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    33 Things You Don't Realize You Need Until You Need Them

    It's always good to be prepared.

    1. A suction tool to help relieve the itchy agony of bug bites by sucking out insect venom, saliva, and other irritants under your skin. Finally, you can go outside after dark again!

    left: raised mosquito bite, middle : the plunger like tool right: flatter bite with light circular indent around it

    2. A journal happy to store all your increasingly complicated passwords. At least 12 characters, including a symbol, number, capital letter, ancient rune, and the fleeting details of a half-remembered dream? COME ON!

    3. A back zipper pull so you can get into dresses all by yourself, no complicated methods or partners needed.

    model closes back of dress with long clippy strap

    4. A pack of shower curtain clips, because the last thing you want to happen after watching Psycho is to have the curtain billow in and attack you.

    shower curtain being fitted into plastic holder mounted on wall

    5. A 32 SPF sunscreen that defends your skin from the sun, plus blue light and pollution. I'm telling you, you gotta wear sunscreen every day to protect that delicate face!

    tube of sunscreen

    6. A metal bar of "soap" that will help you get rid of any unwanted food smells so you can go from chopping up garlic to shaking hands with sensitive-nosed people in no time.

    metal shaped like soap bar

    7. A dog paw cleaning device so Fido doesn't mess up your clean home every time they come back inside.

    dog paw going into tube with silicone bristles

    8. A mini fabric steamer that takes way less time to set up than an iron and ironing board.

    9. A keychain car escape tool able to both cut your seat belt and break your car window in emergency situations.

    10. A satin-lined Hairbrella to keep your hair protected from rain, humidity, and anything else that's out to ruin your perfect hairdo.

    11. A pack of pantry moth traps you'll be running grab the second you see your first annoying, tiny aviator. These things will stop the moths from reproducing, aka no more gross larvae in your cereal.

    12. A black car scratch remover to hide any minor scuff-offs you might have had recently. *glances nervously at the mailbox that still has some black paint on it* 

    Before photo of car with white scratches around the tire
    Same car that looks brand new and has no noticeable scratches

    Promising review: "Easy to apply with a little elbow grease. Does a very good job removing swirls and light scratches. I used the black/dark paint version and it worked very well on my Kia Stinger. Left a nice polished looking surface and filled in the small imperfections. It even improved a deep scratch I had on the side and made it less visible. It completely removed a mark where a rubber bike handle had rubbed against the car and dulled the paint. Works as advertised and is really pretty easy to apply." —AudioJunkie

    Get it from Amazon for $19.95.

    13. Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza — a card game delivering a heavy dose of high-energy, adorably illustrated fun right when you need it.

    The deck with the cards face down
    A bunch of the different cards face up, each one is a different pastel color with an illustrated character on it and their name (i.e.
    Amazon

    Here's how to play: You deal all the cards out to your two to four players, and everyone keeps their mini-deck face down. Everyone takes a turn putting a card down in the middle of the table, saying one of the words "taco," "cat," "goat," "cheese," and "pizza," in that order. If the picture on your card matches the word that's said, everyone slaps their hand on the card in a pile as quickly as possible. The last person on the pile has to take the stack and add them to their cards, and whoever runs out of cards first wins!

    Promising review: "Ridiculous in a good way! I was skeptical about how much I may enjoy this game being in my mid-thirties. But it's a lot of fun! Easy to learn, easy to play, my 8-year-old has lots of fun with it. Its a great family game with the potential to be a late-night more adult-oriented event if you’re picking up what I'm throwing down. Cheers!" —Amazon Customer

    Get it from Amazon for $9.97.

    14. A pack of canker sore patches to heal those suckers in as little as one day. That means less stress — and less stress means less canker sores. The cycle is broken.

    They can stay on even while you're eating or drinking!

    Promising review: "Honestly this is one of the weirdest things I've ever done — but it worked. I put the patch on my canker sore (looks like a tiny pill) overnight and when I woke up the patch was all huge and felt like a sponge. IT WORKED! My canker sore was significantly smaller when I woke up and no longer rubbed up against my teeth. I did one more night with the canker patch and it was completely gone. This product works great for not just mouth sore, but tongue sores. Would highly recommend!" —LW

    Get a pack of six from Amazon for $13+ (available in two sizes).

    15. A stain remover that says, "hey it's OK, no need to cry over spilled wine."

    wine stained blanket
    stain is totally gone

    Promising review: "Lo and behold! I completely cleaned the window sills, the window shades, the baseboards, the walls and the carpeting! You cannot even tell it happened. No stains or color change to the carpet or the walls or the white painted surfaces. Before you try or use anything, buy this. It cannot be beat! I was afraid I might have to hire a professional to clean the carpet and that I might have to completely repaint walls, but no." —Sharon Hamilton

    Get it from Amazon for $9.66.

    16. A jar of O'Keeffe's hand cream you'll want to marinate your dry paws in all season. 

    a green jar with a spiral patterned cream inside. a reviewer took a bit out with their fingers to show the consistency
    left: severely peeling hand right: hand with less peeling

    Promising review: "Every winter, my fingers and knuckles crack and bleed. I've tried everything on the market to heal my hands. I received this hand cream yesterday and when I put it on, I could tell right away that this was better than anything I'd tried. This stuff started working immediately. I filled all the cuts and cracks on my hands with this cream, and today they are almost healed. I believe that this is the best hand cream ever made on earth." —Steve

    Get a 3.4-ounce jar from Amazon for $6.98+. (available in three size packs)

    17. A handy multitool jar opener that uses the power of grippy rubber and torque to make opening any stubborn jar a breeze. It also comes with a bottle opener that can also open some cans!

    Reviewer using red multigrip tool to encase a jar lid and pull it open
    model showing the gripper used to open jars of different sizes

    Psst — a lot of reviewers with arthritis swear by these for pain-free, easy opening, and parents say it makes it a lot easier for kids to open jars, too! 

    Promising review: "Having had arthritis in my hands since my teens, I have used many jar/bottle openers out of necessity. The OXO ones work well, but wear out within a year because of the volume of usage. This fabulous opener has yet to find a container that it cannot easily open, even bottles of water with heavily sealed caps. I love it so much I ordered another one to have in two drawers on either end of my kitchen. This gripper does not exacerbate my carpel tunnel syndrome, either. I would give it more stars if I could." —Patrizia L. 

    Get it from Amazon for $9.99 (available in five colors). 

    18. sunburn soother crafted with aloe and coconut oil to hydrate skin and turn back time to before you stayed out in the sun a little too long. 

    Psst — a lot of reviewers mentioned this also helped prevent peeling and itching!

    Promising review: "I ordered this two weeks ago after seeing rave reviews. So grateful I did. Yesterday I got the worst burn. It was unbelievable. I applied this four times over 24 hours. When I woke up this morning it was a lot better and has just gotten increasingly better throughout the day. The burn is mostly faded, and the pain is so much better. I hope to never burn this badly again, but I will be stockpiling this lotion all the same." —Carolina G.

    Get it from Amazon for $6.81.

    19. A Rumpl indoor/outdoor blanket, which is waterproof and dirt resistant so you can stay cozy, even in the dirtiest conditions. 

    model holding blanket outdoors
    blanket rolled up next to its carrying bag
    Amazon

    Rumpl is a Portland, OR-based small business that was inspired by warm and snuggly sleeping bags, and how much better the material retains heat compared to traditional bedding. The idea of a "sleeping bag blanket" was born, and Rumpl with it. They use only 100% post-consumer recycled materials, and are now recycling over 5 million discarded plastic bottles through their supply chain every year. They also offset all their carbon emissions with carbon credits!

    The Rumpl blanket is also machine washable and dryer-safe!

    Promising review: "We took this king-size blanket with us on our camping trip to New Zealand. At first I thought it might have been too overkill since it took up a lot of space in my luggage and a duvet was included in our camper van rental. But we ended up using this every night, enjoying the warmth and breathable comfort even on fairly warmly evenings. It was definitely large enough for two even with tossing and turning, we both had enough Rumpl to sleep well throughout the night. Great purchase, totally worth it." —Becca606

    Get it from Amazon for $99+ (available in two sizes and five colors).

    20. A travel journal so you can keep track of all the cool stuff you've been up to. There are pages to track where you've been, write about who you've met on your travels, add reviews, and paste pictures. There's even a travel library — an illustrated library of books where you can write down what you've read while on the road. 

    green book surrounded by photos and international money
    inside of the book to show travel library
    TheTravelersPlaybook

    Promising review: "Absolutely looove this book! Already started filling it out and it's definitely a great life-long use of a purchase! Also came with a sweet note!" —Courtney Scott

    Get it from TheTravelersPlaybook on Etsy for $34.99.

    21. Tide's Brights + Whites Rescue capable of making colorful clothing more vibrant and white clothing up to three shades lighter. Wow, better wear sunglasses when you pull out your dazzlingly clean laundry!

    before: off-white shirt, after: bright white shirt
    before: reviewer's baby onesie with yellow stain after: onesie looking whiter and with no stain

    Promising review: "I bought this based off of the good reviews and I'm so glad I did! I added the Tide W+B and washed on hot with extra rinse cycle to help remove the strong fragrance. I did this twice. Whites and colors looked new again!! Then I used it on all of my white bed sheets and towels. Amazing difference!" —Sean Ulrich

    Get a pack of 27 from Amazon for $18.19.

    22. A survival bandana printed with a ton of helpful survival information in case you get into trouble on a hike. It's good to wear on your head, use as a sling,  collect water, and more. 

    User showing the various uses for the bandana, including as a splint, sling, and as a headwrap
    Amazon

    Promising review: "Oversized compared to your typical bandana, which is awesome! Great weight. My family and I have been building our BOBs (bug out bags). I have been wanting to find something like this for a while. It is nice; it has instructions on it. Very versatile. I bought one to test out to see if it was worth getting more. I am thrilled to say it is. I will be purchasing one for each of us. Super excited. I love how brightly colored this one is as well. It is going to make it nice to hike and camp with." —Shadow Breaker

    Get it from Amazon for $11.50.

    23. A mosquito-repelling camping lantern that'll provide light and protection from buzzing pests. Just think: no sprays, no using your phone as a flashlight, no gross candles — just good vibes. 

    The lantern
    Amazon

    Promising review: "After using this thing up in the mountains and in the backyard jungle I have, this little device makes a big difference in sitting outside at night. I doubted that anything besides a good repellent would work, but I was wrong. I will be buying a couple more to have handy wherever I am. Go ahead and buy one, they work!" —Kindle Customer

    Get it from Amazon for $39.99.

    24. A lantern and fan hybrid you can hook to the top of your tent, because who said you can't take a ceiling fan on a camping trip?

    Promising review: "I went camping this week, and I just hate when it's sooooo darn hot in the tent, and of course there's no place to put a fan AND a light. This one worked perfectly. It hung by it's built in hook to the top of the tent, the light was just right, and the fan was quiet and effective for a two-person tent. Happy I bought it." —Kevin Gaither

    Get it from Amazon for $15.99

    25. A heat-resistant hair tool holder that solves the age-old problem of needing to straighten your hair and then immediately throw it a drawer.

    26. A baby wipe warmer, because there's nothing your baby will hate more than a cold wipe shocking them awake in the middle of the night.

    wipe dispenser

    27. An erase-a-hole putty to fill in pesky cracks in drywall, plaster, and wood so you can actually get that security deposit back, no matter how many holes you put into the wall.

    28. A waterproof notepad for all your best shower thoughts. No idea is worth getting out of the nice hot water for!

    model writes no more great ideas down the drain on pad while in shower

    29. Big ol' enzyme pacs that fight through grease, fats, oils, paper, and organic matter to keep your sewer line clear. It's basically like flushing a tiny plumber down your toilet once a month.

    model drops green pac into toilet

    30. A food tracker to make sure your pet isn't over or underfed. No amount of sad puppy dog eyes can dupe you into feeding Mr. Wiggles twice.

    device with two sliders for each day of the week

    31. A variety pack of Doughp cookie dough you can eat raw or cooked, because the last thing you want to happen is have guests over and realize you have nothing to serve for dessert. Having cooke dough on hand at all times? Always a good idea.

    pints of cookie dough next to baked cookies

    32. A set of seat gap fillers to prevent things from tumbling down into what scientists have called the Black Hole of Vehicles.

    seat gap filler with hole for seatbelt buckle to fit through

    33. A pre-swim hair cream to protect your locks from all the dangers from pools and beaches. I'm talking dryness, damage, and the dreaded green sheen from chlorine.

    The cream

    Looking for the perfect gift for any occasion? Check out all of BuzzFeed’s gift guides!

    illustrated gift guide