[USAFA]

I have a good friend who is getting deployed to Quatar (sp?) next month. He was asking me about what he should take that wasn't on the lists based on my time in Kuwait. I've already given him some suggestions but I thought it might be interesting to open it up to the folks here as I know many of you are military/ex-military and have done your time in the sandbox.
So what are the one or two things that either made life livable or that you wish you'd had? Oh, and for the record, he and I are both medics, so the Glock is not an option:(

[rayra]

Q-Tips to dig the sand out of your ears.
Some old toothbrushes for cleaning gear.
Some large ziplocs to sandproof personal electronics (walkman, etc).
Hand lotion (with a screw-on lid) or babywipes - your hands, ears and back of neck will thank you.

my resume - 8yrs in the Marines shooting cannons in wastelands across the CONUS.

[rayra]

and a cotton-duck (canvas) desert water bag - helluva a lot more refreshing than drinking hot water out of a plastic canteen.

[shadow 1]

Head on over to www.lightfighter.com they have a great discussion board with alot of active duty mil folks who are either in country, coming back or heading to that theatre of operations.

Since he'll be in Quatar and probably HQ'd there he won't need as many things as troops in the field. But he should bring hard to get items for himslef and others including cigs, dip, batteries, junk food, good cleaning gear for his weapon, zip locks, good sunglasses, baby wipes etc.