I think it's worth mentioning, although not everyone will have this problem. Those first timers going to a totally different country it's best to keep in mind that the water filtration is different especially is underdeveloped countries. It's best sometimes to just drink from bottled water to be safe.
I travel international a lot- 1) Delsey dauphine roller cabin bag- 4lbs or so, wheelers duffles are lighter 2) eagle creek mesh bag for a toilet kit. The mesh bag weighs nothing. 3) other mesh bags for medicines 4) charge cables 5) Bose headphones qc20 earbuds- old model but you can sleep in them with music off 6) wet toilet wipes 7) sanitizer 8)a comfy eye mask to sleep 9) wear a hoodie so if plane is cold it helps and adds no weight 10) light hotel slippers if you are wearing shoes Key is using mesh bags to hold everything no regular dopp bags. I make my 15lbs and less.
As a new subscriber I may be preaching to the experts and recommending something everybody already does but I never go anywhere without several suction hooks. Most showers, baths and sinks don't have anywhere to hang washbags etc off the floor and as I use a washbag with a hanging hook this makes everything easier! I'm loving the products you present and will be buying several for my next big trip! So thank you, Julia
While supporting packhacker is a must, I strongly recommend to anyone to get custom molded ear plugs, I use them daily for work but always throw them in my bag for travelling just in case. It’s saved me a dozen times from a noisy snoring cabin mate to just needing a minute of quiet. Mine are anchored together with a string and a pass through hole to hear people talking over loud ambient noise. Lastly if you’ve never worn them before they will take a week or two for your ears to adjust so plan accordingly before your trip.
If you like the Kikkerland Travel Adaptor, I encourage you to try the Road Warrior Travel Adapter. I own both and find the Road Warrior to be a lot less finicky. They are both exactly the same only Road Warrior holds the patent, is cheaper, has higher manufacturing quality, and has a cover for the Type C pins. Also, I believe the Kikkerland Travel Adaptor is banned in some countries for safety concerns. Kikkerland is slightly lighter (0.01 oz) but, through my experience, the Road Warrior is an all around better product.
I tried the loop earplugs and the travel adapter on my last international trip! And the water bottle for domestic trips (it would have been awesome for my international trip, but I did not own it at the time)) The earplugs are great. Low profile and comfortable to sleep in for side sleepers. I used them when staying at a hostel that was near a few nightclubs. Not enough to totally quiet things, but pretty good. Love how sleek the buds and case are. The adapter is okay... It's a little chintzy. Used it in Uk and France. It is also really long in some configurations and that makes it so that heavy adapters (such as for a macbook pro) can cause it to fall out of loose outlets. IMO, it makes sense for digital nomad types or people who want to pack one bag and forget about it. And it is nice and thin. But I travel internationally somewhat rarely and when I do, I usually only end up at places with a couple adapter types. So I prefer country-specific adapters. It's also ungrounded for countries that use grounded adapters, which is not the safest (for grounded items). But none of the plug-in items I travel with have ground prongs anyways, so if that's the case it doesn't matter. I only brought USB power adapters and my fiance brought those plus some hair-related items and none had a ground plug and all were dual-voltage. So this worked fine for us except for the length. For the water bottle, I got the .7L version since I am using it for business travel and the smaller one is nicer to clip on the belt if I am in the office. If filling at airports, I recommend an opaque color because I need to put my hand in front of the sensor on those stations to get it to fill my clear bottle, which is a bit of a pain.
I also looked into buying the clutch charger and I would not recommend it to people unless they have some other device that requires micro USB. My travel electronic setup is now USB C only to streamline my cables and Clutch told me that their charger can only be charged with micro USB. The USB C cable only outputs power, it cannot be used to recharge the device from a USB C AC adapter.
Last year I purchased the road warrior which is similar to the Kirkland, but haven't had the opportunity to try it out yet. Main items I always travel with are: 1. Scrubba wash bag 2. Twisted elastic clothesline 3. Laundry detergent sheets 4. Pacsafe 25L backpack 5. Eddie Bauer packable backpack if I shop too much. 6. Crocs classic flip 7. Vapur or Joypur collapsible filtered water bottle.
@@PackHacker The travel adaptor is great but don't use the one from Kikkerland. They use low manufacturing standards which has lead to my travel adaptor's pins not rotating. I purchased another one and it had another manufacturing issue. Then I found Road Warrior which holds the patent, they are cheaper and much higher quality.
The Vapur water bottle is amazing, I have reviewed it my self and stil use it a lot. Be sure to get a cleaning tool though, it stil holds up after 2+ years. I own the black 1L, i wouldn't go smaller, just put less water in it. I love how you can rol it up when it's empty, so light!
I always have a pocketJUICE battery pack with me in town or out of town. I carry it every day to work being a first responders power at a moments notice is a must. The plus side of this is the power plug is built in and you can use it as a wall wart so it charges at the same time your device charges no need to carry both. Has 2 USB outlets and USBC to charge on the go. Only downfall is its American style plug. They can be picked up everywhere and I have used this heavily with no failure.
It seems to me like the Kikkerland travel adapter is unsafe to use with a lot of devices. To explain, I need to go into the basics first: put very simply, power flows into your device through one conductor, the hot wire, and out of your device through the other conductor, the neutral wire. Having only these two conductors in a wire is sufficient for the device to operate, but it is incredibly unsafe to use with devices that have a metal casing. The reason being is that if the hot wire touches the case (which it shouldn't but it can happen by accident), the case conducts electricity and you'll receive an electric shock if you touch it. That is why if there is a metal casing, it's connected to ground: if the hot wire touches the case, the electricity flows to ground, so at least it's less likely to take the path through your body, and ideally (electric installations are sketchy af in some countries, including the US imo), the RCD trips, interrupting the faulty flow of power. And this is where the adapter is dangerous: with its flat construction, it physically cannot have a ground connection, at least for European (schuko) plugs. Because of this, *it must never be used with devices that require a ground connection.* Generally, the plug of a grounded device features three contacts whereas the plug of an ungrounded device only has two, so if you plug your device into the adapter and there's an exposed contact, DO NOT USE IT (however, that does not mean it's guaranteed to be safe when there are no exposed contacts, and an ungrounded metal casing should be seen as a contact too).
In the US, most laptop, camera, and phone chargers don't have ground. Kikkerland and adaptors like it can only support devices up to 1000W which usually don't have a ground pin. It is unsafe in that it allows you to use a grounded plug in a ungrounded environment, but to prevent that from happening you just have to use common sense.
I always take a hot water bottle for UK or camping. A6 memo bottle always excellent as fits in jeans pocket but caused surprise in the office as it looks like a hip flask!
I took a Kikkerland travel adapter on a trip a few years ago and it really didn't work. I ended up abandoning it in a hotel. I typically only need one or two adapters so I just take those now.
Do y'all ever need something self defense-ey? Would love to see some low profile options that comply with security and international laws. Like, can you bring a walking stick on a plane? Are there telescoping options? Maybe some utility gloves that double as brass knuckles, that kind of stuff. Not really technically weapons but stuff you could use in a pinch. Could be a cool video!
@@PackHacker I've used Happy Ears for years now. For small ears, they were the best in terms of long time comfort. I used them almost every night for almost 4 months and for many years before. I have bought Loop Quiet, but not had a chance to test them yet. It would be interesting to test one in each ear, sleeping on my back. I have a video on Happy Ears. Might consider making one for my experience with both, once I've tested Loop.
Is the packed size of the Matador Beast 18 worth it? I'm kinda on the fence whether getting that or their On-Grid Packable Backpack that seem very nice for its weight and packablity.
It really depends on what you will be using it for and if you bring along a checked bag. The Beast18 is significantly larger when packed, but it has many nice features while traveling. The On-Grid Packable Backpack weighs a lot less and packs down smaller but is missing those extra features. Here is our full review of the Matador On-Grid Packable Backpack: packhacker.com/travel-gear/matador/on-grid-packable-backpack/ Here is our full review of the Matador Beast18: packhacker.com/travel-gear/matador/beast18/ I hope this was helpful! -Eric
No, you need a power adaptor to do that. Some travel adaptors have that integrated but the Kikkerland adaptor only adapts plug style. If it had usb-c it would fry your phone. Travel power adaptors tend to be bulky so I recommend using Kikkerland to convert the plug then using a Apple Power power adaptor with it. If you want an integrated travel and power adaptor I recommend Ceptics.
The Road Warrior Travel Adapter is exactly the same but higher-quality and cheaper. I think the Kikkerland adapter was discontinued due to safety investigations.
Foldable water bottles make no sense, they should never be empty, they are not durable. Just buy bottles of water where water isn't drinkable - and reuse those when not.
It's definitely not coming with us for when we're one-bagging overseas, but it's awesome for when you're traveling to a wedding and have extra space 🙂 - Austin
I think it's worth mentioning, although not everyone will have this problem. Those first timers going to a totally different country it's best to keep in mind that the water filtration is different especially is underdeveloped countries. It's best sometimes to just drink from bottled water to be safe.
I travel international a lot-
1) Delsey dauphine roller cabin bag- 4lbs or so, wheelers duffles are lighter
2) eagle creek mesh bag for a toilet kit. The mesh bag weighs nothing.
3) other mesh bags for medicines
4) charge cables
5) Bose headphones qc20 earbuds- old model but you can sleep in them with music off
6) wet toilet wipes
7) sanitizer
8)a comfy eye mask to sleep
9) wear a hoodie so if plane is cold it helps and adds no weight
10) light hotel slippers if you are wearing shoes
Key is using mesh bags to hold everything no regular dopp bags. I make my 15lbs and less.
Wow, thank you for all the detailed suggestions, Parth! We love hearing how our community travels.
-Eric
As a new subscriber I may be preaching to the experts and recommending something everybody already does but I never go anywhere without several suction hooks. Most showers, baths and sinks don't have anywhere to hang washbags etc off the floor and as I use a washbag with a hanging hook this makes everything easier!
I'm loving the products you present and will be buying several for my next big trip! So thank you, Julia
Great shout, Julia! Thanks for subscribing. We have some great resources on our website as well-link below!
- Austin
packhacker.com/
That’s genius will be taking those with me on my next trip.
yes, and S hooks (metal ones) for hanging your coat, bag, etc in bathrooms.
While supporting packhacker is a must, I strongly recommend to anyone to get custom molded ear plugs, I use them daily for work but always throw them in my bag for travelling just in case.
It’s saved me a dozen times from a noisy snoring cabin mate to just needing a minute of quiet. Mine are anchored together with a string and a pass through hole to hear people talking over loud ambient noise.
Lastly if you’ve never worn them before they will take a week or two for your ears to adjust so plan accordingly before your trip.
Thanks for the support and sharing your insight, Patrick!
- Austin
Where did you get yours from?
@@MrJed_s any hearing aid company…
If you like the Kikkerland Travel Adaptor, I encourage you to try the Road Warrior Travel Adapter. I own both and find the Road Warrior to be a lot less finicky. They are both exactly the same only Road Warrior holds the patent, is cheaper, has higher manufacturing quality, and has a cover for the Type C pins. Also, I believe the Kikkerland Travel Adaptor is banned in some countries for safety concerns. Kikkerland is slightly lighter (0.01 oz) but, through my experience, the Road Warrior is an all around better product.
Looking it up now
I tried the loop earplugs and the travel adapter on my last international trip! And the water bottle for domestic trips (it would have been awesome for my international trip, but I did not own it at the time))
The earplugs are great. Low profile and comfortable to sleep in for side sleepers. I used them when staying at a hostel that was near a few nightclubs. Not enough to totally quiet things, but pretty good. Love how sleek the buds and case are.
The adapter is okay... It's a little chintzy. Used it in Uk and France. It is also really long in some configurations and that makes it so that heavy adapters (such as for a macbook pro) can cause it to fall out of loose outlets. IMO, it makes sense for digital nomad types or people who want to pack one bag and forget about it. And it is nice and thin. But I travel internationally somewhat rarely and when I do, I usually only end up at places with a couple adapter types. So I prefer country-specific adapters. It's also ungrounded for countries that use grounded adapters, which is not the safest (for grounded items). But none of the plug-in items I travel with have ground prongs anyways, so if that's the case it doesn't matter. I only brought USB power adapters and my fiance brought those plus some hair-related items and none had a ground plug and all were dual-voltage. So this worked fine for us except for the length.
For the water bottle, I got the .7L version since I am using it for business travel and the smaller one is nicer to clip on the belt if I am in the office. If filling at airports, I recommend an opaque color because I need to put my hand in front of the sensor on those stations to get it to fill my clear bottle, which is a bit of a pain.
Awesome write-up, Andrew!
- Austin
I also looked into buying the clutch charger and I would not recommend it to people unless they have some other device that requires micro USB. My travel electronic setup is now USB C only to streamline my cables and Clutch told me that their charger can only be charged with micro USB. The USB C cable only outputs power, it cannot be used to recharge the device from a USB C AC adapter.
Last year I purchased the road warrior which is similar to the Kirkland, but haven't had the opportunity to try it out yet. Main items I always travel with are:
1. Scrubba wash bag
2. Twisted elastic clothesline
3. Laundry detergent sheets
4. Pacsafe 25L backpack
5. Eddie Bauer packable backpack if I shop too much.
6. Crocs classic flip
7. Vapur or Joypur collapsible filtered water bottle.
Thanks for sharing, L B!
- Austin
I liked the universal travel adapter, it is necessary for all travellers. Nice share 👍
🙌 glad you think so!
@@PackHacker The travel adaptor is great but don't use the one from Kikkerland. They use low manufacturing standards which has lead to my travel adaptor's pins not rotating. I purchased another one and it had another manufacturing issue. Then I found Road Warrior which holds the patent, they are cheaper and much higher quality.
Zendure Passport III is a great and well-rounded universal adaptor however it may be hefty for solo or lightweight travelers.
The Vapur water bottle is amazing, I have reviewed it my self and stil use it a lot. Be sure to get a cleaning tool though, it stil holds up after 2+ years. I own the black 1L, i wouldn't go smaller, just put less water in it. I love how you can rol it up when it's empty, so light!
Thanks for sharing your experience!
- Austin
Which cleaning tool do you recommend?
I always have a pocketJUICE battery pack with me in town or out of town. I carry it every day to work being a first responders power at a moments notice is a must. The plus side of this is the power plug is built in and you can use it as a wall wart so it charges at the same time your device charges no need to carry both. Has 2 USB outlets and USBC to charge on the go. Only downfall is its American style plug. They can be picked up everywhere and I have used this heavily with no failure.
Thanks for the suggestion, Maury! I will pass it along to our managing editor.
-Eric
It seems to me like the Kikkerland travel adapter is unsafe to use with a lot of devices.
To explain, I need to go into the basics first: put very simply, power flows into your device through one conductor, the hot wire, and out of your device through the other conductor, the neutral wire. Having only these two conductors in a wire is sufficient for the device to operate, but it is incredibly unsafe to use with devices that have a metal casing. The reason being is that if the hot wire touches the case (which it shouldn't but it can happen by accident), the case conducts electricity and you'll receive an electric shock if you touch it. That is why if there is a metal casing, it's connected to ground: if the hot wire touches the case, the electricity flows to ground, so at least it's less likely to take the path through your body, and ideally (electric installations are sketchy af in some countries, including the US imo), the RCD trips, interrupting the faulty flow of power.
And this is where the adapter is dangerous: with its flat construction, it physically cannot have a ground connection, at least for European (schuko) plugs. Because of this, *it must never be used with devices that require a ground connection.*
Generally, the plug of a grounded device features three contacts whereas the plug of an ungrounded device only has two, so if you plug your device into the adapter and there's an exposed contact, DO NOT USE IT (however, that does not mean it's guaranteed to be safe when there are no exposed contacts, and an ungrounded metal casing should be seen as a contact too).
In the US, most laptop, camera, and phone chargers don't have ground. Kikkerland and adaptors like it can only support devices up to 1000W which usually don't have a ground pin. It is unsafe in that it allows you to use a grounded plug in a ungrounded environment, but to prevent that from happening you just have to use common sense.
Keep these travel videos coming love ‘em
Will do! 😁
I’m going to Hawaii in 3 weeks, and we’re stressing on what to pack, so, thank you!
We’re happy to help 😃 Thanks for watching!
-Eric
Babbel should sponsor you all the time, since your channel is Travel/packing themed
We're stoked to be working with them 😁
- Austin
I always take a hot water bottle for UK or camping. A6 memo bottle always excellent as fits in jeans pocket but caused surprise in the office as it looks like a hip flask!
😂
I love the buff. I have 4 and they work great for keeping my hair out of my face.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Kelly!
- Austin
For the clutch portable charger I feel like getting the usbc version would be more versatile and just carry a tiny usbc to lightning adapter.
Thanks for sharing your insights! 🤙
-Eric
I never travel without my merino wool buff. So many uses.
Great shout, Woody!
- Austin
I took a Kikkerland travel adapter on a trip a few years ago and it really didn't work. I ended up abandoning it in a hotel. I typically only need one or two adapters so I just take those now.
If you like the design, Kikkerland is really poor quality. The Road Warrior travel adaptor is exactly the same but has much higher quality.
I wish clutch made a magsafe option
I wish I had that pack wall
🙌
Do y'all ever need something self defense-ey? Would love to see some low profile options that comply with security and international laws. Like, can you bring a walking stick on a plane? Are there telescoping options? Maybe some utility gloves that double as brass knuckles, that kind of stuff. Not really technically weapons but stuff you could use in a pinch. Could be a cool video!
We're all about travel, so we stick to TSA friendly topics 🙂
- Austin
@@PackHacker what about tactical torch light like olight mini? Appreciate if you could test it out?
Hi hafiz! No plans to review that product at the moment, but I'll pass it along to the team for consideration-thanks!
- Austin
tell me you've never been robbed without telling me you've never been robbed
How do you clean the Vapor?
I'm interested in comparisons between Happy Ears and Loop. Happy Ears are even smaller, but on paper Loop Quiet are better.
Added to the list for content consideration-thanks!
- Austin
@@PackHacker I've used Happy Ears for years now. For small ears, they were the best in terms of long time comfort. I used them almost every night for almost 4 months and for many years before. I have bought Loop Quiet, but not had a chance to test them yet.
It would be interesting to test one in each ear, sleeping on my back.
I have a video on Happy Ears. Might consider making one for my experience with both, once I've tested Loop.
Is the packed size of the Matador Beast 18 worth it? I'm kinda on the fence whether getting that or their On-Grid Packable Backpack that seem very nice for its weight and packablity.
It really depends on what you will be using it for and if you bring along a checked bag. The Beast18 is significantly larger when packed, but it has many nice features while traveling. The On-Grid Packable Backpack weighs a lot less and packs down smaller but is missing those extra features.
Here is our full review of the Matador On-Grid Packable Backpack: packhacker.com/travel-gear/matador/on-grid-packable-backpack/
Here is our full review of the Matador Beast18: packhacker.com/travel-gear/matador/beast18/
I hope this was helpful!
-Eric
Difficult to tell on a small phone screen but at 1:12 it looks like two round pins and one flat? That won't work in UK: we use all flat.
We've had success using it in the UK, but YMMV. Thanks for watching!
- Austin
Does the Kikkerland travel adapter came in a USB-c version instead please?
No, you need a power adaptor to do that. Some travel adaptors have that integrated but the Kikkerland adaptor only adapts plug style. If it had usb-c it would fry your phone. Travel power adaptors tend to be bulky so I recommend using Kikkerland to convert the plug then using a Apple Power power adaptor with it. If you want an integrated travel and power adaptor I recommend Ceptics.
Someone who ordered the Loop earplugs got dinged for customs. Might be an idea to stay below 350 kr when ordering to Norway.
The clutch is nice but the micro usb charging port is a deal breaker for me.
We agree-overall, the charger works great, but we wish it had a more modern charging method.
-Eric
Of course, the Kikkerland adapter is currently unavailable on Amazon. LOL
The Road Warrior Travel Adapter is exactly the same but higher-quality and cheaper. I think the Kikkerland adapter was discontinued due to safety investigations.
"this wallet fits the bill!"
did you just.......... get out.
😂😂😂
Foldable water bottles make no sense, they should never be empty, they are not durable. Just buy bottles of water where water isn't drinkable - and reuse those when not.
They’re not for everyone, but we dig a folding water bottle to save space! Hardier adventures call for hardier materials, though 😀
-Eric
does Pack Hacker works in India......?????? if yes then how......??????
Travel steamer? Oh hell no 😅
It's definitely not coming with us for when we're one-bagging overseas, but it's awesome for when you're traveling to a wedding and have extra space 🙂
- Austin
@@PackHacker I’ll accept the wedding argument 👍
🙌