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.
Panasonic announced a bevy of new compact P&S digital cameras today, including an update to last year’s rugged TS2, not surprisingly dubbed the TS3, which improves some of its outdoorsy-ness. But what has me most excited is that Panasonic has chosen to bump the TS3′s resolution down to 12.1 MP, compared to the TS2′s 14 MP sensor, which should obviously improve the camera’s low-light performance. And hopefully it’s a sign that the MP wars might finally be coming to an end.
But back to what the TS3 does best. In addition to snapping photos that 12.1 MP sensor is also able to capture full 1920×1080 HD videos in the worst of conditions. It’s now waterproof down to 40 feet, 7 more than the TS2, able to survive a drop from around 6.6 feet, can survive and keep snapping away to temperatures as cold as 14ºF and on top of all that since the housing is completely sealed it’s even dustproof. And since it’s designed to accompany those who are particularly adventurous there’s also built-in GPS for geo-tagging your shots, as well as a compass, altimeter and barometer.
Not surprisingly in this day and age the TS3 even has a 3D photo mode, which gets around the fact there’s only a single fixed lens by rapidly snapping 20 consecutive photos, overlaying the 2 best shots to create a 3D photo that can be enjoyed on your Panasonic VIERA 3D HDTV. The images are also MPO, or Multi-Picture Object, compatible, which means they can be viewed on any hardware that supports that open format. The Lumix TS3 will be available sometime in March of this year, with pricing still to be announced. Though you can probably expect it to fall somewhere below $300 like the currently available TS2.
Not to knock those who enjoy a good cross-country run, but skiing seems to be a lot more fun when gravity does all the work for you. But not everyone has access to majestic peaks that make a downhill run possible, so that’s where the Skizee enters the picture. It’s kind of like a snowmobile minus the seat and front skids, which are replaced by a person wearing skis. So what you’re left with is just the tread part, powered by a 10.5 hp 4-stroke engine, which pushes a skier forward at what looks to be a pretty good clip based on the following video:
When folded down the Skizee can easily fit in the trunk of a car making it infinitely more portable than actual snowmobiles, which usually require their own trailer. But not surprisingly something this fun looking doesn’t come cheap. And in addition to buying a set of skis which aren’t included, the Skizee will set you back $2,500.
It’s almost Christmas, and you know what that means. Well yes, there are festive family get-togethers, spiritual rejoicing and gift exchanges. But I’m talking about that thing that comes right after Christmas. That’s right, taking down all of the lights you hung outside. Oh the joys of dragging out a ladder, and unhooking strand after strand of lights. At least when you’re hanging them, you can stand back and admire your work. After taking them down, all you get to see is the pile of cords you have to somehow wind up in an orderly fashion.
If you’ve got some cash to burn and are tired of dealing with the hassle of hanging Christmas lights, you might want to take a gander at the LiteLocker. It’s a system that hangs below your guttering (or anywhere, really) and houses a strand of lights. When it comes time to light up the house, you just open up the LightLocker boxes (broken into 4-foot pieces to accommodate most areas of your house) using a special tool. You don’t even have to climb a ladder, the tool reaches up and opens them. Closing it is just as simple.
Your neighbors will never know that you only spend a few minutes decorating your house each winter. Heck, you can order some of these and wait until it’s nice and warm outside to install them. A 24-foot set is going to run $70.
I’m not saying there’s anything particularly wrong with a snowboard you can sit on, in fact it looks like a lot of fun. I just don’t think you’ll be getting recruitment letters from Olympic snowboarding teams, even if you manage to pull off a Tomahawk while never getting off your can. So I suggest letting your dreams of corporate endorsements and gold medal glory go, and just literally sit back and enjoy the ride, particularly if you suck at the real thing. You see the fact that you’re sitting means your body’s center of gravity is lower, so you’re less prone to wipeouts or falls. And since your boots aren’t locked in to bindings, you can easily and safely control your speed by digging your feet into the snow. $49.95 from Hammacher Schlemmer.
Related Tags: Novelty, Outdoors
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