Edit: I'm now 5 months into "service" and I'm updating for relevance i.e. what I brought that was useful and what wasn't. Edits will look like this.
Perusing other people's packing lists has been really helpful so I'm posting my own:
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Packing Advice
Read Amazon reviews for the product but read them carefully because most people aren't putting the products through as much wear as you'll be. Look for reviews with updates throughout the life of the product.
Choose carefully what you buy brand name and what you buy generic. All the important electronic items I purchased were name brand but all the different chargers weren't (disclaimer: this might just be my capitalist conditioning impelling me to buy brand name). Don't buy an imitation Swiss Army Knife or Leatherman; the knives won't be as sharp and the tools more likely to break because the steel is lower grade.
I used to Scotch tape (clear and wide) to bind chargers and power chords to their respective devices. I also used it for keeping things together that I won't need to use until I get in-country. Be careful with sharp edges in your bags because they will tear through fabrics. Anything that had a sharp edge I wrapped in paper and then wrapped in tape.
Use ziplock bags and tape for liquids and toiletries. I put all of my toothpaste in a bag and then wrapped it in tape; the bag will prevent any from spilling and the tape will prevent the bag from opening up. Compartmentalize liquids in a separate compartment from papers, electronics, and anything else you don't want covered in shaving cream.
Reusable zipties are also useful for binding things like power cords for devices.
I'll keep updating this throughout my service as I learn what mistakes I made.
All this worked out well. Everyone says pack light and it's true but there are only a couple of times when it really bothers you. I had 3 really heavy bags (way over the 70lb and even 100lb limit) and it only bothered me when moving to site. The weight limit is very soft. Certainly the 70lb is something Peace Corps completely made up and has no bearing on what the airlines feel. South Africa airways said 100lbs but I was over by like 10lbs and they didn't say anything. Now that I'm here and established I travel in-country really light. Bring at least 2 backpacks. 1 Large hiking backpack for overnight trips and 1 small backpack for day trips and grocery shopping.
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Packing Advice
Read Amazon reviews for the product but read them carefully because most people aren't putting the products through as much wear as you'll be. Look for reviews with updates throughout the life of the product.
Choose carefully what you buy brand name and what you buy generic. All the important electronic items I purchased were name brand but all the different chargers weren't (disclaimer: this might just be my capitalist conditioning impelling me to buy brand name). Don't buy an imitation Swiss Army Knife or Leatherman; the knives won't be as sharp and the tools more likely to break because the steel is lower grade.
I used to Scotch tape (clear and wide) to bind chargers and power chords to their respective devices. I also used it for keeping things together that I won't need to use until I get in-country. Be careful with sharp edges in your bags because they will tear through fabrics. Anything that had a sharp edge I wrapped in paper and then wrapped in tape.
Use ziplock bags and tape for liquids and toiletries. I put all of my toothpaste in a bag and then wrapped it in tape; the bag will prevent any from spilling and the tape will prevent the bag from opening up. Compartmentalize liquids in a separate compartment from papers, electronics, and anything else you don't want covered in shaving cream.
Reusable zipties are also useful for binding things like power cords for devices.
I'll keep updating this throughout my service as I learn what mistakes I made.
All this worked out well. Everyone says pack light and it's true but there are only a couple of times when it really bothers you. I had 3 really heavy bags (way over the 70lb and even 100lb limit) and it only bothered me when moving to site. The weight limit is very soft. Certainly the 70lb is something Peace Corps completely made up and has no bearing on what the airlines feel. South Africa airways said 100lbs but I was over by like 10lbs and they didn't say anything. Now that I'm here and established I travel in-country really light. Bring at least 2 backpacks. 1 Large hiking backpack for overnight trips and 1 small backpack for day trips and grocery shopping.
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Clothing
Make sure everything is light light light cotton. Hand washing sucks (especially at first but gets easier with practice). Underarmor style clothing (spandex or w/e) is really good.
I'm being very minimalist as far as clothing goes because I don't care much about clothing anyway. If it were my prerogative I wouldn't be wearing business casual in 86F weather but it's not (Ugandans are very particular about dress). Don't believe the nonsense PC tells you. While Ugandans do wear 3 piece suits while farming you don't have to. If I'm not teaching or in training I wear shorts and a T-shirt. Many volunteers are the same.
Columbia Men's Watertight Jacket; met the 3 criteria I had in mind in that it is breathable, 100% waterproof, and cheap. Make sure it's waterproof and not just water resistant. Get "breathable" nylon instead of sealed PVC otherwise you're buying a sauna and not a jacket. I think I've worn it once since getting here? I wouldn't say it's useless but if it's pouring really hard out the jacket won't help and if it's just drizzling you'll want to enjoy it instead of covering up.
Work gloves; just a pair of lightly used Mechanix gloves I had. Really useful.
4 random pairs of slacks. Did I lose 1? I only have 3... Anyway bring only 2 - 1 to wear to work and 1 nice pair to wear around friends.
1 nice dress shirt. I guess by nice I meant long-sleeve because I have another decent looking one. Anyway I only wore it once at swear-in and I had the sleeves rolled up anyway. Bring 1 nice short-sleeve dress shirt.
4 Short-sleeve button down shirts; these are probably what I'll be wearing most often. Too many. I alternate 2 during the week now that I'm at site. Get the Underarmor (or imitation Underarmor) golf polos. They're easy to hand-wash and dry quickly.
2 pair shorts; 1 pair gym shorts for exercise and 1 pair carpenter-style shorts. I actually brought 3 pair gym shorts and 2 pair carpenter style shorts.
4 random T-shirts. I wish I would have brought more because I had room but you can buy em here and trust me you won't care they're not name brand.
Underwear and socks; enough for 2 years. Yea.
1 pair sneakers. I actually brought 2 pairs. 1 really shitty pair which have gotten much shittier and 1 brand new pair which have stayed decent because I didn't start wearing them until about a month ago. You want one shitty pair for walking around your site, because it will be rural as hell, and one pair for hanging out in the city with friends.
1 pair black leatheresque shoes; not quite dress but they'll suffice. Yea. I wear to them to teach and no one cares/knows that I got them at payless for $20.
1 pair closed-toed slip-ons. I actually brought so many god damn pairs of shoes. 1 pair slip ons (like boat shoes), 1 pair hippy sandles, 1 pair flops, and the 2 pair sneakers. I have uses for all of them (e.g. the flops are house shoes and the slip-ons are for hanging out outside the house) except the hippy sandles. I stand by the sneaker suggestion and the black shoes suggestion but other than that it was a waste of space. You'll need shower shoes but you can get those here.
1 Long-sleeve lycra shirt; cheap underarmor knock-off so I can wear something that keeps me from getting sunburned. Lol I actually cut that shirt and only brought the sleeves (I guess I was intending on wearing them with random shirts?). Pointless - too hot and you get apathetic about sunburns.
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Toiletries
Soap; enough for 3 months (because apparently we won't have time to shop during training). Stupid stupid stupid PC advice. There's plenty of soap here (and it smells nice too!).
5 Toothbrushes; enough for the 2 years (is that gross? am I not changing toothbrushes often enough?). There are toothbrushes here too. I guess they suck but not so much that one should care (unless they're a toothbrush connoisseur?)
Flossing tool; I never learned how to floss with just a spool of floss so I use one of these. Is that weird? Yea. PC gives you floss though so only bring enough for a the first month if you know how to use regular floss.
Razor blades; actually a straight razor and straight razor blades because they last longer and I'll be able to sharpen them anyway. Disposable razors are expensive as hell and they sell razor blades that fit into my razor body so this was a great idea. Be sure to get a badger brush and nice shaving cream soap. The trick to producing good shaving cream is starting out with enough water on the brush. You'll cut yourself at first... a lot. If you're really worried about it get a styptic pencil.
Mesh bath sponge; like this. I don't understand how people use wash clothes. I brought 2 - 1 for travel and 1 that's left at home. I actually haven't seen anything like this around and the sponge-like things they have here are made rope or something? They're good enough anyway but bring 1 anyway so you can have something the first week or two.
Mirror; for shaving and creeping around corners. Yea. My homestay didn't have a mirror so this was really useful for shaving.
Sunscreen; so much of the highest spf I can find. PC gives you and supposedly you can get refills from them for free but who cares? Bring 1 bottle for the period when you still care.
Deodorant; 5 sticks from Costo. Yea. This stuff is hella expensive here and comes in really small tubes. I got a package of 5 big sticks for like $10? at Costco and I'm really glad I did that.
Contact solution; I don't wear contacts but I saw what one of my friends bought and it was like 4x as expensive as it would be at home. Bring a lot and then figure out how to get it sent here.
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Gadgets
Forget the step-up transformer unless you can get it really cheaply (ebay?). Most of your stuff already works on 220volt power. Also don't look for plug converters in the states because you can get em here really cheaply.
Netbook; one that I found on-sale for 200$ upgraded with a larger battery (6 cell) and more ram. Hell yea. Everyone has one and everyone has tons of movies, music, games on theirs. Use it for internet, pictures, movies, doing work, etc.
Ipod; just one that I had for a while (30gb 5th gen). Makes travel really bearable. The busses and taxis suck here and even worse they play terrible local music (sometimes on loop). Easily one of the most enjoyable things here is just zoning out on the a long bus ride to music and watching scenery go by.
Digital camera. Yea. I brought a small one shitty pocket one and a large DSLR-esque one.
Rechargeable batteries; 2nd-gen Ni-MH (less likely to develop charge cycle memory) 8 AAA and 8 AA. Yea. Do your research. I have Sony Eneloops.
Shortwave radio; This one was hard to choose so I'll give a direct link to the one I bought. Has a hand crank, flashlight, solar cell, and ports for charging usb devices. Meh. Buy it here for much cheaper.
Battery charger; don't get a crappy one because they're likely to overcharge your batteries and blow them up. Particular features are use dependent. I'm planning on building a solar power system if I don't get a house with power so I need one that was capable of hooking up to a DC source. Make sure the charger can do a discharge-charge cycle so the batteries don't develop "memory".
Flashlight; headlamp so I can see and still be able to operate things. OMG Yes. Probably the most useful thing I brought. Don't skimp on this either; I got a Petzl for like $40.
Calculator; TI-83. Not very practical but I had it and it draws so little power from the batteries that I don't think I've ever changed them. Meh. I actually want a TI-89 for the CAS system but I'm studying for the PGRE.
Solar panel charge controller; necessary for the solar panel power system, prevents overcharging of the battery. If you're trying to prepare for solar I'd say yes. The charge controllers here are way way way off-brand. I ended up being lucky and having power at my house so I gave mine away to someone who needed it. Education volunteers often have power. Don't know anything about being a community health or economic development volunteer.
Power-inverter; transforms DC current to AC current (for all the gadgets that don't take a DC source). If you're doing solar at your house and have stuff that doesn't run on 220volt you'll need this because they only have 220volt inverters here.
Multimeter; for assembling the solar power system. Yea. Pretty useful even though I didn't hook up solar at my house.
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Tools
Cordless Power-drill and masonry bits; so I can build furniture and put up shelves. Yea. I lent mine to a friend who's using it like every day. This is one thing that might not be 220volt.
Duct tape. Yea. Bring a big roll.
Bike tool and bike chain oil; for the inevitable repairs I'll have to make on my bicycle. It has a couple of different size allen keys, chainlink remover, spoke tensioning tool, etc. If you're serious about bikes bring bring a Parktools FR-1 freewheel remover. This past weekend I went to the capital to search for one and they had 1 god damn remover in basically the entire city. And it cost me twice what it would cost at home. If you have room bring cone-nut wrenches.
Portable Bike pump. Peace Corps gives you a pump, lock, and helmet. They're decent not great. I'm glad I brought a good pump.
Epoxy; actually JB-weld but I'll probably end up using this stuff to patch tires. Somehow I bought the shittiest JB-weld ever; it doesn't stick to anything. Don't get quicky dry but do bring some that will work.
Scissors. Yea? I can't remember using em but I'm sure they're useful.
Bungee Cords. Lol the first week I was moved into my house I biked to the nearest town and bought a broom and mop. Then I used the bungee cords to strap em to my bike along the top-tube. It made me look like a cleaning-lady jouster.
Swiss-Army knife. Hell Yea. It's on my carabiner so I travels with me and it's awesome. I've peeled an infinite number of mangoes, reassembled my frying pan, cut my nails, and opened cans with this thing.
Leatherman tool. Yea.
Can-opener. Haven't used it yet. There are canned goods but they're expensive (or I'm cheap).
Kitchen knife. Hell Yea. The knives here suck. I didn't even bring a good one but I'm so glad I did. I wish I'd brought a sharping stone set to sharpen the Leatherman and Swiss-Army though.
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Random stuff
Sheets; so I can dress up like a ghost. Meh. I use em but I could have bought some here.
Mattress Bag; to keep bedbugs inside the mattress and away from me. Something like this I don't have bedbugs so I don't use it but some people do. Those same people also tell me the bedbugs hang out in the wooden frame. I have a metal frame so I'd be in luck if I did have bed bugs because this would work for me. It's heavy as hell.
Sleeping bag. I knew sleeping bags sucked when I got this but got it anyway. What I should have gotten was a sleeping pad like this . I sleep on floors a lot when I'm traveling (to save money on hotel rooms with friends) but then I'm comfortable on the floor.
Beach towel. I didn't bring a beach towel? I did bring a microfiber shower towel and that was a good idea. Dries quickly and packs neatly.
Waterproof backpack; this was important to me (no idea why I decided that) because in my imagination it was very rainy in Uganda (it's not). Anyway I got one of these and while I know it's manufactured somewhere in China I'm confident it's reliable. Yea. I'm pretty sure the welds on the seams are starting to separate but it still works. Perfect for throwing cameras, books, computers, and toilet paper into and not having to worry.
Water bottle. I brought 2 but what I really should have done is bring 1 big one.
Jump rope; for maintaining my girlish figure. Using it to hang my clothes on :p
Sunglasses; so I don't get cataracts. Yea. Plus keeps the dust out of your eyes. If you wear glasses get a pair of those geezer sunglasses that fit over the glasses (that's what I got).
Sewing kit. Yea. Already patched up a button and backpack strap.
Ziplock bags; don't know what I'll use these for but they're suggested. Yea. Really useful. I haven't looked if you can get em here (though you probably can).
Stapler; for stapling things I imagine. Must've lost this? Useless.
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That's pretty much it and while it seems like a lot, it's not considering it's supplies for 27 months. There are certain things I'd take with me if I had space and am hoping I can find "in country" like galoshes Available and kitchenware Available. According to Peace Corps luggage should be under 80lbs. People keep asking me if I'm worried about anything and I'm really not but I have this nagging fear that I'll not bring some essential thing. Oh well.
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Edit
Since writing this down I've purchased lots more so in no particular order:
Bug spray; make sure it has DEET or picardin.
Hand sanitizer; make sure it has >70% alcohol and don't get antibacterial with Triclosan (wiki has relevant details).
Waterproof pants; because I wet the bed sometimes (joke).
Rain poncho; did I mention that the rainy seasons total 8 months?
Luggage locks; make sure they're TSA approved otherwise they'll just cut them off.
Sunscreen and bug repellent; the Peace Corps provides this in country but I figured I'd need some in between getting there and getting situated.
Earplugs; I don't think Uganda has noise ordinances (but then that just might be my first world preconceived notion)
All this is useless EXCEPT the earplugs and luggage locks. Bring lots of ear plugs. My mom sent me 80.
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Edit
Since writing this down I've purchased lots more so in no particular order:
Bug spray; make sure it has DEET or picardin.
Hand sanitizer; make sure it has >70% alcohol and don't get antibacterial with Triclosan (wiki has relevant details).
Waterproof pants; because I wet the bed sometimes (joke).
Rain poncho; did I mention that the rainy seasons total 8 months?
Luggage locks; make sure they're TSA approved otherwise they'll just cut them off.
Sunscreen and bug repellent; the Peace Corps provides this in country but I figured I'd need some in between getting there and getting situated.
Earplugs; I don't think Uganda has noise ordinances (but then that just might be my first world preconceived notion)
All this is useless EXCEPT the earplugs and luggage locks. Bring lots of ear plugs. My mom sent me 80.
