Posts Tagged stocking stuffers
The Screwpop Tool – Now Black and Customizable
Close to two years ago I reviewed a cool little $5 item that I’ve used plenty of times since: the Screwpop. It’s a handy tool that opens beer bottles (that always gets my attention), has a Phillips screwdriver, and a regular flat-head screwdriver. With those out, it’s also a hex nut wrench (should your nut be the right size). See the details here.
These days, unless you encounter an especially dickish TSA agent, you should be able to carry this with you on a flight. But if they do confiscate it, you’re not out a fortune at least.
The original version, still available, is chrome, which is hard to print on. So now there’s a black version. This looks cool on its own, but the one key advantage is that you can customize it for your company, your band, your store, your website, whatever. So instead of giving people some useless schwag they’ll toss in the garbage or a ballpoint pen that will die in a few months, you can hand out something they could still be using a decade from now.
To show me how this works, the Screwpop people did a sample run of their tool with the Practical Travel Gear logo and website address—see the photo at the top. Pretty darn cool.
Want one? (Contest now closed)
I’m handing out some of them at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market in January, but I’m going to send three of them to our readers. First you have to do one of these three things:
1) OR
Then send an e-mail with which one(s) you did to tim [ at] practicaltravelgear.com. Include your name and physical shipping address. That’s it!
I’ll pick three winners at random from the submissions, which must arrive by midnight, December 23, 2011. The Screwpops will ship out the first week of January. (No sorry, while these make great stocking stuffers, you’ll have to buy one if you want it in time for Christmas.)
If you don’t win, you can get the newer black Screwpop for $6 at ScrewpopTool.com.
* UPDATE – WE HAVE WINNERS! Congratulations to readers Janice Z, Sam G, and Brian C. Sorry, you’ll have to lay out six bucks for one of your own if that’s not you.
Posted by Tim L. in Adventure Gear, General Gear, Travel Light on December 14th, 2011
Travel Gear Sales for the Holidays
[Updated 12/4 to strip out expired sales, but links may take you to a different sale page as these change often.]
If you’re getting some new travel gear for yourself or someone else, this week is a good time to do your virtual shopping–or at least start it.
I’m never quite sure what drives the idiots you see on TV to line up in front of stores the day after Thanksgiving to supposedly get a better deal. For at least a decade I’ve managed to do quite well while clicking away at a laptop, having gotten plenty of sleep and not braving any crowds.
Pretty much every gear retailer is running some kind of promotion over the next few days. They can’t be in the game if they don’t. So take advantage of these discounts and free shipping deals. No gas, no stress.
Get an Extra 20% off at Sierra Trading Post. Use code ALSNOW1. Valid Nov 3 to Dec 7.
Get Free Shipping No Minimum at Columbia.com with promo code F11FREESHIP! The same code works at sister brand Sorel.
At Teva.com, Get 10% OFF your order with code Teva10Off now through 12/31. With free shipping on orders over $45. The same deal is available at Ahnu with code Ahnu10Off.
BACKCOUNTRY Holiday Sales Page + Free 2-Day Shipping On Orders Over $50!
Save $3 each when you buy 2 or more of these travel gear at Magellan’s. Also Free Shipping on orders over $50 with coupon code FSDEC
$10 off all items at Beltoutlet.com with purchase of $50 or more. Use coupon code CJ-FRI10 at checkout.
Great Holiday Gifts For Kids under $20 at Campmor
Eddie Bauer Clearance: Save Up To 75%. Canada Shipping Available.
Extra 20% Off + Free Shipping on All Orders at eBags.com
Doorbusters Holiday sale at Altrec.com with free shipping on $45+.
Go to Rockcreek.com to see a line of gear gifts from $25-$50 and get free shipping from $49 up.
Get Free Shipping on Orders of $50 or More at REI and remember that you can get it shipped to a store for pickup (as in where you’re flying to instead of where you live).
Luggage Guru sale: 15% off Luggage, Totes, and Bags except Briggs & Riley and Rimowa. Valid 11/24/11 – 11/30/11 – Code: blkfriday2011
Of course Amazon will be cutting prices bigtime to maintain their dominant position and their Kindle readers/tablets range from under $100 to $199 now. Visit Amazon’s Consumer Electronics Deals Page.
Or follow these sale links if you’re a regular shopper at Summit Hut, Moosejaw, or Eastern Mountain Sports.
Posted by Tim L. in General Gear, Kids and Family on November 24th, 2011
Fold-up Travel Hanger from Grand Trunk
Sure, if you’re staying in swanky hotels all the time, you may have a selection of hangers and a nice closet to hang them in. If you’re backpacking through Central America though or staying in tents as you climb over mountains, you can forget all that. So if you want to hang up something so it will dry out or get a bit less wrinkled, you might be out of luck.
If you’ve got a little wedge of space in your bag though, you can still carry your own hanger along, thanks to this folding travel design from Grand Trunk. We like this brand because they make a lot of cool little gadgets that are simple but brilliant, like the travel chopsticks and travel towels we reviewed earlier, plus nice packable hammocks.
This hanger weighs only 2.5 ounces and it folds up into its own little pouch you can easily jam into a suitcase or backpack that already seems full. Check out this helpful diagram for the dimensions.
It took me a few tries before I could open and close this hanger without looking like a fumbling idiot and I still don’t appear to have the agility of a ninja, so I’m not doing a demo video. But the basic idea is that this is five hollow metal tubes connected by thin chains. The largest red tube sits on the bottom and two of the smaller ones go into that, making up the longer bottom part. The other two tubes stay where they are and then you’ve got a hook mechanism at the top.
Something like this is only going to be as strong as its weakest links—the wire loops at the top—so it’s not meant for holding a giant layered parka in Antarctica. But for normal use with clothing and lightweight travel jackets, it’s fine.
Under normal travel circumstances, this item may not be at the top of your need list. But on some journeys, like a multi-night river kayaking trip I’m taking in the spring, having this along would make the trip more civilized and comfortable. Those hardy British jungle explorers of the 19th century would surely put this right up there with a flask on their priorities list.
Get the collapsible travel hanger direct from Grand Trunk for $15 including the travel case, or check prices at Amazon.
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Posted by Tim L. in General Gear on November 23rd, 2011
RumbaTime Fun VanDam Watches
My colleague Kara reviewed some original RumbaTime watches a while back and liked the choice of styles and the fact that they’re cheap enough to buy several of them. (Kind of like the original Swatch watches, before they went all upscale on us.)
I’ve been wearing around one of their VanDam watches—the black one pictured here to the right—and keep gravitating toward it when deciding what to wear when going out. It’s fun and cool looking plus I don’t have to care if it gets wet. It’s water-resistant to 99 meters. Good for the pool, the beach, or adventure travel trips.
These are minimalist watches that are sleek and simple. They tell the time and they look good. With only two buttons, it doesn’t take a manual and a pair of reading glasses to change the time on the fly, like when you’re crossing time zones.
Plus you can’t beat the price: a mere $16 for any of them in this line. Despite the price, they even come in a reusable round case. They’re made of stretchy durable silicone, but with grooves on the bag to keep them from getting sweaty within five minutes of putting them on. They come in three sizes so you can get the right fit.
These VanDam ones come in a whole range of colors and patterns, from multiple solids to funky designs like the second one pictured here. Is 37 styles enough for you to pick from?
This is just one of several styles they have, some with an analog face if you’re not into the digital look. These cost a bit more, but are still very reasonable, topping out at $35 except for their serious adventure Mercer line.
The original Rumba Time watches, which are like a thin bracelet, are a great choice for kids. My daughter has never been too into wearing a watch, but with one of these she loves it because it’s more like funky jewelry. Those list for $14-$16 but can go for as little as $6 for some colors at the RumbaTime shop.
Order more than one RumbaTime watch at Amazon and you’ll get free shipping too.
Posted by Tim L. in Travel Light on October 19th, 2011
Nifty TwistStick Corkscrew Keychain
Billed as “the smallest fully working corkscrew in the world,” this cool little TwistStick Corkscrew device will keep any wine lover from ever being without the means to open a bottle. (If you’ve ever faced a time where you’ve got a full bottle of wine and no corkscrew, you know this is a sad situation.)
Being the length of my pinkie (66 millimeters to be exact) but far thinner, this handy little corkscrew is about as unobtrusive as it gets as a keychain. Ingeniously simple in design, the twisty part wraps around the shaft. To put it into action, you just remove the keyring part at the end, pull the twisty part off, and put the shaft part into it.
In my tests with two real bottles of wine from Chile—a tough job but I had to do it—this TwistStick did the trick without much effort. I tried it on a bottle with a real cork and a bottle with one of those impossibly hard, non-biodegradable plastic ones. Success in both cases.
Granted, this isn’t quite as easy to use as one of those technologically advanced Rabbit Corkscrews or even a good waiter’s corkscrew with some leverage, but this is a whole lot easier (and lighter) to carry with you. 
The obvious question for travelers though is, “Can I carry this onto an airplane? Well, there’s a chance you could get away with it, but an equal chance that it will get confiscated. So I wouldn’t advise it. Limit this to when you’re checking a bag or traveling by other means.
The manufacturer, True Utility, makes all kinds of other cool keychain gadgets. They’re based in the UK though, which means this product is easier to find in Europe than here. You can get it through third parties at Amazon though for 10 bucks.
Or get it from Amazon UK for under 5 pounds.
Posted by Tim L. in General Gear, Travel Light on October 21st, 2010
