What is a useful, small, relatively flat and lightweight object?
Asked by
zina (
1661
)
June 24th, 2009
Help us brainstorm:
Something functional (to just about anyone).
Small enough to fit in an envelope (so relatively flat too, but not necessarily).
Could be anything.
(Examples so far: bookmark, bird whistle, flower seed packet, photograph….)
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54 Answers
An ipod touch! YES! I also have a keychain size leatherman’s tool which I could not live without. I don’t think they make them anymore.
A plane ticket to someplace I really want to visit.
Edit: ...Or a condom? You know, for your sexually active friends.
@Allie Lurve- I so envy PnL right now.
Useful items, flat and lightweight.
Toothpicks
CD’s or DVDs
Keys to a vacation rental home.
@Dog – I only envy her if she has successfully figured out how to sleep on a plane.
As to the actual question, guitar picks – they make some pretty ones these days.
Does it count if it’s only useful to 1/2 the population? Hair ties and jewelry come to mind, but not super popular among men.
Letters, poems, and stories all fit on single sheets of paper (or many). So do printed webcomics.
Remember CDs? You could send a mix CD, or one with some recorded podcasts. Or a DVD, come to think of it.
Tealights or other small, flat candles. Nice to have around.
You can never go wrong with candy…
@Darwin What is a little sleep deprivation at the beginning of a 5 week vacation? ;) Small price to pay for such an adventure.
a football?
ok I assume you’re thinking of sending out advertising material? can you help us by saying what business you’re into, what’s your target market group, etc?
sheets of paper, or even toilet paper!
I have it!
How about this for useful, lightweight and flat?
@Dog – I still recall with sadness how sleepy I was when I was at the Prado in Madrid at the beginning of a six-week stint in Spain. I saw the museum’s works, but some are as if they were part of a waking dream (and, in the case of Heironymous Bosch, a waking nightmare).
I really do prefer to skip the sleep deprivation, or at least leave it until the end of the vacation.
@Darwin I agree it is not ideal and really not the best way to start out but perhaps she took some Bonine or Dramamine and it put her out. I like to hope! PS: I see you are closing in on 10k!
As I read the other posts I realize that you may be solving a REAL problem and not just asking some strange hypothetical question. Calendars are flat. Jewelry can be flat. compact recycle totes.
I forgot to say another very small and useful thing. Dental Floss. Its always in my purse. I once heard a person speaking about survival gear on a CBC interview and they pointed out some of the many uses of dental floss. Its small but has a lot of potential – eg: can cut cheese with it, use it as a clothesline, tie parcels, could even tie off the cord of a baby in an unexpected delivery. I could go on and on about the uses of it. And it comes in a package that keeps it clean – not sure if its absolutely sterile but close!
Emergency sewing kits. Inexpensive plastic poncho raincoats. Scarves. Socks, especially the really low ones. Ice scrapers. Bandaids.
A sponge.
A dollar bill.
A condom.
A P-38 tool. You can open cans, pry, cut , even cut the roof off a car in an emergency. I always carry one in my wallet, @AstroChuck between the dollar bill and the condom.
(I feel like I’m playing “Family Feud”)
I was going to say the iPhone and a Swiss Card (Swiss Army Knife tools in almost credit card sized package)
A letter opener. Although, I’m not sure it could open the letter from the inside. Well, there’s always a first time!
A mini-protractor or 6” plastic ruler. I think they also make 4” rulers.
One of those thin tape measures.
a map
a bottle opener
a wallet calendar
a refrigerator magnet
a chamois cloth
@hearkat. Oh thank god. I thought I was gonna hafta mention the Swiss army knife/card.
Forget my ex-wife posting. I misread the question. I thought it said flat and useless.
@AstroChuck, ha! I just now got to see what you were talking about. The English language is so versatile.
@zina You have to let us know what you decide. The suspense is killing me.
One of those flashlight things that is the size and shape of a credit card
a balloon (uninflated, duh)
stamps/stickers
chapstick (the slim ones)
a pen, but not a crappy regular pen. Maybe one with a highlighter on the other end or where you can switch the colors of ink. People love a fun pen.
You should seal the envelope really securely and then put a letter opener inside.
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