14 useful gadgets you can buy for around $10
Infrared thermometer
Bluetooth audio receiver
One of these can turn any speaker into a wireless sound system.
"Put it in your car and never worry about auxiliary cords. Plug it into the aux jack of your speakers at home and you and your guests can easily stream music," writes DistortionTaco.
Resqme escape tool
Resqme is a tool that can be used to escape a car. Hopefully, you'll never have to use it. But in an emergency, you can break a car door window relatively safely and cut through a seatbelt.
It was originally developed for first responders, and resqme claims that 3 million people carry one on their keychains worldwide.
Opinel pocket knife
Opinels outclass all sorts of more expensive pocket knives. They also come in all different sizes and styles and are easy to personalize.
"Bought them for my groomsmen and I am personalizing them. Take care of them and you have an heirloom. Lose it.. and who cares it's under 10 bucks!," writes toonmckenna.
Laser pointer
They're hours of fun.
Quartet Chrome Pocket Pointer, Extends to 24.5 inches, Chrome Finish, $3.99
Google Cardboard
If you have a smartphone, Google Cardboard is a cheap attachment you can buy that gives a surprisingly great virtual reality experience.
HDMI switch
"An HDMI switch, seriously, mine cost me 5 bucks and I can hook up a few things to my monitor," writes ANotSoUniqueUsername. "This is great cause I dont have enough space for a TV."
Onion goggles
"I have onion goggles that I love," writes papereverywhere. "I look like a dork when I have them on, but I can cut onions without crying. Apparently my eyes are extra sensitive, because they water like crazy when I am cutting something like that."
NFC tags
It takes some work, but NFC tags can be really useful. You can program your phone to do certain things when it's in close proximity to a tag. For example, program your phone's alarm clock to turn off only when it's close to an NFC tag you keep in your bathroom. It'll force you to get up and brush your teeth.
A pocket-sized universal TV remote
"I would say a TV-B-Gone is really funny. It's a little pocket sized universal remote. Then just go around the mall and turn of their TVs, lots of fun," writes Le_Cooperfield.
Especially fun if you go to your local sports bar/restaurant during a local team's basketball game and turn it off right before the team scores," added PianomanKY. "[Great] way to get your ass kicked and banned from the restaurant too."
Jar gripper
Never worry about struggling to open a bottle or jar ever again.
Hammer with a screwdriver in the handle
"I'm not sure if this counts as a gadget, but I've got a small hammer with a screwdriver inside of the handle and I can't believe how much I use it," writes bishkek2lebanon.
Pencils
"A pencil," writes FrozenFirebat. "It writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface, and at huge temperature ranges."
Dixon Ticonderoga Wood-Cased 2HB Pencils, Pre-Sharpened, Box of 30
Popular Right Now
Advertisement