I carry a handkerchief.
What I carry is not fancy. It’s a square of unadorned cotton cloth that folds up to a good back pocket size.
The ones I buy are $1 each or so in a multi-pack from Amazon or Target. They’re kind of crunchy when they’re new, but they soften up with a few washings.
When I attrite down to three or four, I replenish. I keep them neatly folded against my second-string T-shirts in my second drawer.
A soft, clean, cotton cloth is a a handy thing to have with you:
- I wipe my phone screen and watch crystal with it.
- I clean my glasses with it, if they just have oil from my skin on them (no sediment).
- If I’m sweating excessively, I wipe my forehead with it. (After this use, it goes in the hamper at the end of the day and I replace it with a fresh one.)
- If I’m caught in the rain without an umbrella, I dry my face and hands with it. (Ditto.)
- If there are no paper towels in the restroom, I dry my hands with it. (Ditto.)
Those are all of the regular uses. Unless I use it for one of the last three purposes above, I cycle it every week or two.
There are two things I’ve occasionally done after which I’ve discarded it rather than washed it. If it’s stopped the bleeding, or if it’s stood in for toilet paper, it goes in the trash. (And wow, have I been glad to have it a time or two in such a situation.)
One thing I do not do is blow my nose in it. I find a tissue for that. Part of the reason is that I hate to trigger a cycle for something so fleeting, but the bigger reason is that it’s instantly no good for offering to someone who needs it, which is the most satisfying thing to do with it.
I guess that culturally, it’s an old-fashioned habit. I certainly have found it a useful one, though.
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I find it interesting that you still consider the handkerchief offer-up-able after wiping up large amounts of sweat.
Hehe! I was rather imprecise there. No, I won’t. It’s much rarer that I mop sweat with it than it would be for me to blow my nose in it, though. If I wipe sweat or dry my hands in the restroom with it, it doesn’t go to anyone else. 🙂
My Dad has always, always carried one. I’ll always associate them with him.
My father in law carried one religiously, and the kids and I, at one time or another have all been beneficiaries of it. It’s one of the many small, gentlemanly things about him I will always remember.
That’s a hell of a swiss army knife. Have you ever compared it’s functionality to that of a leatherman? Any good pros and cons there? I’ve always been a leatherman man myself.
Glad to see old-fashioned and gentlemanly associations! Thank you for sharing, ladies.
Tahm, I like that knife. I have a couple of multi-tools as well.
My thinking for day-to-day is somewhat unusual. I like the Leatherman “body plan,” but in a small scale. Some of those have pliers, and some of those have scissors. Both the pliers and the scissors (built into the body of the instrument in those, in which the halves become the handles) are superior to the pliers or scissors in a larger knife (in which they’re just blades).
So I carry two little ones daily—one with scissors and one with pliers. Weight is about the same as carrying one large one.