Master Lock DialSpeed Padlock
It’s not just hostellers and more adventurous travellers who find themselves wishing they could securely lock down their belongings – there are many who travel under an unshakeable cloud of paranoia, suspicious of every taxi driver and hotel maid. The Master Lock DialSpeed Padlock brings a new digital twist to the traditional combination lock. Using an electronic directional keypad instead of the familiar numbered dial, you can program multiple personalised codes and retrieve a permanent back-up master code should you forget yours – as if such a thing could ever happen. Because the lock’s interface has letters, you can use a word as your access code (effectively a sequence of lefts and rights, ups and downs).
The lock features a cut-resistant, boron carbide shackle, a wide metal body that allows it to be opened with one hand – pepper spray in the other, no doubt – and the replaceable battery is good for five years. You can store all your codes online at Master Lock where there’s always a master unlocking sequence if the mind’s drawing a total blank. And the padlock itself, of course, looks good enough to steal.
Master Lock DialSpeed padlock, $24.99 (€19.90) masterlock.com
Sirocco Climbing Helmet
Even casual hillwalkers could well know Petzl from its excellent head lamps, but its real stock in trade is its range climbing equipment. Set up by legendary French caver Fernand Petzl, it actually invented the first headlamp for climbers as well as constantly improving and reimagining just about everything a climber might use.
The Sirocco Climbing Hat is the latest in the line. It’s an ultra-light climbing and mountaineering helmet, weighing a measly 165g – about the same as a couple of eggs. Yet the Sirocco still has impressive impact resistance due to the mechanical properties of expanded polypropylene foam. A new magnetic buckle lets you open and close the chinstrap with one hand. Always useful when you’re clinging on by the fingertips, wishing you’d a third hand.
Sirocco climbing helmet, $110 (€87.62), available soon from all good climbing stores
Sombrero Citrus Juicer
Here’s a simple little gizmo to give bottled water a bit of a natural fruit kick. The Sombrero Juicer fits in the mouth of any standard bottle and lets you squeeze fruit juice into it without mess. Light and compact, it’s perfect for camping or backpack travelling. The plastic body makes it easy to clean and it’s apparently FDA approved. That doesn’t seem like a hard call.
It comes in a couple of colours if you’re very concerned about keeping the packing co-ordinated.
Sombrero citrus juicer, $15 (€11.94), Amazon.com