I was asked the other day what piece of kit I’d miss most if I lost it. Honestly, I didn’t have to think that long and my answer was quite surprising.
Over 10 years ago we were visiting friends in Oxford and found ourselves outside a shop called Objects of Use. Inside was an Aladdin's cave of tools, equipment and… stuff. American outdoor cooking pans, Japanese gardening implements, old fashioned combs displayed alongside the hippest of axes. A veritable treasure trove of essential, non essential and highly desirable objects.
And it was here amongst a cornucopia of paper clips and pencils that I found it… a simple (but rather beautiful) rubber.
Yes, my essential piece of kit is an eraser. Not just any eraser, but one that’s been lost or misplaced so many times yet has always found its way back to me. From haunted warehouses to the other day in the pub, this little colour striped rubber goes missing yet always finds its way home.
And every time I lost it… I lost it! And every time I found it again or it found me the relief was absolute, joyous and profound (and yes, I do realise I’m writing about a 65p rubber… I mean, c’mon, you can’t buy anything of true value for that these days).
So, the Magic Koh-i-noor natural latex eraser from the Czech Republic is my essential piece of kit. Always (hopefully) in my pencil case or bag, on my desk or fly tying bench. I use it every day and it rubs out my mistakes magnificently. I would be truly lost without it.
