A peek at emerging products from the sometimes cutting-edge, sometimes quirky world of gear design.
Treepod Camper
Sleep in a hanging pod. Adults now have a Treepod tent to call their own. The Treepod Camper builds on the success of the youth-oriented Treepod hanging treehouse. The $595 Camper can hold up to 500 lbs., measures 87″ x 57″ x 78″, and offers grown-ups a true suspended tent experience.
Reflective Dress Shirt
Go from business-casual to light-up commuter without changing your shirt. Ravelin leaps into the urban-commuter market with its RS01 button-up, now on Kickstarter. The simple “Shepherd’s Check” pattern design has reflective inlays that shine when the sun goes down.
Joe To Go, In Style
Pack, grind, brew, and enjoy specialty coffee, even when you’re off-grid. The Looptworks Upcycle Coffee Travel Kit is for campers who can’t abide cheap morning swill. The $180 kit includes an Aeropress, hand grinder, Klean Kanteen tumbler mug, craft-roasted coffee beans, and an up-cycled tablecloth (made from a tent fly) and leather handlebar bag.
Water Pod
The GoPure Pod is a thumb-size ceramic filtration nugget you drop in a cup. It “enhances” the taste of water by “promoting and maintaining freshness, assisting pH and mineral balance, and adsorbing occasional impurities and particulates,” the company cites. Use only on potable water; the pods remove metals, inorganics, and E. coli, but it is not intended to purify water from a wild stream. Photo credit: Cammeron Evans
Carbon-Fiber Landing Net
A lightweight net to match your lightweight rod. Tenkara Rod Co. fashioned the $99 Tenkara Landing Net with “super-floaty” carbon fiber that weighs in at 12 oz. It has a clear rubber net that’s intended to be “easy on the fish.”
Speedometer Wristwatch
Twist off your watch face and snap it onto your bike for an analog speed dial. The Moskito, expected to retail for $835, is an analog watch that converts to a bike speedometer with the push of a button. The second hand shows speed and the minute hand shows distance traveled.
Laser-Etched Sneakers
Brooks saddles teamed up with Taka Hayahsi’s Vault by Vans to create sneakers designed with the iconic bike seats in mind. Part of Brooks’s 150th anniversary (and Vans’s 50th), the sneakers are in a limited-release line that includes similarly swanky saddles and shoulder bags.
Virtual Shoe Fit
Scan your foot with your smartphone and digitally “try on” shoes to find the perfect fit. The Fitfully app purports to get the best fit possible for your foot. It combines a library of data on shoes with the unique shape of your foot to show where a given shoe would be too loose, too tight, or just right.
Multi-Utensil
Peel, cut, tighten, scoop, and crack open a beer, all with one utensil. The Muncher has 10 functions built into a 20-gram titanium tool. Photo credit: Tommy Joy Photography
HUD Cycling Glasses
See realtime readouts through your sunglasses, just like a jet fighter. Everysight’s Raptor Augmented Reality ‘Smartglasses’ overlay time, navigation, speed, heart rate, distance, and more. The glasses can also record video of your ride.
Fastest Electric Skateboard
Zip along for miles at speeds up to 28 mph, on a skateboard. Gone are the days of kick-push-coast, the Raptor 2 purports to be the most powerful electric skateboard on the market. The 19-lb., 3,300-watt skateboard retails for $1,700.
Flying Selfie Stick
Capture unique and hard-to-get selfies using a pocket-sized drone you control with your phone. The $384 AirSelfie is rechargeable, has a 5MP camera, and weighs 52 grams.
Rawlings Snowboard Boot
Branded with renowned baseball glove manufacturer Rawlings, the leathery Fuse boots from Ride ($350) have a BOA lace-up system and an old-school look.
360-Degree VR For Smartphone
Record 360-degree views on your phone, or render your surroundings into a virtual-reality world. The Insta360 Air clips to your Android phone (iPhone Insta360 “Nano” is also available), stabilizes your image, and captures everything around you. It pairs with a VR headset for total immersion.
Gold-Infused Apparel
A high-tech fabric infused with “gold nanoparticles”? We tested Rhone Apparel’s GoldFusion tee this month and noticed faster drying, odor resistance, and above average durability from a good-looking athletic shirt.
Most Compact Folding Bike
Cram your bike into luggage no bigger than 55″ x 40″ x 25″. The sub-19-pound Kwiggle bike claims to be the “most compact bicycle in the world.” The $1,600 German-made bike folds down in 10 seconds, ready to tote.
