Evolving Consumer: Happiness through shopping - electronics & fitness

The Zambulance Makes a Difference

At Interbike last year we heard about the Zambulance, a bicycle ambulance, developed by ZamBikes. The developers of this bike believe it can make a difference in the developing world. The president and co-founder, Dustin McBride recently shared a story on how much of a difference this can be.

A Letter From the Director:
I don’t cry often. And when I cry, it’s usually because of a tragic loss of a loved one or some other serious pain that is ‘close to home’. Last week I visited some villages in Kamuli, central Uganda to check on Zambulances that we’ve distributed in partnership with Plan Uganda a few months ago. We visited many patients and the stories were touching, powerful, and some very hard to hear.

One story we experienced was about a woman, Susan, who was pregnant with twins. She gave birth to the first twin at home in the village but because of complications was struggling to deliver the second baby. The Zambulance was able to transport her to the hospital where she had a C-section and safely gave birth to the second twin. In a way, the story seems beautiful and victorious. But the story doesn’t end there. Susan has mental disabilities and is HIV+. We assume she was raped since the dad is in hiding and Susan can’t identify him. Because of her mental state, her healthy, beautiful twins were sent to an orphanage in another town. Continue reading The Zambulance Makes a Difference

Spring Forward

It has been a long winter and we’re looking forward to spring riding and that could include a trek on the off-road bike tour of Idaho’s hot springs. The Adventure Cycling Association has released a set of maps and guides for a 518-mile off-pavement ride on this route, which includes singletrack options. The route passes by more than 50 hot springs, including some that are commercialized and others that are undeveloped.

The Idaho Hot Springs Mountain Bike Route is offered as a two-map set, with the first map section featuring the main, off-pavement route — a loop route that primarily follows dirt roads for 518 miles, with a few stretches of pavement in the mix. The second map set covers the four singletrack options, and some sections are expert-only riding or hike-a-biking for those who aren’t experts.

Adventure Cycling Association Official Website

Logical Lights

It is just logical to have a light when riding at night, and BioLogic has released the Argus LED, a pair of safety lights that offer 60 degrees of adjustability — vertically and horizontally — which allow riders to aim the light exactly where it is needed so that they can be seen.

Sold as a matched pair of white and red for front and rear use, the Argus LED include a flexible mounting strap allows placement on handlebars, seatposts, helmets, or bags. These lights feature a precision machined aluminum body with weatherproof seals, while flanges in the sides allow for visibility to side-coming traffic.

BioLogic Official Website

Muddy Bike

The “Rasputitsa” is the semiannual mud season when unpaved roads can become difficult to traverse in most of Eastern Europe. It isn’t a problem so much today, but it presented problems for those who ever tried to invade Russia and for centuries isolated the east from the west.

It is thus a fitting name for the limited edition all road endurance bike from Honey Bicycles. The Rasputitsa is built and painted to truly celebrate the mud season. It is also just one of 22 models from the bicycle company, which appears to be ready to get things in high gear.

From the look of it the Rasputitsa is ready to tackle mud, gravel and just about any condition on paved, semi-paved or even unpaved roads. We don’t think the mud season would stop this one.

Honey Bicycles Official Website
[Via BikeRumor: HONEY BICYCLES KICKS THINGS OFF (AGAIN, SORTA) W/ LIMITED EDITION RASPUTITSA ALL ROAD ENDURANCE BIKE]

Drive Time

Cartoonish Andy Singer has released a new book “Why We Drive,” which offers 160 pages of entertaining and provocative cartoons, facts, history and the politics of America’s car culture and how it adversely impacts our society. He offers a sampling of the book on his website, but as the above image shows the car has truly changed the country for better and worse.

AndySinger .com

Camo Pack

Camo truly is the new black as we’ve previously noted, so why take a boring black duffle bag on the road or your next adventure when the Filson Duffle Backpack offers so much more. It is made of rugged Cordura nylon that can stand up to abrasions while also offering some water resistance.

The bag’s top cinches with a leather strap and grommets, while a center-front zipper still allows for easy access to the contents inside. The padded shoulder straps are removable, while it also features RIRI zippers for smooth sliding. Its camouflage design will also help you stand out in a crowd but in a good way!

Filson Duffle Backpack

Little Fatty

Kids grow out of bikes pretty fast, so it is no wonder that many parents might head to retailers like Target or Walmart for bikes instead of a bike shop – and actually we’ve been impressed over the last couple of years at what Walmart has offered.

The latest find is a budget line of fat tire bikes that include the 20-inch Mongoose Boys’ Massif, which is available now for under $200. It features tires that are four inches wide, along with a 1×7 drivetrain, disc brakes and twist shifters.

20″ Mongoose Boys’ Massif at Walmart
[Via GearJunkie: ‘Fat Bike’ For Kids (made by Mongoose, sold at Wal-Mart)]

Tagged!

Laser tag is a good way to get kids away from the video games and get them actually moving around, but that typically means heading to somewhere to play or buying expensive equipment. Skirmos has launched a Kickstarter campaign to develop an open source laser tag system that allows players to create their own electronic battlefield.

It all is built around a white laser tag gun (seen above), which has been designed so that cannot be easily mistaken for a real weapon. We know some parents might not like the concept of a gun in any shape or form for kids, but this one features a transparent design with RGB LEDs that change colors, and the developers have vowed to never make these look like real firearms.

The gun will feature an LCD HUD that can track objectives, timers, ammo and even health as well as “kills/deaths.” This is a war game after all, and one that should get the kids’ hearts racing in a good way. It could be the ultimate first person shooter. Video after the jump

Fender Lights to Protect from Fender Benders

Being seen at night is really the first line of defense for cyclists, and the developers of the Revolights have created a bicycle fender that features an integrated light. However, the Revolights Arc is much more than a set of LED tail lights – it features sensors that actually allow it to operate much like a brake light as well. It can actually increase in brightness much like a car’s brake or go into a blinking mode to help really draw some attention to drivers.

The Revolights Arc is being developed now via a Kickstarter campaign. Video after the jump

Rugged Notebook Ready for Extreme Environments

While it is designed for military, public safety and for other uses extreme environments the GammaTech DURABOOK R8300 is a notebook that could be ready for your next adventure. It is certified to stringent MIL-STD-810G and IP65 specifications, meaning it can withstand the abusive nature of extremely harsh environments, so it can handle shocks, drops, vibrations and extreme temperatures as well as water and dust.

It is also a serious machine. The DURABOOK R8300 notebook is powered by a Intel 3rd Generation i-Core LV /ULV CPU i-Core i7-3555LE or i-Core i5-3437U mobile processor, which provides optimum power consumption, weight, and performance. The unit also includes a mobile Intel QM77 Express Chipset that, among other features, provides integrated USB 3.0, Intel AMT 8.0 with enhanced manageability and security, Intel Rapid Storage Technology with RAID support for enhanced performance, power management, and data protection, Intel Smart Response Technology, and Intel Anti-Theft Technology that can disable a lost or stolen PC and reactivate it without compromise to the system or data. It includes the Windows 7 operating system.

The TFT touch-screen LCD display features direct-sunlight readability, while the Lithium-Ion battery provides eight hours worth of juice. The Durabook R8300 also features a mini card slot for Wireless LAN and Bluetooth 4.0 class 1 combo card; a built-in antenna; one M2 card slot for the WWAN module (Type 3042-S3-B); a built in SIM card slot; a built in WWAN antenna; a GPS module with built-in GPS antenna; and an optional Intel Dual Band Wireless 6235 802.11AGN. System security is provided by both administrator and boot password protection; Absolute Computrace, which allows remote management for continual tracking and securing all endpoints within a single cloud-based console; TPM 1.2; and Kensington lock.

GammaTech Official Website

Fly It On

It seems everyone is creating wearable fitness trackers for the wrist. However, the designer of the Flyfit is now looking to have cyclists, runners and swimmers put in the ankles instead!

Designer Jimmy Leu, who has taken his concept to Kickstarter, believes that the wrists are not exactly the optimal place to track body movement while exercising. By placing a monitor on the ankle it can better track movement and even different kinds of leg activity. It can thus track cycling rotation and cadence, swim leg strokes and steps taken while running or jogging. It can then stream the data collected via Bluetooth to an Android or iOS device on the fly. Video after the jump

Extreme Binoculars

While there are plenty of low-end binoculars that will work just find isn’t having superior gear really the superior option? Optisan’s Pro PC Series 10×42 Binocular not only delivers the superior quality and performance that you’d expect when in the field, but these are built to last and handle the weather and rigors of rugged country others dare not tread.

These provide unparalleled quality with high image contrast in bright or low light conditions, and feature Optisan’s ETE+ Microlux Fully Multi-Coated glass, which is further enhanced by Optisan’s premium-index phase-coated BaK4 prism. The rugged design and legendary toughness of the Pro PC Series 10×42 Binocular comes in part from Optisan’s lightweight Semi-Aro Thermotech 98 housing, which features 98 percent of the properties of Magnesium alloy while being 20 percent lighter.

Even Mother Nature is no match for the Pro PC Series 10×42 Binocular thanks to the O-ring sealed, dry-lab nitrogen-filled housing to prevent moisture, dust and dirt from infiltrating the housing.

Optisan Official Website

Fat Tire Camo

Despite the popularity of the original Netflix series Orange is the New Black, we think that camo is the new black – at least in the world of fitness and more specifically cycling. We’ve seen bike seats, bags, jerseys and now even a camouflage fatbike – which is fitting as it can almost blend into the woods.

At the recent Frostbite Fat Tire bike summit Cogburn unveiled a special version of its CB4 fat tire bike, which will be available with Real Tree APS camo with winter snow. It isn’t like the snow is looking to leave anytime soon, so now you can get this bike and match the terrain.

[Via BikeRumor: FROSTBIKE: YOU CAN’T SEE ME! COGBURN’S LIMITED EDITION REAL TREE SNOW CAMO FAT BIKE]