GearFlogger

Kinivo Premium Bluetooth Sport Headphones

So normally we're a little suspicious of products that feel the need to put "premium" in their name, but we're going to give a pass to these nifty little headphones from Kinivo. The BTH260 Premium Bluetooth Sport Headphones, hereafter to be known as Kinivos, are a great solution should, say, a major smartphone manufacturer pull a dick move innovate by removing the headphone jack from their device (cough iphone 7 cough).

The Kinivos are reasonably price, especially compared to Apple's wireless AirPods at $149 FREAKING BUCKS! AAAAGH STOP ME I"M H8N! But anyway the Kinivos. They come folded up in a nice hard case with micro USB charging cable included, they charge relatively quickly (a couple hours in our test), pair seamlessly and the 25 hour run time seems accurate. Bluetooth range seems plenty good enough, and they are appropriately easy to clean off since they're intended to be used for exercise.

The product description on Amazon and on the manufacturer's website says they are IPX7 compliant, which would mean immersion in one meter of water for 30 minutes. This rating was missing from the packaging and instructions so we didn't feel comfortable testing it, but you go right ahead. The point is that they're essentially sweatproof and that we believe.

The Kinivos have the expected assortment of buttons to play, skip tracks forward and back, and adjust volume, as well as to pair via bluetooth and accept/reject phone calls (press the play button). Testing the call capability, the quality was fine. The main purpose of headphones is to reproduce music, and here we found the Kinivos pleasant enough. We'd like a bit more volume and bass, but overall the sound was pretty decent for the price point. If you're looking for an alternative to typical Apple price extortion, definitely check out Kinivo.

$44.99 at Amazon

Petzl Pixa 1 Pro Headlamp

Anyone who climbs knows the Petzl brand, but even a lot of climbers don't know the whole breadth and depth of Petzl's product lines. Divided into sport and professional categories, there is a lot of overlap in the types of products - helmets, ropes, harnesses, lights, etc. - but the actual products themselves are carefully built to different standards for different applications.

The Pixa 1 HAZLOC headlamp is a great example. A sport climber would look at it and say, "too dim, too bulky" and move on. But hold on there hoss, this is a horse of a different color. Compared to, say, the Petzl Tikka sport headlamp, also a single LED design, the Pixa is indeed heavier at 7.4 ounces (with 2 AA batteries, included) versus 4.2oz for the Tikka (3xAAA). And the Pixa is about twice as big, with a dimmer LED: 20 and 60 lumen low and high modes versus 20 and 100 for the Tikka. That's a big difference in range, but even more of a difference in run time: 26 hours on high and 3.5 on low versus 180 and 120 hours for the Tikka.

But the Pixa is built this way for a number of very good reasons, perhaps the most important of which is that it won't blow you into a million pieces in the presence of certain gases. And we're not talking about the noxious but ultimately nonexplosive fumes emitted by your climbing partner, bad as those may be. The Pixa 1 Pro is available in two versions, ATEX (European) and HAZLOC (North American). Check out the links for specifics - and FYI if you need specifics you should be contacting a professional - but we're talking about a selection of gases, vapors, liquids and dust that might be found in certain situations. In those situations you need a lower power lamp to reduce the risk of an arc or other event that might set off a perfect storm of fuel and oxygen.

Given the extreme environments that the Pixa is likely to be operating in, it has a few other features of interest to those who want to keep all their orifices, organs and limbs in their original condition. The Pixa is impact, crush and chemical resistant, and waterproof to one meter (IP 67). It has controls that are easily operated with gloves on, and the light output remains constant until batteries are low when the Pixa switches to reserve mode with a remaining burn time of ten hours. The light housing itself rotates so the lens faces the hard plastic backing on the band, and the rotation will automatically turn the light off to prevent accidental discharge while being stored and transported.

The Pixa 1 comes with a helmet adapter that works with any standard 20x3mm slot, such as Petzl's own ALVEO and VERTEX models. It's also available as a Pixa 2, Pixa 3 and Pixa 3 rechargeable that are progressively more powerful. Overall the Pixa headlamps are great products for specific environments, intended for professionals who understand their limitations and usage. On the lighter side, they also are remarkably resistant to five year olds who like to swing them by the band against hard surfaces. In this application the Pixa 1 in particular, with its lower output, has one final feature to recommend it: the LED is eye safe, formally classified as risk level zero compliant with the IEC 62471 standard.

$38.95 at REI

Katadyn BeFree Water Filter Bottle

Katadyn knows water filtration. It's all the Swiss company does, from trail portable systems to full desalination, and they've been doing it for a while now. Their latest personal system is the BeFree water bottle, a great solution for fast and light and just in case.

The BeFree weighs just over two ounces and when empty the 0.6 liter bladder rolls up around the filter into a roughly 2x3x4 inch package that fits easily into a coat pocket. Of the three bad things that might be found in water - protozoa, bacteria, and viruses - the 0.1 micron microfilter on the BeFree will take out the first two, which are generally 0.5 microns or larger. Viruses require a purifier rather than a filter, and luckily are relatively rare in North America anyway. If viruses are a concern boil your water or use chemicals.

The primary advantage of the BeFree is that the filter separates easily from the bladder, so you can dip the bladder in a stream or other water source without exposing the drinking tube to the potentially dirty source water. A few twists and you're back in business: just squeeze or suck and you're good to go. Notice my maturity in not inserting normal male sex humor there. See, we can be trained. A big secondary advantage is the ease of cleaning: instead of a tedious backflushing process, you can just shake a half full bottle to clean the filter, or remove the filter and swish it in some water. Done and done. If you really want a traditional backflush you can do that too by simply unscrewing the white cap from the blue filter base and putting under a faucet with known good water.

The Katadyn filter actually uses a Hydrapak bottle, which imparts only the most minimal taste to our palate. Apparently some early production runs of the bladder had some problems with tearing at the seams, but ours had no such issues. The manufacturing process was changed and additional quality controls implemented, and if by some outside chance you end up with a defective bladder Katadyn will replace it. That said it is a flexible bladder, and If you tend to be hard on your gear you'll probably want something equally hard to push back, but in any case the ideal use of the BeFree is fast and light.

The primary limitation of the BeFree is the small capacity bottle that comes with the filter, but there are other compatible higher capacities available such as the 3L Hydrapak. With the smaller bottle the use of the BeFree is limited by your access to water: less access means shorter trips, and the more access to refill opportunities you have the longer you can go. If you're trail running a long pass with a stream nearby the BeFree would be perfect. Overall we appreciate the quality, simplicity and ease of use of the BeFree. It frees you from carrying a bulkier pump or foul tasting and time consuming chemicals, and given the right situation that means more fun and less fussing around.

$39.95 at REI

 

 

Pelican 3310PL Flashlight

Pelican is an iconic company, and mostly known for its bombproof cases, but we love it just as much for its lights: the Pelican 7060 rechargeable light has been at our side for many years of unfailing service to date. One of their new lights has impressed us as well with a few new tricks.

The Pelican 3310PL flashlight is a medium-sized handheld light that glows in the dark. At first we thought, ahh it's a gimmick, but it wasn't long before we were sold on the idea. Why? Because - wait for it - when you need a flashlight, there's a decent chance it might already be dark. But if the flashlight is glowing... well, you get the picture. It's easy to find.

The 3310PL is also waterproof to three feet. It doesn't float, so if you're really intent on using it on a boat for example get a floating lanyard to replace the included shoelace style lanyard and you're all set. The rectangular handle we initially thought might not feel so good, but we're happy to report that if anything it feels better, i.e. more secure, than a smooth round handle. The battery compartment tail cap cover locks if you desire, and three AA batteries come pre-installed; just pull out the mylar insulator and you're good to go.

The light has three modes: high, low and flashing. Battery life is listed as 8 hours on high and a whopping 200 hours on low. Just keep pushing the power button to switch between modes. The only nitpick we can come up with on this light is the button: it would be nice to be able to partially depress it to activate the light, without clicking it all the way down. The fact that you can't probably has something to do with the waterproofing, and it's really not a tactical light anyway so it's a minor concern. Overall we truly love the 3310PL, and wouldn't have anything else in our SHTF bag.

$31.22 at Amazon