San Diego Comic-Con 2026: The Gear That Made the Away Mission

Every July, San Diego Comic-Con becomes its own ecosystem. Four days of panels, interviews, demonstrations, chance hallway conversations, and enough walking to make any fitness tracker feel validated. This year, I’ll be spending part of my time behind the microphone as Techspective’s press representative, covering announcements and talking with companies about what comes next. I’ll also be on stage twice: leading The Science of Science Fiction: All Your Questions Answered with an outstanding group of NASA scientists, and presenting The Future of Libraries 2036 at the San Diego Central Library.

Those commitments shape what ends up in my bag.

Over the years, I’ve reviewed hundreds of products. A small percentage earn permanent status. They become the gear I instinctively reach for when success depends on everything simply working.

Comic-Con is not the place to experiment. Inspiration arrives while waiting in line for a cookie or standing outside Hall H in the press seating line. The products below have survived enough travel, deadlines, and real-world use that they earned a place on this year’s packing list.

The Computing Core

The center of my mobile office remains the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10. It has become less a laptop than an extension of how I work. I write articles, edit photographs, prepare presentations, conduct interviews, and inevitably answer emails while standing in places no one intended as workspaces. I don’t carry it every day, but it’s also my presentation laptop, so on the days of my panels, I find it light enough that carrying it through miles of convention halls never becomes a burden.

Alongside the ThinkPad travels the Lenovo Presenter Mouse. Calling it just a mouse understates its value. During presentations, it becomes a remote. During interviews, it becomes a compact pointing device that works almost anywhere. Like many of the products on this list, it solves multiple problems without demanding extra space in the bag.

The ViewSonic VG1457 portable monitor is making its first trip with me. Hotel desks rarely deserve the name, and editing photographs or writing long text on a single display quickly becomes frustrating. An additional monitor transforms even a cramped hotel room into something approaching a productive workspace. After several days of Comic-Con, that extra screen real estate often feels like a luxury bordering on science fiction.

For on-the-go writing sessions, I also pack the Targus Wireless Folding Keyboard. It pairs easily with tablets and phones, folds down small enough to fit in a side pocket, and gives me options when I don’t want to unpack the laptop. Sometimes the best technology is simply the technology that removes excuses for not getting work done.

My iPad Air (5th generation) fills the gap between a computer and a notebook. It handles reading, scheduling, presentation editing, drawing, media consumption, and writing without requiring me to carry my laptop the entire Con. When combined with the Apple Pencil, it has largely replaced paper, save for my business cards or a flyer politely shoved into my hand by a hopeful vendor.

The writing experience on the iPad improves dramatically thanks to PenTips 3 and the PenMat screen protector. Both add enough friction that writing feels deliberate rather than slippery. Digital ink will never become paper, but these accessories move it much closer to the experience of writing in a quality notebook.

The iPad, however, is getting challenged this year with AI note-takers and AI recorders. I’ll report back on which one vied best for a regular slot in my bag.

Capturing Notes and Ideas

Comic-Con generates announcements faster than they can be recorded. And also spurs its fair share of ideas.

A casual conversation about AI in entertainment becomes an article. A product demonstration sparks a research project. An offhand observation from another journalist ends up reshaping an interview question later that afternoon. Capturing those moments matters more than trying to remember them after a twelve-hour day.

In sessions and panels, AI and voice are replacing note-taking.

The Plaud Note Pin and Viaim Open Note provide nonintrusive recording. Each fills a slightly different role. I use the Plaud in big rooms, and the Open Note in more intimate settings, like press rooms. Both leverage AI to capture conversations, summarize discussions, and organize information that would otherwise disappear into the wash of other experiences. They are particularly useful during press briefings, where listening, asking questions, and taking notes simultaneously become an exercise in the frustration of divided attention.

Neither replaces paying attention. AI-generated notes still require review, verification, and context. They do, however, eliminate much of the mechanical effort involved in transcription, allowing me to focus on the conversation rather than worrying whether I captured every quotation perfectly.

For handwritten notes, I will turn to the .iFLYTEK AINOTE Air 2, which has become my favorite digital notebook. It encourages writing over consuming. It feels remarkably natural, and that keeps the focus on ideas instead of software. And yes, it also records, but I like the dual duty of a recorder I don’t have to worry about, and a notebook that can take notes unrelated to the current presentation. And I will still have my iPad Air, but the AINOTE Air 2 is a better notetaker and lighter, so it will likely travel with me more often.

There is something wonderfully appropriate about using AI-powered note-taking tools while attending panels discussing the future of artificial intelligence, science fiction, and technology. Somewhere, Isaac Asimov is probably smiling. Somewhere else, HAL is asking whether my devices should really let me record everything.

And for a punctuated look at my entire day, I’ll be wearing my Looki for most of Comic-Con, recording my wanderings, snapping random pictures, and reporting back to me daily with a reel and with a comic-ready interpretation of my previous day.

Audio: At the Con; ANC Means You Can’t Hear Anyone Scream

Conventions are loud. Planes are loud.

Loud environments drive every audio decision at Comic-Con.

The JBL Tour Pro 3 earbuds remain my primary choice because they balance comfort, excellent sound, effective noise cancellation, and features that genuinely improve travel. They make flights quieter, interviews easier to hear, and hotel rooms more peaceful after hours immersed in thousands of enthusiastic fans discussing everything from Superman to Gundams. These are my phone companions, and I also use their wired broadcast feature, connecting them to my laptop, which ensures clear audio when the inevitable virtual meeting intrudes.

I also pack the Status earbuds for the plane. They are paired with my iPad. Experience has taught me that redundancy beats optimism. I know most earbuds connect to more than one device. I like them dedicated to avoid incidental and often untimely audio switching. And trading off earbuds also gives them time to recharge, and changes the pressure points in my ears.

And should anything happen, I can always invoke the multi-device connect feature to keep on listening.

Photography: Enhancing the Photon Sensors

Photography has increasingly shifted toward smartphones, but smartphones benefit enormously from better optics and lighting.

The ShiftCam collection of lenses and lights extends what the phone can accomplish without requiring me to carry a dedicated camera system. Product photography improves, and interview portraits gain depth. Evening events become easier to document. The best accessory isn’t necessarily the one with the highest specifications; it’s the one still attached when an unexpected opportunity appears. And the various lighting options make sure I look well-lit, or excuse me, lit-well, when I’m recording a client video from the Con floor.

Bags of Holding

Every piece of gear needs somewhere to live.

This year, the light carry belongs to the Orbitkey Urban Sling Buzz Lightyear Edition.

Yes, I could have chosen something more understated.

No, I regret nothing.

Comic-Con rewards a little personality, and the Buzz Lightyear design fits the environment without sacrificing practicality. It organizes the items I need throughout the day while remaining comfortable during hours of hip-to-hip walking. It also starts conversations, which is never a bad feature for a conference bag.

For larger loads, on presentation or press roundtable days, I rely on the venerable Targus CitySmart EVA Pro Backpack. It has accompanied me through enough airports and conventions that it probably deserves frequent-flyer miles of its own. The compartments remain thoughtfully organized, it protects expensive equipment well, and it continues doing its job without demanding attention. And it also wears pins well.

The backpack acts as the repository for the Scosche MagicMount Flask, which combines hydration with a MagSafe mount. That may sound slightly absurd until spending an entire day in press rooms where my water bottle holds my camera during interviews. I expect more than a few conversations about this practical concept.

My Scott eVest remains an unconventional addition to my packing strategy. While it may not win any cosplay awards, despite being adorned as a Starfleet Admiral’s vest, the extra pockets become remarkably useful when moving between interviews, press events, and presentation rooms. Sometimes wearable storage is simply easier than digging through another compartment in a backpack.

Switching to Auxiliary: Power Management

Power management deserves its own category because everything else depends on it.

The Scosche 40W charger with integrated 5,000mAh power bank solves two problems simultaneously. When charging directly from an outlet, it tops itself off while also charging a device. And its battery provides a few extra hours for the phone or other power-starved device.

For more sustained charging, I carry the compact BugPlug with MyFind Charger, which not only charges everything short of a laptop, it also offers FindMy when the bag or the charger gets left behind.

The Mophie USB cable earns its place for the least glamorous reason imaginable: reliability. Cables rarely receive much attention until they stop working. Good ones just do their jobs.

The OhSnap Snap Pack simplifies how I carry my phone, adding grip without unnecessary bulk while keeping essential cards close at hand.

Finally, the RhinoShield Apple Watch accessories provide protection for one of the devices I check most frequently throughout the day. Between schedules, notifications, timers, directions, and activity tracking, the watch quietly becomes mission control for navigating Comic-Con.

The last item isn’t really an item at all.

It’s confidence.

Every product in this collection has earned its place through actual use, not marketing claims or specification sheets. I’ve reviewed them, traveled with them, occasionally dropped them, and relied on them under deadline pressure. Some are newer than others. A few have been with me for years. Together, they represent the gear that consistently delivers.

There will undoubtedly be new gadgets announced during CES next January that promise to replace something in this bag. That just means I’ll be living in William Gibson’s unevenly distributed future, where I’ll have access to some useful toys others haven’t yet experienced. When I’m not on the floor at Comic-Con, keeping up with gadgets is part of my job.

For this week, though, these are the products that I will rely on. They’re the tools I trust to capture conversations, produce stories, survive crowded convention halls, keep hydrated, and make sure the only unexpected surprises come from the show itself rather than from my kit.