Coolest travel products currently on Kickstarter

There was a time in the not-so-distant past when, if you were shopping for the newest travel gadgets you'd thumb through the latest Sharper Image catalog or see what kind of must-have tech was on display at Brookstone. But now, some of the best and most innovative travel products are found (and funded) on Kickstarter, Indiegogo or other crowdfunding sites. Bluesmart, a ridiculously intelligent suitcase that has built in GPS tracking, a digital lock and a phone charger raised $2.2 million through Indiegogo. Baubax, a feature-heavy travel jacket billed as "The World's Best" pulled in a jaw-dropping $9.2 million on Kickstarter.

So what's the next Kickstarter must-have? It could be one of these five products, which are either still looking for backers or are taking pre-orders through the site. There are travel jeans, pocket-sized power strips and hard-case luggage that flattens out and hangs in your hotel closet – the kind of thing that you didn't know you needed, but may not be able to travel without.

1.Lifepack, a solar-powered backpack, launched on Kickstarter on Monday with a modest $20,000 funding goal. It hit that number within eight hours and, as of this writing, has pulled in more than $66,000 from backers. The Lifepack has a solar-powered USB charger, an integrated locking cable (that doubles as a bottle opener) and a portable Bluetooth speaker. There are also four hidden pockets, including a passport-sized pocket in the strap that would allow you to safely conceal your travel documents.

"I tried to put in every kind of feature that fits the digital nomad who is constantly on-the-go," Lifepack founder Adrian Solgaard told Road Warrior Voices. "Really, it's best-suited for people who travel a lot or work remotely."

Solgaard said that the idea for the Lifepack began with the integrated lock, and features were added from there. "My friend's backpack was stolen with his laptop and everything inside last year, which is when I really started digging into [the design]," he said.

Solgaard seems to have designed the Lifepack for people like himself. He said that, as a frequent traveler ("I go wherever the action is," he said) he's splitting his time between seven countries on three different continents, living out of one Lifepack and a carry-on suitcase. The Lifepack is available through Kickstarter for $125; it will later retail for $249.