Vibram Brings Runners Back to (Almost) Barefoot

Vibram Five Fingers women's KSO
Vibram Five Fingers shoes have five distinct toes on each to emulate your bare feet.

Sometimes technology advancements take you back to your natural state. In the case of Vibram Five Fingers, that’s barefoot. Vibram believes the 26 bones, 33 joints, 20 muscles, and hundreds of sensory receptors, tendons, and ligaments in the foot are a marvel of evolution, and best left in their natural state. Of course living in Manhattan, or many other places, don’t make running or even walking barefoot welcoming. Perhaps the last realm of barefoot action is the beach, or possibly a grassy field. But we opt for the protection of shoes everywhere else.

Vibram Five Fingers “shoes” have five distinct toes on each foot, and the soul emulates a bare foot with an arch. The company claims going barefoot, or wearing its shoes, strengthens muscles in the feet and lower legs; improves range of motion in ankles, feet, and toes; enhances balance and agility by stimulating neural function; and improves posture and alignment by not creating heel lift. Vibram Five Fingers has a range of models that lend themselves to running, water sports, hiking, traveling, yoga, and other disciplines of fitness. There’s a few therapeutic shoes on the market that make claims like this, and we plan to follow the space and take a closer look.

Staying Healthy When Flying

This piece from MIT is a couple months old, dealing with ways to stay healthy while flying during the holiday travel season. But if you’re like the crew here at KS, you may be one of the many who travel regularly, so the advice given by Howard M. Teller, M.D., of MIT Medical will come in handy.

Besides debunking some myths (recirculated cabin air is not the cause of why people get sick when flying), Heller offers some common sense advice on what you can do. Essentially, the main cause of illness when flying are from the people around you, from fellow passengers to the flight crew. Heller also says eating is one of the ways of getting sick, because you’re bringing your hand to your mouth; your hand may have been contaminated.

For more on the subject, check out MIT’s page, which includes a video. We at KS will also offer our own tips on flying healthy in an upcoming post.

MIT Medical

Cameras with Geo-Tagging

Add geo-tags to your digital photos with Samsung HZ35W.
Add geo-tags to your digital photos with Samsung HZ35W.

You were on a hike. You took a picture of the view from the summit. When people ask, you can give them the general vicinity of the photo, or you can give the exact coordinates via GPS technology built into the camera. Samsung’s HZ35W has GPS technology built in so adventurers can geo-tag digital images. Photos are tagged with longitude and latitude and post the city, state, and country and even reference a map on the camera’s active-matrix OLED (AMOLED) screen.

A 12 megapixel camera with a 24mm wide-angle lens and 15x optical zoom, the HZ35W will snap some impressive pictures as you travel hike the nation’s parks or travel abroad. Back at home you can upload photos with their geo-tagging to show your friends where you’ve been.

More info: Samsung.com


Know Where You Are Going With the GH-561

Getting there they say is half the fun. We say not getting completely lost is the rest of the fun! The GH-561 makes pre-planning your treks all the easier – whether they be around the neighborhood or around the world. This fully sealed, water resistant device offers GPS navigation with route planning, waypoint and GPS positioning. It can be used to locate and track points anywhere you choose to go, and it can be used with Travel Manager software so you can plot out your trip. It is rugged enough for outdoor travel, including climbing and hiking. And best of all, it will save you from ever saying, “where are we?”

Product Page: Globalsat GH-561

Strong Enough for a Job Site, Compact Enough for Travel

If you’re looking for a durable digital camera for your next global trek, consider one that is meant to be used closer to home (or at least for home improvements). The Ryobi TEK4 Durashot is an 8megapixel digital still camera that can features a memo recording feature, which is great for providing a verbal description to your photos, and provides a flash that can light up to 15 feet. It has large buttons that can be used with gloves, and it features easy to use navigation. Best of all it is impact resistant and dust and waterproof, so it is ready for trip to the beach, the mountains or just about anywhere else you care to take it.