Crovel multi-toolI'm Tom and I've a weakness for multi-tools. Thing is, they're usually pocket-sized, easy to travel with (unless, of course, you keep forgetting to take them off your keyring and they get confiscated at the airport).
The Crovel, on the other hand, is like your Swiss Army penknife on steroids. The sort The Hulk might do. The
name’s a cross between a crowbar and a shovel, so you can see where this is going.
Indeed, the Crovel combines 13 different tools in one lumberjack-speced, ultimate multi-tool for the hard core camper-cum-woodsman. Have this in the boot of your SUV or even strapped to your back and well, you’re ready to do just about anything from building your own log cabin to cracking open a cold bottle of beer. Probably in that order would be best.
As well as the aforementioned Crovel tools, there’s a hammer, an axe, a knife, a machete, a few metres of 550 paracord and well, lots of other banging, cutting functions. Just don’t try to slip it through in your carry-on bag.
Cost: $85 (€60), from survivaloutdoorgear.com.
AquaSafe StrawWhether you're contemplating an exotic, midlife crisis adventure, volunteering in the developing world while our own tries to reset itself or perhaps you've a student heading off round the world, you could do worse than sticking one of these in the luggage.
Designed to be used like an ordinary straw – as Lauren Bacall might have said, just put your lips together and suck – it has an internal micro-sieve system that filters 99.9999 per cent of bacteria – including nasties such as E. Coli, Giardia and Cryptosporidium – to purify drinking water. Clean drinking water is a gold standard luxury we take for granted, but in much of the world, you can find yourself playing gastro-Russian roulette.
The AquaSafe Straw doesn’t use chemicals – it’s a membrane-based filter, which can safely clean up to 500 litres of water. That’s about 10 month’s supply. In fact its ultra-fine 0.2 micron membrane far exceeds the US Centre for Disease Control filter recommendations.
Anyone who’s used iodine tablets to purify their drinking water will know the unpleasant taste and time involved to get yourself a bottleful. There’s no waiting here with a straw, though it won’t remove any implicit taste in the water, just the pathogens.
Cost: €34.95, from eu.aquasafestraw.com.
Minibar for the MindLet me get the disclaimer in first here: this is a dry minibar, but an entertaining one nonetheless. And just as pricey as the liquid version.
Conjured up by the School of Life, an enterprise founded by writer-philosopher Alain de Botton ( The Art of Travelet al) for the Morgans Hotel Group, it's a toybox of inspiration and stimulation.
Called a thought-provoking alternative to the usual minibar fare – where the only puzzle is usually where to find the opener fast – it’s got 250 cards with quotations, questions and thought starters. There’s a Dreams & Fears notepad (will that adult channel be on my bill?), a compilation of writing from School of Life contributors and other fripperies for the mind.
Of course, Morgans don’t actually provide it as a part of their minibar, but rather it’s available from their hotel gift shops, or you can order by e-mail. If the traveller who has everything already has an AquaSafe Straw and Crovel, perhaps this is just the gift to catch their imagination.
Cost: $56 (€40), from morganshotelgroup.com.