They might not be the best accessory for really long bike trips, but if you only cycle to get to work or around the city, Blackburn’s FLEA bike lights will save you from ever having to replace batteries again. They come with a small USB dongle that attaches to any standard USB port, and once again thanks to the power of magnets you simply need to dock either the front or back light to charge them up.
On a single charge the front light, which spits out 40 lumens thanks to a set of 4 super-bright white LEDs, will run for 3 hours steady, or up to 5 hours flashing. While the back light with its 4 super-bright red LEDs will keep on keeping on for 6 hours steady and up to 12 hours flashing. In addition, an extra set of LEDs hidden under the logo on top of the lights will glow green, orange or red indicating their current charge level. ~$30 for the front and rear lights, sold separately.
Spring hasn’t even arrived yet, but what feels like the longest Winter in recent memory has me excitedly awaiting the arrival of Summer. So before I’ve even packed away my ‘Winter’ coat I’m already in the mood for warm weather gadgets like this arc sprinkler from Gilmour. Now I know that sprinklers don’t usually make the list when it comes to Summer gadget guides, but I like what Gilmour has done with this particular model.
The perforated arch that moves back and forth when the water is flowing is actually made from a flexible material instead of stainless steel, so you can bend the ends around to create a custom coverage pattern. They claim it can hydrate an area up to 4,000 sq. ft., which roughly converts to keeping 4 or 5 kids occupied for at least an hour on a hot Summer afternoon. $44.95 from Amazon for this version featuring a die-cast zinc base, or just $19.29 for one made of plastic.
Remember the Aerobie? It was a red ring throwing toy popular in the 80′s and 90′s that was the first real competitor to the Frisbee’s throne. When it came to distance it could really outperform your traditional throwing disc, but that also served to be its downfall. As kids we loved playing with the Aerobie, but ‘playing’ only accounted for about 5% of our day. The other 95% was spent trying to retrieve the Aerobie from neighbor’s fenced-in backyards, or off the roof of our house. So I can’t help but look at the Hela Disc with a little bit of skepticism.
Unlike the circular Aerobie, the Hela Disc has more of an oval shape with an arched airfoil design the company refers to as the FlexFoil. The far ends are also slightly weighted, so when thrown there’s a sort of centrifugal effect that flattens the disc out in flight, increasing its stability. In fact it apparently makes the Hela Disc more playable in windier conditions, so you don’t have to put off playing just because conditions are blustery. Of course there’s no reason to think the Hela Disc won’t spend just as much time trapped on roofs given it’s boasted to have a 150 foot throwing distance, but since they’re just $18.95 each, it won’t break the bank to keep a backup on hand.
On a set of 4 x D-sized batteries this LED lantern will run for an impressive 336 consecutive hours, on its lowest setting of course. But that equates to 2 whole weeks of illumination which is easily more time than most people can tolerate camping or even being outdoors. In fact at full brightness it can still run for 175 hours non-stop, or just over a week, which again is probably longer than most people can stand to be away from the safety of their online social networks. It’s also completely waterproof and will remain buoyant and fully operational if dropped in water, perfect if you’ve chosen a really, really poor place to set up camp. $49.95 from Hammacher Schlemmer.
Alright fine, that headline was a complete and absolute lie. No one who’s ever seen the Bellagio’s fountains in person would confuse this water and light show with that popular Vegas attraction. And you know why? Because compared to this the Bellagio’s little garden hose spectacle is a monochromatic let-down. That’s right people, this water and light show spews forth in a dazzling rainbow thanks to a set of color-changing LEDs. Top that Mr. Wynn.
As an added bonus you won’t have to worry about paying Bellagio-sized power bills either since the LEDs in this thing are powered by an internal turbine generator that’s in turn powered by the water from your garden hose flowing through it. And while the 6 1/2 foot high and 19 1/3 foot wide plume of mist might not be as majestic as what the fountains in Vegas blast forth, you won’t be subject to any disapproving looks if you choose to sit back and enjoy them from the comfort of a folding lawn chair. $49.95 from Hammacher Schlemmer.
When I was a kid there was no better way to spend a snowy day than sledding with my Pa. But it kind of became less fun the day I had to start hauling my own sled back up the local hill. After that the whole tobogganing idea became less appealing, unless I had had the engineering prowess of these guys. Their Winch Project is exactly that, a winch tethered to a tree that uses an 8HP Tecumseh Power Sport engine to pull a 2100 foot long rope that’s looped up a hill. The rope itself weights 70 pounds, but the setup is capable of towing up to 3 adults (at a 30 degree incline!) up a sledding hill at a pretty quick pace from the looks of the video I’ve included below.
There are no plans or directions on how to build one yourself, but if you have the capability and skills of building such a device I’m sure the glimpses they offer in the video are enough to put you on the right track.
Sometimes mother nature doesn’t always deliver rain, or enough of it, when it’s needed. But instead of tapping into your city’s water supply to keep your begonias blooming, the RainPerfect kit is a completely self-contained, eco-friendly watering solution.
Well, technically you do need to provide a water barrel for collecting rain, but the RainPerfect kit comes with everything else you’ll need including a solar-powered rechargeable pump that’s capable of sending 100 gallons of water at 13PSI through your hose on a single 8-hour charge. The kit will set you back ~$150, but when you consider that it theoretically won’t be adding to your water or electrical bill, it’s probably one of those things that will pay for itself over time.
Unless you’re afraid of heights, I’m pretty sure that everyone has dreamed of being able to fly at some point in their lives. But I mean more like soaring above the clouds like an airplane, not skimming a couple of feet above an asphalt road like you do in this StreetFlyer contraption.
Created by Dr. Carsten Mehring, the StreetFlyer lets a harnessed rider transition between walking along with the ‘bike’ and a prone, lying-on-your-stomach position where you pedal the single rear wheel with your feet and steer the front pair with your arms. I doubt it provides the same flying thrill as say hang gliding or skydiving, but the worst case scenario here is a little road rash, which is a bit less daunting. Well that and peculiar looks from everyone you pass, honks from cars since it appears to take up a lot more room than a traditional bike and random taunts and mockery from people like me. At the moment the StreetFlyer only exists as prototypes, but apparently a more marketable and ‘practical’ version is being designed that you could end up seeing on the streets some day.
They certainly don’t have enough surface area to permanently replace a full-sized set of snow shoes, but if you’re in the backwoods snowboarding or skiing and are trying to make your away across some deep powder, these Small Foot inflatable snow shoes look like they’re far more convenient to carry when not being worn.
When deflated they can easily be stashed inside a set of wearable pocket-like bags, with plenty of room left over for the included compact pump. And once inflated, a set of straps allows the Small Foot to be securely attached to your boots, supposedly providing enough surface area so that you don’t sink to your knees in a deep drift. No pricing or availability info just yet though.
Related Tags: Eco-friendly, Outdoors
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