If you’ve ever seen the high-tech African safari movie Congo, you probably know where the latest in travel gadgets are: air conditioners for tents, laser detectors for catching animals wandering too closely, etc. There is also another way to travel, and that means overlooking. You go out into the wild with nothing more than a couple of rubbing sticks to make a fire, and maybe a tube of mosquito repellent. But for now, for the rest of us, let’s go the other side: with travel gadgets that cost no more than $ 50, the ones we’d really need if we weren’t Crocodile Dundee.

You can find travel gadgets at your regular travel store ranging from their ubiquitous iPods equipped with noise-canceling headphones to Olympus’ Tough range of indestructible digital cameras and portable GPS trackers. The thing is, these devices need a certain amount of childcare – they’re heavy, you have to carry them with you, and you have to worry about how to feed them. And of course these are expensive to buy and easy to put down (not that those Tough cameras care). What we’re talking about here is things for the frugal traveler, one who doesn’t have a tribal carrying his backpack behind him, one who needs to do everything himself. For those self-reliant travelers, these are the best travel gadgets you’ll need, the ones you won’t need to spend a lot of money for.

Let’s start with what it takes to pack for a trip. You have your standard 22-inch carry-on and you have a week’s worth of clothes to pack. How do you do it? Using Travel Space Bags, of course. What these bags do at about $ 3 each is that they allow you to suck all the excess air out of your garment bags so they can fit more in less space.

Now that you know what to pack your things in, let’s see what you can pack. Most travel devices are electronic or very smart. Here’s one that is none, but still extremely useful. It is an all-in-one tool, a Swiss Army knife. When you’re in the foothills of the Himalayas and come out with sparks, you’ll probably kill for one of these. Check out the Leatherman series for great action when you need it. Some of the models come with pliers to help you remove electrical insulation, a screwdriver to help you fix a broken suitcase handle, a pointed point to help you push a reset button, etc. The best part is, they won’t cost you more than $ 50 on Amazon, if you go for the high-end stuff.

When you travel anywhere, in the Third World or the First, you simply need to carry a lot of cash that should last the entire trip; But what happens when pickpockets attack? You don’t want to be left in the middle of nowhere with no way to pay for your next drink, right? Get a money clip; I’m sure there are thieves who know how to outwit this one, but I’ve never personally had a robbery since I switched to one of these. If you buy one of those new ones with a built-in flash drive, you’ll also have a little extra preparation on your hands. And while you secure things, why not get a good cable lock to lock your suitcase somewhere, or whatever. The Kryptonite R4 is a great option, because it not only gives you your standard cable lock with a 3-foot extension cord, but it also gives you a built-in flashlight on the body. After all this, you will not spend more than $ 20.

Now you have to take care of the few equipment you have: phone, camera, etc. Just buy yourself an adapter that will allow you to plug your things into an external receptacle; but how many of these can you carry? Take a mini power strip that also supplies power to a pair of USB ports. Belkin has a great variety here. You will also need a small folding tripod like the one from GorillaPod. They make it so you can balance your camera on any surface, even a tree. And of course, let’s not forget that you need a little babysitting; Grab one of the several medical kits they have on the market, like the Adventure Medical Kit with loads of perfectly cute ready-to-use first aid supplies. So there you go, all the things you need, to keep you safe and keep you going.