Most useless item to carry around in India ? MUI

aivlysweetie

Hey. I would think this is pretty useless cause I had no issues with finding clean water to drink while i was there, but has anyone used this before?

proxyindian

We just found out about the Steripen and thanks to Camelgirl for the link to the colapsable waterbottle. The issue for us is the fact that India is being covered by plastic so we'll do what we can to avoid water bottles. When we were there we used more waterbottles than we'd used in 5 years at home. It really played hard on my conscience.

Proxy

camelgirl

That's true for me also and I was very troubled by all those plastic bottles I squished and tossed which I never do at home. I bought the Steripen for my next trip but since I haven't used it yet, I can't give it a review. I love the idea of it. I have a small pump filter/purifier which I don't bring because I'm not camping or trekking. I like that I can fill a reuseable bottle at a sink and put that gizmo in to purify it.

giripriya

The H2O issue:

I bring chlorine or iodine tablets, coffee filters and a small funnel. My first couple of days I buy a few bottles of water, save the bottles, then use the bottles for tap water treated with the tablets and run through a coffee filter(chemical treatment alone might not get rid of cysts). Of course, if it's easy for me to get boiled water I use that. I just try to use as few bottles as possible. I end up using coffee filters, but those at least aren't plastic so my conscience is easier to deal with.

Low-tech, but it's worked for me.

I second whoever mentioned the LED headlamp/torch - on my last trip to Nepal I carried it everywhere, very useful at night since I am depth perceptionally challenged and use a trekking stick to navigate the uneven pavements - the headlamp means I have at least one hand free. I even used it in the lost luggage room at Tribhuvan Airport when the light was out - yes I finally found my bag.

Other won't-travel-without items: Master combination padlock, silk sleeping bag liner(but no sleeping bag), Wet Ones(nice when you feel grubby and can't wash), mini battery-powered radio/alarm clock, and the aforementioned trekking stick - recently found a cool telescoping one with attached LED light for even more illumination, can't wait to try it out!

MUI: rain poncho, though a lightweight one might be good as a groundcover or to protect damp-sensitive items in your bag.

__________________
Q: Ke garne?

A: Dal bhat khanne, maaya garne, sutne!

aivlysweetie

Anyone used this Buzz Off Bandana before?

Lugubert

Most useless: Heavy-duty spiral wire with combination lock.

Most useful: Hard disk cum viewer for downloading photos. A bit on the large side, and not exactly cheap, but I don't want to imagine the number of itty bitty memory flakes otherwise needed to store what I shot.

Immersion heater: never used it.

Torch/flashlight: need I say more than load shedding? And my travel partner loved the one she used at night on her Darjeeling and Sikkim treks.

cyberhippie

Mrs Cyberhippie informs the most useless item is my good self!

camelgirl

I recently read an article (and now I don't recall where) that said that clothes treated with insect repellants don't do much good.

I was a bit disappointed as I used to soak some outfits in a permetherin solution. Guess they'll find your ears, hands & feet anyway. Only using permetherin on a mosquito net makes good sense.

So, don't waste your money on "buzz off" clothes!

camelgirl

noflylist

a watch!
no matter what time you arrive, you are never late.

gregornot

Namaste,

A bad attitude (i.e. I'm better than you)

peace, gregor

__________________

"If the roots remain untouched and firm in the ground,
a felled tree still puts forth new shoots.
If the underlying habit of craving and aversion is not
uprooted, suffering arises anew over and over again."

noflylist

with you on that one.

gregornot

Namaste,

Anti malarial tabs. They are aviable ever where there is a chemist and they are cheaper in India.
Peace, gregor

moo

I took a load of condoms (just in case).
I brought them all back.

camelgirl