At some point, we should probably just focus on what’s changed from our bags year to year. Turns out, that’s a lot this year.

  • Tumi Tahoe Dale — It’s back. We back. Showing a bit of signs of wear, but still very early in its life.
  • MacBook Pro 15” (2013) — I’ve replaced the Kuzy case, the bottom end, at least once since last year’s trade show. I still like the yellow.
  • Apple Charger — My battery needs to be replaced. This charger needs to be replaced.
  • Canon 1DX II + 16-35 f/2.8L USM III — We bought at 16-35 f/2.8 II earlier this year and I fell in love with it, particularly for the trade show where it has to be half as light as the 24-70 f/2.8 I usually carry around. As for the body, it’s rented, though I imagine by this time next year that will change. We’ve been testing out various bodies including the 1DX II, Sony a9, Canon 5d Mk IV. There’s not a great solution, but I am sort of leaning towards the 1DX II at the moment, but that price point.
  • RØDE Stereo VideoMic Pro — We went back to the microphones we used in New Orleans because of one reason: sound quality. They actually are a bit cheaper than the Stereo VideoMic Pros we used last year, which were the wrong mic for the job.
  • Duracell 9V Battery — At some point during the trade show I will forget to turn the mic off, though not yet.
  • Shure MV88 — This small little mic is used for our Facebook Live posts.
  • CFAST2 + Pelican Case — Damn CFAST2 cards are expensive.
  • Moleskine Reporter Notebook — Back again x2.
  • Leuchtturm Medium Hardcover Lined Red — Big ideas go in here.
  • Pilot Envelope Address Writing Gel Ink Pen — I’ve used this more than the Uni-ball mentioned below. It’s a bit darker, a bit more prone to smudges.
  • Uni-ball Signo Broad UM-153 — This is more of a reliable pen than the pilot, which can be super finicky when not writing on paper.
  • Gerber 22-41830 EAB — In my pocket.
  • Jetline Super Torch — The unofficial official lighter of the trade show coverage of halfwheel.
  • S.T.Dupont Line2 — I take it on the airplane.
  • Davidoff Double Blade Cutter — My favorite cutter to date.
  • Apple/Anker Lighting Connector — Just one this year given we have some in our conference room.
  • Audeze iSine 20 — Never thought I’d replace my SE535s, but that happened earlier this year. The iSines are a revolutionary headphone.
  • Shure SE535 — Just upgraded to Shure’s new Lightning cable.
  • Boveda + Small Bag — Less samples, more space.
  • Business Cards
  • Bottled Water — If there’s one big change from this year to last year, I’m drinking a lot more water outside of the week of the IPCPR trade show.
Davidoff is the official sponsor of halfwheel's coverage of the 2017 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show.
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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.