I agree about the bucket of water, and I personally keep a fire resistance potion in first hand inventory any time I'm mining. Usually I can find iron and coal and cobble along the way. Wood is good at most of a stack of planks. I don't know why anyone wouldn't bring an enderchest! It's so great that it almost feels like cheating. Even if I have a silk touch pickaxe, I usually carry 5 eye of ender. When I come across some obsidian, I'll make another enderchest and leave the first at a central location with a crafting table and chest and ovens. For standard mining, Enchanted iron is good enough for armor, but when exploring; diamond is more necessary. I have found that the enchanted bows that the skellys drop (unbreaking III and power III) are good enough for mining and usually I end up with several extras before my inventory is bursting. I usually keep about 20 diamonds in my enderchest for security/emergency. Often an extra stack of arrows. Potion of regen and extra fire resistance potions are handy. As for single player, .... who plays single player?
I always keep all my mining equipment on me, its generally good for all situations. I have 3 diamond picks, all with Unbr 3 and eff 4, one of them with fort 3 and 1 with silk. I have 2 shovels both with eff 4 and unbr 3 and 1 with silk, 1 diamond axe, 16 ender pearls, bucket of water, 1 stack of steak or chicken, A god sword and bow, god armour, an ender chest, 64 torches and a Soulbound EMC firework. In the ender chest I keep 1 stack of wood, 2 stacks of steak, 32 ender pearls and 2 eff 4 unbr 3 diamond picks. Seems to do the job....
Man, I thought I was the only one. The quantities are usually different, but that's where stuff goes.
When people have their inventory all willy nilly, it drives me nuts. Watching YouTube videos where the player has stuff in random locations tweaks my obsessive compulsive nature.
Only difference here is I have steak. Needed leather for ench. books, so why not. And also, I have no blocks. But I'm not headed out to mine
I bring a Pickaxe, Shovel, Food and up to a stack of torches and a few wooden planks (to make sticks to make more torches after I find coal)
I bring 2 swords, 3 pickaxes (one diamond), 2 shovels, abt 32 bread or steak, half stack of dirt , torches, ender chest, crafting table. And most important Rei's Minimap (cause I get lost easily! )
I bring 3 gun emplacements, blast proof doors, ground to air missles, rocket launcher turrets and a battle tank dug in just incase a creeper gets in... I like my defenses solid. Just kidding! But I bring a lot of the stuff already listed, the one thing I didn't see is sand, it is great to slide down a wall and fill in lava, or block up enterances; it also sticks out in a cave so it is oblivous. Its quick to dig and cheap enough to leave.
