A 10 foot USB C cable. It reaches anywhere in the room. I can charge my phone in any position in bed. I only recently 'splurged' on this $10 item and it is the best thing ever.
I like this question because I come at it from a very different lifestyle. I’m a digital nomad and I have mostly lived out of a backpack and carry on for the past 10 years. My philosophy is that things have to be worth carrying and they should be very easily replaceable if anything gets lost, stolen or breaks. A few of my under $100 favs:
Universal GaN travel adapter:
One of those square bricks that converts from any AC outlet to any AC outlet and has 3 or 4 USB charging ports built in. I got enough wattage to charge my usb-c laptop as well, so one brick takes care of all my devices.
Backup android phone:
Our phones are so critical that I keep a hot swappable spare phone on me, currently a Moto G 2025. It’s already logged into all my apps and 2FA. I could throw my iPhone into the Seine and keep on trucking. It even has backup NFC credit cards. I keep a cheap travel eSim plan active on it so that if I am somewhere sketchy I can leave my main phone at home.
Logitech MX Keys Mini:
Great portable keyboard. Backlit, usb c and multi-device. Typing this post out on my phone now.
GL-iNet Beryl:
The do anything travel VPN router running OpenWRT out of the box. Great for securing and extending sketchy WiFi connections or if you have to work off your phone’s hotspot all day.
Decathalon Quecha Escape 500 23L:
Such a great personal item size backpack for the price, less than 40 euros.
This is a fantastic, fantastic backpack. I use it when flying and it fits perfectly in the Ryanair & co limits. I took one for each of my kids and all together we pack everything needed for a week+.
This is a personal item size bag for under the seat. The max size on Ryanair is 24 liters. You are thinking of the cabin bag which is more like 44 liters. This Decathlon bag is great because it maxes out the personal item size really optimally.
I’ve tried most of the coffee making tools and fads, including the above mentioned recipe. I’ve spent thousands and hours and hours of time chasing the feeling others like you describe.
It was so easy for me to go back to a cheap drip coffee maker and pre-ground coffee. I realized that I’ll never appreciate the flavors and process as much as the investment would call for.
Aeropress is great. If you like a large mug of coffee have a try of the Clever Dripper. Had Aeropress at home and CD at work and eventually bought a CD for home because it’s so good.
Rechargable, motion sensing led strips for inside my wardrobe. Not a big thing but improved my ability to find things no-end. The only issue is they don't turn on when it is light enough to see and we slightly disagree on how light that is.
Ceramic head tweezers. ~$3 on AliExpress, indispensable for some tasks.
An import die grinder that cost about the same as a new power switch for my Dremel. More powerful, better speed control, better chuck.
The dirt cheap rechargable die grinders. Noisy, not much torque, but cheap enough that you can have a few lying around for odd-jobs. Their low power also means they lack the ability to completely destroy your work in 0.3 seconds. Whereas the one mentioned above managed to shear off a shaft spinning in air when I accidentally turned it up instead of off.
Generaly replacing anything AAA powered by rechargable USBc
What's the brand of LED strip? I got several battery-powered motion sensor LED bars on AliExpress for use in closets. After the first charge they lasted maybe three weeks, then they rapidly faded, and no longer last more than maybe a day, so I've taken them out. I'm curious to hear if there are high quality versions, maybe something that can run off regular AA or AAA batteries so they can be changed when they inevitably burn out.
Speaking of tweezers on AliExpress: I love my $5.99 nail clippers that collect the clippings in a small compartment so they don't fly off everywhere. Super solid stainless steel construction that's considerably nicer than the cheap classic clippers I already had; it it had "Swiss made" on it or something I would have believed them. The ones I found are in a store called OURINER, but there are lots of weird brands making the same thing.
I just selected a bunch on AliExpress. Some were microUSB some were USBC. Some were a bit temperamental about charging. I usually take that approach with the really cheap items getting things from multiple suppliers so that at least one works. In general the worst I have received is poor quality items, nothing completely broken or fake yet*
I got two seemingly identical super bright panels and one now emits only 5% of the light. They look the same, have been run in the same conditions (and indeed the same housing now) run parallel off the same source. The other one is as bright as when I got it. Maybe one dodgy LED bringing the team down? I'm not yet skilled enough to diagnose problems like that.
*except for the time the store sent me a message to say I should cancel the order because they ran out. I couldn't find anywhere in the ever changing AliExpress user interface to cancel the item, so they sent me an allen key, I logged it as "item not as described" and they paid the refund.
Second the rechargeable motion sensing led strips! Dime a dozen on Ali Express. I have them in all the hallways in my house, garden shed, at the front door so I am not fumbling with my keys in the dark. If you mount them with the supplied adhesive magnets you can take them with you as a torch, feels like you are using a minecraft torch.
I think I'm still using a version that was on a magazine coverdisk that was weirdly distributed as a full-version freebie to advertise the release of the all new lock-in edition.
Particularly a long one if you'd like to avoid bending down at all when putting on slip-ons. Of course they are primarily great for saving the backs of your shoes. The IKEA one is perfect (at least for 6'1" me).
Yes, good callout! The one from IKEA is metal (usually not an IKEA fan but some good stuff like this and it's under $100, but of course there are tons of other options).
Im having alot of fun with my new RTL-SDR dongle and Baofeng radio. I pretty quickly found SDR++ which really deepend the rabbit hole and generated about 1000 new questions.
A few weeks ago I knew nothing about radio or ham, but im learning alot and having fun. Its been a good distraction from "stuff".
probably one of those super bright one AAA battery keychain flashlights (~$12). Because its attached to your keys you always have it with you, and the smaller and brighter flashlights get, the more useful they become somehow. I'm not kidding, these things are blindingly bright.
They're just so much sharper and more pleasant to use than your average drug store nail clippers, you can really feel the quality. I can barely stand regular nail clippers now.
Some of my best purchases were outdoor clothing I bought some 7 years ago on a whim. I constantly regret not getting some 10 of them, and sadly they don't make these anymore.
- Thermal inner pants from Berghaus
- Knitted thermal jacket from Salewa
How do Darn Toughs compare? I've managed to wear through 8 pairs of costco wool socks without loosing any, so the idea of a lifetime warranty sounds promising.
I cover thousands of miles a year on my feet. Darn Tough socks live up to the name. I've never put a single hole in them. I've torn up socks from most other brands in a few hundred miles.
A travel magsafe stand for flights has been really nice. Here's the one I have, but there's lots of options: https://a.co/d/18k9eCa
I use it with both my phone and also the Steam Deck (with a magsafe sticker). Obviously I could use either device just holding them, but it's more relaxing to do it this way.
Sleep buds (flat earbuds you can lie comfortably in). Mine were dirt cheap ones built in to sleeping mask off eBay. Def helped my sleep patterns when I started using Audible on a 30 minute sleep timer with them.
Kindle. Reawakened my inner book-worm many years ago. Library in a pocket. Don't use it so much tho since Audible.
Good quality (sturdy and high lumen) compact tactical torch.
My latest favorite gadget is a Wuben G5 light. Very compact, very bright, and has lots of handy features like a swivel and magnet. $20 on Amazon right now.
I have 3 for myself as I like to keep them around the house. I've also bought a couple as gifts for my sons who both really liked them.
Thermal underwear. Entering the 10th year of a 30 euro Helly Hansen long underpants that keeps me warm half the year.
Raspberry Pi 4 that served as my daily driver for around three years.
A couple of dumbbells that got me started with weight training, and kept me going during covid. Together with the basic equipment that I later bought, it saved me hundreds and hundreds of euros in gym memberships.
Best purchase under 10 euros is a simple cube with blank memo notes, that I use for grocery shopping and all kinds of other to do lists.
Azumaya brand kotatsu futons are now my favorite blankets for both sleeping and using around the house, and some of them at least are around $100.
They're fairly thick and very comfortable blankets, I love these way more than any other blankets we have (and we own quite a few different kinds). I'm seriously considering trying out other kotatsu blanket brands too, even the really expensive ones.
Leatherman skeletool knife. Small, rugged, has just the right number of tools on it. I’ve had one for about ten years and it goes in my pocket every day. The one time I managed to break the pliers on it by abusing them really badly, Leatherman replaced the tool under warranty no questions asked.
Probably some wood working tool, guess if I had to pick it would be my ECE Wedge set smooth plane since it is my most used tool by a long shot and it taught me a great deal about using planes.
I'm actually jealous of the people that have answers to this questions because I can't come up with any answer even if you multiplied the amount by a 1000.
It's been fantastic. The mouse puts my hand in a natural "handshake" position, which has cut down on the wrist strain I used to get after long hours of work or browsing.
I want to use silicone bowls and lids, but silicone dishes always come out sticky and cloudy out of the dishwasher (even with rinse aid, whole house filtered water and extra rinse/wash cycles). Other dishes don't have this problem. What's your secrete for this?
Be careful buying those, and test them on multiple tires IMMEDIATELY.
I bought a series from Slime brand; every one failed within two tire inflates. Went to Harbor Freight, and bought their most expensive one; it has earned the price since (still under $100).
A no name Espresso machine. I got it as a gift but I doubt it was much more than $100. It works great. I had always assumed I would regret not buying a super expensive one, but it turns out you can have great espresso for not much money.
You can have great espresso for cheap(er) but $100 seems suspiciously low. Manual espresso is about the best bang for you buck possible, but that stretches to $200 or more depending on how fancy you want to get.
I think _good_ depends on your expectations. We have the eureka mignon hacked with a bigger dial and custom burs. Still not amazing consistency. Looking to upgrade in the next few years.
I'd nursed a foot callus for years that hurt badly when I walked barefoot. Weeks ago, sitting on the locker room bench, I hit my limit. In desperation I pulled out my pocket knife to do some field surgery. A few minutes into it I glanced up to see two guys sitting across the room staring at me open-eyed as I dug into my foot with the tip of that pointy knife (8.5" with 3.5" blade)! I just smiled and dug that sucker out.
Should have gone after that callus a year ago! Amazing how such a tiny thing can aggravate.
But you're right about a knife alarming people. Years ago in another life I opened a similar knife to cut a cable and my boss literally jumped backward and exclaimed in fear. But he came from a place where, when someone pulls out a knife someone else usually gets stabbed.
They were probably just envious you were rocking a Kershaw Iridium Dessert Warrior. Which also comes in at under $100. And the Iridium family are pretty nice knives.
There used to be a beefier version that was just perfect; despite over two decades of abuse (dropping off ladders onto sidewalks, letting children play with them...) my first pair is still going strong.
Now you can only buy slimmer knock-offs, but they're still great. Needle nose, std pliers, hex pliers, and wire strippers in a single, rugged tool.
I'm sure it depends where one lives, but if your drinking water is safe there's no real reason to boil the water except for proper steeping.
I definitely use boiling water with my bagged breakfast tea, but boiling is too hot for white and green tea (especially fancier teas), and boiling water "scorches" the "delicate flavors" (using quotes since I'm sure there are better / nicer words than those), so you want to steep at 80C or lower depending on the tea, the quantity the vessel, and the process.
Yes, it's just really nice to be able to push a button and have it hold at the right temperature; sort of like how boiling water on the stove or in the microwave and using an electric kettle are functionally equivalent but the kettle is way more convenient.
Some teas steep at less than boiling temperature. And I imagine the tea itself may have more risk of microbes depending on how it is stored, and that the temperature drops way below boiling almost immediately upon pouring out.
I wonder if any studies have been done on this....
Some teas(white and green particularly) are better brewed well under boiling, but even those lower temps kill 99.9...% of pathogens in a few seconds(vs a fraction of a second at full boiling)
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