Pluggers by Rick McKee for September 18, 2023

Doesn’t a vest become uncomfortable in hot weather?

I prefer cargo pants, cargo shorts for warm weather

Everything I need to carry will fit in two of my jeans pockets. Keys, pocket knife, and wallet on chain. Anything else is just extra weight.

Cargo pants AND a vest.

Vest in this hot tropics? Nopes nopes nopes.

Would be useful in the winter but not summer .

I feel hearing aids, a handkerchief, and cell phone would fit pretty comfortably into one pocket, and I’d wager he has at least one in that shirt.

The around-the-waist Fanny Packs are less expensive, but DO appear less manly rugged. And they shout “Tourist”!

I have a hiking vest with 20 pockets, very useful during my morning walks. I can easily carry tissues, monocular, bug spray, water, snub-nosed .38, bandana, Swiss Army knife, mini first-aid kit, weather radio, and cap, and still have 10 empty pockets.

Sneak in that .38 why don’t you lol

A Plugger wears a vest when his cargo pants pockets are already stuffed full of things he’ll never need.

I prefer cargo pants or shorts as they give 6 – 10 pockets. Just have to sinch up the belt a little tighter some times. (Inhale deeply, take in one – two holes in the belt, exhale and good to go.)

A plastic bag hanging from my wheelchair works just fine for me

I wear a black down vest pretty much every day. Really hot summer days I do take it off. I had shingles when I was 20 years old. It covered my entire back. The pain was excruciating! 40 years later I still suffer the neuralgia from that. The vest helps keep the pain levels down a bit.

Regardless of how it’s all carried, I have to run down a check list to make sure I actually have everything. Phone, glasses, wallet, keys, hair management tools (very thick, long hair) and anything pertinent to my next activity. Sometimes I carry a bag, sometimes not. Mostly, I drive a truck.

I favor a specific Trail Designs vest. They last me about ten years. After I wore out the first one, I found an exact clone on a discount outdoors website. When that one wore out, I found a used one in excellent condition on eBay.

I guest this officially makes me a, ‘Plugger’!

Don’t forget the spare set of glasses.

And it takes about 50 pounds off. He looks only 325 instead of his real weight of 375 – 400

I can usually get by with a fishing shirt that has plenty of pockets here at the beach. :)

Too many pockets tend to make more work until you have a system and even then it’s a challenge

Cargo pants. They’re in style again, right?

Since I travel with a tablet or laptop, a man purse is mandatory.

I have not used a purse/pocketbook in decades. I wear jeans almost all the time and if it does not fit in my jeans pockets – I don’t need it. (And I carry a cell phone, wallet, keys, Space Pen, electronics stylus, tiny bottle of hand sanitizer, tiny spray bottle of alcohol.

Our state got rid of plastic “one time use” shopping bags (cannot be given out) at the same time Covid started here (March 2020). At that time the local county/large city could impose a fee on paper bags and in those counties where they did not stores could charge for paper bags. For decades husband had asked “Why are you keeping all those bags?” Now he is glad I did. I can fit up to 3 of those “one time use” plastic shopping bags in each of my back pockets – we use them for most of our shopping. When we do a main food shopping trip the paper bags – predoubled – come along in the car.

When we do reenacting I wear pockets as they were in the 18th century – large tear drop shaped fabric bags which are on a waistband which ties in the front (under one’s petticoat – aka skirt) and is accessed through slits in the sides of the petticoat. They hold much more than my jeans pockets do (I can fit a full size folded fan in a pocket and sit down without it getting broken).

And on the EXTREMELY rare times we go some place dressed up – I made a version of the 18th century pocket – a bit smaller and instead of tying closed it closes with velcro (and I have to either stick my hand through the waistband of the skirt or go to the ladies room to put things in or out) – so no purse needed then either.

I will confess to owning a “man sacket” but that is because I ride a bike and lack a glovebox to lock things up in.