Protect your tech

(NBCNC) - Mother Nature can be unforgiving, so if you plan to take your favorite gadgets on vacation there are some simple steps you should take to protect them from the elements.

Some are surprisingly inexpensive.

"There's a pretty simple solution on the way out to the beach or the pool, or wherever you're going, and that's to stop in the kitchen and get the simple Ziploc baggies," says Paul Reynolds, electronics editor at Consumer Reports.

You'll be able to text and even make calls through the plastic, but if your plan was to take movies and pictures beach side, guess again.

"You can take photos through the Ziplocs, but when we did it was like a very sophisticated, weird Instagram effect," Reynolds says.

For that, or for more extreme conditions you'll need to drop a few bucks for higher-end protection.

Screen protectors can help with glare in addition to offering scratch resistance, but none of these will offer protection from the summer's heat.

Many popular devices have a maximum recommended temperature of just 95 degrees.

"Keep that device as cool as you can, you don't need to keep it on ice but keeping it cool below that mid-90 degree temperature is probably a good idea," Reynolds says.

Because like your other loved ones, your devices need protection from the harshest summer elements.