#7: Cologne to freshen up after a sweaty revolution.

June 23, 2011 12:39 PM

Go-Bag porn for the Arab Spring. Foreign Policy finds a 25-year-old architect protesting in Cairo's Tahrir Square and asks the perennial geek-out question: What's in your bag?
posted by Naberius (20 comments total)

I don't see any porn in there.
posted by nathancaswell at 12:39 PM on June 23, 2011

Damn it! I forgot to link to the porn!
posted by Naberius at 12:40 PM on June 23, 2011 [1 favorite]

Pretty cool.
posted by darkstar at 12:42 PM on June 23, 2011

Wait, there's porn in the bag? How would that help?
posted by blue_beetle at 12:49 PM on June 23, 2011

Wait, there's porn in the bag? How would that help?

Apparently, you don't know jack.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:52 PM on June 23, 2011

What's in the bag?
posted by Ironmouth at 12:53 PM on June 23, 2011

This hardly qualifies as a Go-Bag; not enough guns
posted by 2bucksplus at 12:58 PM on June 23, 2011

Wait, there's porn in the bag? How would that help?

He was there for 18 days, man, 18 DAYS!
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 1:02 PM on June 23, 2011

This hardly qualifies as a Go-Bag; not enough guns

Agreed. Go-Bag fail. No dried food, no multitool, no first aid kit, no spare batteries, no diaper wipes, and no paracord, either.
posted by MonkeyToes at 1:03 PM on June 23, 2011 [2 favorites]

Ironmouth, I see your "What's in the bag?" and raise you What's in that bag???
posted by brina at 1:12 PM on June 23, 2011

P e a c e O n E a r t h and P u r i t y O f E s s e n c e.
posted by clavdivs at 1:15 PM on June 23, 2011

Now I'm wondering if porn is common in Egypt.
posted by longsleeves at 1:25 PM on June 23, 2011

one forty-five caliber automatic; two boxes of ammunition; four days' concentrated emergency rations; one drug issue containing antibiotics, morphine, vitamin pills, pep pills, sleeping pills, tranquilizer pills; one miniature combination Russian phrase book and Bible; one hundred dollars in rubles; one hundred dollars in gold; nine packs of chewing gum; one issue of prophylactics; three lipsticks; three pair of nylon stockings...

It's endlessly impressive that the protesters left their forty-five caliber automatics at home.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 1:52 PM on June 23, 2011

Is it a tactical reading light?
posted by Mister Moofoo at 1:55 PM on June 23, 2011 [5 favorites]

Neat little article, but this thread was pre-derailed by an awful choice of words in the post.
posted by phooky at 4:43 PM on June 23, 2011

This looks closer to my go-bag than the usual survivalist porn, and I'm a hipster office worker. If was living in Cairo I'd imagine I'd take at least one weapon, even if it was just MACE or a knife.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 4:43 PM on June 23, 2011

I'd rather see cookies than knives at a revolution. Good for the student.
posted by dragonplayer at 5:46 PM on June 23, 2011 [1 favorite]

I, too, am severely disappointed by the lack of knurled aluminum and ballistic nylon. One does not stage a revolution using date-filled cookies.

He must find it difficult being a real architect without a moleskine or iProduct.
posted by sebastienbailard at 7:04 PM on June 23, 2011

For the uninitiated, is there some kind of backstory to the "what's in your go-bag?" fetish? (i.e. why is this the "perennial geek-out question"?)

Also, was the entire articl--- blurb really just about ONE guy's laptop bag & its contents? ONE?
posted by ShutterBun at 3:59 AM on June 24, 2011

Shutterbun, it's a recurring subject in various online communities; geek, blogger, survivalist ("everyday carry"), novelist, etc.

flickr: What's in your bag
flickr: Everyday Carry
posted by sebastienbailard at 8:36 PM on June 24, 2011