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Technology

March 27, 2014 By Nick Giustina

G-Form iPad / Notebook / Laptop Extreme Sleeve Computer Cases

G-Form Case
G-Form Extreme Sleeve Case

A year ago, COG reviewed the Pelican HardBack Laptop case. We thought the HardBack’s most bombproof available. See COG’s index.

Then last summer a Verizon tech rep stopped us along Outdoor Retailer’s Salt Palace’s far aisle. He handed us a Verizon smart phone streaming cool video. No protective case for this phone, we noticed.

“Drop the phone… no! Not on the carpet, on the bare concrete!” So from chest height, we drop the smart phone. After years of trying specifically not to do this, dropping a phone onto the floor is harder than you’d think.

The Verizon labeled smartphone bounces hard, edgewise off the bare floor. And the video’s still running.

Next, Verizon’s rep grabs the phone off the floor and tosses it into a fish tank…full of water. The phone’s twelve inches underwater now: And we can plainly see the phone still streaming video.

“So, how long have you been dropping and dunking this phone today,” we ask.

“This is my third trade show on this phone.”

COG should have seen that one coming. But we’re too stunned even to test phone performance. Check with Verizon: it’s too much for us and maybe too good to be true. Other reviews are “mixed.” Casio G’zOne Commando 4G LTE from Verizon.

But…not so fast!

The most extreme demo for hand-held, electronic-device impact protection we’ve ever heard about couldn’t be found on the main OR Show floor.

As usual, the COG team had to hunt up OR’s greatest gear at the new vendor’s pavilion. Outside. Around the corner.

This is the “back 40 (acres)” at OR: this outer circle of hell, a cyclical limbo where vendors new to OR await their turn for booth space on the main show floor: “Main Street,” the Salt Palace’s central selling-floor where we find retailer traffic most intense; retailer buying (“writing paper” in vendor parlance) fever pitched if not out-right frantic.

(A long digression here on “tent city”: So we fight our way out of the Salt Palace Convention Center, through downtown SLC traffic, across the street to the tent city sheltering the new vendors. We notice: why has the traditional, OR bouldering “wall” moved from the foot of OR’s Main Street, the Summer OR industry’s very heart, to the lifeless pavement outside the new vendor’s pavilion? Yes, we can see the bouldering area’s now cheek-by-jowl with the fly-casting tank and the SUP/Kayak tank. Clearly, management wants $ revenue from the casting tank, SUP tank and climbing wall floor space, formerly sited on the main floor…However, since “OR” first “demo-ed” itself as the SportsExpo, back hall of Vegas’ annual Ski Industries of America (SIA) show (early 1980s), the bouldering area’s “demos” have allowed gear makers and retail shop folks common ground. And, no! A demo day prior to the trade show doesn’t fill the same function. Authenticity is verified when SUP/Kayak tank, casting tank and bouldering wall physically “back” manufacturer sales folks on the sales floor: immediately adjacent to product display booths and “writing rooms” where those products actually “move” towards you, the end user. Shutting the “demo” gear/function out onto the sidewalk makes the trade show more profitable for show owners, no question. But the attendant reduced conviviality (let’s call that “fun factor”) on the trade show’s sales floor will function as a false economy: all parties will realize less $ over time. New OR Show owners…are you listening?)

Nevertheless, we’re wandering the new vendor’s pavilion wondering what could be cooler than the Pelican HardBack iPad Case. Maybe a smartphone too tough for a case?

 We’re stopped dead in our tracks: some guys are dropping a 15-pound bowling ball four feet straight-down onto a concrete block. Between the bowling ball and the concrete block: the G-Form guys have placed an iPad streaming a movie. We couldn’t help but wince at the impact: hand-crushing blows.

But the iPad’s movie doesn’t skip a frame. The bowling ball just bounces “dead” against the iPad’s protective G-Form Extreme Sleeve.

G-Form Case
G-Form Extreme Sleeve Computer Cases

What the…?Bystanders wanted to stop the madness, but the bowling ball drops time and again. After each drop, the iPad streams faultlessly inside the G-Form Extreme Sleeve.

G-Form also makes pads for moto-cross clothing, extreme cyclists, roller derby. OK, maybe not roller derby. But these pads really deaden impact.

How much?

The Extreme Sleeve booth display continues on-screen, cinema-verite style. Outside; helipad; chopper waiting in the background. The iPad’s tips toward the camera, a movie streams (“Chinatown”) as the iPad slides into a G-Form case, then lands in the helicopter. The helicopter lifts away from the camera, straight-up, 500 feet.

You guessed it! The G-Form case falls free of the helicopter, 500 feet, back down to the tarmac. Without cutting away, the camera closes-in on the downed G-Form case. Hands reach from off-screen, pull the iPad from the sleeve: “Chinatown” is still streaming.

Or you could read G-Form’s tech blurb:

“Our athletic and consumer electronic products utilize RPT™ – Reactive Protection Technology. RPT™ is a combination of PORON®XRD™ material and proprietary G-Form technology that instantly stiffens upon impact and absorbs over 90% of the energy, offering state-of-the-art impact protection in a lightweight, flexible form.”

COG likes this better: 15-pound bowling balls and 500 foot free-falls. Your case or mine?

$70

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: cases, G-Form

March 24, 2014 By Chas Bruce

Black Crater Cord Lock Light

Black Crater Cord Lock Light
Black Crater Cord Lock Light

This clever little beast of a light can replace the cord locks on any of your outdoor gear. We’ve put it on our jackets, on our sleeping bags–even on our shoes. Latch it on where ever you’ll need a handy light source. The clamping devise has allowed COG testers to attach this light to any stray cord. Hang it from the ceiling of your tent for reading. At $10 a pop you should carry several.

Black Crater Cord Lock Light in a hand
Black Crater Cord Lock Light illuminating a map

The Cord Lock Light uses a 3mm Hyper Bright white LED light and switches between 3 modes: low, high, and strobe. It’s water-resistant construction is ideal for use in harsh weather by backpackers, campers, climbers and joggers.

Black Crater Cord Lock Light on a sleeping bag
Black Crater Cord Lock Light on a sleeping bag

Weighs only 0.3 oz. (8g), and is no bigger than your average cord lock. Includes 2 lithium CR1220 batteries. The perfect addition to your gear to ensure you have light when you need it in all your outdoor activities.

$10

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: flashlight, lighting

March 7, 2014 By Chas Bruce

PowerPot

PowerPot
PowerPot

In this age of 24/7 connectivity, that goes for the backcountry as well.
How do you power your cellphone, GPS, Digital Camera, iPod, etc miles from the nearest outlet.

Cue the PowerPot. A 1 1/2 liter aluminum pot that will provide power while you cook. The PowerPot has a thermoelectric generator embedded in its base that converts heat into 5 volts of DC electrical power. Fill the pot and place it on a heat source and the PowerPot will powering up any of your mobile electronics. The PowerPot uses a USB port with 3 feet of flame resistant cable.

The handy thing about this PowerPot is you can use any heat source–from open campfire to a gas range at home. Works on trail or in an unexpected power outage at home.

PowerPot Kit
PowerPot Kit

We loaded it up with a package of freeze dried Chicken Marsala and in ten minutes had a steaming hot meal and we registered an extra bar of power on our iPhone. Probably close to 20% of a charge. Certainly enough to make a call or two. It would take at least an hour, if not two, for a full charge. That’s a lot of cooking. But for emergency power–and a opportunity to sterilize some water.

Five watts of power or 1 watt of continuous 5 volt power. Pot is made of hard anodized aluminum and is 4.5:” x 8″ with the lid/bowl in place. Weighs 18 oz with cord and lid.

$150

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: charger, cooking pots, PowerPot

March 3, 2014 By Chas Bruce

JOBY Gorilla Torch 100 Flashlight

Joby Gorilla Torch 100 Flashlight
The JOBY Gorilla Torch Flashlight

I can’t say when we’ve had so much fun on a test review. JOBY’s Gorilla series of tripods and now this adaptation to a handy light just look like fun monkeys. The Gear Guys are always looking for better illumination. The Gorilla Torch is one of the handiest we’ve found. The fully articulated legs will wrap around virtually anything. This hands-free LED flashlight fires off a brilliant 100 lumen beam. Now that’s bright! And according to the specs that will run 23 hours on a set of three AA batteries. Swing the dimmer to low and you’ll get 80 hours of runtime.

Joby Gorilla Torch 100 Flashlight with batteries
JOBY Gorilla Torch batteries

And that’s the thing: a dimmer to adjust to just the light you need. Take it  most of the way down, say to about 12 lumens and you’ve got a heck of a reading light, and the legs will wrap around any old branch and the head tilts and turns to just where you want it. We took it took out to the dark parking and lot and found the magnetic legs would hold it to anything. Street lights. The fender of the car. We gripped the legs around the handlebars of the staff commuter bike and made an monkey headlight. Even better we gripped the vents of a bicycle helmet and made it into an alien spider monkey light. Endless fun!. Barrels of laughs! And a handy lighting tool.

Joby Gorilla Torch 100 Flashlight used in car repair
Using the JOBY Gorilla Flashlight in car repair at night

Kind of scrunches to a an 8 1/2 x 3 x 2 inch package weighing 6 1/2 ounces.

$30

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: flashlight, JOBY, lighting

February 17, 2014 By Chas Bruce

Fenix MC11 LED Flashlight

Fenix MC11
Fenix MC11 LED Flashlight

Here’s a twist on your everyday LED flashlights: a right-angled light whose head articulates 45-plus degrees in either direction. You can let this poke out of your pocket like Kilroy’s nose. It certainly follows the military style of right-angled flashlights, although this is the modern LED version and much smaller. It can be clipped to your belt or chest strap or hung from a carabiner. Testers liked the right angle grip to just grab and go. We set it vertically on a horizontal surface thanks to it’s flat bottom and we could easily tilt the head to illuminate the table in front or we could angle it back like a bounce strobe. Same thing when we hung it from the tent stays via it’s hanger.

Fenix Flashlight
Fenix Flashlight showing the flexibility

We could angle it anywhere in the tent. And with the diffuser on the lens, it made the perfect reading lamp at the medium setting. A single AA battery provides three levels of brightness: an eye-burning 87 lumens, a moderate 39 lumens and a moonlight 3 lumens, all accessible from the rubber button on the top.

Fenix MC11 Flashlight
Fenix Flashlight with tie-on

We ran it for just under 2 hours at the high setting. We understand that the medium setting has a 6 hour plus runtime and at lowest setting it will run for up to 53 hours. Fenix suggest using rechargeables, as we do, but this unit is quite happy with Alkaline or Lithium batteries. Measures just under 4 inches long and just over 3/4″ diameter and just under 2 ounces. Comes with a pocket clip, a lanyard, a hanger and diffusion screen.

$45

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: Fenix, flashlight

January 31, 2014 By Chas Bruce

Petzl Nao Rechargeable Headlamp with Reactive Lighting

Petzl Nao Rechargeable Headlamp
Petzl Nao Rechargeable Headlamp

It was a foray into the new age of automation. The Petzl NAO headlamp confidently extinguished the darkness on a midnight hike up the rock-strewn Hidden Valley Trail.

Rather than a sweat inducing wide elastic band, I secured the NAO to my cranium with two svelte elastic bands. Light and comfortable. When I checked the map at the trailhead, the NAO automatically widened the beam while decreasing the light output to what was needed. As I began to pick my way up the trail, the headlamp narrowed the beam slightly and shot out a medium beam. When occasionally I raised my head to check the trail in the distance, the beam increased and narrowed even more.

Petzl Nao Rechargeable Headlamp
Petzl Nao Headlamp

I didn’t think the NAO out-of-the-box would have my number this closely, but it did, and I had no complaints. If the robot handling the NAO behaves out of your comfort level, you simply download the Petzl software the next time you use the USB cord to recharge. The software allows you to select already configured activity profiles or to custom make your own. If this tech-ness proves to be too much, simply hit the hold the on/off button down for 2 seconds and the light switches to a Constant mode, providing  just a high and low beam.

With a twist, button also allows you to switch between high and low Reactive modes. At it’s highest setting, the dual LEDs provide up to 355 Lumens, which will burn up a trail more than hundred yards out for as much as 4 and half hours, far longer than this hike.

At the low setting you can get up to 8 hrs. In the Constant mode you get about an hour and a half in High and up to 8 hours in low. The USB-rechargeable battery is quite small and can be replaced with 2 AAA with a lot less output.

Back at the computer, the Petzl OS loaded easily and offered a number of easy to access menus. I had to remind myself: this is just a headlamp. I also had to admire the way the variable programming provided more than four times the runtime of the constant on mode. And the NAO was truly handsfree. The little robot kept my hands on the trekking poles and my face off the rocks.

Weather proof, but not waterproof.  Plugged into the computer it took 5 hours to charge. Using the wall unit, it only took 3.5 hours.

$175

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: headlamps, Petzl

January 20, 2014 By Chas Bruce

Photojojo Smart Phone Lens Set

Photojojo Smart Phone Lens Set
Photojojo Smart Phone Lens Set

Remember the days of carrying that Pentax K1000? Heavy, but durable and versatile.

Actually it’s hard for me to remember even using film. And I’m about to dump the digital camera since I always carry an iPhone anyway. But that little lens can’t do everything. Now comes the Photojojo Lens Set including a Fisheye, Telephoto, Wide Angle and Macro Lenses. The Telephoto works great, though I’m not as impressed with the Macro, and I have particular affection for the Wide angle since I’m so used to using a virtual 28mm.

My iPhone shoots like it’s a standard virtual 55mm. Lenses are crafted out of sturdy aluminum and outfitted with thick, high-clarity glass. Heavy to the hand, but not too heavy on the iPhone. Each lens set comes with adhesive removable metal rings. The ring sticks to the back of any smart phone, and the Photojojo Lens attaches magnetically. Snap it on and off in an instant! Also included are two extra-strong rings specially designed for the iPhone 4/4S and iPhone 5.

On my iPhone, installation of the adhesive was a snap. Make sure you get it aligned right the first time. The lenses snap on and off with a heavy, reassuring “click.” Check out the Photojo website for incredible range of clever smartphone accessories: lights, clamps, tripods, Bikepod, Crankerator battery chargers and more oddities..

And for you old-time film buffs, admire the film canister salt and pepper sets, the lens shaped coffee mugs, etc.

$40

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: camera lenses

January 3, 2014 By Chas Bruce

Bear Grylls Intense Torch/Survival Flashlight

Bear Grylls Intense Torch / Survival Flashlight
Bear Grylls Intense Torch/Survival Flashlight

We like the “Torch” connotation. Yes, Bear comes from England, the land of Torches, not flashlights. But this is one Intense Torch with a 140 lumens of light right out of the box.

Powered by 2 AA batteries, you can fire up this torch for over 90 minutes at the intense setting. The medium 35 lumen beam will burn for 8.5 hours, while the low 17 lumen beam lasts for 17 hours. A SOS mode is included for big trouble, as is a momentary on switch for flashing out those morse code signals to your fellow scouts. We could clearly illuminate things in trees 200 feet out!

Particularly handy is the bright orange anodized finish with blazing logos for both Gerber and Grylls, easy to find in your black survival BOB (Bug Out Bag) and on the trail. We’re also fond of the textured rubber grip around the mid section. Easy to hang onto and also easy on the teeth, if you need to stuff it in your mouth for two-handed jobs. Another nice design feature is the triangular shape, guaranteed not to roll away.

Packaged with a handy lanyard–hang it on your wrist or in your tent. And this vessel is tight, guaranteed to be waterproof. Overall Length: 5.98”, 22.8cm. Weight: 3.89 oz, 110.3 grams. CREE XPG-R5 LED bulb.

“Bear” Grylls, the British adventurer, writer and television personality, best known for his TV series Man vs Wild on the Discovery Channel. We don’t care if he stayed in motels while portraying survival scenarios, the man has done some serious adventures, including crossing the North Atlantic in a rubber boat, and paramotoring over the top of Everest (he’d already climbed it at the age of 23). And his show provided great survival tips and entertainment. In the last several years he has teamed with Gerber to design and brand a line of Survival Gear, packaged with Grylls’ muddy face. The line includes hatchets, knives, lights, survival blankets and survival kits, and we plan to note and review several of them soon.

$64

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: Bear Grylls, flashlight, Gerber

July 12, 2013 By Chas Bruce

Liquipel Coating

Liquipel Coating
Liquipel Coating in protecting a cell phone

Splash! Not a sound you want to hear when you are handling your expensive electronics. I’ve had too many mini electronics like cell phones and cameras go in the drink. Generally toast. Not much you can do for them. By the way, if this happens to you, immediately turn the device off, remove the battery, invert the unit and let it dry out. May people report a day long immersion in dry rice can help remove the moisture. Sometimes you can be lucky and no damage is done.

Now the Liquipel company offers a coating service that offers a “self-sealing intelligent coating.” This miracle substance coats the internal electronics and wiring so no moisture gets in to affect the electronics. Liquipel states the highly advanced coating makes both the exterior and interior components waterproof, and it permanently bonds to your device on a molecular level!

They also state it will last the the life of your device. The coating used is 1,000 times thinner than a human hair, meaning there is no added bulk to your particular device. Service for a smart phone is $60 while a 10 inch tablet would run $80. They even coat earbuds so they work underwater for $30.

Liquipel claims that a mobile device can be submerged for 30 minutes at 3 feet and be fully functional. Liquipel also offers on their website iPhones and Samsung Android units pre-coated and warranted, I assume.

$60

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: Liquipel, water proofing

June 7, 2013 By Chas Bruce

Princeton Tec Clip Point Light

Princeton Tec Clip Point Light
Princeton Tec Clip Point Light

We found the Princeton Tec Clip Point Light very handy to clip it to a hat band or pocket and the gooseneck makes for a easy-to-point beam to keep your hands free for whatever task.

The mount is arranged so the clip can point forward or back. Turn it around and it is just the thing for clipping on the bill of your baseball hat. I’ve even used it clipped to my bicycle helmet straps–for close work, not really bright enough for the street.

PT also makes a military version (Switch – MPLS) with dual lights (red/white) and a helmet mount. A large button at the side turns on the light with 10 Lumens of light. A second push provides a high beam with twice the light.

Available with White, Red, IR, Green, or Blue LED. Batteries: two 2016 Lithium Coin Cells (included). Weighs 17 grams.

$15

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: flashlight, Princeton Tec

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