- 3 days worth of shorts and shirts. Shirts that say geeky things like "Obey Gravity, it's the law" and "Where is my flying car?" make friends faster than regular old nerdy clothes
- Cash - hacker conventions don't take credit cards or personal checks, and every year I have gone they had to unplug the ATM that was in the hotel hosting the conference because it got hacked (so think twice about using the ATM at the convention)
- Laptop - I usually do a format and install a toolchain with all the latest security fixes. Be prepared to to reformat it immediately upon returning. While Defcon has been called "the worlds most hostile network" and this is partly flattery, it is the sort of place where you want to think twice about having your Quicken records on your laptop.
- Cat-5 cable. This has come in handy every time I went
- Linux handheld - something to play with. Mine has wifi built in, which makes for some added fun.
- Digital camera and iPod - Because you know you might want to take a picture or something. Or maybe listen to some music...
- USB removable media - you never know what gems you might find along the way. I prefer to have a few cheap USB flash drives for simple stuff and I keep my 80GB drive in my bag in case I need it.
- Toiletries - sounds kind of obvious, but I almost walked out the door this morning without any personal hygiene products. Smelly hackers don't make many friends at these things (despite the stereotypes)
I managed to jam it all into one backpack, which helps avoid the lines at the baggage claim and run the risk of getting your bag lost.
Things you don't need to bring
- Hand tools - although there can be some fun applications for these at a place like this, unless you check them with your baggage they're likely to get confiscated at airport security. Just ask Dan, he knows firsthand. You know, a screwdriver can be a weapon?
- Installation media for your OS - Don't bother. If your PC gets broken so badly you have to do a clean install, you won't be able to get the security updates loaded again before you get rooted
- Lock picks - The convention has a huge lockpicking area which is cool, but you're likely to get any you bring with you confiscated at the airport. Buy a cheap set there and mail them back to yourself a the end of the weekend.
