Or is the contents of my DH's rucksack completely hilarious

[cordiality]

My DH goes to work everyday with his work rucksack. I've never given it a second thought.

This evening, for some reason, I had to move it out of the way, and found that it weighs a ton. For the first time ever, I've asked him what is in it, and we've gone through it together.

It contains

Tissues, smints, kindle - all fine
Umbrella - unnecessary but I can see the virtue
Woolly hats - two of them! It is 30 degrees outside and has been for months! He says you never know when someone will want to borrow one...
A large set of Allen keys - he has a desk job in an office.
Paperwork. Plastic files of paperwork. Including, but not limited to:

• instruction manual for dd's bike
• a pdf doc I once forwarded to him on managing child behaviour. (Unread).
• his pension details and p60
• the pension details of a nanny whom we no longer employ
• council tax bills. Thames water bills.
• The finance agreement for the car...

... etc etc.

I think this is completely mad. He thinks it's completely reasonable as he 'always knows where everything is'. Every day! On the boiling hot tube! With, to all intents and purposes, a filing cabinet on his back!

Please tell me I'm not BU to insist he leaves it all in a safe place at home?! Or is this the norm? Can we check with other DHs?!

Oh he sounds really nice! In that dotty sort of way!

perhaps HE is the identity thief and I don't know who he is at all?!
Maybe he IS the nanny?

He was a Scout and had never failed in his duty to BE PREPARED.

He is very happy to hear that he is not alone in this madness. (And that people think he sounds nice, and not insane).

I fear that it may be my chronic disorganisation that has led him to these extreme filing measures?!

Sadly, I can understand how the paperwork thing happens. I get, say, a link to a useful document at work, I print it off thinking I'll read it when it's quiet. It never gets quiet, so I shove it in my bag to read that evening at home. I get home, I can't face doing anything work related, so it stays in my bag. I don't get around to reading it the next day either, so the same routine happens. Eventually I forget it's in there. Then I pick up something from home that I need to deal with, thinking I'll do it when it's quiet at work. Doesn't happen, And so on, till a month or two later I have a clear out and find all the most extraordinary crap in there that I've forgotten all about. And yes, it might include the woolly hat from the last cold spell. If someone else went through it, they'd gave the same reaction as you, OP.

My DH has a rucksack which he uses for local shopping, but would probably have enough to keep him alive for days in the wilderness if the occasion arose.

I haven't investigated it all but it has various energy bars, chocolate, a huge Swiss Army penknife with every gadget imaginable. Gloves, hat, waterproof, first aid kit, emergency mobile phone and extra battery pack, spare socks and goodness knows what else.

My brother is similar, except I'd expect to find a well-stocked mini bar in his as well

Um Ronnie, any chance that you and OP's DP may have been triplets?

Ah, but is your DH’s backpack actually his school bag from 32 years ago, filthy, torn, of indistinct colour, held together with staples, duct tape and elastic bands, and a haven for bacteria indigenous to no fewer than 6 underground tube systems scattered around Europe, Asia and the Americas? No? Then I say you’ve nothing to complain about really.

He sounds like me 😂

Omg Middling, don't give him ideas!

Maybe it's a form of endurance training, like in the army when they get sent out for a 10 mile run on a scorching hot day, with a rucksack full of rocks?

Get him to add:

1. A sewing kit
2. A massive safety pin
3. An unopened bottle of water which can only ever be used in an emergency which relates to a stranger

Then we are, basically, the same person

My handbag is like this.
I found an old bank card in it the other day that expired in 2001

Is it wrong that I think this is endearing? Always prepared with a woolly hat and an Allen key! The kind of man to have around in an emergency.

My DH stores a lot of random small or lightweight things and reading material around in his rucksack but not the household's more important paperwork.

It's not good for your DH's neck or shoulders to be lugging that stuff around every day for no pressing reason, anyway, in addition to the risk of losing the papers.

In my old job i often forgot my lunch so kept a tin of soup in a drawer for emergencies. Popped it in my handbag on the way to the staff room when a pal said she was nipping to the shop for lunch did I fancy going. Bought a sandwich.that tin of soup stayed in my bag for about a week.

When at uni I had a really bad chest infection and went to see the Dr. He clocked my rucksack and weighed it and declared it to be exacerbating my sore chest as it was far too heavy.

I also carried all my day's books in my school bag because of be scared to leave a crucial textbook in my locker and get told off.

Nowadays I have to carry a bag that only has room for my purse phone and diary. Otherwise the Mary poppins streak comes out.

My DDs have commented that I could cope with a major civil incident from the contents of my handbag. How rude.

I could.

This pretty much sums up the contents of my handbag - all it needs is 17 ballpoint pens (15 of them useless), a tick remover for dogs a copy of the New Testament (given by the Gideons at my school when I was 12 - I am now 64), and some little thingies to clean my specs.

I’ve just looked in my handbag off the back of this thread and my favourite finds are:

1. urine sample bottle (empty, presumably unused!)
2. no less than 6 sheets of paracetamol tablets
3. 6 mini packs of tissues (6 appears to be “my number” )
4. two pairs of trainer socks
5. 10 carrier bags. Yes 10. In fact I’m pretty sure that if you put them in date order (from the receipts which are no doubt still in them) they’d be a brilliant “Lidl carrier bags through the ages” display.
6. Two screwdrivers. I can’t even explain their presence! And finally:
7. a rectal thermometer. I mean I can only presume it is for either the horse or the dog, but I’ve absolutely no idea why it is in there or indeed which animal I last needed to take the temperature of

DH has a special “box of things” which contains ridiculous “memory” items. It’s all pretty normal until you get to the wedding invitation from his sister- so far so normal you think? She’s been divorced and married to someone else for 10 years. He hasn’t saved their wedding invitation

I've just read this out to DH. He looked sheepish, laughed hysterically and said 'we're not going through my bag.'
I think they're all the same!

I used to think that no handbag should lack an adjustable spanner (small) and a mini pepper grinder. I can’t precisely remember the circumstances that convinced me of this. The pepper grinder might have been something to do with whelks.

I have a 'no electrical tape in your handbag' rule for my handbag/rucksack. Every now and then I have to have a cull of what ends up in there. The number of places I've been through bag search and they've not clocked the multi tool in there though is quite scary.

Not much different to lots of women whose handbags contain everything bar the kitchen sink..

Yeah if I take a bag, it's loaded. If I have pockets, I don't need a bag. Make more women's clothes with pockets

I think I know your DH OP, he nearly took my head off with a massive bag on Tuesday!

I’ve downsized now I feel the dcs don’t need constant wiping down/ hats/ spf/ cards/ toys/ a whistle.

I have a six inch by four inch by one inch cross body bag now in which I carry my keys, phone and cards. A tiny coin purse, a lippy, a tiny pen, my glasses, and a ventolin inhaler. Occasional mints, and today, a pair of trainer socks.

No one else got 2 dozen (or more!) sugar sachets and salt sachets then?

I asked if I could go through DH’s office bag because of this. He hast the following for his desk job:

Folding knife,
Deer attractant
Magazine and ammo for a handgun
Water
First aid kit
Recharge battery pack
A can of tuna
A whole heap of tools