things that make you feel better even if they are a bit impractical

[s.e.charles]

from a feather in your hatband to a lucky penny. what serves no purpose to pack but to make you feel good?

ok; i'll go first.

P-38 can opener.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-38_can_opener
when i was 5 or 6, my cousin came home on Marine leave and gave me a box of rations. all of the individual meals had a can (the kind with a key soldered to the bottom) which included all the accoutrements to make it a real field fiesta. i've had p-38 can openers within arms reach for almost 65 years. even put one in my Altoid zombie apocalypse survival kit. yes; have used one on occasion, too.

whattayagot?

 

[Grey J]

I carry some gold dollar coins of the presidents whose names grace the Presidentials. I also have an old NH toll token with the Old Man on it in the same pouch, so Cannon is represented too. And a few other oddities as well. Got to have some secrets.

 

[JoshandBaron]

My impractical stuff takes up more pack space than my first aid kit.
1) 4 "energy balls" my grandmother made for me 10 years ago. They live in the bottom of my Ursack.
2) A stuffed bison that was my dog's hiking toy.
3) A lock of hair from my horse's tail.
4) A small stuffed dragon from Prague given to me as a good luck charm.
5) A small stuffed sunflower, given as a good luck charm after a friend's lost battle with cancer.
6) A small knit blanket with a picture of my dog on it. Though I suppose that one has some practical use.

The only time I've been hiking without those energy balls I broke my foot near the GG/Sphinx jct.

 

[skiguy]

 

[MikePS]

HAha , love the SPAM. Years ago my buddy and I were novice (relatively clueless) backpackers, before the advent of all the energy/protein bars, we worried about what to eat if we had a stove malfunction on multi-day trips. We decided to each carry a can of baked beans as emergency provisions How could we not think of SPAM? Today I carry the key to a 1974 chevy vista wagon, the first car we drove across the country as a totem.

 

[Stan]

These items are far from useless but they bring good campfire conversation with them. Both are vintage items from WW-II.

My father gave me a hand compass he used in the 1st Anti-Aircraft Battalion in the Pacific. Scratched inside the cover is reference to how many clicks adjustment. He survived. Some of the targets did not. The compass has served me well on many bushwhacks.

My godmother, who lived in Belgium, gave me a fine knife, "Baron Solingen Germany". It has a fleur de lis on the handle and was taken from a Vichy soldier who got the worse of hand to hand combat. It now does duty to cut fir boughs for bedding and hard cheese for trail appetizers.