£1 winners

[dangerman]

This year on my family holiday to Tenby I came across this little puppy in one of the tourist shops.







It cost a quid and so I bought all of them. I think I ended up with seven of them. I had one like this when I was a kid and it lasted surprisingly well even though it is clearly cheap and crap. For it's purpose of being a portable and comprehensive method of eating your dinner they're great!

It got me thinking about other £1 bargains that could be had and I spotted this little lighter on eBay - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-Electroni ... 3a9cd480eb

Being USB rechargeable it is perfect for using with my solar panel and/or my battery bank. It would make lighting tinder easier than using fire steel I reckon.

And then I spotted the other thread about torches. I don't use my torches a lot. I have lights in my house, see. And a basic torch on my phone. But I did find this and thought it would be useful for my keyring and EDC since again, it's USB rechargeable. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/0-3W-USB-Rech ... 3a96b2443b

Anyone else found any £1 gadgets that might be useful?

[Hamradioop]

They sold similar items it Aldi during the summer, but I think they were more expensive. A torch is a useful thing to have around in case of a power cut or a breaker trips. and I
always have a cheap lighter on my person, not that I smoke any more. Five lighters for a pound at B&M.

[Yorkshire Andy]

3 bull brand lighters in the £1 shop but these have a built in blue led torch

OK it half's the lighters gas capacity but far more compact as 2 items in 1

[Devonian]

This year on my family holiday to Tenby I came across this little puppy in one of the tourist shops.







It cost a quid and so I bought all of them. I think I ended up with seven of them. I had one like this when I was a kid and it lasted surprisingly well even though it is clearly cheap and crap. For it's purpose of being a portable and comprehensive method of eating your dinner they're great!

It got me thinking about other £1 bargains that could be had and I spotted this little lighter on eBay - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-Electroni ... 3a9cd480eb

Being USB rechargeable it is perfect for using with my solar panel and/or my battery bank. It would make lighting tinder easier than using fire steel I reckon.

And then I spotted the other thread about torches. I don't use my torches a lot. I have lights in my house, see. And a basic torch on my phone. But I did find this and thought it would be useful for my keyring and EDC since again, it's USB rechargeable. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/0-3W-USB-Rech ... 3a96b2443b

Anyone else found any £1 gadgets that might be useful?

I used to be like a magpie for all the £1 cheap bargains, but not anymore, there is usually a very good reason for the price and you get what you pay for.

So for the £7 you spend on the above, you could instead of bought a high end titanium spork:

https://www.alpkit.com/products/tifoon

or a couple of sets of proper stainless steel camping cutlery:

http://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/summit-4 ... lsrc=aw.ds

And still have change from both options....

The problem with the £1 versions that you have is that apart from being gimmicks, they are bulky and also due to the design of them, you will get food and dirt trapped inside the layers of the handle which is almost impossible to clean out, this can in time potentially lead to bacteria and then food poisoning etc...

So buying the cheapest (as I have learnt myself) isn't always the best option.

I find its always better to resist impulse purchases when in such shops and then do your research and buy better quality and better suited products, which as with my examples doesn't have to mean buying expensive items.

[dangerman]

Yep, you're probably right that they're cheap and that I could have spent money on something better quality. I don't intend for these to be used a lot though, they're just for my family Go Bags. And as I say, I had one of these once before and it performed much better than I'd have expected. I know there are lots of areas for bacteria to build up, but all I used to do is wipe it clean each time and then run it through the dishwasher occasionally. It fell apart after years and years of use but was still functional. I ran some boiling water over mine recently and it seems to have done the job. The other option would be to leave it in a cup of sterilising solution for a while.

[nickdutch]

Poundland is buying out 99p Stores, so I assume we can see a possible change fo stock and more variety perhaps in what they do coming down the pipeline.

[dangerman]

Yeah, there are loads of stuff in those shops that's not even worth a quid though. Need to be careful what ya buy. There are a few bargains in each of them at the moment, but if the poundshops all get bought out then there will be less competition. Who knows!

[nickdutch]

Yeah, there are loads of stuff in those shops that's not even worth a quid though. Need to be careful what ya buy. There are a few bargains in each of them at the moment, but if the poundshops all get bought out then there will be less competition. Who knows!

I tend to prefer B+M if you can find one near you. Their camping and gardening stuff is ok, but the 99p and £1 shop ones are usually a little more fragile. The gardening forks are a bit bendy in the cheaper budget shops, but you can get some good kit at B+M if you keep the scanners peeled

[DarkArcher777]

Found emergency foil blankets and collapsible 5 litre water carriers in my local pound shop today

[dangerman]

Good call Nickdutch, I've got a massive B&M near me. I'll get into the habit of stopping in from time to time. It's hit and miss like everything else as you say, but it's worth it for a bargain.

I've got all my foil blankets from poundland, darkarcher. There are other bits and bobs that I regularly get from there. I always get the emergency shelters when they're in stock too. They're bigger than the blankets so makes them a smidge more versatile. I usually go there to get disposable lighters, lighter fuel, cheap tent pegs, water carriers, wind up torches, fully size KFSs, hand warmers that you can boil to reset etc. There is loads of stuff to be honest. But it is shat quality. Sometimes the stuff doesn't even work or breaks immediately. I just see it as a quick fix and a minimal investment for back up items. If at any point I like something from there enough to actually use it regularly, or I want to depend on it, I can always upgrade.