Tag: outdoors

Categories
Camping Cooking

Vertex stove brings the heat, keeps it light

The Premise.  So you plan on spending some time in the great outdoors.  Most of the essentials are small and readily portable: water, compass, map, maybe a multitool.  But what about cooking?  How do you go about fitting something that can contain your fire, shield it from the wind, and prop up your pot/pan into your backpack?

The Product. The Vertex Ultralight Backpacking Stove addresses this problem. With no moving parts, it is literally nothing more than three stamped-out sheets of metal that assemble into a base for your pot, a support for your fuel, and a wind shroud for your fire. These sheets have holes and tabs stamped out to accommodate the Vertex’s interlocking assembly, and arc along their long ends, which form its base and the stand for your pot.  It can burn solid fuel tablets, or also be used in conjunction with the Trangia Spirit Burner to burn denatured alcohol. It then disassembles into a flat, 3×5-inch package that fits easily into its rip-stop nylon storage sleeve (fancy name for pouch), and almost any pocket.

The Pitch. While clear and demonstrative, most of the product video consists of a slide show There’s little more than a couple clips of the creator in the woods and some panning shots of the product in action, with “action” meaning “sitting there on fire,” in this case. About a third of the video focuses on the fuel the Vertex uses rather than the product itself which, let’s face it, consists of little more than a few thoughtfully configured sheets of tempered stainless steel.

The Perks. Backing the project for with $50 will get you a Vertex of your own ($45 if you get in early enough).

The Potential. The Vertex is a clever and elegant product, but with such a small foot print, and nuanced design, it might not work on a rough or slanted surface.  Conventional burners and emergency stove kits cost as little as $4, folding aluminum wind shrouds as little as $8, and other folding stove kits as little as $9.  That being the case, 50 bucks doesn’t seem like much of a deal for a device whose purpose can be outsourced to a bunch of tactically arranged rocks.

Categories
Cell Phone Accessories Music Tablet Accessories

Drytunes delivers the sound waves while in water waves

DrytunesThere is a veritable ocean of Bluetooth speakers out there, but how many can be used in the ocean? If the creator of Drytunes has its way, you’ll be able to pack up your troubles, or at least a few of your valuables, in music-spewing suitcase enclosure and toss it straight into the water without worry about damage. Project creator Michael Applebaum uses his radio-friendly voice to tell the story for the submersible speaker system. This includes having people express surprise at how good it sounds, although such demonstrations are of course hard to appreciate through whatever speakers you may be using. Drytunes is being made offered to backers for $315, or $299 if you catch the early bird and should be available in March 2014.

Categories
Winter Sports

Frostbite turns your limbs, lard into a human sled in five easy pieces

editors-choiceThe Premise.  Lots of folks want the fun of sledding, but not the lack of control over your sled’s downhill course or having to schlep said sled back up said hill, just to submit to gravity’s indifferent mercy once again. For those who don’t mind looking a little silly to alleviate this tradeoff, the ultimate sled may be themselves.

The Product.  The Frostbite is a collection of flexible sheets of plastic that strap to your hands, heels and hindquarters, allowing you to sled down a hill in a seated position, steer ( probably more just influence) your descent, and finally spring to your feet and run back up the hill without having to pick or carry a sled back up, or ever worry about falling off of it again, as you and the sled are united in perfect snow-strewn harmony.

The Pitch. The Frostbite’s creators demonstrate their product with what is mostly just a narrated product slide show interspersed with random graphics.  Claims are made that jumps tricks and spins can be done with the Frostbite, and are backed up with snippets of semi-trailers jumping dirt mounds and jets breaking the sound barrier; the latter one shall not achieve with Frostbite.  Although it does depict a smooth and fun sled run, after which the inventor seemed to have no problem popping right back up and running directly back up the slope, the one clip of the product in action is short and repeated about four times. The rest of the campaign page shows off design photos are literally snapshots of hand-drawn sketches and discusses things like die creation and pressing convex plastic in an extrusion process.

The Perks.  $25 gets a Frostbite, or $45 for a limited run that glows in the dark, for your night-time, glowing-butt sledding needs.  The inventor will throw his signature on most of the perks for an extra five bucks, just in case the Frostbite becomes the next pet rock, and he’s the next…guy that invented the pet rock.

The Potential.  The Frostbite is cleverly designed, reasonably priced, and made with safety and practicality, those best of intentions, in mind. But, snow tubes are almost free, regular sleds as low as $8, and steerable sleds start at $50­.  Also, none of these are named after painful potential side effects of winter exposure. Still, it’s one of the few sledding contrivances that one can pack away in a carry-on bag on route to your next destination for sliding snow fun.

Categories
Furniture

Attiture puts balcony-friendly furniture design on the table

The Premise. Living in a small space can make arranging furniture difficult, and having a small balcony only adds to the challenge. Many outdoor tables have larger dimensions that are designed for those with more copious decks.

The Product. The Mercury Table is specifically created with tiny balconies in mind. From the tabletop to the legs, this little table will help you make the most of a small space. The tabletop isn’t symmetrical, but rather offers a rounded edge that slopes at an angle. In addition, the top is outfitted with holes that will keep the table from flipping in high winds. The legs are slender and curve inwards, which allows for chairs and their occupants to fit comfortably.

The Pitch. The video on Kickstarter is a little odd. The video content is viewed exclusively on a simulated old-school television frame. This leaves a lot of blank space on the sides, which is strange but not terrible. The film is narrated by the developers and relies mostly on drawings and one mock-up of the product. They are raising money to start production at local companies in Minnesota. They also included lots of diagrams about the product, both in the video and in the text description. The campaign is striving to raise $48,000.

The Perks. One challenge for the campaign of this pleasant enough little table is the reward tiers. Backers don’t receive a product until $359 for an aluminum version due in March 2014; that represents a supposed $60 discount versus retail. This seems to be a ridiculous price for a small, collapsible table until one sees that the stainless steel versions cost nearly $540 and up.

The Potential. The Mercury Table addresses a legitimate issue and does it in thoughtful style, but there’s nothing proprietary about making a small table, and for significantly less. It’s somewhat surprising that Attiture didn’t at least consider offering matching chairs. Perhaps the campaign will inspire makers of outdoor furniture will become more creative in their smaller table designs.

Categories
Home

Thermoelectric heater offers convection to wind in your direction

The Premise. The concept of the perfect space heater is something that people have been looking to capitalize upon for years. The problem is particularly challenging outdoors where one might be far away from an outlet.

The Product. According to designer Omid Moallemi, the pyramid-like thermoelectric heater was developed to make “al fresco” living in cold weather climates like England a bit more hospitable. The concept is simple. It takes in cold air, the unit heats the air by convection and thus pushes out hot air. It bills itself as being self-powered, which certainly sets it apart from many other heaters on the market.

The Pitch. While the campaign page contains a brief explanation as to why it was invented and how it works, there’s no video to show anything in action (presumably because a working prototype doesn’t truly exist as of yet). The two included photos are mockups, and they do little to make sense of the unit. This is a campaign that is very light on information, which doesn’t help particularly considering that its value (heat production) is something that can’t be conveyed by simply looking at it.

The Perks. It’s a little unclear what a pledge of £500 gets you. The reward tier promises customization of a unit, but the delivery of a “free” unit doesn’t begin until the £1,000 reward tier. You’ll have to wait awhile in any case as delivery isn’t estimated until December 2014.

The Potential. As a concept, there’s a lot to be said for this if it works as described, that is. Since the heater is self-powered, it requires no charging, doesn’t utilize solar panels and is completely self-contained. However, it probably does require at least a decent breeze to do its thing. Unfortunately, there’s really no way to know what kind of heat the product puts out. It may be cold logic, but it’s probably best to wait this one out and see if it actually makes it to market.