I'm confused. I've heard over and over again that they just show up with the clothes on their back but then lists come out and put doubt into my mind.
It's easy to be.
Let me say it again (Let me be clear.
): USNA will issue a Plebe EVERYTHING they NEED to get through Plebe Summer and beyond, right down to their underwear and socks. Unless things have changed, what they issue is Hanes brand, which isn't bad at all. When it comes to feminine garments, I'm afraid I can't speak from experience, but I don't remember a whole lot of women packing in undergarments on I-Day.
I am bit confused by this list also. I was planning on wearing my running shoes, and carrying my cell phone, wallet, and two pairs of compression shorts in my pocket. Is there really any need for anything else? And what is the point in bringing a bag? It is just something else to carry around all day. Advice on bag or no bag?
If you are able to carry all your stuff on your person, then by all means ditch the bag; it will just be one more piece of gear to haul around all day. If you MUST bring a bag, make it a light one and just big enough to carry what you are bringing. I would look into bringing a backpack because I doubt they will let you wear it once you are in a formation, so a small gym bag will probably be your best bet.
Again, this is only IF you need to carry something that you can't bring in on your person. If I were doing it all over again, I'd show up in a pair of broken-in running shoes, a set of wash-and-wear undergarments, a pair of light-colored hiking trousers that are LIGHT and BREATH, and a PLAIN (no designs, logos, or anything else) T-shirt. I'd have my wallet (emptied of everything except maybe a debit card, $50 in cash max, and my SS Card) my cell phone and charger, my eyeglasses (contact lenses), a small tube of sunscreen, my paperwork, and one pair of wash-and wear britches. As I mentioned before, if I could sneak in my SwissTool and a MicroLight, I'd do that, too. If I were on prescription meds, I'd bring them AND a copy of the prescription. Same goes for things like knee braces, etc., that you may be needing to wear.
THAT'S IT. You can live a day or two in the (highly unlikely - read almost impossible) chance that you don't get a Box Issue that day. You can brush your teeth the next day. Your classmates will provide a needed bar of soap, a towel, and even deoderant. Big woop. Marines on Iwo Jima went WEEKS without taking their trousers off because doing so meant exposure to enemy fire and death. If they can do that, you can wear the same undies for two days. If worse comes to worse, you can wash your undies in the sink, wring them out, and throw them over your chair when you hit the rack that night. With Bancroft now being A/C'd, they'll dry just fine. This only works with wash-and-wear, and dear LORD DON'T GET THE 100% POLYESTER ONES! YUCK! Ladies would probably want to bring along an extra sports bra.
The first thing that will happen to you uniform-wise will be to have you remove whatever shirt you have on and don a USNA issue blue-rim T-shirt and your Dixie Cup. That's why I recommend coming in a simple t-shirt; it's going to be taken off, wadded up, and stuffed someplace very soon, so don't wear a good one. If your waist is such that pants don't want to stay on, bring a black web belt with a standard military buckle; at least you'll be able to use that later. Better still, get a pair of hiking trousers that you can adjust, and skip the belt altogether.
ETA: Oh, and in order to avoid immortality for all the wrong reasons, DON'T show up as one of my NAPS classmates did for INDOC: wearing a shirt with a huge marijuana leaf on it. It doesn't go over well.
). We did have a few minutes for toiletries. 