Updated December 18, 2023

If you could foil pickpockets, fashion makeshift packing aids, or repair travel gear with a few items weighing next to nothing, would you be tempted to add them to your packing list? If so, maybe you need a MacGyver kit for travel.

Why ‘MacGyver?’

In 2015, the Oxford Dictionary added the verb MacGyver. It means to make or repair (an object) in an improvised or inventive way, making use of whatever items are at hand. MacGyver was a creative and inventive fictional TV character from the late eighties, and more recently in a resurrected series beginning in 2016. MacGyver crafted ingenious solutions using ordinary objects to solve problems or get out of a jam.

‘Just-in-case’ and ‘what-if’ items don’t appear on many travellers’ packing lists. However, a MacGyver Kit weighing a few ounces or grams can end up being one of the most valuable items in a travel bag.

MacGyver kit for travel

The contents of your MacGyver kit will be influenced by your destination, activities, and fix-it skills. Items don’t need to be stored in one place, but they should be within easy reach when they’re most needed. Some may be in a small first-aid kit, a comfort pack of self-care essentials, or attached to a day bag.

If you aspire to be a ‘Travel MacGyver,’ here are some ideas on what to include in your MacGyver kit for travellers.

1. Sewing kit

One needle (two at the most with different eye sizes) and some clear (also called monofilament or invisible) thread are all that’s needed. Skip the kits with several needles, thread of different colours, and assorted sewing aids. Spare buttons? Sew matching buttons of your travel clothes on a seam or label of the respective piece of clothing. Also, there’s no need for a separate container. Safely stow the needle(s) and thread in something already in your travel bag. I pack mine in the back of a packet of soap leaves.

2. Plastic-coated twist ties

Secure zippers or luggage tags, tame charging cords, or fasten a loose button. Use as a temporary shoelace, or to replace a screw in eyeglasses. Pack a few twist ties of various lengths and strengths.

3. Duct tape

Leave the roll at home and pack a small amount by wrapping it around a sturdy core. For the core, choose something already in your travel bag such as a pen or refillable water bottle. Or make a duct tape fob with a piece of tubing, pencil, or popsicle stick as the core and a bent paper clip for an attachment loop. Or wrap some tape around an expired gift card, punch a hole in the card, and attach a carabiner.

Travelling with duct tape: 30 practical uses describes the many uses of this versatile item and suggestions on ways to pack a small amount.

4. Dental floss

Dental floss is strong enough to use as a shoelace, fishing line, or clothesline. Stronger than thread, it’s useful for mending jobs requiring a tougher approach. Carry a needle in your ‘sewing kit’ with an eye that accommodates the thickness of your dental floss. Fix eyeglasses after the screw holding the frame together goes missing. Repair a broken necklace or bracelet. Fasten a piece of cloth to a leaky tap or shower head to silence an annoying drip. It can substitute as a knife for cutting cheese, fruit, hard-boiled eggs, bread, or pastries.

5. Credit-card sized flatware set

Besides their obvious and intended uses, travel-friendly flatware can be useful for for tasks that involve scooping, piercing, whisking, shredding, and scraping. Use a spoon as a makeshift guitar pick, or a fork to separate the strands of tangled jewellery or wired headphones.

I’m a fan of the GOSUN wallet-sized stainless-steel flatware set. Unlike a Spork, the spoon and fork are separate pieces that lock securely in place while in use. They pack into a superb compact unit measuring 8.4 x 5 x 0.38 cm / 3.3 x 2 x 0.15 in weighing 41 g / 1.4 oz.

6. Elastic bands and hair elastics

Carry a selection of elastic bands and hair elastics of various lengths, widths, and colours. Use them to secure pieces of rolled clothing. Fashion a safety strap for eyeglasses, or a gripping handle for a hiking stick. Make an impromptu strap for attaching things to your wrist or ankle. Use one as a bookmark, to bundle things together, or to constrain charging cords.

7. Paper clips

Paper clips are useful for more than keeping travel documents together. Use one as a zipper pull or a money clip to keep currency organized. When used as a bookmark, place it at the side of the page to quickly find what you’re looking for. Use one to mark your spot when cutting a piece of duct tape. Open up a paperclip and use it as a tool to remove hair from a brush. Use one as a SIM card remover. Fashion a stand for a smartphone. Unclog a spray bottle, or a salt or pepper shaker. Create a cleaning tool for delicate surfaces such as a keyboard or jewellery by wrapping a piece of tablet towel around the tip. 

8. Safety pins

Carry a few safety pins of different sizes for making a fishhook, removing a splinter, anchoring a zipper to foil pickpockets, fix a wardrobe malfunction, or to fashion a sling. Join curtains to shut out the light for sleeping. Execute a temporary repair to a tent, bag, or clothing. Place a few in the bottom of a soap bar case for the bar to rest on the safety pins to dry.

9. Stretch utility straps 

With Velcro at both ends, these straps compress rolled clothing beautifully. If you need to convince a yoga mat to remain within a neat roll, this is the ticket. Bundle items together to take up less space. Tighten wide sleeves at the wrist to keep out the cold. Strap pants to boots to shut out insects or leeches. Wrap around trousers to keep the fabric free of a bicycle chain. Stabilize a temporary splint. At Dollarama, they’re sold as a pair in two different lengths — 12 or 18 inches (30 or 45 centimetres).

10. Carabiners 

A durable carabiner is strong enough to attach a daypack to a backpack, or carry several bags of groceries. A locking mountaineering carabiner can be a deterrent to opportunistic thieves. Use one to secure belongings to stationary objects.

There are lightweight versions of carabiners, S-biners and cable key rings with screw locks. These are useful for attaching lightweight items such as shoes, sunscreen, cap, water bottle, travel mug, flashlight, compass, or wet bathing suit to a backpack, belt loop, or purse. Those that are difficult to open are useful for securing adjacent zipper cords on bags to deter pickpockets.

They can also be used for hanging wet or dry clothing… or attaching anything to anything else, just about anywhere.

11. Cable ties

Use cable ties to join interlocking zippers on a bag. Secure something to an attachment point on the inside or outside of a bag or use the cable tie as the attachment point. They come in different colours so they can be used to differentiate between items such as charging cables. Add them to a bike tyre or footwear to add traction in mud, snow, or slippery conditions. Reseal food packages.

For wardrobe malfunctions involving troublesome zippers, loop one around a zipper pull of a zipper that refuses to stay closed, and then around the button on the waistband. Fix a broken backpack strap. Hang food packs in trees away from bears. Secure pants around boots for protection against ticks, mosquitoes, black flies, leeches, and snakes. If the sole on footwear comes unglued, secure it in place by wrapping a cable tie around the front of the shoe. It can also improve traction on slippery surfaces.

12. Multipurpose pocket tool

For carry-on travellers, a Swiss Army Knife is a non-starter if any blade is more than 6 cm / 2.36 in long. How great is the risk of confiscation? I’ve had folding scissors confiscated at a couple of airports even though the blades were shorter than the maximum length of 10 cm / 4 in. An alternative could be an airport-friendly multipurpose pocket tool containing a flathead screwdriver, wrenches, ruler, and bottle opener. There are several on the market. My lightweight, durable Doohickey Key Tool by Nite Ize ticks the boxes for my type of travel.

13. Safety matches

Safety matches (as opposed to strike-anywhere matches) are acceptable in carry-on luggage. A lighted match can be used to sterilize a needle, burn toilet paper outdoors, light a fire, seal fraying ends, or use as a heating agent. As an alternative, a plastic Bic lighter can be carried into the cabin of an aircraft. 

14. Sugru moldable glue

Sugru can be used to mend fraying cables and cords, repair suitcase handles and wheels, create protective bumpers at the corners of electronic devices, mend damaged footwear, or create gripper pulls for zippers or difficult-to-grip items. It comes in packable packets with each one containing what resembles a stick of chewing gum. Sugru has the consistency of play dough that’s highly malleable and easy to mold into glue. 

15. Bubble gum

Bubble gum, when chewed, can plug a hole, treat heartburn, or temporarily hold the lens of eyeglasses in place.

16. Snare wire 

Snare wire can be used to trap food in the wild, tie things together, fashion a hook, or hang something in a tree. 

 17. Candle

A small candle provides light and a surprising amount of heat in a tent on a cold night. It can also help start a fire. Lubricate a difficult zipper by rubbing wax on both sides of the teeth and then zip up and down until the zipper glides smoothly. Dip the ends of shoelaces or paracord in melted wax to prevent fraying.

18. Binder clip

A binder clip can be used as a bookmark, clothespin, guide for charging cords, keep a rolled-up tube of toothpaste in place, or to clip curtains together to block out light.  

19. Magnifying glass

A flint or magnifying glass can help start a fire.

20. Bobby pin

A bobby pin can be used as a toothpaste tube clip, bookmark, hair styler, hold a small nail in place for hammering, make a fish hook, mark the end of a supply of duct tape, or as a clothespin to hang light objects.   

Check out pre-assembled kits

My advice is to assemble your own MacGyver kit for travellers that takes into account your specific needs and circumstances. Besides, many items you already have. Still, ideas can be gleaned from kits assembled by others. Here’s a collage of four pre-assembled MacGyver kits from the online marketplace, Etsy.

 

Might you be interested in the following related posts?

• Stop pickpockets with this comprehensive assortment of anti-pickpocket gear
• Travel with tablet towels: a multipurpose essential every traveller should pack
• Save money for where it counts: cruise dollar store aisles for travel products
• My favourite travel gear hacks
• Avoid overpacking: pack light with these 37 ideas on multipurpose travel gear
• For inspiration, shop Etsy for unique travel products

 

If you found this post helpful, please share it by selecting one or more social media buttons. Do you have a MacGyver kit for travellers? If so, what does it contain? What additional uses have you found for the items suggested above? Please share your thoughts in the comments. Thank you.

 

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