What's in My Bag

What’s in my bag? — Becky Stern

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What's in my bag? issue #37

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Becky Stern is a product manager at Autodesk Instructables, and also teaches part time at SVA’s MFA in Products of Design. She publishes DIY project tutorials on her YouTube channel and you can find her on Twitter and Instagram @bekathwia.

The Fraction backpack by Mission Workshop
I love this backpack. It’s waterproof, which is great for city commuting by any method, and it holds a lot of stuff, but can take on a smaller profile when it’s mostly empty. I bought mine in 2015 and use it for everything from day-to-day laptop toting to overnight trips, and I even sometimes use the top flap to strap something big and awkward to it, like a bag of plush stuffing.

Wet Ones Antibacterial Wipes
I keep a pack of these antibacterial wipes in just about every bag I have. They’re great for wiping away germs after using the subway railings, or for sanitizing your airplane tray table. I also use them to disinfect my phone.

Paracord Zipper Pull
You never know when you’re going to need a small bit of strong cord! I made a tutorial for these paracord zipper pulls a few years ago and attached one to every jacket and bag. Not only are they effective as zipper pulls, they can be untied to become a useful length of strong cord.

BaoFeng BF-F8HP 8-Watt Ham with antenna upgrade
I recently got my ham radio license (I’m KD2SSU), but without an antenna on the roof, I’ve got to be outdoors (preferably up high) to make contact with other hams. This 8-Watt radio is ubiquitous in the ham community because it’s small, affordable, easy to program. I did upgrade the antenna to get better performance.

Bi-fold small parts organizer
When I teach electronics prototyping to design grad students at SVA, it’s useful to have some small parts on hand to demonstrate with and lend to my students. I love this double-sided parts organizer for transporting small things like switches, sensors, LEDs, and small microcontroller boards.

-- Becky Stern 02/19/20

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