As they say, the Devil is in the Details. The small points of physically working in challenging environments can make the difference between efficiency and poor performance, or even between life of death in emergencies. Working in a spacesuit has numerous challenges. Lack of touch and dexterity, and limited visibility close to your body are two particular difficulties. (To simulate this, wear large bulky gloves, like snowmobile gloves, with thinner gloves inside, and wear an 8 inch, flat cardboard collar that blocks your downward vision above your knees or thighs.) Numerous items need to be taken on an EVA: GPS, collection bags, watch, camera, compass (here), route map or sheet, notebook, pencil. They all have to be picked up, employed, adjusted, and put away again, but remain accessible, and also not get lost accidently.

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Where possible, storing these things away from your body is the most convenient, i.e., in a basket or box affixed to the ATV. Items can then be seen before they are picked up and used. However, an ATV is not always near where you are working. Carrying a box or basket works, but is cumbersome and occupies at least one hand. Objects stored on one's suit are conveniently at hand, but usually they cannot be seen before they are picked up. Here is a solution that worked for me.

I stored my medium sized digital camera in a padded, top opening, waist pouch/bellybag that had an opening a bit bigger than the camera. The camera had a short but thick hand strap attached, which I could find by feel as I reached for the camera, and was stiff enough, when I held it right close to the camera, that I could insert the camera into the bag opening end on, and then lay it down sideways. I attached a 1 1/2 inch loop of nylon cable tie to the zipper, and cut off the excess, this could be readily felt by gloved hand, and thumb or finger could fit inside the loop for easy pulling. After a little practice, I found I could easily store the camera away, even close the zipper for security, without seeing any of it, and just as easily remove it for use. If you can do it blindfolded with gloves, you are on the mark.

I also wore, on a separate webbing waist belt, a pouch that was 12 inches deep, and about 8 inches across, zipper opening at the top. This I never zippered closed. This was used to store spare batteries for the camera, small flashlight, compass on a lanyard attached to the pouch, route sheet, magnifier, etc. The key here is that it is deep enough that things won't bounce out, and opening broad enough for a gloved hand to rummage around in. As an aside, you can very carefully change camera batteries in the field; I recommend trying it gloved and helmeted in the Hab. I never tried to change a camera media card in the field, and I would be more concerned about dust and dirt on my glove in that operation.

The GPS can go on a lanyard around your neck, but be sure it is long enough to hold up in front of the unfogged top of your helmet, but not so long it hangs down and gets tangled when you bend down to pick up a sample. I kept my GPS in its soft case, with the soft case attached to one of the belts by another cable tie; I was able to insert and remove the GPS as needed. Cable tie the zipper if you are going to close it. For sample collection I used a large slider closing zip-lock bag, reinforced at a top corner (where the slider is when open) with a foldover of duct tape, and a hole through the tape for a cable tie which connected it to the outside of the aforementioned pouch.

Some of our crew used the big left thigh pocket on the suit for GPS; if you also put rock samples there, a scratched GPS display will result. Witness the Hab GPS. The left thigh pocket is secure, but a little hard to insert your gloved hand in when you have pulled it open, it really needs two hands. The thigh pocket loop was a perfect place to strap your watch, if you don't get it on the strap of your glove somewhere.

Many of us found the right snap closure pocket unwieldy, shallow, and not snapable in gloves, it was OK for small samples but not for bigger things you did not want to lose. The breast pocket is very close to helmet, radio wires, cross strap, etc. and difficult to manipulate. A future recommendation is for big pockets further down the thigh, on both legs, where you can see what is happening more. A pencil tube pocket on each forearm, and one on the thigh would be very useful too (it is possible to improvise this with a plastic test tube and some duct tape, be sure you partially close the opening for an interference fit with the pencil. Large lumber pencils are easier to fumble for in pocket or pouch. More webbing loops and rings on arms, lower chest, and backpack harness would also offer more combinations.

Our geologist, Kyoichi, kept his map and route sheet in a waterproof, flat, sealable, corner ringed map case, that could be clipped to belt or bungied to ATV. Louise kept her geophysical instruments first on lanyards, and then in a broad drawstring bag that she would simply carry. Multiple lanyards can get braided quickly, carry a knife or scissors if you use multiple lanyards. It took about 5 EVAs to work this system out; as you improve or work out your own please pass the knowledge on to future crews. It only takes one dropped camera or lost GPS to mess up an otherwise nice EVA.