Geigerrig Pressurised Hydration Pack:Geigerrig call this their Hydration Engine, which might scare the casual walker, but it does make other hydration packs seem a little underwhelming.
The key is that your Geigerrig reservoir is pressurised. This is by means of a second chamber that you inflate with a rubber hand-pump, like when taking blood pressure.
This means you don’t need to suck to get a drink, simply bite on the valve and it squirts into your mouth. Of course it also means you can hose it to wash a cut or to give a drink to your dog, just like turning on a tap. Or to initiate an unprovoked water fight if the fun quotient is low. They don’t show that on any of their demonstration videos.
It’s not its only party trick. The whole reservoir can be flipped inside out and stuck in the dishwasher to clean it. Plus you can get an inline filter adapter that snaps into your drinking pipe and means river or lake water can be scooped in and safely filtered as you drink.
Geigerrig Pressurised Hydration Engine three-litre version (€45) from fruugo.ie
Suunto Ambit GPS Watch
Suunto founder Tuomas Vohlonen would no doubt have approved of his company’s latest step-up, given he’d started it because he was unhappy with traditional dry compasses for orienteering. That was in 1936. Now, here they are with a GPS navigation system, a 3D compass, altimeter, barometer and heart monitor all in a super-tough, 100m water-resistant watch.
What’s new with the Ambit is that they’ve added an accelerometer to the GPS – this is the technology that tells your smartphone or tablet when it’s being moved. Here, the accelerometer gives highly accurate feedback to extreme sports competitors, for example, who want to track speed and performance.
All this data can be downloaded afterwards and if you really want to satisfy your inner outdoor geek, you can swap waypoints and sweat rates with like-minded types on Suunto's own movescount.comonline community.
These days, you’ve hardly done it if you haven’t shared it.
Suunto Ambit GPS Watch (about €500); see suunto.comfor dealer details
Pacific iF Mode Folding Bike
This has been creating quite the stir among folding bike enthusiasts and the greater bikerati. In an effort to shorthand its aesthetic appeal, it’s been described as the iPhone of folding bikes, prompted no doubt by its own little i.
However, this bike is entirely gorgeous on its own terms. For a start, it doesn’t have the slightly mutant look that most fold-ups do, where none of the parts seem to have been made for each other.
Pacific’s iF Mode has an integrity and scale that make it look like a very cool regular commuter model. The striking monocoque frame, tri-spoke wheels and enclosed chain set it apart.
It has two speeds, with the gear changes engaged by tapping your heel against a button on the pedal cranks. Simple. When it folds up, magnets hold it closed and, though not tiny, it’s still small enough to throw into a car boot.
Pacific iF Mode Folding Bike (£1,700/€2,000) fudgescyclestore.com
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