Since I knew about the 1991 Solar eclipse about 3 years before it occured, I had time to accrue some equipment which I carted out to our viewing site. This is a list of the major components that I dragged along with me.

35 MM Cameras & Lenses: I used 2 35mm SLR Minolta cameras and various lenses to take pictures of the eclipse. The cameras pointed at the sun were filtered with the mylar material that was used to make the extremely popular sun peeps sold at the Bishop Museum. I bought $35 worth of this stuff which came on a big sheet and cut them into shapes that slipped over the camera lenses. Of course with the clouds getting in my way, I never got to take the photos I wanted to take that day. I also brought along a Minolta point and shoot camera to take pictures of the people and area where we were.

Super 8mm Video Camcorder: I borrowed a friend's camcorder to make a video of the eclipse. Got some good footage which was edited together with the network footage of the event that I taped at the same time (on timer delay) at home while the eclipse was going on. So despite not seeing totality myself, the home VCR did record the live coverage from several vantage points including the top of Mauna Kea mountain. Out of the entire experience, I at least have a very good video record of what I wanted to see, what I actually saw and what I did to prepare for the event.

Telescope: Back when I was a kid my parents bought me a cheap refractor telescope. I still have it and carted the bugger along with me. For something that is not as good as scopes today, this instrument can be used (with a special sun filter) to view the sun as well as other celestial objects like the moon, planets and stars. It's pretty cool to stargaze at night with this thing when it's not cold or raining in Honokaa.

Binoculars: Well I long had a pair of binoculars and brought these along as well. Of course I also made filters for this so that it could be used to look at the sun.

Sun Peeps: I bought several of these from Bishop Museum as well as got some free ones through a promotion by KQMQ radio. These came in handy as I gave some out to my sister, brother, and parents. My friends already had their own.

Radio Tape Player: What? Yes, this turned out to be something practical to take along since we got up to date weather reports and live eclipse coverage from the local radio stations. I also popped a cassette in the player and recorded the coverage and used the audio to dub over portions of my video presentation later.

Weather Radio: I brought one of those small Radio Shack all weather radios with me. The NOAA had special weather reports the day before and morning of the eclipse.

I also had a bunch of other stuff like food, an alarm clock, a blanket and some camping stuff since we stayed overnight before the eclipse out in Waikoloa...

Unfortunately with all the preparation and being in the so-called clear zone, Mother Nature ended up not being on my side as the eclipse was obscured by a big cloud at the very last minute.