One of Bond’s most impressive qualities as a secret agent is his ability to adapt to whatever environment he finds himself in. Whether he’s skiing through the Alps, aboard a speeding train, scuba diving underwater or even spacewalking, Bond has a knack for turning his surroundings into potential tools for survival. It’s even more satisfying when one of Q’s gadgets fails, forcing Bond to abandon the high-tech solution and rely on his own ingenuity instead.

A shining example comes in Live And Let Die, when Bond’s magnet watch fails him while he’s stranded at Kananga’s crocodile farm. After using the watch to grab M’s coffee spoon and open Italian agent Miss Caruso’s dress earlier in the movie, Bond attempts to use its magnetic feature to grab a nearby rowboat by its oarlocks, only to discover that the boat is tethered and very much out of reach. Rather than wait around for another gadget to magically appear, Bond improvises by literally hopscotching across a collection of crocodiles to safety. It’s one of Bond’s most famous stunts and a perfect reminder that his most useful gadget has always been the ability to (literally) think on his feet.