Avoiding the Bat-Belt Syndrome?

sangfroid asks: "As my personal technology products have increased, I've started to look more and more like a Batman wannabe. I now carry an iPod, a PDA, a Cell Phone, a Leatherman and a GameBoy (for the subway, really -grin-). Cargo Pants are out because of work and I don't particularly want to carry a back-purse everywhere I go. Is there a solution that doesn't require me to give up all my technology? A PDA/Phone might help but the holy grail would be a HD-based PDA/Phone/Music Player. How do you deal with all these devices without looking like a gargoyle? Is the answer better technology or no technology?"

Comments

Get a Scottevest

[akehurst]

Go to ScotteVest and put all of your gadgets in there.

Re:Might not work for everybody.

[littlerubberfeet]

Carhartt clothing lasts forever. I have seen a 20 year old jacket with Valdez crude stains and BB pockmarks still going strong.

They make good carpenter pants, a pair of which I am wearing now. I have all the regular jean pockets plus a hanner loop, a long left thigh pocket and a long right thigh pocket with a top divider.

If you happen to get the good pants with the extra protective knee/chap piece that extends from mid-thigh to upper-shin, it is supposed to have a hole at the bottom between the layers. This is to allow things to fall out after you have worn through the first layer of duck canvas and started getting saw dust/ organic matter/ loose resistors between the layers.

My solution -- an ammo case.

[Yaztromo]

Yup, that's what I carry my gear in -- an old M67 cartridge case. It usually has my Palm, car MP3 player faceplate, portable MP3 player, Zippo lighter, swiss army knife (mechanic style), toothbrush (hey, you never know...), and various other items (several of which vary from day-to-day, frequently including a can of Coke ;) ).

It has the following advantages:

• Being of all-metal construction, it's tough. You can give it a real pounding, and it will still stay in one piece. I could probably run it over with my car, and the contents would be intact (not that I'm about to try it or anything...:) ),
• It has a rubber seal on the lid, so when you clamp it down it's completely water tight. It also floats (yes, I've tested both. I once even weighted it and lowered it off the side of a boat to a depth of about 3m, and it still didn't let any water in),
• It keeps people on the subway from hassling you :). If a thug has a choice of a guy with a bat-belt of electronics, and one carrying a heavy-looking metal box painted Army green, they're going to go after bat-belt boy. I wouldn't want to get hit in the head with an ammo case full of stuff!
• It makes a great footrest, or even a seat.

I've carried my ammo case around everywhere for more than 4 years now. People often assume that I'd be getting stopped by security guards or the police often, but in all my time carrying it around, I've only been stopped twice (and once was because the guard wanted to tell me that he tought _he_ was the only one who carried all his stuff in one! :) ). I've never been asked to leave anywhere because I've had it in my possession.

Mind you, I don't take it into airports. And I've never crossed a border with it. And I do live in Canada, which tends to be less paranoid about such things than the US is (which is one reason why I've never taken it across a border...). But in general, everywhere I go, my ammo case of stuff follows.

Yaz.

Re:but really

[yerricde]

Find games for it, and away with the Game Boy.

Unless the PDA/phone combo unit has a kick@$$ processor (and the battery drain that goes with it), it's not going to be emulating a GBA anytime soon, which means no familiar titles, no Wario Ware, no Zelda 3, no Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, no nothing.

Most native cellphone games suck. Look at the disappointing review that GMR gave to the N-Gage handheld system.