15+ Items That Are Worth Keeping in Your Bag to Avoid Embarrassing Situations

It’s impossible to be ready for everything, but it’s a good idea to have compact and versatile items at hand that can help in different situations.

5-Minute Crafts would like to reveal what items can be useful to keep in your bag depending on your habits, lifestyle, and even the season.

A couple of wet wipes in individual packaging

Many people carry a pack of wet wipes in their bag. But usually, we use no more than 2-3 wipes during the day. So if you want to save space in your bag or take a small clutch with you, take a couple of individually packaged wet wipes instead of the whole package. And you don’t even have to buy them. You can use the ones you got on a recent flight or a visit to a café.

A silicone folding cup with a lid

It’s a compact alternative to a regular cup or flask. It can be filled with both cold and hot drinks. When folded, it resembles a lid from a jar, taking up minimal space in your bag. Many models have a loop to attach the cup to the strap of a bag, zipper, or keychain.

Petroleum jelly in a mini-package

Petroleum jelly speeds up wound healing and soothes irritated skin, but it can also be used as a remedy to prevent calluses. Additionally, petroleum jelly can help remove makeup from the area around your eyes, hydrate your eyelashes, and benefit sensitive skin. There are mini-packages out there that you can keep in your backpack or bag.

Pieces of toothpaste

There are situations when you need to freshen your breath or clean your teeth from plaque. But carrying a tube of toothpaste with you everywhere is not really convenient. A couple of balls made from toothpaste and baking soda will help out. If you just chew one of them, it will freshen your breath, and in an emergency situation, it can replace toothpaste — just wait until the ball softens in your mouth, then use a toothbrush or a piece of napkin to brush your teeth.

How to make it: Spread out a sheet of baking paper. Squeeze pieces of toothpaste about 0.5 inches long onto it. Sprinkle them with a little baking soda and wait until they dry. Then put the pieces into a small container. To take 2-3 pieces with you, you can use a plastic capsule from a chocolate egg.

Safety pins

Attach 2-3 safety pins of different sizes to the lining of your bag. A safety pin will temporarily secure a torn-off button on a shirt or a strap of a bag, tighten a hole, and also help if you urgently need to replace the SIM card in your smartphone.

Your favorite snack

Put a small protein bar, a mini-pack of nuts, or a small chocolate bar in your bag so you can eat it when you can’t have a proper lunch. This will relieve your mild hunger and prevent a possible unplanned visit to a fast-food joint.

Nail file

A small glass or simple disposable nail file will be handy if you break a nail. It can also sharpen a pencil, remove spools from clothing, or remove glue from leather or dirt from suede shoes.

✅ Tip: You can also use a metal file nail, but in some cases, security personnel may consider it a dangerous item, like if you’re boarding an airplane or are about to enter a music concert.

Pill container

It’s useful to have various necessary medicine with you, which will help out when you have a headache, muscle spasms, or stomach problems. So you won’t have to carry bulky packages or a whole first-aid kit along with you, you can put the necessary pills in the amount of 1-2 pieces (for a single dose), along with a Band-Aid, inside a mini-package or a pill box.

Spare feminine hygiene products

Most often, these products can be found in a woman’s purse, especially on certain days of a menstrual cycle. But they can also be used in emergency situations. For example, you can turn a tampon into a soft shoe insole if your feet freeze. Or you can use it to light a fire: just light a tampon and cover it with brushwood. And if you attach a piece of a regular panty liner to the inside of your shoe in a place that rubs your foot, this will save you from possible calluses.

Spare socks and tights

It’s useful to have a spare pair of fresh socks or tights (depending on your current lifestyle) in case something happens to your main pair. Besides, they can be used for alternative things, like if you have injured your arm or leg, a cropped sock or stocking can easily be converted into an elastic bandage that will secure a patch. And in rainy weather, a sock can be used as a cover for a collapsed umbrella.

Sunscreen

It’s always a good idea to keep sunscreen on hand so that you can use it throughout the day. In order not to carry the whole bottle and not worry about the fact that the product leaves white marks on the skin, buy a sunscreen spray without zinc oxide and titanium dioxide in the composition, and pour it into a small spray bottle up to 10 ml to 15 ml.

A whistle

It has probably never crossed your mind to carry a whistle around, but this small item is irreplaceable when you need to attract attention and call for help. Attach it to your keychain or the strap of your bag, or put it inside the outer pocket of your bag so that you can easily take it out when necessary.

Thin blanket scarf

Being made of fine natural wool, it’s almost weightless and can fit easily into a bag or can be attached to its handle (unlike classic, bulkier scarves). Such a scarf can replace a light jacket, turn into a pillow, or become a warm blanket.

An alternative would be a life blanket, which is slightly larger than a deck of playing cards when folded. It’s a lightweight film coated with silver or gold-colored metal that can help retain heat, protect you from overheating, and shelter you from precipitation.

A flashlight on the keychain

Nowadays, a flashlight can be found in any modern smartphone, but an alternative mini-flashlight on a keychain will come in handy if your phone has run out of power or if you need additional lighting. Attach it to your bag, keychain, or wallet so you can have it on hand in any emergency.

Overshoes

AIf it suddenly starts raining in the middle of a sunny day, light sandals or shoes can be protected from water by wearing overshoes. After all, it’s not really convenient to carry a spare pair of shoes along with you everywhere. Besides, overshoes take up minimal space in your bag. Of course, you won’t be able to walk freely through puddles, but you can easily get to a taxi or public transport wearing overshoes.

In addition, you can put on overshoes on your feet before putting on your sneakers to keep your feet dry in the rain. Another option is to put on overshoes on very dirty shoes before getting into the car to protect the car interior from dirt.

Foldable grocery bag

A lightweight bag that folds down to the size of a matchbox and doesn’t take up much space will help out in a variety of situations, like if you decide to go to the store after work or if you want to sit on a bench in the park but you aren’t sure if it’s clean enough. Such a bag can also come in handy for those who are frequent travelers: you can put your clothes in it or pop it in your carry-on bag or excess luggage.

Bonus 1: a bit of cash

This amount of money should be enough to get home if you’ve lost your bag with your wallet and phone inside. Put this money not into the bag but somewhere in your clothes, like into the pocket of your jeans or your sock.

Bonus 2: photos of important documents on your phone

We don’t always carry along important documents, such as a passport, ID, driver’s license, birth certificates, or entry permit cards. But these documents can be useful if you want to get a discount on a museum or movie ticket, for example. So it’s always a good idea to have photos of them in your phone, collected in a certain folder that’s protected by a password.