Portable iPod Speakers that Really Crank

I've tried out quite a few portable speaker contraptions for an iPod or MP3 player and most of them weren't even worth mentioning on here, especially when it came to sound quality. The Altec Lansing Orbit speaker is pretty decent and is easy to pack, but with only one speaker you're obviously not getting stereo sound.

This iHome2go IH13 combination water-resistant case and speakers is better than most because it has real speakers that crank out the sound. Real bass! Real cymbals crashing! It sounds as good as most computer speakers in a small room and pumps out enough volume to fill a big living room or work for a backyard barbecue.

Plus the design is pretty inventive. Basically this is a zippered case that keeps your iPod dry (there's a special foam encasement for the Nano) and you can control volume and track forward/backward on the front of the case without opening it. It comes with a strap allowing you to carry it and there's a connection cord for non-Apple music players.

There's one big drawback however: weight. This puppy is heavy, as in barely less then two pounds. If you're hopping into a car or stuffing a light rolling suitcase full of clothes it might not matter, but if you're a backpacker or a carry-on traveler, that might provoke some serious pondering. The other drawback is that this is a wasteful, 4-AA-battery-sucking, landfill-soiling machine the way it comes packaged. It's $40, which is certainly a fair value, but then you find out the AC adapter is $22. Seriously! The adapter is more than half as much as the whole damn stereo system. There's a combination package on their website for $50, but only in pink or green camouflage. For the Army men and women I guess...

No problem though. The connection on the back is (for once) the same one used by most standard electrical devices with an adapter, such as that cordless phone you have in the basement, so just dig up another adapter and spend $22 on iTunes instead. When the AC adapter is plugged in, your iPod will charge as well. There's a warning in the instructions that you must use their adapter, but last time I checked they all let through the same voltage.

The iHome IH13 portable speaker system is anywhere from $32 to $40 at retail depending on where you get it, including at Amazon. I got mine by trading in some "No Hassle Miles" from my Capital One credit card though, so look for it in whatever mileage/points program you use.

Rocking iPhone/iPod Devices for your Home, Office & More at iHome!

Packing Cubes From Tom Bihn

Here's another option for packing cubes and I like the looks of these.

The Seattle-based Tom Bihn company is mostly known for its fantastic travel bags. Rugged and Made in the USA, they inspire fanatic devotion. I'm about to become a devotee myself I think. I'll be trying out their Aeronaut carry-on bag for a four-night trip next week and am actually looking forward to packing.

The company also makes loads of neat travel accessories though, including a wide array of packing cubes and gadget bags. I have mixed feelings about the necessity of these organizers, but my post on the Eagle Creek packing cubes before remains one of the most popular posts on this blog, so obviously people like the idea of getting their undies organized.

There's only so much innovation and differentiation you can put into little pouches that zip close and fit into a suitcase, so Tom Bihn's packing cubes mostly stand apart on style and color. They all have a checked pattern and come in either Steel (dark gray and subdued) or Solar (bright yellow). They have good YKK zippers and ripstock nylon fabric. They're mesh on one side so damp clothes don't build up mildew. Here's the real difference though: they're not made in China. If you want to put your own personal stimulus plan in place and buy American, you can do so at Tom Bihn without paying a premium. The cubes are $15 to $18 each and should last a decade or two.

The company also makes a 2-sided clear packing cube that is great when you want to be able to see exactly what's inside or you've got liquids you're afraid could leak onto everything else through mesh. In theory this should work for carrying cosmetics through the security gauntlet at the airport, but it depends on the mood of that day's TSA agent: carry a spare plastic bag in case.

Cute Portable Digital Picture Frame From Royal

Bring your favorite pictures along for ten bucks or less!

Over the years, as a traveling dad, I have found it extremely useful to pack plenty of diversions for the kid or kids tagging along. I haven't sprung for a Sony PSP or a Nintendo DS because I know how addictive they can be even for adults. But I share my iPod classic with my daughter so she can watch cartoons and listen to her favorite tunes. And often I'll pick up a cheap gadget to bring on a trip, something that has the flash of the new.

This little 1.4-inch digital picture frame from Royal is a toy in terms of specs, but at a retail price of $7 to $10, it's a great value. My daughter loves it and she can't wait to hook it onto her backpack the next time we take off, bringing photos of all her friends and grandparents along for the ride.

Set-up was dead easy. There's a mini CD that installs the program on your computer. Then you plug in the device, select the photos you want, and sync it up. The photo frame gets the time and date from your computer and charges up via the USB cord. Your photo library is presented in the software in the normal folder system. When you select a photo the software puts a cropping box over it (which you can move around) to size it for this device. In other words, you get the faces, not a shrunken version of the entire photo.

The picture quality is not going to win any awards, but it's pretty good for the price. You can scroll through the pictures manually, or just sit back and let it go in slideshow mode. After a period of inactivity it shuts off by itself. Thankfully Royal resisted the urge to add a bunch of useless features to it, but there is an alarm clock, so I guess this qualifies as a double-duty item for packing light. The clip also doubles as a stand.

There aren't a lot of good travel gadgets that will cost you an Alexander Hamilton or less. This is one that delivers.

Get the Royal PF140 Digital Photo Frame at Overstock.com

Get it at Amazon

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A Bracelet That Could Save Your Life

Imagine you could wear something around your wrist that could save your life. Imagine that instead of some woven backpacker bracelet you won in a backgammon game in Dahab or that you bought in Panajachel for 25 cents, you wear a bracelet woven from 18 feet of super-strong parachute cord. How cool is that?

OK, so you've got to spend $19 on it unless you have the time and concentration to weave one yourself, but if it gets you out of a jam, that's a pretty cheap insurance policy. Plus it makes a cool conversation piece. That's the idea behind the paracord survival bracelets from SurvivalStraps.com.

Normally this is where I tell you how the gear item worked in practice, but thankfully I haven't needed to rappel down a cliff or spend the night tied to a couple of tree branches. So here's the rundown from the company:

In an emergency situation, you can unravel the bracelet and deploy the paracord for use. If you do use your Survival Bracelet, simply send what is left back to us, along with your story, and we will make you a new one, free of charge (shipping charges will apply).

Whether you are in the woods, stranded on an island, at the range, or running errands around town, you will always have several feet of 550 lb. test paracord with you at all times. Oh yeah, we also think they look pretty great! And since they come in almost 900 different color combinations, you shouldn't have a problem finding something you like! (Check out the colors tab to view our standard color choices.) They come with either a tough plastic side release buckle or a marine grade stainless steel shackle for attachment purposes.

So if you actually have to use it for its intended purpose, they will send you a new one. How many time do you see a guarantee like that? The company also makes belts, lanyards, watch straps, and more. See the whole line at SurvivalStraps.com.

Travel Gear on the Wish Lists

Every once in a while I pull up the stats on this travel gear blog to see which posts are really getting checked out by the most readers. Which gear items are people researching and drooling over? (Okay, so maybe "drooling over" is the wrong phrase to use when talking about travel underwear, but hey, you like it a lot better if someone else spends $20 on it instead of you, right?) Since I'm on deadline for some magazine articles due this week, I've been taking a break from the travel gear tests. So here are the most popular posts over the past month:

Pacsafe's theft-proof travel bag. This post is two years old and is the most popular, so apparently lots of travelers are looking for a good slash-proof bag for walking around town. This one is highly recommended.

Quick-dry travel underwear from ExOfficio. Save money on the road with sink laundering and have dry undies in the morning.

Portable room safe. Apparently I'm not the only one who wonders how to keep valuables secure in a cheap hotel.

Are packing cubes worthwhile? Apparently a lot of people are pondering a purchase of these organizing aids.

The best backpacks for travelers. Your most important gear item for long-term travel.

Timex rugged Field Expedition watch. This was what I took with me trekking in Peru this past December. Great watch for a reasonable price.

Travel adapter, converter, and USB charger. This is a handy item that does double duty. I used it in Europe a few months back and was very happy with it.

Lightwedge innovative reading light. This one surprised me as I reviewed this way back in the summer of 2007. This book light takes some getting used to, but some people love it.

Which Noise-canceling Headphones Really Rock?

"How do you like those headphones?" I will ask the biz travel road warrior beside me on the plane. "Aww man, they're the Bose ones. So they're awesome." This exchange has become a private joke for my own amusement. If you paid $300 for something that others have bought for $100, it simply has to be awesome, right? Otherwise you were duped.

But of course when I probe further, none of these travelers I have sat beside has ever tried another alternative. They've got no comparison. So I was happy to see a scientific review of noise-canceling headphones in Consumer Reports a couple months ago. Do the Bose headphones really rock? Are they three times better than the alternatives?

Well, yes and no. Out of five models, the Bose ones came in second, above the Sony ones ($90), a PXC-250 sister model to the Sennheiser ones I use regularly ($60 at Amazon), and the Koss QZ77 model ($38 at Amazon). But the top pick was the Panasonic RP-HC55, which has small in-ear buds and retails for $60. For those who are good at doing math in their head, the #1 choice was 1/5 the price of the #2 choice. (Hey, all that Bose marketing is expensive!)

The beauty of the Consumer Reports study is that they did what none of us reviewers and bloggers can manage: scientific analysis. They actually went into a lab and measured which ones did the best job of canceling noise and which ones reproduced sound most accurately. Ten headphones entered, but five were sent home.

The remaining five were all recommended, which means you can do okay for $50 or great for $60 to $300. The Panasonic RP-HC55 model tied with the Koss QZ77 for tops in noise reduction. The Panasonic, Sennheiser, and Bose ones tied for Sound Quality.

I can't link to results because the Consumer Reports website is subscription only. (They don't run ads, so it's only fair.) But here's the lesson: don't believe the hype. Something expensive may be good, but just because it's the most expensive doesn't mean it's the best.


Get the Sennheiser model
Get the Koss earbuds
Bose QuietComfort 2
Panasonic

Altus Lumen Multi-use LED Light

Flashlights are fine when you've got a free hand and headlamps are good when you're walking around in the dark, but neither is much help if you want to play a game on the guesthouse bed or work collectively on something. This Altus Lumen PAD-L LED light is a great solution and is small enough to carry on any trip.

The design of the PAD-L is all about flexibility to put the light where you need it. There's a fold-out metal stand and an attached stand that will swivel around to either side. So you can direct the light in multiple directions. There's also flexibility in the intensity of the light itself too, with a low setting for say, brushing your teeth while camping, to high for finding the contact lens you dropped on the floor. The brightest setting uses up power about 30 times faster, but you probably won't need it very often anyway: it feels like your blasting out the brightness of a cop car's search light.

It comes with a nice carrying case and a cable manager contraption (with no cable) to help you hang the thing from a branch. For now anyway this appears to be a direct orders only situation though. You order from their site and then wait for it to arrive from Hong Kong. When there's retail distribution in place, I'll post a note here later. The PAD-L LED light is $40 plus you have to register on their site to order.

My main beef with this product is that the company's sustainability efforts are worthy of some kind of award---but for greenwashing. Their site is full of nice-sounding slogans such as "Protect and Enjoy the Environment" and "Preventing pollution is more effective than cleaning up the mess after it has already been made." That's true, so why does your product use FOUR disposable AAA batteries and use them up in an hour on the high setting? They say that "PAD-L is the world first sustainable portable LED light," but considering I've seen plenty of shake lights that use LEDs and no batteries, plus others that are solar powered, this is just plain wrong. It turns out the "sustainability" claim is just because 75% of the materials are recyclable when the thing dies on you. Nice, but not all that noble.

Putting the truthiness spinning aside though, this is a powerful light in a small package, good for multiple situations when you need to have your hands free.

Your Own Pics on Postcards from Hazel Mail

How many times have you rummaged through the postcard rack in some tourist town and thought, "My own pictures are better than these." And have you dropped into the post office in say, Cusco, and been flabbergasted at how much it costs to send off those postcards you just bought?

I've been testing out a pretty cool solution from Hazel Mail that brings postcard mailing into the digital age. Here's how it works: first, you log into their site and upload your photo. Hi-res ones straight from the camera are fine. Then you format the image, with the ability to stretch it, crop it, or put a border around it. Then you enter your message and the address, picking out a font that you like. You pay $1.50 per card to addresses in the U.S., $2 for those in Europe, varying rates elsewhere.



Then you go about your travels, knowing that even if your e-mails get filtered and nobody really looks at all those pics you painstakingly uploaded to your Facebook page, your friends and relatives will know you are thinking about them. After all, a piece of mail stands out far more these days than another few megabytes in the digital firehose we're all drinking from.

There are a few little quirks. The website is very coy about giving out any info when you visit. You actually have to go through the whole uploading process to find out anything about fees and payment methods. Then they send a confirmation after the order, which is nice, but in mine the graphics covered up all the text so it just looked like an ad in HTML mode. I assume they'll work out the glitches soon though and add more info for prospective users up front in time. Apart from that, the site is dead easy to use and once you've registered it's easy to send new cards in the future. It'll store the address of Mom and Sis, for instance, so you don't have to retype them later. You can even upload a whole bunch of addresses from a contact list or spreadsheet.

I sent one of the Mexico City postcards to my own house to test the outcome and the result was nice. The photo looked almost as good as what you would get from a photo processing place and it had a real canceled stamp on it. The printed message doesn't have quite the same charm as a scribbled note with road dirt and spilled coffee on it, but still more personal than an e-mail. All this and you can avoid paying rapacious international postage costs.

Several writers have wondered if the sending of postcards is a dying art, but Hazel Mail seems like a good compromise in keeping this more personal communication method alive. Highly recommended.

Design Awards for Gear that Works

I almost fell off my chair when I looked at Travel + Leisure's 2009 Design Awards in their March issue. They managed to slide in a few expensive items from potential advertisers as "honorable mentions," but amazingly the most expensive gear item winner was a $225 bag and two items were under a hundred bucks.

The bag was in the "best luggage" category and indeed it does look pretty cool. It's the Hydro Sports Water-resistant T-Tech Backpack from Tumi.

Best Travel Accessory was this pair of Melissa Shoes pictured here. They pack easily, look interesting, and are 100% recyclable. At $79 retail, they seem pretty practical to me.

Amazingly, a $30 coat made the cut, and from Wal-mart no less. It's the Norma Kamali Trench Coat and I have to say it looked better in the magazine than many others costing 10 or 20 times as much.

The last two items I have reviewed and used myself. The Flip Video Camera got the nod, though I reviewed the older version, not the Mino. For $180 retail, it's a dead simple way to shoot video and it stores an hour's worth of footage.

The other item I've raved about for years and I would argue it's probably the greatest invention to come along in a decade for travelers: the Steripen water purifier. It's small, it's effective, and it helps save the planet. Obviously, it's well-designed enough to get the notice of these critics as well.

Good stuff! You can see more in a slideshow here.


Get the SteriPEN Adventurer Ultraviolet Water Purifier