Every time I go swimming somewhere, I think to myself “wouldn’t this be more fun if I were just climbing out of the water, instead of swimming?” I mean, what’s the fun in swimming if you’re actually in the water most of the time? I’m totally not being sarcastic in the least. That’s why I have to get one of these Floating Iceberg Climbing Walls.
Rock climbing walls are fun on land, so why not drop $5400 on getting one for the water? Sure, you have to worry less about falling and breaking your neck in the water, but aren’t there enough fun things to do while swimming? To paraphrase a young jedi in training “I could almost buy my own boat for that!” I do see two rather fun uses for this. One involves scaring the hell out of people boating in the middle of the night. The other would be sneaking over to someone’s house and inflating this sucker in someone’s pool.
I’ve never read the rule book, but I assume the addition of an electric motor to your bike during the Tour de France is not allowed. But if you opt to cheat using the Gruber Assist, no one will know you didn’t really earn that yellow jersey. That’s because the Gruber Assist’s electric motor is designed to hide inside a bike’s seat tube (minimal diameter of 31.6mm required) and provide a bit of extra help with the pedaling, instead of powering the back wheel. So not only is it almost impossible to tell it’s installed, but the Gruber Assist can be retrofitted to any bike, as long as the seat tube is large enough.
However, I say “almost impossible to tell it’s installed” since you’ll still have to carry a set of NiMH or LiON batteries (good for about 1.5 hours) which are somewhat hidden inside a saddlebag. So if someone starts poking around your ride, your secret might not be safe. But lying and cheating aside, the Gruber Assist is definitely a very clever way to retrofit your bike with an electric motor, even if the complete NiMH version will set you back about $2,400.
Wristbands designed to monitor your exposure to harmful UVA and UVB rays are nothing new, but I particularly like the UVSunSense bands because they’ll also let you know when it’s time to re-apply your sunscreen. You see, when you first apply sunscreen, you actually apply it to the UVSunSense band as well. Once you step outside the band will turn purple in the sunlight letting you know it’s been activated, and when the purple color fades, you’ll know it’s time to re-apply.
There’s also an “APPLY SUNSCREEN TO THIS SIDE” note on the band, and when those words are no longer visible, it’s actually recommended that you get out of the sun completely. Now unfortunately the bands are one time use only, but a 7-pack from Amazon is just $5.87.
Those damn squirrels. Every time they eat a nut, they keep a tree from growing, which is pretty much exactly the same as cutting down a tree with a chainsaw, setting fire to it, and then injecting the ashes directly into the ozone layer. So, it’s good to see that the old fashioned nut-powered squirrel has been replaced with a much more eco-friendly version that runs on solar power. Just stick him outside somewhere that gets sun during the day, and at night, you’ll have yourself a glowing squirrel. And having a glowing squirrel is very, very important, for a truly marvelous reason which this margin is too narrow to contain.
Water-pressure powered rockets just don’t have the same ‘oomph’ as their solid-fuel powered Estes counterparts, but the Titan Blast more than makes up for it by being 7 feet tall. Now in order to be light enough to make it off the launch pad the Titan’s body is mostly inflatable, but from a distance your neighbors won’t know the truth. So not only is it safe to operate in your backyard (if it’s big enough) but it’s apparently capable of reaching an altitude of about 100 feet before succumbing to gravity and returning to Earth.
The Titan Blast is available from Walmart for a somewhat pricey, $49.96, so here’s to hoping it doesn’t end up stuck in a tree.
Skateboarding has never been my thing. I remember buying one when I was a kid and spending a couple of weeks trying to ride it. Then I realized that I could go faster with less effort on my bike and promptly forgot about it. The next time I buy anything that remotely resembles a skateboard is either when someone actually makes a hoverbaord a la Back to the Future or when this Scarpar Powerboard comes out.
This awesome motorized skateboard can do everything its non-motorized counterpart can’t. In addition to scooting along by itself on the pavement, it’ll go off-road on dirt, grass, sand and even snow. Take that, crappy skateboard. Sure, it doesn’t look like it has a great turn radius, or that it goes very fast, oh and you can’t do tricks either. Still, if this thing weren’t still in development, I’d buy one.
I can’t say I’ve ever had the need to use a hose when the temperature outside was below the freezing mark, but I’m sure someone, somewhere has. Otherwise this heated hose from PIRIT probably wouldn’t exist. As you can see in the photo, it looks like your garden-variety water hose, but with the addition of a grounded plug that’s connected to a copper wire heating element that runs its entire length.
When plugged in, a built-in thermostat activates the heating element when the ambient temperature outside the hose is below 95° F, and automatically shuts it off when the temperature rises above 105° F. The heating element can also be used to thaw the hose if it’s filled with ice, or even just as a radiant heat source to keep a greenhouse warm or to melt snow. All-in-all I guess it’s not a bad idea, though 50 feet of it will set you back $189.
One of the things I miss from my childhood is my old beanbag chair. I used to sit in that thing all the time, be it reading, doing homework, playing my NES or watching TV. I’ve been very tempted to get one for years, but just haven’t gotten around to it. If you happen to be in the market for one, and have a pool, I might suggest checking out the Slack Amphibious Lounger.
Beanbags are great, but the Slack Amphibious Lounger takes things one step further by floating. Just toss this sucker in the pool and you’ve got an awesome floaty chair. Sure beats the hell out of those plastic inflatable chairs. No word yet on pricing or availability.
A couple of years ago I decided to pick up a paintball gun and go out with some of my friends and shoot them. It’s really a lot of fun, though it does sting a bit when someone manages to hit you. Now I know why my parents bought us Nerf guns, rather than letting us pelt each other with paintballs as kids. Unfortunately there are some glaring differences between shooting a Neft gun and a paintball gun. One of the biggest being that there is no physical evidence that you’ve been hit after the foam dart bounces off of you, which takes some of the fun out of things. These Chalk Guns from WipeOut seem like the perfect middle-ground between the two.
The guns use foam darts which are likely very similar to those found in a Nerf gun, however, the tip of each is covered in chalk. When the dart strikes someone, the chalk leaves a very visible mark that indicates they were hit. The chalk is supposedly very easy to wipe off, which will make parents happy. You can get a pair of guns for around $37, and dart refills for around $9. I just wonder how hard it is to re-chalk the darts.
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By Andrew Liszewski
