Field Kit for Exploring Flora

My new field kit : Suggestions welcomed:   Well, I am sorry for posting non flora related material. But I think this may be of help/useful to some of members on this forum, with interest in field work on Indian Flora. Please suggest, if anything else, that I should include or exclude.

My new field kit – left to right & below:
1) Lowepro Bag Pro-runner AW 300 series
2) Nokia C3 Mobile phone with ear plugs
3) Sure for men roll-on deo (sorry guys, I still carry it)
4) Army knife

5) Garmin etrex 10 GPS
6) Magnifying lens (40 x capacity with LED)
7) Nikon ML-L3 remote control
8) Tamron 90 mm macro lens
9) Nikor 70-300 Lens
10) Nikon D3200 Camera
11) Yunteng tripod
12) Insulated water bottle
13) Solar chargeable LED torch
14) Extra 4 GB memory card (8 GB already in camera)
15) USB cord for Camera and GPS (separate)
16) Odomos mosquito repellent
17) Scale & measuring tape
18) Lacrosse Altimeter digital watch
19) Snacks, Cake, Dairy whitener , Nescafe & Maggi noodles (Only for long tours)
20) Cloths, apparels and accessories (Only for long tours)
21) Orchids of Northern Western Ghats – field guide book
22) Forest Trees of Western Ghats – field guide book
23) HP mini laptop with MTS dongle (Only for long tours)
24) Sleeping bag (with temperature sustainability upto 5 degree Celsius) (Only for long tours)
25) Sparx trekking shoe & note pad; with pen (not appearing in the pic)
26) The poncho, works as tent for overnight stay (Only for monsoons or long tours)
27) Camera lens clean kit
My new field kit.jpg attached.

Dont forget the matchsticks…. 😛 otherwise where will you cook maggie.

Something like small chocolates provide very good energy during field work. I like Melody Chocolates for that purpose 🙂
Torch: I carry a torch which has SOS signal facility. Its good for emergency.
Carry chalk sticks, just to mark ways, or carry clothe/plastic ribbons to mark your ways. Its always helpful.
Prefer to keep the lens mounted on the camera. Its not good for the camera to open the cover again and again and expose the interiors.
Ofcourse an umbrella is always good to carry….
Never use earplugs on phone while in field. You never know who could be calling.
Lastly a SMILE is must…. it repels many of the animal types 😛

Interesting …. Nice Kit….

Few suggestions from my end…

I prefer Head lamp (hands free) in place of torch.
Needle- Thread is must ( )..
Noting pad and Pen..
Small First aid kit with few Band aids..

I usually prefer Full Sleeve cotton T- Shirt as it gives at least some protection to hands against insect bites…

Nice kit … suggestions from … and … are valuable and apt…as you might remember I also opined about having head lamp instead of torch so that your hands are free when we started our back journey from VOF trek….

Very much useful suggestion …. I carry cigarette lighter but only to use it in emergencies. Chocolates , I am also fond of but my daughter finish all of them before I leave for field 🙂 However, I buy them from local shops . I am looking forward to buy Petzel headlight as suggested by …, with SOS function. My macro lens is always mounted on camera and I use telelens only when I want to change it to. Earplugs are only for travelling part (specially in train/bus) but not in field.

…, soon I am going to upgrade my bag which would be capable to accomodate medical kit / emergency kit. Note pad and pen was already mentioned in my check-list. Full sleeves in Mumbai are unbearable. I only wear them in winters. However I am going to buy full sleeves T-shirt with comfortable fabric. 

I found a very useful suggestion from … about Solar powered battery charger. One is greatly handicapped when camera battery or mobile battery (latter often discharges fast in remote areas where signals are poor) runs out. Should be very handy. Now multipurpose solar chargers are available for any thing between Rs. 1000 to 3000. One can pick ow choice .