Basic tools

Odometer or specialised tripmeter
Either can be used but a dedicated tripmeter such as a Terratrip, Brantz or Monit, to name just some of those available, will make your job a lot easier. You must have a known accurate means of measuring the distance the car has travelled and you can't assume that the odometer in the speedometer is even close. I've been caught out by going into a Touring Assembly (my first in many years) without checking the odometer which proved to read nearly 10% low even though the speed was displaying almost exactly correct.

Whichever you choose, you must take the time to calibrate it against either the North or South odometer checking locations set up for Classic Adelaide competitors (regrettably, the South Australian Government doesn't see a need to have standard surveyed five kilometre check zones marked out on major roads the way the other Governments throughout Australia have done). In the case of the vehicle odometer you may need to draw up a correction chart and convert the road book distances to the reading you expect to see on that odometer.

If you select a specialised tripmeter, get to know it's capabilities and limitations by reading the instructions, testing on casual road trips and talking to other users of the same unit. If possible fit the sensor on a non-driven wheel and consider the sensor an expendable component as it may either be damaged or you may decide to leave it with the car if you change drivers.

Map board
A good, safe board measuring 400 by 400mm. Use a piece of that plastic sign material that real estate agents love, it's light, reasonably rigid and won't take a chunk out of you if the driver really gets it wrong. Visit a 'two dollar' shop and pick up something with a plastic clip that can be pop rivetted to one edge with reinforcing washers on the back side. DON'T use bolts & nuts unless you are prepared to get button head screws and acorn nuts and then remove any excess screw projecting through. Above all, do NOT use wood or metal for the board as it, together with exposed or projecting screw thread, is a serious safety hazard.

Pencils
Several of these on hand are essential. Always use soft, dark lead 2B minimum and preferably 3B. If you opt to use 'normal' wooden pencils also include a good quality sharpener. If you prefer clutch type propelling pencils select ones with 0.9mm or larger lead as anything finer will be both much too fragile and inclined to dig holes in the paperwork before a dark enough mark is made.

Eraser
At least two of a good grade of the soft white plastic variety is best. I prefer to use only Staedler brand but if you are happy with another, stick with it. The eraser must lift the lead pencil marks cleanly without either smudging or fraying the surface of a map. You may be working on a copy of part of a map and the paper could be of a lower grade.

Highlighter pens
A few of these in varying light colours can be an advantage in pre-marking a map or for making important instructions stand out. Many people prefer to highlight certain features with fluorescent pens but it is better to have one or two sheets of clear acetate (overhead projection film) the full size of your map board, clip it on the board over the map and do the coloured marking on the acetate.

Avoid any colours such as blue that obscure the underlying information.

Rally romer
A small piece of plastic with map scales etc. printed round the edges. If you can find one with a compass rose embossed into it, snap it up as the compass rose will serve to remind you of which direction is which. When you use the matching scale for your map, place the correct numbered marks on the grid lines of the map and the corner of the romer shows the location the map reference relates to. This is an essential tool for quickly and accurately plotting of 6 and 8 figure map references. If your romer has a hole in it, loop a piece of string through it and hang it round your neck or attach it to an easy-to-reach part of the interior so you don't lose it under the seat.

Watch or other timepiece
A watch which shows seconds on the main display is necessary - this type costs very little from a 'two dollar' shop, but make sure it's reliable! You should have at least two time pieces in the car set to rally time, as a backup - set the driver's watch and/or car clock too.

A digital watch is probably best but I will admit that I have always used a Seiko Navigator 24 hour analog watch with a backup. If you opt for digital, ensure you have at least one analog watch in the car as sometimes 'clock' directions are used as part of a clue and without the analog watch it is more difficult to solve.

Ruler
A clean, clear acrylic 40cm long one with highly visible metric markings is the most basic tool you can use. Occasionally you will need this to resolve a location on the map, although this is apparently not something often used by Australian organisers.

Lighting
The importance of this cannot be overstated!

A small gooseneck map light with on/off switch positioned so that it can remain on while the car is moving without distracting reflections on the windshield or glare visible to the driver is your primary light source.

The car's interior lights are not suitable while driving as they are too bright but you can turn them on when stopped to solve a difficult clue.

A reasonable supplement to a traditional map light is a hand held fluorescent light - the advantage of this is that it gives off a more natural white light which makes it easier to distinguish lighter colours on the map. It can also be used as a work light for running repairs to the car!

All your lighting can be equipped with high intensity white LEDs which have the advantages of very directional clean white light and low power demand.

A switched bright white LED light mounted so that it illuminates a road card on a clip board when positioned on the car door with the window down is usually appreciated by control officials as it can save them time and effort (and being in favour with control officials is always a good thing).

Clear acetate film
Some smaller pieces of this together with a couple of good quality black permanent markers in the finest tip available will deal with 'map traces' and 'postage stamps' nicely. You can trace the image from the road book or instructions and then hunt for it on the map either true image or mirrored. Do NOT use non-permanent markers, they will smudge on acetate.

Clip boards
At least one and preferably two A4 size, one for the road card and another for the road book. Best if distinctly different colours, plastic covered with cardboard inner stiffening (i.e. the cheap Chinese type). A good alternative are the cheap translucent stiff plastic document wallets.

Other items that are often 'nice to have'

Poti
For the really tough ones (or once you have started using one), this is THE tool.
What is a 'poti' you ask?

Basically it is a low powered magnifying lens (3x is good) mounted in the top of a frame or housing with an internal light source in one or more sides/corners of the housing. The housing depth is set such that the focal point of the lens is exactly at the surface of any map or flat surface the 'poti' is stood on.

It might be round, square or rectangular, the shape is not particularly important although I have found a rectangular shape suits me best.

If you use a poti with a conventional bulb it's going to be a halogen bulb to be bright enough so you will need a power point for it. A cigarette lighter socket is the easiest and cheapest option although any plug and socket arrangement will be safer than patching into the car wiring.

Poti's are not particularly easy to find in Australia but are neither hard or expensive to fabricate now that large lenses are readily available from 'two dollar' shops. One of those, some suitably sized PVC pipe pieces, PVC plumbing adhesive, RTV silicone adhesive, a cheap bright LED compact torch and a few hours work will do the job.

Protractor
The normal basic school type is adequate for those odd occasions when you need to pass within a certain distance of a point. Make sure you keep the sharp point embedded in a plastic eraser when not in use to avoid stabbing yourself.

Drawing compass
Again a normal school type, preferably a full circle 360 degree type of reasonable size. Too small and it is nearly impossible to get specific angular deviation from a base line so the largest diameter you can reasonably stow is best.

Magnetic compass
An orienteering type, which can be anything from a cheap acrylic device through to an expensive piece of military hardware, to check whether the road the car is facing down really goes in the direction you think it does. Don't make the mistake of using it either inside or within a couple of metres of the car – steel car bodies mess up magnetic compasses.

Calculator
Not essential and could be replaced by an average speed card on most occasions but often handy for other purposes. Times like when the car has used three quarters of its fuel capacity and you need to calculate whether it can make the distance or maybe you are going to have to cut and run to pick up fuel and rejoin later. Or you need to work out where to rejoin after a cut and run in order to minimise points loss.

Spotlight
A high powered hand held to check that sign 50 metres away or to illuminate the work area when de-bogging the car. This should really be part of the car equipment but drivers have a habit of forgetting important stuff so organise it yourself.

Decoding wheel
This is often needed to deal with some of the weird clues provided by British (and particularly Scottish) organisers but with little recent experience in Australia I am unsure whether this is a necessity here.

If anyone knows of these types of clues being used, please provide examples so that this guide can be updated.

Adhesive tape
A small roll of good quality masking tape is sometimes useful for temporary retention of small items or holding down map covers.

The 'luxuries of life'

Mapping mileage wheel
Available from various electronics and motor sport outlets, these gadgets can be set for the scale of the map and by rolling the wheel along the mapped road the distance from and to any given points can be read directly. Sometimes useful for when a clue indicates that the next point is x km from one you have worked out but there could be a couple of solutions only differentiated by a small variance in distance.

Storage
You need somewhere to stow those tools and not just floating around in the car, stuffed in the glovebox or worst of all, in you pockets.

A decent quality flat bag like an oversized document case with three or four full size compartments and one or two smaller front pockets is ideal.