Grilling on the Go with EZ Grill
I’m sure you’ve been to some of those beautiful picnic spots along the lake or river or in the mountains. Look a little closer and, nestled in that beauty, you’ll usually find charcoal grills that are so dirty you’d be afraid to eat anything cooked on them.
That’s when the EZ Grill Disposable Instant Grill comes in handy. The EZ Grill includes everything you’ll need to grill burgers, hot dogs or other treats on picnics, while camping, at the beach, tailgating or in the backyard.
The EZ Grill is very easy to use, as I found when I fired one up for some Texas burgers. All you do is unwrap it, set the grill on the included stand or any other surface that won’t be damaged by heat, and light a starter sheet that’s packed with the charcoal.
In about 15 minutes, the flames die down and the grill is ready for use. The regular-sized grill that I tried, with a cooking surface about a 12″x10″, was just the right size for four half-pound burgers. I might have been able to squeeze a fifth one on there. For bigger meals, EZ Grill is also available in a larger party size that’s about 12″x19″.
The heat put out by the EZ Grill was on the low end by grilling standards, but still plenty hot for an outdoor meal. One grill will last for up to one-and-a-half hours of cooking. Then, it can be easily tossed or recycled after being doused with water, sand or dirt.
Besides taking these on the road, I could see keeping a few EZ Grills around the house. I live in an area where ice storms, tornadoes and even leftover pieces of hurricanes can cause some long power outages. These disposable grills would be perfect for cooking during those times.
EZ Grills are sold by major brick-and-mortar retailers and are currently available from Amazon for $12.95 for the party size. Prices for multiple packs are slightly lower on the manufacturer’s website, though tax and shipping, depending on your location, can make the final price more expensive than ordering from Amazon.
But my real test is—how did the burgers taste? All of my volunteer taste testers raved about the flavor.
Of course, I’d like to give some of the credit to the chef. But most of it goes to the EZ Grill, a convenient way to get that charcoal-grilled taste just about anywhere.
Posted by JohnG in Adventure Gear, General Gear, Kids and Family on March 15th, 2010
Pretty Padded Laptop Covers by fernfiddlehead on etsy.com
Here’s a product that not only protects your laptop in a carry-on when you travel (or tote your laptop to the local coffee shop), but also evokes a smile when you pull it out of your bag. Laptop covers by crafty seamstress Cathy Moore of etsy.com’s fernfiddlehead shop come in whimsical, upbeat, colorful cotton prints. Their design is simple, clean and durable — just my style.
Sleeve for a 15-inch laptop.
Laptop covers by fernfiddlehead come in three different styles: an open-topped sleeve, an envelope-like case and a zippered pouch. I emailed Cathy and told her I liked the idea of easy accessibility that would come with a simple sleeve, so I sent her the dimensions of my 15-inch Dell laptop (I have a bulky extra battery, so I wanted to make sure her standard 15-inch size would fit), and she sent me a custom cover in a pretty, linen sage green exterior complemented by a red, blue, orange and green flower print inside. In between the two layers of fabric, poly batting provides plenty of cushion.
I used my laptop sleeve on the go this past weekend when I flew to Park City, Utah. I tucked my protected Dell into my Briggs & Riley tote, where it felt ultra-secure and protected by plenty of padding. I liked having a classy-looking sleeve to cover my laptop when I left it in my hotel room — again, it just felt nice and cushioned when tucked in a chest of drawers (yes, I know I probably should have found the safe). Other sleeves I’ve used are boring, stretchy black wetsuit-like material. These laptop covers are fun.
This 13-inch laptop envelope case closes with a beige hemp string wound between two buttons.
If you buy a standard sleeve off the etsy.com site it’s $21; any custom work, add an additional $5 to the base size. And there are plenty of standard sizes and styles available — for Macbooks and 10-inch “mini laptops” too. Note that the material used in these covers does not stretch to fit (i.e. you don’t want to order too small), so if you do have any questions about sizing, you can contact Cathy through the etsy.com site. She responded to my inquiries quickly. You can also return items, preferably within 10 days.
Overall these covers are quite feminine, but a couple of patterns I see on the site are sort-of manly — one is a print of white old-fashioned cars on a black background (still, not sporty enough for my husband to want to use). I think any of fernfiddlehead’s gadget covers — note she also makes iPod pockets and e-reader pouches — would make excellent Mother’s Day gifts.
Posted by Kara in General Gear, Kids and Family on March 12th, 2010
BPA-free Water Bottles From Innate
In a sea of water bottles it’s hard to stand out, but in my experience the ones from Innate are rugged and work well for travelers.
With a kid and a personal trainer wife in the house, I have tried out more than my fair share of water bottles over the years. The Innate ones haven’t let me down. I always carry a water bottle with me when I travel internationally and use it in conjunction with a Steripen to avoid fouling the Earth and oceans with more single-use plastic. (For more on that nastiness, see the 5 Gyres Project site.)
For any traveler who cares even a little bit about the destruction of the planet, a water bottle is essential gear. It is worthy of a decent investment, especially if you want to avoid the potential effects of BPA, found in many hard plastic bottles. The science is not all that convincing on the dangers of BPA for adults, in my opinion, but better safe than sorry and besides, one of these stainless steel water bottles from Innate could last you for 20 vacations or a trip around the world—not bad for something that lists for $12-$20. When you’re done, you recycle it. 
I especially like this Vite Plus V2 version pictured top left. It holds 22 ounces, has a vented drinking spout, there are indentations on the sides for your fingers, and a loop on the top for holding it or pulling it out of your carrier (like this Cruising Caddy I reviewed before.) Plus it has something you don’t get from some brands like Sigg: a large opening at the top so you can use a Steripen purifier. For me, this is the complete package, leaving me wanting for nothing.
Innate makes a variety of other styles though, like the Mizu one pictured on the right and a few monster bottles like the Mega Fresco that hold 40 ounces. Plus there are some smaller kid-friendly versions. All are made from food-grade stainless steel sourced from Korea for high quality consistency. They also make some double-walled vacuum versions for keeping hot coffee hot or cold wine cold. I wasn’t real thrilled with the placement of the handle and button on the Kaze vacuum mug I reviewed last year, but without the handle it works great and keeps coffee hot for 10 hours.
You can get Innate products at your local gear shop or online at REI and Backcountry.com.
Posted by Tim in General Gear, Kids and Family on March 11th, 2010
Keep Your Travels Organized with TripIt
For the past year, I’ve been using TripIt to keep up with trip details such as flights, confirmation numbers for rental cars and hotels and meeting schedules.
Here’s how it works. I forward confirmation e-mails to Tripit and it neatly arranges the information for viewing online. You can let friends view your itineraries and also see if any traveling friends will be close by during your trip.
I can edit my itinerary to include meetings and other details. Then, I can export the information and bring it into my Outlook calendar. In my experience, Tripit does an excellent job of grabbing the information from confirmation e-mails, and that saves a lot of time compared to entering the information manually.
Tripit also offers free apps for the iPhone, Android phones and the BlackBerry platform for viewing the information on mobile devices. I also print out a hard copy and keep it with my boarding passes and other travel documents.
TripIt will even print out maps for getting from the airport to the hotel and to meetings, though I depend on my GPS for directions.
One improvement I’d suggest is using actual weather forecasts for where I’m traveling instead of historical averages. Historical data tells me nothing about actual conditions on the ground. And with all the weather providers available, it seems that would be an easy addition.
The basic version is free. TripIt also offers a pro version, for $69 a year, that will monitor your itinerary and send information about flight delays, cancellations and gate changes, and will also suggest alternate flights. There’s a 30-day free trial available for TripIt Pro.
I’m using the free version of TripIt and depend on flight alerts from the airlines for notifications of any changes.
For my travels, TripIt performs better than another travel app, Tripcase. I can’t get Tripcase to look up itineraries using a reservation number with flights booked directly on American Airlines’ website. Tripcase is adding the ability to get the information from confirmation e-mails, but that part is still in beta.
After using it for dozens of journeys, I can recommend TripIt for keeping up with the many details that go into trip planning. A few improvements, such as real weather information, would make it even better.
Posted by JohnG in Business Gear, General Gear on March 9th, 2010
Top Tech’s Slim Data Drive Fits in Your Wallet
For years, I’ve carried a flash drive attached to my keychain on every trip. But Top Tech Products’ Slim Data USB Card convinced me there’s a better way to carry data.
My poor flash drive. The first one I had, I lost the protective cap and had to scour the web to find a new one.
Then, I bought a higher-capacity drive as a replacement. But after six months or so, the plastic piece that attaches to the keychain broke. So I went back to the older drive and soon some protective rubbery trim outside the plastic case was starting to crumble off in my pocket.
Toptech came to my rescue, sending me one of their flash drives that’s almost the exact size as a credit card—just slightly thicker in the center—and easily slips in my wallet. It’s the slimmest flash drive available. And the 4 GB capacity is plenty large for most uses on the road.
Using the Slim Data USB card was easy. The top flips open to expose the small memory card. Then, I just plugged it in to one of my Windows computers and it was recognized almost instantly. The card supports Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems.
A flash drive is one of my must-carry items while traveling. I don’t use it on every trip. But it’s there when I need it for backing up or copying pictures, storing word processing or music files and a dozen other uses.
The Slim Data 4GB USB Card sells for $24.99 from Top Tech and is also available through Amazon. Mine is orange, which is bright and easy to see. Other color choices include blue, red, smoke and clear.
My old flash drive
The drive includes a limited lifetime warranty. It won the 2009 Novelty Accessory Award from CTIA-The Wireless Association.
Now I’ll have to pick one credit card to leave behind or just carry a slightly thicker wallet. But I think the Slim Data card will ultimately hold up better than the drives I’ve tried that attach to a keyring.
Tucked away in my wallet, I believe it will also be less likely to get lost than a drive that hangs from a keychain. My ID, credit cards and other valuables go in my wallet—so it makes sense to keep important files there, too.
Posted by JohnG in Business Gear, General Gear, Travel Light on March 8th, 2010
