SatMap Active 10
Employed by mountain and cave search and rescue groups across Britain, this neat device has been around for a few years now, yet remains one of the most robust mapping and navigational tools. While it’s not a lightweight device, having such a huge screen is fantastic, making it easy to view lots of surrounding terrain without having to scroll around each map. Numerous countries are available on SD card, with British Ordnance Survey and American National Geographic versions available. The GPS functionality is great for plotting routes; hikers and bikers will find it particularly useful when going off-track. Indeed it gives you an extra boost of navigating confidence – just don’t stroll along, staring at the device, and fall down a hole.
Reg Rating 85%
Price £300 (basic package)
More info SatMap
Solio Bolt Solar Charger
Your friend’s just fallen off a ridge and broken his leg? No-one around for miles and your mobile’s out of juice? With one of these stuffed in your backpack you might be okay. Solio’s newest solar-powered charger has ditched the multiple connections approach in favour of USB-only; as long as you have the USB connector for your phone (or whatever needs charging) you should be fine. Neatly, the Solio has a built-in replaceable battery that will hold enough power for 2 charges of most smartphones – so you can carry plenty of juice around in gloomy conditions, or charge up from the Solio at night. Free propping-up pencil included!
Reg Rating 80%
Price £45
More info Solio
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COMMENTS
Suggestion for reviews like this
I have a suggestion for reviews like this: please tell us WHAT THE HECK THE THING IS in the title.
Consider the Knog Nerd 12 - The picture doesn't immediately tell me this is a bicycle computer, and I was 2 sentences in to a 4 sentence review (albeit one of those sentences is quite long) before I knew what it was.
Would it be so hard to have the title be "Knog Nerd 12 Bicycle computer"?
Or the Liquid Image Impact HD720P - "Oh, goggles. No wait - goggles with a camera!? Now I understand what HD720P refers to!" Given that manufacturers love to put random strings of numbers and letters after product names it's not worth trying to parse them. "Liquid Image Impact HD720P Goggle/Camera"
The Real World
Invented so geeks could have somewhere to use GPS.
Top ten outdoor gadgets?
0) Water
1) A good pair of boots
2) Multitool
3) 7"Ka-bar
4) Fire starter
5) Good hat
6) hooks & line
7) Salt
8) 3x4 metres of 8 or 10 mil visqueen
9) Clothing appropriate for weather conditions
30 metres of quarter inch nylon line, a cooking pot, bedroll, good map
& compass, signaling mirror, small flashlight, basic medical kit, small handgun etc. are also handy, but hardly necessary. I've crossed the Rockies with no more than my top ten ... Survival training isn't exactly a walk in the park ;-)
Ah. So ...
"One could make a case that ability to move and store water is the single thing that made civilization possible."
So ... you meant containers, not water. Still not gadgets though.
"Try to get along without it for a fortnight or so ..."
Better put "oxygen" as the minus first item on your list.
But those are gadgets for people who will actually go ... you know ... "outdoors".
The article is aimed at cellar-dwelling ITboys whose idea of wilderness is when they drop out of 3G coverage.
