9 Budget Travel Essentials All for Around $200 (Cheap Travel Gear)

In this video, we're going to be talking about a travel starter pack for your bag all for under 200 bucks. Hey, I'm Tom from Pack Hacker, your guide to smarter travel. If you're new to the channel, consider subscribing and ringing that bell icon for notifications. There is so much gear out there and it can be hard to figure out what to get, especially if you're new to traveling or on a budget. We made this video to help you build a sick starter pack that'll make traveling easier without breaking the bank. Everything featured in this video has been tried and tested by our team extensively and many of them have reviews over on our website, so check the links down in the description below if you want more details on any of these products and let's get building your starter pack. Love them or hate them, sling bags are a convenient way to carry your essentials. Using one as a pocket dump when going through TSA will help you breeze through the line quicker and they're especially handy if your outfit doesn't have any pockets. The Patagonia Ultralight Black Hole Mini Hip Pack is a solid pick whether you're gearing up for your first international trip or going a few hours away for the weekend. Even though it's technically a hip pack, it can be worn crossbody as a sling as well. It clocks in small at one liter, but it's big enough to hold your daily essentials whether you're in flight or on the go. The front pocket features a key clip and can fit earbuds, charging cables, or your boarding pass. Meanwhile, the main compartment has space for your phone, wallet, passport, and a few snacks. This sling is also lightweight and so it doesn't take up much space in your bag. Just fold the whole thing into the front pocket, zip it up, and stick it in your bag when you don't need it. Patagonia's outdoor aesthetic and a wide variety of colors make this thing a good pick whether you're exploring an urban downtown or hitting the trail. If you've never used packing cubes to organize your bag, then it's time to level up. There are a ton of options out there from waterproof to ultralight. However, compression packing cubes are a great starter cube. For travelers just starting out, we recommend the Godex compression packing cubes which shrink down to almost half their original size. They come in a set of three with a variety of colors to choose from. The small cube is good for socks and underwear while the medium is suitable for a few t-shirts. Meanwhile, the large cube is spacious enough for pants, sweaters, or jackets. Each one features a reflective pull tab for leverage while using the compression zipper and a handle at the top so you can grab it out of your bag easily. Sometimes the quality of budget gear can be questionable. However, the Godex packing cubes have held up for us through extensive testing. Pack Hacker team members have used them for months on several trips between the UK, LA, and Detroit with no rips or tears or broken zippers in sight. We don't expect them to last forever and sometimes the fabric can get caught on the compression zipper, but they have been awesome for the price. Instead of buying travel-sized toiletries before each trip, consider picking up some reusable silicone bottles. While there are several silicone bottles out there, the Human Gear Go 2 Plus are the best we've tested to date. These are the originals and most other silicone travel bottles are just imitations. They're made of food-grade silicone which makes them more versatile than some of the other imitation brands. However, like most other silicone products, they do attract dust and hair quite easily. They come in various sizes, but the most useful for air travel are the 3.4 ounce or 100 milliliter bottles which is the maximum capacity allowed by TSA. The capacity is written directly on the bottles so there should be no questions when going through airport security. Human Gear's loop lock system also helps with making sure these stay closed and not create a mess inside of your bag. Just close the cap tightly and flip the loop lock in place. You can also use the loop lock to hang the tubs up in the bathroom. Near the cap there's a textured area where you can write in a label so you always know what's inside. Just make sure you write it with a sharpie as a regular pen smudges off pretty quickly. Having your phone die when you're in a new city and you don't know where you're going is the worst. Luckily, the Anker PowerCore Slim 10,000 will make sure your devices stay charged throughout your travels. With both USB-A and USB-C ports available, you have versatility in what you can charge with no adapters needed. It delivers 18 watts of charge with trickle-down charging for lower power devices. And when fully juiced, it can charge most phones completely for two cycles. The LED indicators will let you know how much battery the charger has left, which we've found pretty convenient. Its slim profile means it can fit in backpacks that have small pockets, most tech pouches, or even your pants pocket. Although it does feel a bit heavy and adds extra weight, it is worth it to stay connected, especially for traveling internationally. I've used it for months on several trips and it's still going strong. Adding a packable daypack to your arsenal to use once you've arrived at your destination will prevent you from looking like an obvious tourist. Packable daypacks are much smaller than travel backpacks and are generally lightweight. The Osprey Ultralight Stuff Pack is a solid pick by a reputable brand that has space for your essential items and more. Plus, it packs up into a built-in pouch that you can shove into your main bag without taking up too much space. Though thin and light are the name of the game when it comes to packable gear, that doesn't mean that this bag is not durable. The Stuff Pack is made of ripstop nylon, which is strong and resistant to tears. It's a bit wrinkly when you first unpack it. However, with prolonged use, those wrinkles can just fall right out. Organization on this bag is minimal, with a stretchy water bottle pocket and a quick-grab pocket at the top for your phone, wallet, and keys. Inside, the main compartment is simple and spacious enough for a jacket and a few organizer pouches. While the simplicity of this bag is what makes it so useful, just note that the lack of organization and structure may not be for everyone. No matter where you travel, you should always pack a water bottle to make sure that you stay hydrated. We recommend the Vapor Eclipse water bottle because it's compressible and easy to pack, making it a good pick for one-bag travel. I've used this water bottle exclusively while traveling for two years in a 40-liter backpack, and I can't emphasize how useful it was. To compress, just roll it up, stick it inside the attached carabiner, and boom, you're ready to go. You can also use that carabiner to attach the bottle to your bag for easy access when you want a quick drink. Even though it's one of my personal favorites, the Vapor Eclipse is not without its downsides. First off, it's not insulated, so if you love cold water, then you're kind of out of luck when it comes to a bottle like this, especially in hot and humid climates. Secondly, the shape is a bit awkward and it doesn't fit in the water bottle pocket on most bags. Third, we've heard of some folks having an issue with the cap leaking upon arrival. However, we have tested four of these thoroughly and we've never run into that issue, so just make sure that you test it before heading out on a long trip. We think that those cons are a small price to pay for such a packable versatile bottle at a great price. Although, there's no such thing as the best water bottle for everyone, which is why we made another video on travel water bottles, so make sure to check that out with the link down in the description below if you want to learn more. Toiletry bags are another game changer when it comes to keeping everything organized. Though it kind of looks like a mini garbage bag, the Matador Flat Pack Waterproof Toiletry Case is anything but that. It has several features that make it a step up from using an ordinary Ziploc bag. As the name suggests, the material is highly water resistant. Water pretty much rolls right off. It's also easy to wipe clean in case your toothpaste or lotion gets on it. This thing also stands up straight, so you can get anything that you need outside of it while having it next to you on the counter, or if you want to keep it off the grimy hostile sink entirely, hang it up via the Hypalon loop on the back. The roll top closure makes the size customizable, so you can size it depending on the amount of toiletries you have to carry. This is what makes it such a great starter pack item. You can expand it if you have larger bottles and roll it down to compress as you find smaller, more optimized toiletries. If the Flat Pack Toiletry Case does not float your boat, then make sure to check out the link down in the description below. We have a bunch of other reviews and a full video dedicated to toiletry bags as well. Do you ever find yourself with a mess of cables in your bag between charging your phone, laptop, headphones, and tablet? Well, the Velcro brand cable ties are here to rescue you from the never-ending cable salad, and they only cost around $5 for a pack of 50. These Velcro strips are pre-cut and feature a small hole to thread one end through to keep it together. Even though these are called cable ties, they have a ton of other travel uses too. Use one to hang something up to dry at your hotel or hostel if you don't have a carabiner or a hook on hand, or roll your clothing and wrap a Velcro tie around it to keep everything nice and neat while packing your bag. They also make good strap keepers if your bag doesn't have them, and you want to keep that excess strap from flying around. We have a massive pack of black ties, however you can use colored Velcro on the outside of your bag if you want to identify it quickly as well. While these are convenient, affordable, and crafty, they are Velcro after all, which means they attract lint and pet hair easily. So just be mindful if you Carabiners are another product with so many uses you'll be wondering how you ever traveled without one. The Nite Ize S-Beaner is a unique double clip option that comes in handy for hanging items outside of your bag while in transit. This includes water bottles, pouches, shoes, and even wet towels or swimsuits that you want to hang out to dry on the back of your bag. Or put your keys on one end and attach it to your belt loop so they're always within reach. They come in a variety of sizes depending on your use case. The number one is the smallest at about the size of a paper clip and can hold up to five pounds, while number five is the largest and is just bigger than a credit card. The number five can hold up to 100 pounds and the capacity is written on all the S-Beaners in case you forget. They're made of high quality stainless steel making them strong and durable, however they are definitely not for climbing so don't try it. Pick one up for around four bucks or a pack of three for around eight bucks. You can literally never have too many S-Beaners and the possibilities are endless. So there you have it, nine travel essentials under 200 bucks to get you started. Be sure to leave a comment down below if you found this video helpful and we'd love to know from you what you'd like to see us cover next, so leave that in your comment as well. Thanks for keeping it here at Pack Hacker, your guide to smarter travel. We'll see in the next video.