Tow, tow your gear with the new Road Warrior Sports trailer, the Atlas 8. Launched in January, the sports trailer will be shown at the upcoming Sea Otter Classic, where riders can get a chance to check out this efficient solution for hauling gear and freeing up space in a car or SUV. Waterproof and lightweight, this sports trailer can be hauled by nearly any vehicle to provide 73 cubic feet of space, and even provide extra room for bikes on top. The Road Warrior would be envious!
Category: General
Cool Point Tackles Heat on those Hot Days
Trigger Point Performance, a company that makes products that regulate and stimulate the muscular movement of the body, just created its Cooling Division with the release of Cool Point. The concept is that athletes keep cooler by reducing mental and physical stress that heat places on the body. This is done by cooling certain points with a targeted ice pack.
This ice pack is about the size of an ice cube, with a strap that wraps around the hand. By placing the ice pack on your palm the rest of your body will be cooled, or will maintain a cooler temperature while working out on hot days. The Cool Point pack was previously available, in fact we checked it out at Interbike last fall, but the new model includes a few upgrades. Those include improved gel with up to 50 percent longer cooling time, a lighter strap, dual-sided mesh for improved cooling. The new Cool Point has a more prominent logo, which has its pluses and minuses for those of us sensitive to brand advertising on products
Gravity Feed to Clean the Water
Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink. That’s an all too familiar problem for those off in the wilds. While there are numerous options for making water drinkable, most are not ideal. But we recently heard about the Platypus GravityWorks Filter, which is essentially a gravity-based or primal pull system that coaxes water through a filter with no actual pumping required.
It is pretty simple actually; basically a few tubes, water bags and a filter cartridge that lets you put in potentially “bad” water in one bag and lets gravity and the filter transform it into “good” – or at least safe to drink – water. The system is fairly speedy, and can filter about 1.75 liters of water per minute. The filter features a pore size of .2 microns, which is enough to eliminate bacteria, protozoa, and other contaminants that may taint fresh water, but it won’t stop viruses so this is something to keep in mind if you’re not sure about the quality of the H2O. But the GravityWorks Filter certainly will do wonders for turning lake or river water in the wilds into something refreshing after a long hike.
Platypus CleanStream Gravity Filter Official Website
[Via Gearjunkie: Gravity Fed: Water Seeps Through Filter to be ‘Cleaned’]
Rockboard Goes Off-Road
Skateboarding has typically been called “sidewalk surfing” but over the last couple of years we’ve seen more and more attempts to take skateboarding off road. The latest attempt is from Rockboard, which showed off its Descender board earlier this year at Toy Fair in New York. Video after the jump
Keystone ECO MarineCase Lets You Bring Your iPhone Into the Water
Judging from all the “rugged” cases for portable electronics we have covered, we are going to confirm (unscientifically) there’s a really big market for people who want to take their smart phones and music players into the water or any place that is electronics unfriendly. The latest such product for the iPhone 4/4S is the Keystone ECO MarineCase from Concord Keystone, a fully submersible case – up to 20 feet – that lets you shoot video, take photos, send e-mail, or perform any smart phone-related activity while under water. It also protects against other elements like dust and sand, and is IP58 certified for dustproof and waterproof.
Check out this video shot with an iPhone encased in the MarineCase. Continue reading Keystone ECO MarineCase Lets You Bring Your iPhone Into the Water
Weekend Reading List (4.7.12) Hunger Games Real Deal, Augmented Reality, Sunday Streets, and Wind Map of USA
Could this be the real Katniss of the Hunger Games?
httpv://youtu.be/1o9RGnujlkI
Made in America: Chamois Butt’r & Chamois Butt’r EuroStyle
Spring has arrived for most of us in the Northern Hemisphere and for those who have not been on the bike in a few months, it could be a painful time of the year. Not only do the legs need to be dusted off and put through the paces of riding ’base’ miles, but just getting used to time in the saddle can be painful for some people. Even if the correct saddle is installed, the rider’s positioning is correct, and good, quality padded cycling shorts are being worn, sometimes soreness and pain can still develop in the area of the body that is directly in contact with the saddle. Hanging up the bike or cutting a ride short does not have to be the answer. To help relieve this pain, a chamois crème or ointment can be applied to the chamois area of the cycling shorts before putting them on or directly to the part of the body that is sore. This crème is not only designed to reduce chaffing, but also provide relief to that area of soreness through the addition other ingredients inside the product.
We have highlighted a number of different chamois crème products in the past, and all of them have the same goal of providing relief to the area of soreness – just with a different list of ingredients designed to tackle the issue in a slightly different way. The main difference between the two types of chamois crèmes are the ‘regular’ creams act as a lubricant, reducing chaffing; while the ‘European’ formulas, along with similar skin lubricant properties, also provide a cooling feeling through additional ingredients like menthol to stave off the growth of bacteria. Paceline Products, of Pleasant Valley, Missouri, has been developing and distributing both types of chamois crèmes since their ‘regular’ formula, under the name Chamois Butt’r, was introduced to the market back in 1997. Continue reading Made in America: Chamois Butt’r & Chamois Butt’r EuroStyle
Made in America: Timbuk2 Bags
Hewlett-Packard, Mattel, and Apple Computer – what do these companies all have in common? They started in someone’s house or garage and have grown into multi-billion dollar corporations. The bag company, Timbuk2, was also started in a someone’s home, but unlike those other companies, they have chosen to keep the design and manufacturing of a number of their products close to where it all began for them in San Francisco, California. Continue reading Made in America: Timbuk2 Bags
Made in America: Apex Armor iPhone and iPod Cases
“Designed by Apple in California, Assembled in China” – flip over any iPod or iPhone and this statement appears on the back. The popularity of these personal electronics from Apple has spawned an enormous accessories market that too has followed suit with regards to manufacturing and followed Apple’s lead of producing their products outside of America. But that is not the case with every company. Apex Armor of Milpitas, California is bucking the trend with their line of aluminum cases for the current generation iPod Nanos and iPhone. Video after the jump
Alliance Advocacy Winners
Since 2009 the Alliance for Biking & Walking has solicited public nominations to help shine the spotlight on those making a difference for the bicycle and pedestrian advocacy movement. This week The Alliance announced its 2012 Advocacy Award Winners who are leading the way in the “people powered movement.” Full winner list after the jump
IHRSA: TrekDesk Lets You Walk While You Work
Trying to squeeze a workout in during office hours is no easy task. Fortunately, companies such as TrekDesk are designing products that can help you do both. At last week’s International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association, TrekDesk demonstrated its flagship product, the TrekDesk Treadmill Desk, which we covered back in 2010. The TrekDesk Treamill Desk (which doesn’t include a treadmill despite its name) was designed to sit over your treadmill and let you workout while you work, browse the Web, or watch TV. The desk itself can accommodate various setups ranging from a laptop to a dual-monitor workstation. Its main purpose is to prevent a sedentary lifestyle and get people moving. Continue reading IHRSA: TrekDesk Lets You Walk While You Work
Made in America: Trumark Slingshots
Preparing for an outdoor adventure means packing the right gear: water, food, bike helmet, sunscreen, and more. But how many people are prepared for the “unexpected?” A flat tire or getting turned around in the woods can mean the difference between a two hour trip, a two day survival situation, or even never returning from your adventure at all. Are you prepared to survive in the wild if the “unexpected” does occur?
“Surviving” is not just a situation reserved for the great outdoors, as people push further into the suburbs, we are more than likely to encounter bears, big cats, and other animals that would love to chow on us for dinner while roaming local trails just outside our own door. Sure, a firearm can provide the protection, but it can also land you a criminal record if you are carrying without a permit or carrying in an area that firearms are prohibited. Plus, ammunition is heavy and a firearm can become damaged in the rain. Mace can provide protection, but it cannot kill a rabbit or squirrel – for sustenance – if the situation gets that desperate.
A slingshot, in the right hands, can provide both food for survival and protection from wildlife. It won’t have the killing power of a firearm against a large animal, but it may hurt one enough to allow you and your family to escape. A modern slingshot (a.k.a. a catapult, or katapult for you European readers) is fairly lightweight, compact, and accurate; and the current models on the market are a far cry from a rubber band attached to a Y-shaped stick seen in cartoons. They have fiber optic sights, mounts for flashlights, and stabilizer weights just to name a few features. But, as we are seeing with a number of products, most slingshots are imported from China. One company has not followed that trend and is still making their product line in America. Trumark Slingshots of Boulder, Colorado has been continuously designing and manufacturing their slingshots in the U.S. since 1953. Continue reading Made in America: Trumark Slingshots
Made in America: Belle Baby Carriers
In the next few months life as we know it is going to change – this reporter and my wife are expecting a newborn, our first. The preparations and gathering of baby related products has started at our household, and as exciting as this is for us, there is a disturbing trend that we noticed in this entire industry – a majority of the products are made in China. Certainly there are products manufactured in other countries, Mexico, Vietnam and South Africa to name a few; but we have not found one baby related product that is made in the U.S.A. – until now. Belle Baby Carriers of Boulder, Colorado has been making baby carriers for those on-the-go since 2006 and they are all made in America.
The idea of carrying a baby close to a parent’s chest is not a new concept. It keeps the newborn close to the parent promoting ‘bonding’ during the first few months of development outside of the womb. For the parents, it allows the newborn to be easily carried during the first few months without the hassle of a stroller or jogger. Video after the jump