Today I made the mistake of forgetting to put on deodorant. Fortunately I happened to have some in my bag, so the crisis was promptly averted.

It did however leave me wondering, what other useful odds and ends should one have in their bag. Currently my bag contains:

• Deodorant
• Handypack tissues
• A pen (and notepad)
• An 8GB USB stick for those large files
• Umbrella
• Other assorted junk

I’m thinking of adding the following:

• First Aid Kit (bandaids, panadol, etc.)
• Sunscreen (for the occasional time I am exposed to that horrible ball of fire)
• 4 x AA batteries (because they are always handy)

My question then is what other small handy items am I missing for the ultimate balance between bulkiness and preparedness? Do you have something in your bag that has saved your bacon?