1. AM/FM Analogue Radio
This is the one that I carry with me. It's a 'Sony ICF S22' and it cost me about £8. Headphone output, extendable aerial, and a speaker that's really loud for its size. I can take this thing out of my pocket and plonk it down anywhere, and voila, instant radio 4. Now that's worth a lot more than £8 to me. None of the complications of digital stuff, it just works as a radio should. Oh, and the batteries will last forever.
2. Moleskine Diary/Notebook
These little notebooks are so useful to have in your pockets. They feel well made, and can definitely take a beating, or a bit of rain water. The diary version contains useful stuff like a currency conversion chart and a list of different time zones. Yeah, maybe you can do that on your iphone, but where's the fun in that? The regular notebooks are perfect for anyone who never stops thinking. All my thoughts and ideas go down in these books.
3. Tailor's tape measure.
Good for people who need to take measurements on clothing. Even if you're not one of those people, sometimes you just need to measure something, and it's not like one of these takes up much space. Also useful for tying two things together as a quick fix/making a limbo line between two poles. No batteries required.
4. Nintendo DS lite
There's a reason that this is the biggest selling games console ever. Charge it up and put it in your pocket, and you can probably amuse yourself for about 16 hours with one of these. Also useful to lend to hyperactive children/adults to shut them up for half an hour.
5. Mini EDT Atomiser
Holds 4.0 ml of whatever you put in it. That's about 50 sprays. I'll never understand why things like 'lynx bullet' are on the market, when you can have one of these. Who wants to smell of lynx anyway? Take one of these wherever you go, and smell really good from when you leave the house until when you get back. Take 5 of them on holiday and avoid taking bottles of stuff.
5. A small can of dry shampoo
This is one of those things where you'll maybe only use it something like once every month, but it's good to know it's there. It's basically fact that any time that you end up sleeping somewhere that you can't have a shower (in New Street station, anyone?) it's going to be at a time when you look, and feel, like a complete mess. If you were doing anything responsible, you would have gone home, or stayed at a friend's house or something. So, when you have to trudge back home feeling terrible, this is the nearest that you're going to get to sharpening up your appearance a bit. Less funny looks on the bus home, if you're one of those people who gets bothered by those sorts of things (I am).
6. A good quality pen that won't leak, or stab you through your coat pocket.
I use a Uniball Jetstream Premier. I think it's almost the same as the non-premier version, except this one apparently features 'retractable soft touch air click mechanism'. Yeah, I don't know either, but it clicks real nice. If you spend £7 on a biro, you're less likely to put it down and then lose it, because it's not quite as expendable as a 20p biro. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone else, my mind just works that way.
7. Ipod Nano 3rd Generation, 8gb
Yeah yeah, I know, there are loads of newer ipods out now. There's the touch, and the newer ipod nanos, even the iphone. But for audio, there's nothing wrong with a modest 3rd generation ipod. It's short and fat, which lends itself to pockets better than tall and thin. I suppose that's a minor consideration, but it's the only one that fits in my coat's top pocket without poking out. Loading it with music is great, but if you've got a few hours of different podcasts on there too, you can probably survive a lot of long waits and commutes. Lasts 24 of audio playback hours on a full charge.
8. Bic lighter.
Even if you don't smoke, there's always going to be a time when you need to set fire to something or someone. Also, whilst seemingly simple and ordinary looking, Bic lighters are incredibly reliable. The alternative would be a zippo, but 9 out of 10 people who use zippo lighters look like they're trying far too hard.
9. A really good pair of gloves.
Of course, this is only really an Autumn/Winter thing. But for those 6 months, you'll be happy that you have a pair of gloves with you if you get stuck outside on a cold day. I wear the ones pictured - £30 from Norweigan menswear designer Siv Stoldal. 100% wool. The shiny bits are made of reflective wool - good for hitch hiking, or just not getting run over. Very warm.
10. A picture of the Queen
Just to remind you who runs this place. Also useful if you need to show someone who doesn't speak English that you are, indeed, a British citizen. Again, useful if you get into trouble with the police - 'look, I know the Queen, she's me Gran, so I'll just be going about my business now if you don't mind'.
Come back tomorrow for 'top ten useful things to do when you have a spare 5 minutes'
