…or, looking for tips on stuff that are useful to have that most people don’t think about.
Nail clippers. Small but powerful penlights.
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I have a roll of dental floss in my hike bag. It’s small, super strong, and there’s one pile of it in a roll. Could be used for replacement shoelace, laundry line, tying wood together for a shelter, etc.
Stick a sewing needle in it. Find one that fits inside with the spool of floss. I’ve carried one in my bag for decades at this point.
Paracord. I use it in the house as well as with my SCUBA diving gear. If you need to tie something it’s tough stuff, fairly cheap, and can be doubled up to deal with heavier loads. With SCUBA gear you can use it to create tethers for just about anything and if you have one of the camera floats that comes with a cheap little keeper strap save yourself some heartache and replace it with paracord.
An assortment of screws, bolts, nuts, and washers. Always worth having around. Some little thing breaks or you can’t find one you dropped maybe the new thing you are putting together was missing one. Bonus tip, buy them at a place that sells by the pound and not the individual item. Atwoods is a place in the US that still does this that I know of but I’m sure there are a few others. Estate sales will also often have a person who will have jars of random stuff for cheap.
A handheld calculator and a slide rule. If the power goes out for a long time, I’ll still be doing math while the rest of you chumps will be using your fingers to count to 10.
I keep a Windows 11 installer USB on my person almost at all times. I’ve had to perform an impromptu utilman.exe trick (consensually) multiple times. (Replacing the ease of access menu EXE with a command prompt somehow still allows you to get an administrator CMD window on the lock screen, even in 2026).
I have something similar but with a Ventoy USB with different Linux distros in case I need to do an emergency reinstall or need a live USB
A handheld 2 way radio. The cell network is the first to go even before a disaster since the lines saturate with people calling out.
I happen to have a handheld maritime emergency radio around, mostly because I got my hands on it for free* a few years back. It could serve the same function, provided someone else is using the same frequencies. I live in a coastal environment, so there’s always someone around that are legally required to listen on Ch16.
*: I used to work with maritime electronics, and one day we had a recall order from one of our suppliers. Turned out one batch of this one particular handheld radio had a potential minor problem with the squelch, so they were no longer IMO approved for emergency use. We were to throw them away and a refund would be issued. I took one home and just paid for a battery and charger. It’s now sitting in my kitchen.
Not unusual, but surprising how many times it has come handy in group gatherings.
I always have a lighter on me, so I never need to find a bottle opener.
I have a field transfusion kit as part of my first aid kit in my vehicle, as well as in my bike kit.
So far, it hasn’t been useful at all, and hopefully never will be.
Flashlights - I am never without one within reach.
A tissue box and hand lotion: because i have serious allergies and always need a tissue and have horribly dry skin that splits open painfully, get your mind out of the gutter
LEGO brick separator.
I might as well go first:
Scalpels!
They have a myriad of uses. And since they’re sterile, they can be used for cooking. I use them for slicing the skin on pork bellys for that nicely diced crackling - It’s almost like they were made for cutting skin, or something. Besides that, they’re excellent for cleaning up 3d prints. Just remember that they’re supposed to be single use. While your 3d print doesn’t care, your food definitely does care about how much you use the same one.
I always make sure I have a 10 pack in my kitchen.
I didn’t know a potato casserole could be used with such utility.
I drive with a collapsible baton in the car, just in case I have to reach something in the backseat.
Keep in mind,if you’re in the US, that it’s likely illegal to do that. If you care about that sort of thing.
It’s not considered a deadly weapon (lol) in my state. You can even open carry it, but I’d rather not.
It’s either the shitty swamp state, the shitty cowboy state, or the worst state of all…Ohio.
No matter what time of the year, we’re in the news a lot.
Swamp State
Just keep a baseball bat and a glove in your car. It’s not a weapon, I just keep it around in case I get the chance to play…😉
I carry an M60E1 light machine gun loaded at all times. You never know when you will be needed as an infantryman against a Viet Cong attack. The streets are mean.
“for duck hunting”
I keep a medkit, small tool box, leatherman, flashlight, blanket, jack, 4 way tire iron, auto battery jumper, weapon, headphones, lighter and portable charger in my car. On my person I always carry a leatherman, flashlight, phone, wallet, keys and headphones.
