, it'll be even better! My father is obsessed with his FitBit, and is daily walking 10,000+ steps. It's amazing.

You could also get him a nice bluetooth portable loudspeaker that he could use to listen to music while fishing. Never gone fishing myself, so I'm not sure if that's a thing, but I feel it might get boring sitting there for hours waiting for fish to bite.

Last idea- I read in bed too, and recently discovered this amazing pair of goggles that keeps the blue light out of my eyes so that my circadian rhythm is not disturbed. Check it out, it could be a good gift.

• Definitely a good light! This is the one I use. Attaches to my badge and has a clip to attach to my scrub pocket. Really great light and I use it ever hour of every day.
  
• A cheap(ish) digital watch. I wear a rubber Timex Ironman which is great (and easy to clean if needed). A must have...and I previously hated wearing watches.
  
• phone with lots of apps: I regularly use Micromedex, EMRA apps, UpToDate, MedCalX, Journal Club, Evernote
  
• a box of pens that you like
  
• trauma shears, cheap ones.
  
• My program bought me custom cargo scrubs. VERY helpful.
  
• A small/nice notebook for tracking patient encounters and procedures.
  
• your program should buy you an EMRA/AAEM membership which will provide you with the antibiotic guide (SOOO helpful) and they will/should buy you either Rosens/Tintinalli.
  
• I personally bought a panoptic because we see quite a bit of patients with eye complaints and I get a great view and can actually say I did a fundoscopic exam (helped me diagnose pseudotumor once)...but definitely optional!
  
• a tablet. I love reading on my tablet. I also keep my references on it (because my hospital basically blocks everything that isn't the intranet...even google!!). But optional, not necessary.
  
• Also, not things to buy, but I have quick cards on the back of my badge for common hospital telephone numbers (lab, radiology reading room, etc.) and a quick card with RSI drug dosages. That's very helpful.

That's great! Glad to hear it works for you. I'm a fellow light (and noise, but luckily found earplugs that help me) sensitive person and been thinking about buying something like those. Does anyone have experience with Uvex Skyper, or can recommend any other type of blue-blocking + sunglass combo that wraps around?

For Shelter-in-place:

• Admittedly, I'm a little slack on foodstuff... i have ZERO dehydrated emergency provisions (I want gluten-free, non-GMO, but all the choices are confusing so I need guidance on the best BRAND to purchase???). I have 3 travel totes filled with granola bars, trail mix, luxury snacks for the kids, coffee, bulk rice, bulk beans, bulk flour, bulk salt, canned chicken, canned tuna, assorted canned meats, sardines, spices/condiments... about 30days worth. I need 90days PLUS powdered milk brand recommendations.
  
• For water, I have 4x30gal food grade plastic containers with spigots. The water is recycled every 3 months and disinfected by unscented bleach (8 drops/gal). I also have 3x100gal WaterBOBS (http://www.amazon.com/waterBOB-Emergency-Drinking-Storage-Gallons/dp/B001AXLUX2) for a total capacity of 420gal of fresh water.
  
• For waste disposal, I have a hassock for 5gal bucket (and 50lbs of lime) as well as a full portable latrine.
  
• Some medical supplies (advil, tylenol, benadryl, plus left over meds) and Iodine tablets
  
• Basic supplies (disinfecting, cleaning and first aid) - 10x Bleach, 10x Hydrogen Peroxide, 10xIsopropyl Alochol, 10xWhite Vinegar, 10xApple cider Vinegar, 10xBaking Soda, 10xBorax, 5xAmmonia, 5xlaundry detergent, 5xcooking oil
  
• All my camping gear is packed in crates, ready for travel
  
• All my construction tools are packed in crates, ready for travel
  
• All my self-defense gear is packed in crates, ready for travel
  
• I have a small 5'x8'x trailer (plus tie-downs) to transport all my gear to my safer location
  
• Out of habit, I stockpile toilet paper, paper towels, plastic baggies, kitchen and contractor bags
  
  What's missing from my shelter-in-place plan??? A LOT, I think...
  
  
• No plastic sheeting for the inside/outside of the house (chemical/biological protection)
  
• No gas masks/MOPP suits - If it comes to this, I dont know if I want to survive - what are your thoughts???
  
• 4-5 5gal 'Jerry Cans' and manual transfer pump for gasoline (remember Katrina???)
  
• A larger first aid kit with surgical needle/thread (enough to perform minor surgery or major trauma care)
  
• I need many more medical supplies (antibiotics, muscle relaxers, painkillers, steroids, topicals, bags of saline, etc.)
  
  any guidance on this list??

Flashlight my dude, you won't be able to go back after carrying one.

Going by the rest of the stuff you carry i'd say a small AAA light that you can either attach to your keys or clip inside a pocket.

A couple of recommendations:

To clip on to keys: The Olight i3 EOS. 1xAAA 90 lumens, 45min runtime. Simple twist on/off, one mode, plenty bright for most daily stuff. If you want something multi-mode still good for your keys, the Thrunite Ti3 and Lumintop AAA Tool are honourable mentions too.

To clip to your pocket: The Streamlight Microstream. 1xAAA 45 lumens, 2.5hr runtime. Solid pocket clip and push-button that lends itself to be a really good momentary light but can be clicked on for continuous use. Really solid light, inexpensive, Tried and trusted by a lot of the EDC community. Honourable mention goes to the Streamlight Stylus Pro. Almost the exact same light but longer. 2xAAA, 90 lumens, 6 hour runtime if you don't mind the weight of an extra AAA on you.

Wow, thank you for the chance! I'd love to try this one - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KFF5BGZ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_Et8oDb7224RZ0

Good luck everyone!

In the first picture I forgot my Eleaf iCare and then in the second picture I forgot my Nixon The Chronicle.

Everything on here was purchased on Amazon except for the iCare and my actual iPhone SE... and my truck. The light and pen were just added to my loadout thanks to /r/EDC!

Phone Case: Ringke SLIM

Light: Streamlight Microstream C4

Knife: Spyderco Byrd Meadowlark2

Pen: Fisher X-Mark Space Pen

Wallet: Radix One Slim

I like neat and clean. Also, thanks to /r/minimalism I tend to be very critical of my belongings in both my pocket and my life. When I deem there is nothing left to take away it causes a nice calming effect.

From the pictures it looks like you are wearing a simple mask like this Home Dust Mask. If you have another project involving tile or dust like it, or a friend has such a project you should wear a better mask. One like this one would work, and this one would work even better and be more versatile.

On a side note, I bet the dust got to the refrigerator's compressor.

Not sure if this is common knowledge, but you can flush a toilet by filling the bowl with water. Obviously water will be scarce, but you can reuse any gray water you may have, i.e. from washing.

If you're planning to bug in, or at least want it as an option, I highly recommend getting a water bob. That link is to Amazon, but I'm sure you can get it a little cheaper. Well worth every penny and can help in any situation. For example if a big storm is coming, you can fill up one of your tubs and have fresh potable water just in case something happens, i.e. power outage or contamination.

Also, if you're worried about Potable water, check out local camping supply stores for a LifeStraw (or similar) water filter. I use one while camping instead of lugging ten gallons of water into the woods. It'll clean up the scummiest pond water into clear drinkable stuff.

It doesn't filter out things like oil contamination, though, so fill up your bathtub. They're sold out for obvious reasons, but something like this really helps.

Raid your recycling for containers, too. Fill up all you can while you can.

Best wishes.

The filter mask is probably good for a start. Some people recommend masks like this:

http://www.amazon.com/3M-Low-Maintenance-Half-Mask-Respirator-Assembly/dp/B00004Z4EB

I built a kind of mostly-effective spray booth thing from 2x2s and plastic sheeting with an exhaust fan, but I think my fan is too small to be very useful so mostly it just protects my table. A respirator mask should be good enough, though, and I'll probably pick one up soon myself.

Thanks as always for all the work you do for this hobby and for these great giveaways. Honestly, given the rate of subscriptions, a rarer 5k or 10k subscriber giveaway would be more significant and let people try out fancier flashlights if they win.

This time around, I’d like to try for the Zebralight H53c headlamp

Microstream The clip on mine is different but I think this is the same light. Love it.

Spyderco Tenacious Easily the highest value knife I've ever had/seen. I cut and pry the shit out of stuff with this knife on a daily basis.

Here is the link for the stylus pro. I've used both the regular and the pro, both are really nice, but I do like the pro a little better.

Uses 2 AAA batteries which are easy to find in a pinch.

It's like a large pen, fits in pockets designed for pens, though tightly. Carried a lot of different flashlights and I can safely say that out of all of them if I only had to have one it would be this one. I've lost one before and I didn't even consider any other options when it came to replacing it. Which is rare for me considering the amount my EDC layout changes.

Definitely a Microstream, best bang for your buck and plenty of light for most of what a keychain light is needed for.

If you want a twisty switch, though, I really love my Maratac AAA. Been going on 2 years now and kicking hard as ever. HOWEVER, since they raised their prices, I don't find them to be as much of a bargain as they were. The only Maratac light I'd spring for would be one of the specialty ones (like their newly introduced brass version, or the copper one - especially now that they've finally updated them to Rev.3).

I'd probably personally go for something like the Thrunite Ti3 if my Maratac ever dies. About the same price (a little cheaper actually) as what I paid for the Maratac when I bought it, and my buddy loved his til he lost it. http://www.amazon.com/ThruNite-Ti3-Max120-Lumens-Flashlight/dp/B00LUO028U/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1426784161&sr=8-2&keywords=thrunite+ti

A list of some solid choices:

Name | Brightness | Battery life (brightest mode) | Battery type | Price

• Streamlight MicroStream | 28 Lumens | 1.5 hrs | 1x AAA | $18.97 Prime
  
  
• FOURSEVENS Preon 1 | 84 Lumens | 1 hr | 1x AAA | $32.50 Prime
  
  
• Streamlight Protac Tactical | 50 Lumens | 1.75 hrs | 1x AA | $34.29 Prime
  
  
• Fenix E11 | 105 Lumens | 2 hrs | 1x AA | $32.95 Prime
  
  
• Fenix E01 | 13 Lumens | 21 hrs | 1x AAA | $12.50 Prime
  
  I personally have the MicroStream and I LOVE it. Seriously. So small. So cheap. When you buy quality AAA batteries it lasts months (buy the ones that have the 10 year guarantee). Don't have any of the other ones but reviews on them are all pretty good. Hope this helps!
  
  (Edit: added more)
  

Thanks for the giveaway!
It’d be awesome to win this , as my husband has been talking up his new flashlights and I’d very much like to one up him. :)

I'll try not to sound like an advertisement. I've needed to use various ways to visualize patients at night for a long time, and I'll give you a couple of suggestions. This is an excellent one if you need a white light. It has a rather narrowly-focused spotlight which can help you keep it out of the patient's eyes and is also waterproof and very durable. I've had one for years. This smaller square flashlight may also be useful - it has both a white and red LED (with low and high modes for each) and recharges via USB.

Red is best for keeping night vision and not blinding the patient, but green can also work (but it tends to be brighter). If you're just checking for respiration, reflecting the light off the ceiling or wall can give you enough light in the room to visualize the patient (and the room as well if you're doing safety/security checks). I've found it useful to carry a flashlight(s) that can handle both red and white in both low/high power modes. Red usually does a good job illuminating the room, but sometimes it's necessary to see colors, and then the white beam is needed. Rarely does it wake them up, and I need to check on the patients four times an hour.

Best bang for your buck starter guns will be the G&G CM16 ($180 CAD with free shipping) and the G&G CM16 Raider ($200 CAD) if you think he'll want to put attachments on it in the future.

For eye protection you can get him the Pyramex I-force goggles ($25 CAD off of Amazon) or the Pyramex V2G-XP (also $25 CAD on Amazon), that'll come down to personal preference on which style he prefers. For face protection the OneTigris foldable face mesh ($23 off of Amazon) allows the user to look down the sights well while still offering proper protection.

What I've listed above is probably the simplest and most economical beginner setup for Airsoft up here in Canada. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask!

And don't forget to check out my list of Canadian Airsoft Retailers to compare prices and see what's close to you!

^^^^^^This ^^^^^^was ^^^^^^good ^^^^^^practice ^^^^^^for ^^^^^^the ^^^^^^airsoftbot ^^^^^^response...

EDC- Penlight, Pocket Screwdriver, 6" Scale Rule, Folding Utility Knife, Gerber Artifact, Sharpie, Pen, Lighter.

LX- 2@ 8" Crescent Wrench w/ safety lanyard, gloves, diagonal cutters, sharpies/paint pens, wire stripper, 5-n-1 screwdriver, non-contact voltage tester. In my gig bag, I have a meter, allen wrench set, c-7's, among other tools I don't really need to lug around on the subway, but then that 1% of the time they come in handy and I accept hauling them around the other 99% of the time.

CARP- Dewalt 12v Impact Driver/Drill set, 7/16"-1/2"-9/16" deep sockets each on an adapter for for use in the impact driver. Same sizes in speed wrench.

Just picked up one of these thumb drive ratchets it has been super useful for working on unistrut and holding bolts when putting together flats or platforms.

Edit: I forgot. Always have my chalk bag handy.

Woop woop this is a weekly thing now lol

WOWTAC A2S LED Headlamp Headlight 5 Modes Max 1050 Lumen Waterproof Headlamps, Super Bright Outdoor Sports Running Walking Camping Reading Hiking Fishing Neutral White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075ZN5LJY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_cbrLDbQBCH6TF

Hope I can win!

Uvex S1933X Skyper Safety Eyewear, Black Frame, SCT-Orange UV Extreme Anti-Fog Lens

They are super awesome, truly improving my sleep.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000USRG90/

Here's what I would do...

Buy a respirator

Turn off the water to the house. Drain the pipes as best you can.

Rip out the tub and the tub walls, including the faucet and handles on the tub. Throw them away.

Clean up any mold you find now that the tun and walls are out. Soap & water and a brush will do.

If there is any wood work that's falling apart from water damage/mold, you may need to get help... It'll unfortunately cost more than you have, but the alternative is for the house to fall down. Hopefully it's not too bad.

Buy one of these and one of these and a few tubes of silicone bathtub sealant.

Now, you'll need some help putting the tub in if you've never done it before. Possible someone here is local and can lend a hand.

It'll end up costing about $800-$1000 - I tried to get you as close to $600 as I can...

Pyramex I-Force or V2G-XPs are great. I own a pair of both and love them.

If you're a fan of your teeth a mesh mask is definitely a good thing to get, especially if you're fighting in CQB at all. I recommend the Striker V1 from Evike or the OneTigris ones.

I'm a little late to the party, but thank you for this giveaway. As for my choice, I would like the ThruNite Neutron 2C V3

Very generous of you. Thank you again.

I hope this doesn't get buried, it can really help you. I fucking love my mini flash light. You would be surprised at how much you will use one. You whip it out when you need it, and fucking bam, you can see the world. This is the one I have, I keep it on my person 24/7 and it is very durable. Don't let the small size deter you, it is fucking legit. On a dark night in my back yard, this thing can go out for maybe 60ish yards. I'm not even a delivery person, and it was one of the best investments I've every made. I just keep it on a lanyard that I always have on me. Usually in my pocket.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015UC17E/?tag=hyprod-20&hvadid=15470184459&hvpos=1o1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1199059348122094719&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&ref=asc_df_B0015UC17E

I believe an angled light is better for camping in general(you need two hands when cooking or setup tent), it can be used as both headlamp or hand held, also can be clipped on belt or backpack. If you dont have any experience with 18650, a wowtac A2S is the best starter package I believe. Or if you are more interested in the straight option, a Nite Ize headband can mount any straight light less than 1" on your head.

Thanks to both of you!

I think I've gotta go with a RovyVon myself. Mostly so I can ceremoniously exorcise the cool white XP-G3 from its tainted soul. I haven't decided if I want to use one of my SW45 219B's, or if I should go with a LH351D. Either way, I promise to give it a comfy pocket to sleep in, a nice steady stream of electrons whenever it wants, and a gorgeous 90+ CRI neutral white emitter. Because it deserves better.

highly recommend for these $15 goggles. amazon link

I have run them two days so far, and am in love with them. They are ANSI Z87+, comfy, and fit under my hat. ymmv with the anti-fog but i treat the lenses before i play and so far haven't been fogged out of a game.

first day with the new goggles I took a bb to the right lens from a player with a notoriously hot HPA set up from only about 25 feet and the lens was totally unmarked. it splashed sweat and dial soap off the lens into my eye which made it look like i had pinkeye, but that's a personal problem.

to be fair, I am one of the sweatiest people on the internet so my issues with fogging and sweat may not be relatable.

I was previously running some smith optics boogie goggles that looked very cool but would fog so bad I had to leave the field mid game more than once and those damn things were about $50. now i feel like i found my goggles.

lastly, just buy smaller gloves? is that an insensitive suggestion? i wear gloves in size small if that makes you feel better.

inb4 trump and or dick jokes.

EDIT: fixed link

Astrolux S1 / BLF A6

H03 is about $20 more on Amazon but prime shipping

ThruNite TN12

ATACTICAL A1 550 lm Pocket-Sized LED Torch Super Bright LED Flashlight, Black

I'd order a battery from mtnelectronics.com or illumn.com


The H03 is really small compared to most 18650 lights. Way easier to carry.

Looks like you got a lot of suggestions for lights already but as a guy who has a very "light" edc setup, and doesn't like weight or bulk I recommend the Streamlight Microstream. By far my favorite and I carry it everywhere with me. So small, light weight and the battery life is actually surprisingly good. I've had it for almost 5 months now and never replaced the single AAA yet and I use it just about daily for short bursts. Worth checking out and the price is descent.


Streamlight 66318 MicroStream C4 LED Pen Light https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00143JZ08/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Y56yyb7JGY974

you could try one of those new synthetic puffy jackets (like this), they are extremely light, and very warm (check out /r/CampingGear for the top of the line ones, otherwise they can definitely be had for less). I got one last winter or the winter before, and except for the -40C days I got last year, I can wear it the entire winter.

I would recommend a flashlight like the streamlight microstream or stylus pro, to just throw in your bag and forget. They can be SUPER useful when you need them, and don't add much weight or bulk.