Equipped to Survive - Christmas!

Not sure where the best place to put this is.

What do you keep around (besides christmas "spirits") to ease your way through christmas day?

Here are a few things I have found helpful.

Small "harmless looking" knife - think swiss army or benchmite
Lighter - no one ever seems to be able to light candles or fires these days
Small side cutters - to deal with all the annoying wires in the kids presents
Small nippers - for when the side cutters can't get at the blamed wires
Leatherman Squirt E4 - great for dealing with battery compartments.
Leatherman Charge TI - for when the Squirt isn't big enough
A couple of small flashlights for looking in/under things (Inova T1, peak matterhorn(?))
mini tripod (so I don't get stuck holding the camera(s)
extra batteries / media for cameras.
More AA, AAA, C and D batteries than I can carry for all the "toys"
small forceps to reach the teeny tiny screws that always fall where I can't reach.

And of course some true spirit(s?) can help smooth out a very hectic day if used appropriately

Merry Christmas all

- Eric
(patiently waiting for the family to wake up so I can find out what Santa brought me this year - I've been really good!)

- trash bag for the paper recycle stuff.

- utility knife to reduce cardboard boxes to a more manageable size.

- good humor.

Don't forget the scotch!!!!

Don't like scotch much, must be an acquired taste
However, for those who haven't tried it or even heard of it, Wild Turkey has a Bourbon & Honey liqueur called American Honey -- very nice

First one must finish with all of the sharp objects and put the car keys in someone else's control. Then proceed to slowly ritualized consumption of one of America's finest products that come from the state of Tennessee.



Relax, repeat. Add a good cigar if one is so inclined....

Haven't tried JD's Single Barrel. Note to self. . .

I've not heard of American Honey, looks good, perhaps you can compare it to Drambuie or even better, Glayva if you get the chance.



I do like Makers Mark Bourbon though, its a top quality Whiskey.

Much smoother than Drambuie. Think of AH as a very an extremely smooth bourbon with overtones of honey -- the taste of honey but w/o all the sweetness.

Discretion is the better part of valor, and moderation in everything...

To veer off the alcohol path for just a second…

Tin snips: For the utter annihilation of those stupid blister packs everything comes in nowadays. I believe I brought up this topic last year, and the tin snips rule for this task.

Hmm, not exactly the path I thought this would go down but I guess I did kind of push things this way in a backhanded sort of way. So to add to the list...

It is kind of cold in the midwest lately so we need Baileys for the coffee and rum for the hot chocolate, though peppermint schnapps will do if no rum is available. This is critical survival preps.

Then after the kids go to bed we can turn up the thermostat and enjoy some margaritas (100% blue agave tequila of course) or rum and cokes since keeping morale up is critical in situations like this. My wife is not a fan of whiskey so I usually save that for time with friends who do appreciate it. Makers Mark by preference though I occasionally have had to make do with some of the more comment blends (like Seagrams) in a survival situation like this. One must be prepared to rough it a bit during trying times.


- Eric

Mmm... Pappy Van Winkle's 15 Year Family Reserve.

http://www.bourbonenthusiast.com/forum/DBvd.php?id=104&task=displaybottling

Somewhat pricey (if you can even find it - seems to be around $60 a bottle these days anyplace that has it in stock), but absolutely worth it. Got rated 98 by Beverage Tasting Institute and top listings by many other reviewers.

Some prefer the 20 Year Reserve, others think this is the better bang for the buck; I've not had the 20 year yet and so can't compare, but the 15 Year is flat out the best I've ever had.

I like Booker's too, and Knob Creek is pretty good for a few more steps down the rungs...

Merry Christmas!

I guess I just haven't aquired a tast for finer whiskeys My Favoret liquor is Jim Beam Straight rye whiskey, Mild and mellow made in a copper distiller.

Aside from the booze, i haven't had any today fo some reason, i have pretty much all the original posters gear nearby

I had a couple glasses of wine w/ dinner and RUM Cake

What did I ever do to you??? Headed to liquore store now, severe wallet damage may happen

Victorinox Swiss Tool Spirit. For putting kiddies toys together.
Headtorch. For seeing those damn fiddly bits.....

I used my Leatherman Wave 'bout a dozen times yesterday, cutting packages/packaging open, opening battery compartments, etc. Not being in our home, we let the home owner (daughter) worry 'bout everything else...

My favorite honey spirit is Barenjaeger. Not something I drink often, but I really like it for making a hot toddy when I've got a bad cough and cold.


http://www.bevmo.com/Shop/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=2360

On Christmas morning I had my Mini-PSK/Phone Kit on my belt so I used the Gerber STL 2.0 in it about a dozen times to open that tough plastic packaging. I did not want to see any bleeding spoil Christmas so the deal was that if a family member needed something opened they would pass it to me, and I would do the cutting.

Mike