Headset
My personal headset is a Bose X, with active noise reduction (ANR). Some pilots dislike ANR because they have the impression to loose contact with the engine. Personally I feel it as an important comfort factor, particularly for long flight. I also carry a David Clark (passive) headset for my first passenger, and my very first FlightCom for the second passenger.

Handheld Radio
My homebase if a controlled airport, and as an IFR pilot I would not loose contact with ATC in case of complete electrical failure, so I never fly without my handheld VHF. To make it usable in flight in a noisy cockpit, I also cary a headset adapter.

Portable GPS
My Garmin 96C has two roles: backup in case of electrical failure when flying IFR and main GPS when flying non-equipped planes VFR outisde my comfort zone. As it is not my main source for navigation, I update the database only when major changes occur in my area.

Flashlight
I don’t fly a lot by night, but a flashlight is part of mandatory equipment for IFR, even by day. Depending the type of plane, it is just needed to have a flashlight for pre-flight inspection. For actual night flying, I carry two flashlights.

Maps and charts
I switched to electronical charting services three years ago (except for Switzerland), and have no regret. No more time spent in updating my european coverage, but still a lot of paper thrown away because I print a lot, in case of unexpected diversion.

Fuel tester
My bag contains two fuel testers: one with a pin, one with no pin. I gave up on plastic / removeable pins as they are two fragile. I invested in a fuel tester with a metallic pin, which last much longer.

Kneeboard
My collection of kneeboards ranges from mini-A5 to folding A4. Anything bigger than the mini-A5 would not fit in a DA40 cockpit, and folding A4 is just perfect for IFR in a Saratoga.

Logbook
The paper version of my logbook is always in my bag, as I’m an “airport stamps” collector. I started it in basic training, and never stopped it.

Show me your bag… I’ll tell you who you are
I shall have put that in first place, but I have three flight bags of different sizes, for VFR solo, VFR with passengers and camera, and IFR.

Do you have other items in your flight bag(s) ?

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