Posts Tagged green gear
Natural Outdoor Products From All Terrain
I had to wait until the heat of summer to try out an array of product samples I got earlier in the year from All Terrain. Most of what they produce is meant to protect you from two menaces: the sun and biting bugs. They do both in an all natural way though, with no DEET in the insect repellent and no wide array of tough-to-pronounce chemicals in the sunscreen.
Some of these products I liked more than others. If the stuff works as well as its chemical counterpart—or close at least—then naturally I’d rather go natural. When there are performance issues, however, using the natural variation is more of a moral or health choice than anything.
Lip Armour Balm – This lip balm was my favorite of the bunch, and a bargain at a list price of $2.59. In this case the product feels (and tastes) better on the lips than the usual petroleum-based alternatives. It’s made of Shea Butter, Vitamin E, hemp seed oil and All Terrain’s proprietary Z-Cote zinc oxide for SPF 25 sun blocking. Great stuff!
Herbal Armour Insect Repellent – My past experience with natural insect repellents has mostly been disappointing, with the results ranging from “not bad if you reapply every half hour” to “bugs thought I was breakfast.” This All Terrain version is the first one I’ve tried that I would consider a fairly good alternative to DEET. The company claims it stays 100% effective for two hours (and 95% for another hour) and while I didn’t scientifically test those claims, the 5-oils repellent didn’t require frequent reapplication to keep the mozzies at bay. Especially if you have kids or sensitive skin, Herbal Armour offers natural protection without a lot of trade-offs. At $7.99 for four ounces or $4.99 for a two-ounce travel size, this is a great value too.
Biodegradable Sunscreen -Unfortunately, it wasn’t a three out of three with the all natural products. “I absolutely hate this sunscreen” was my wife’s reaction after a couple of days using it at the beach and I had zebra stripes on my belly after not rubbing it in uniformly enough one day. I tried all three versions (Terra Sport, Aqua Sport, and Kid Sport) and the results were similar. All were tough to apply without a lot of elbow grease, streaky on the skin, and quick to leave white streaky stains on all three of our bathing suits. These problems aren’t unique to this company, but are issues that plague nearly every brand of natural sunscreen. Without all the binding agents and nanotech wonderstuffs you get with the more popular kinds, and with the tendency of any zinc oxide product to be less-than-transparent, natural sunscreens have a tough comparison battle with the chemical alternatives.
Having said all that, I would still use this in sensitive areas like Yucatan cenotes or when snorkeling around protected coral reefs. It’s worth it to put up with a little inconvenience to protect our planet mates. In a swimming pool though? Unless you have sensitive skin, bring on the Banana Boat.
See the full line of All Terrain Natural products and order direct.
All Terrain Herbal Armor Spray Insect Repellent at REI.
Kid’s Herbal Armour at Amazon
Related review:
Beyond Coastal Sun Care Products
Posted by Tim in Adventure Gear, Kids and Family, Travel Light on August 5th, 2010
Power for Your Gear, Anywhere: KIWI U-Powered Portable Charger
The KIWI U-Powered Solar & USB Portable Charger kind of reminds me of the Boy Scout motto: Be prepared. With this in your bag, you’ll be prepared to recharge just about any kind of portable gear, from smartphones to GPS units.
KIWI U-Powered is a portable, universal charger just released by KIWI Choice, Inc. of Canada. It starts with a battery pack that can be charged four ways—by the sun, plugged in to an AC outlet, in a car, or from a computer’s USB port.
Then, the unit can be used to recharge your travel gear during long flights across the ocean, on camping or hiking trips or any other times when there might not be a power plug nearby.
The KIWI U-Powered is really well-designed. It fits perfectly in my hand and weighs less than four-and-a-half ounces.
It can be charged from a 110- or 220-volt AC outlet, making it perfect for international travel.
The KIWI U-Powered storage battery can also be charged by the sun. It unfolds into the shape of a fan blade. The design cleverly allows the use of three photo voltaic solar panels when charging with green power.
The compatibility list is long for this portable charger. Included with the kit are a cable and 11 tips that will charge iPhones and iPods; phones from Blackberry, Nokia, Samsung, LG, Palm, Motorola and Sony; Bluetooth headsets; GPS units; digital cameras; e-readers; and portable game consoles.
The lithium polymer storage battery stores 2,000 mAh, which should recharge several small devices. Charging the battery from a USB port, AC current or a car outlet takes three-and-a-half to four-and-a-half hours.
Solar charging takes much longer, of course. In my tests, the battery picked up more than 25 percent of a full charge sitting five hours in the hot Texas sun. That’s consistent with the company’s claim that a full solar charge should take about 17 hours.
The unit is designed to last for 1,000 power cycles, which means it should be keeping your gear running for years.
My colleague, Tim, reviewed another solar charger earlier, but it lacked the variety of tips included with the KIWI.
A couple of other features on the U-Powered charger are also noteworthy. There are magnets on the back of the storage battery, allowing it to be attached to a car or other metal object while charging the solar panels. I wouldn’t recommend putting it on a moving car, though, unless you want to pick up the pieces from the road. There’s also a handy LED flashlight on the end of the storage battery.
I was pleasantly surprised by the price—$49.99. My guess would have been more than twice that much. It’s available now on the company’s website and will also be rolled out at retailers and other online stores.
If there’s another device on the market that does all this for the same price, I haven’t found it. The KIWI U-Powered Solar & USB Portable Charger brings power wherever you need it, even miles away from the nearest plug.
Posted by JohnG in Adventure Gear, Business Gear, General Gear, Travel Light on June 8th, 2010
New SteriPen Adventurer Opti Model Review
In my section of our best and worst travel gear of 2009 post I raved about the SteriPen, classifying it as the product I’d most likely be talked into doing infomercials for—that’s how much I like it. At the Outdoor Retailers show this past January I swung by the parent company’s booth and saw that they had a new model coming out: the SteriPen Adventurer Opti with a built-in L.E.D. light. They sent me one to check out just as it’s hitting the shelves, so here’s my pseudo-infomercial as a demo.
You don’t want to overhaul a product that’s already working well, so thankfully this new version is just an upgrade. The shape, weight, and functionality are the same. What has changed is the addition of a single L.E.D. light. That helps guide you when you’re purifying water in the dark or conversely if you’re having a hard time seeing that it’s working in very bright light. 
It also works as a flashlight in a pinch, if you hold down the single button for three seconds to make it stop flashing, so it now qualifies as double-duty gear.
The SteriPen Adventurer was already a wonder, enabling travelers to avoid chucking hundreds of single-use plastic water bottles into landfills or into the rivers that flow into our oceans. You can’t drink the water in some countries, but that doesn’t mean you can’t carry your own bottle and refill it. Just zap it with this—48 seconds for a half liter, 90 seconds for a liter—and you’re good to go. The ultraviolet light kills any and all microbes.
Everyone I know that travels with one of these raves about it. They may have been skeptical at first, but when you’ve traveled through nine developing countries like I have without getting one case of the runs, you tend to become convinced. My daughter drank water purified with a SteriPen in Mexico (four times), Guatemala, and Belize and stayed healthy too. So did my wife, so three for three.
This item is no trouble to pack as it only weighs 3.6 ounces including the batteries and it’s compact. It comes with disposable batteries that will last about 100 purification sessions. Once those wear out, you can be more eco-friendly by using rechargeable ones. In the video posted above I show off the solar charger accessory you can buy that also doubles as a padded carrying case. It takes about eight hours for the batteries to fully charge, but you can go for 50-60 sessions before you need to do it again.
This product retails for around $100, which is more than a bulky pump, but not unreasonable considering you never have any filters or parts to replace. Even putting aside the question of you personally wrecking the environment by buying throwaway water bottles your whole vacation, do the math on the ROI. You’ll see it doesn’t take too many trips for the SteriPen Adventurer Opti to pay for itself compared to continually buying liter after liter of water in convenience stores and restaurants. After all, tap water is still free most places.
Stop thinking about it and go buy one. The planet will thank you and eventually so will your wallet.
Get the Adventurer Opti at Backcountry.com
Get it at REI.com
Posted by Tim in Adventure Gear, General Gear, Kids and Family on May 12th, 2010
Tilley Organic Airflo T5MO Hat
Tilley sun hats. Those words seem to go together like Osprey and backpacks, like Teva and water shoes, like Swiftwick and biking socks, like Coghlan’s and camping gadgets.
For those who want a well-constructed hat that is going to hold up well over the years, buying something from Tilley Endurables has long been the obvious choice. My colleague Kara loved the Tilley hemp hat she tried out last year. I’ve been trying out one of their models for a month now—the organic cotton Airflo hat—and I get what all the fuss is about.
The company makes it clear that this is not your average afterthought sun hat made on the other side of the world. “Handcrafted with Canadian persnicketiness,” these even come with their own instruction manual. Your hat will fit if you measure your head before ordering: they make them in 13 standard hat sizes. Their guarantee says they’ll replace it if something falls apart, but they bet you won’t be able to wear it out. Here’s what happens if you do:
“If you ever succeed in wearing out your Tilley Hat (and some have), send us the remains and we will replace it free. If you want to keep your faithful, old, worn-out friend, tell us and we’ll return it to you. We understand.”
If you lose it, they’ll even replace it for 50% of the cost. They trust you.
But anyway, what about this particular model? Well the air flow part of the Airflo really works. Mesh along the top allows a breeze to cool your sweaty brow while the solid part on the top keeps those of us with sparse follicles from getting a sunburn. There are shoelace-type straps to keep it on your head when it’s windy, but it’s easy to tuck them away or even remove them completely when not needed. As you can tell from the model photo here, the brim on this one is not as huge as with many sun hats. That may mean a little less protection, but your brim doesn’t bang people in the face in a crowd.
This model is made from organic cotton, but it’s been aggressively pre-shrunk so you can wash it without worry. As someone who has had several travel hats become too small to wear anymore, I can promise this is a big deal when it comes to longevity. It does a reasonably good job of keeping your head dry in a drizzle and there’s a secret pocket inside for that extra stash of cash. And it floats!
Tilley Endurables makes a wide variety of travel hats for men and women, so if you don’t like this model there are plenty more to choose from. Different brim sizes, different properties, and different fabrics. You can get a hat with a neck flap, one with InsectShield protection baked in, or one made of waterproof nylon. All carefully designed and constructed and built to fit perfectly.
Naturally all this care means a higher price point than some knock-0ff hat made in China, but this Airflo T5MO one lists for $77—about what I paid for my last pair of sneakers. (Which were made in China.) Visit your local retailer to see different styles in person, or order from one of these online shops.
Posted by Tim in Adventure Gear, General Gear on April 29th, 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
