GearFlogger

Coghlan LED Micro Lantern

Coghlan's is still grouting in the space between the rest of your gear. Their stuff ranges from WTF to really useful, and the LED Micro Lantern definitely falls into the far useful end of the spectrum.

The water-resistant lantern is 2 inches tall by 1 inch in diameter and weighs 0.8 oz. In other words, small and light enough to take anywhere. Powered by two 3V CR2032 button cell batteries the rated run-time is 25 hours of solid light or twice that long for the flashing emergency mode. The Nichia 5mm LED bulb gives a very white light that is just ample enough to read by. That's amazing considering how compact this thing is.

The Micro Lantern is a model of minimalist design, providing area lighting where you need just the bare minimum of illumination. It's smaller, lighter and brighter than most keychain lights costing two or three times as much. Highly recommended for ages 5 to 105.

$7.95 at Amazon

MSR SweetWater water purifier solution

Ever been too hot to trot? How about too hot with the trots? For every one of us who has experienced the Hershey squirts at the most inopportune moment - and really, when it comes to peeing out your bunghole, every moment is inopportune - MSR has a solution. Literally.

SweetWater Purifier Solution is nothing more than sodium hypochlorite - common household bleach to the rest of us - in water. Sure, you could do it yourself, but they know you're too lazy, so they give you a whopping 2oz bottle, which is enough to treat 80 gallons of water. An eyedrop sized bottle that only treats 40 gallons would have been sufficient, but since most of the cost of this product is undoubtedly in the packaging you still would have paid $9 for it.

Still, if you're wanting convenience here it is. The taste is tolerable, and it does what it says: just add five drops per liter of filtered water and wait five minutes and presto, virus be gone. Ignore the "only use with MSR filters" part. Chlorine is chlorine.

$10.00 at REI