ExOfficio Quick-dry Neptune Long-sleeve Tee
As this dreadful winter comes to a close, I can finally turn my attention to the pile of spring clothing I’ve been itching to get to for weeks now, starting with this great long-sleeve Neptune Crew t-shirt from ExOfficio. I’ve been wearing this biking, hiking, and walking around town and have found a new clothing item to put at the top of my packing list.
For me, a long-sleeve t-shirt is ideal to pack for a variety of trips in any season. Unless it’s blazing hot in the tropics, you can use one on a regular basis—even then if you’re trying to cut down on the amount of sunscreen you’re using. Apart from a whole host of other attributes, this lightweight shirt also manages a 30 SPF in sun protection. You can wear it under another shirt for days thanks to its Nanoplex od0r-fighting properties. And of course it’s a great shirt for active adventures since it wicks sweat easily, is lightweight, and dries quickly after a hand washing.
This Neptune tee has been performing really well in my tests and I can’t wait to take in on a long multi-day biking trip I’m taking next week. It’s going to be one of the wondergear items that allows me to ride for days with all my clothing in a small backpack. I like the way it feels on my body and it’s flattering—as in accenting the form, but not so snug it shows every bulge. There’s no tag behind the neck and flatlock stitching keeps it all smooth. It breathes well and the people can still breathe around me after a workout: as with the Spyder baselayer I reviewed earlier, I put this Neptune to the test by wearing for days on end before throwing it in the hamper for a wash. 
When I took it out of the washing machine, I put it in the sun and it was dry in less than an hour. A few hours should do it in a hotel room, so you can wash it before going to bed and have it ready to go in the morning.
My version is the darkest color available, yet it doesn’t turn many shades darker when it gets sweaty—my only beef with the short-sleeve ExO Dri Tee I reviewed last year. This shirt is wispy, but based on all the other ExOfficio warm-weather gear I’ve tried out it should be pretty indestructible: you can machine wash and dry it with no harm.
The Neptune Crew comes in three colors in addition to the two pictured here and lists for $54. (Sometimes you can find certain colors or sizes that aren’t selling well marked down on the ExOfficio site or at REI.com.)
Browse more items from ExOfficio or see more of our ExOfficio travel clothing reviews.
Posted by Tim in Adventure Gear, Travel Light on March 10th, 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
GoLite Lime Lite Shoes Put Paws on Your Feet
I try out a lot of travel shoes (and wear out a lot of travel shoes) in my search for what will work when the rubber hits the road. Or the cobblestones. Or the trail rocks. The best shoes can perform well in all these circumstances, and still look good at happy hour. Like these new Lime Lite shoes from GoLite Footwear.
“Now those are cool,” was the comment from my jaded other half when I came back from the Outdoor Retailers show and pulled these out. Like many women, she’d rather tool around in uncomfortable shoes that look fab than to wear performance shoes that are too clunky. These GoLite shoes manage to turn heads, putting them in a different league than most boring brown cross trainers, but they’ve also got some impressive innovations going on under the hood.
The first one is how the sole is set up, with pyramid-style rubber lugs on the bottom on top of a soft sole that gives easily. This is supposedly modeled after how an animal’s paws work, a trait we lost long ago in our evolutionary development. I don’t know what this softness means in the long term after months or years of solid use, but for now anyway I’m loving it. To test these out in real world conditions I took them on a three-mile hike through the woods, over rocks, over roots, and through the mud. I also wore them around the mean city streets and even spent a day on a convention hall floor with them.
The flatter the surface, the less difference I could feel between these and any other shoes. In hiking trail conditions though, they excelled. I’m sure they’d be great on cobblestones as well, but I haven’t been to the right spot yet to try that theory out in person. The lugs move around independently, providing great traction but also great comfort in varied trail conditions. In the middle layer of the shoe though is a stable chassis. The idea is that the sole absorbs the shock, without these being all flexible and unsupportive.
The other welcome feature differentiating GoLite is that they seem to be one of the few companies understanding that we don’t all have the same foot shape. I must have toured 20 shoe booths at the Outdoor Retailers show and only found two companies marketing shoes in different widths. To me that’s as crazy as selling bras in only one cup size. Yeah I know, shoes take up more room than bras, so it’s not as practical to sell them in different widths, but “D for everyone” is not a good situation for either product.
GoLite has come up with a serviceable solution though. They make their shoes a bit wider than the norm, but then provide a customizable insert for the footbed. Plus on this model anyway, they feature tongue-to-toe lacing so you can then make them narrower if needed at different parts of the foot. If your feet swell up, adjust the insole and loosen the laces. Brilliant!
These Lime Light shoes are like the drop-dead gorgeous date who is also smart and has a great personality. The whole package, no compromises.
GoLite footwear generally runs for $60 to $120 and this model is at the higher end. The shoes are available at specialty retail stores or online at PlanetShoes.com and Amazon.
Get the women’s Lime Lite at Amazon.
Get the men’s version pictured at the top at PlanetShoes.
Posted by Tim in Adventure Gear, Travel Light on March 3rd, 2010
Cyber Clean: Good for Road Warriors?
It’s the kind of thing you’d expect to see on an infomercial while flipping through the TV channels late at night.
But does Cyber Clean, marketed as a “high tech cleaning compound” for keyboards and electronic devices, really work and should you make room for it in your suitcase?
The first time I came across Cyber Clean, it was being hawked on the floor of the 2010 International CES. It’s a gel that feels a lot like Silly Putty and works by stretching and pressing it down on the surface to be cleaned.
The dirt it picks up is folded over into the gel and encapsulated, so the goo can be stored and reused. A “strength meter” on the package shows when it gets too dirty and should be discarded. The folks at Cyber Clean say it’s ideal for keyboards since it will mold to the shape between the keys.
Cyberclean could also be used for cell phones, and telephones and TV remote controls in hotel rooms. At the hotels where I’ve stayed, it looks like remotes are seldom, if ever, cleaned by the housekeeping staff. If I’m eating in the room, I won’t change channels with the remote without washing my hands afterward.
Cyberclean does help reach into the nooks and crannies where dirt can hide in keyboards. And I could see using it for TV remotes. Research sponsored by the company found it does work against staph and other bacteria.
I gave a sample of Cyber Clean to a couple of friends and asked them to try it on their office keyboards. One thought it was “icky.” Another said while it worked, pressing it on the keyboard took some time and he thought a product like Clorox Wipes would be faster.
The 2.65 oz. version of Cyber Clean, in a zip pouch, sells at most stores between $5 and $9 for a single pack. It’s available from Amazon, electronic and office-supply stores and home-improvement retailers.
I’m no germaphobe, as you can see from my review here of a product that covers airplane seats. But computer keyboards and TV remotes are notorious for hiding gunk and grime.
For my travels, I’d put Cyber Clean in the optional category. If you’re concerned about germs on the road, it could be useful—or another product might work just as well.
Posted by JohnG in General Gear, Kids and Family, Travel Light on March 1st, 2010
OSPOP Shoes: Rugged, Practical, and Cool
“Made in China” is not a phrase that inspires warm fuzzy feelings in consumers. With 40% of the product recalls in the U.S. being Chinese-made products in a typical year, from lead paint toys to poisonous drywall to tainted milk, it takes a ballsy company to embrace its Chinese manufacturing origins. OSPOP has the goods to back it up, however, so they’ve managed to build a whole mystique around a revamped Chinese work boot.
OSPOP stands for One Small Point of Pride and the company’s products celebrate the worker. Call it Maoist or call it Dirty Jobs-ist, but we could probably all use a little more celebration of the people making all the stuff we use on a regular basis. The splash page of the OSPOP website shows a bunch of Chinese construction workers heading to work in the snow. The shoes on offer are modified (and more comfortable) versions of the “liberation shoe” that workers there have been using for 60+ years. (Here’s a video on how they are made.)
But enough on the back story, how well do these cool shoes actually work in practice? I’m pleased to report that the clever marketing does not overshadow the product. As I’ve worn a pair of the OSPOP Steppe Series versions (pictured at the top) around town, I’ve gotten compliments from both guys and gals. They’re amazingly comfortable too—some of the nicest-feeling shoes I’ve worn ever.
Often that’s a bad sign, the old problem of feeling great in the store and then the pillowy cushion wearing down a few weeks later. These seem to be holding up very well though, even after I’ve walked for miles at a time in them. The company obviously didn’t make the footbed part an afterthought, as so many others seem to do. It’s ergonomic too, not flat like a pair of Chuck Taylors. These shoes are rugged enough to work for long-term travel, with wool-lined water-resistant canvas uppers and serious (workboot serious) rubber outsoles. These are perfect-built to be the kind of double-duty shoes travelers need, without screaming, “I’m a traveler!” in the process. These can easily make the transition from city streets to light hiking. They’re better for cooler climates though with the lining, so you might not want to pack these for a trip to Thailand.
The Steppe Series comes in six different colors, from the basic black pictured at the top to a bright orange color called “caution.” There are two other styles as well, Skywolf and Departure, that are different variations on the theme, with other color choices and thinner lining. The photo to the right shows the most basic option.
There are a lot of nice touches when you order OSPOP footwear, from the two sets of laces in different colors to the authentic Chinese packaging on the outside and inside: the box these shoes came in is pictured at the bottom. As for that little logo over the ankle, it’s the Chinese symbol for labor. Feel free to wear these when you’re laboring, but at $76 to $93 a pair, you may want to save them for those times when you’re enjoying the fruit of your labor instead.
Get more info and order the shoes at OSPOP.com
Posted by Tim in General Gear, Travel Light on February 25th, 2010
