If you are judging at a competition there are some things you should bring unless you want to rely on the competition to provide you what you might need. Since I am gearing up to leave in a few minutes for a judging session I thought someone might find my list of items interesting. I never unpack my judge kit, it is always in the folder. So here are my items which are always in the kit:
BJCP Guidelines – printed full set
BJCP Fault List
Mechanical Pencils with lead (0.7) – I’ve recently gone to using a pen, these are a backup
Ball Point Ink Pens
Correction Tape (for use with ink pens)
Reading Glasses and glass cleaner wipes – just can’t read well without them anymore
Coaster – for covering the tops of beers if I have to stop evaluating for a short while
Judge Labels – often comps will mean to print these and forget or not print enough, I bring my own and save them from other comps
BJCP Badge
Now I also throw in a toothbrush and toothpaste and if I judged all the time I would have it in the kit all the time, but typically I judge five times or less per year so having a dedicated toothpaste and toothbrush just doesn’t seem to be good practice. It’s not a large number of items and you could get away with bringing a smart phone for the guidelines, but then you better be sure to bring your charger and a backup power supply in case the venue doesn’t have outlets nearby. I know my phone doesn’t last very long under heavy use and the screen being lit up with the guidelines for 6-8 hours would be heavy use. I’d need to almost charge that puppy continuously.
