The Goat

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say we’ll probably never see this in the U.S. It’d be nice if some green mayor forced taxis in big cities to get them, but I can’t imagine it would ever happen in such a car-centric culture. The Dutch, now those bastards are crazy enough to do it. They might give them a silly name like “Motorcycle Airbags,” but these things are biker’s dream. Instead of crashing your head through the window of a station wagon, you’d just end up laying unconscious in traffic next to the station wagon. I propose that all cars need to be covered in pads all the time, and bikers not one full lane—but two full lane (on the highway, too).

via Treehugger

Rise from your depression snowboarders who are already holed in the basement waiting for summer’s long stay. The Freebord is the latest skateboard that seeks to mimic carving a turn on snow and sitting at the base of a headwall with all your friends. The Freebord’s wide outside wheels are supposed to be like snowboard edges while the small middle wheel lends the feel of your base. Small bindings keep you feet glued to the board during pavement falls that are so much less forgiving than the snow, and the board stops by skidding it sideways like a snowboard. The rig will set you back about $300, but expect to pay a lot in gas for friends driving up hills. How else would you get up them—walk?

via Uncrate

Hang the Mini Wiz out the window of your Jeep to charge up the car battery after the alternator dies. It won’t give you enough energy to get out of the backcountry, but it will supply some juice to your iPod for the walk back to the highway. Thirty minutes of heavy wind will produce enough energy in the Mini Wiz’s internal battery to fully charge your iPod, and you can plug the Wiz into a wall outlet so you set out with a full charge. Might not be a bad idea for the guy who always forgets to buy new batteries for his GPS, but I don’t think I’d rely on it for an avalanche beacon.

via Practical Travel Gear

Merging on the highway might be a problem when you hit the on ramp at 82mph. This bike was designed to break the landspeed record, but its creator Bruce Bursford died during a training ride before it could happen. He designed it over four years using Formula One cars and jet fighters as models. Even with that huge chainring the thing only weighed about 10 pounds. Might be tough getting going at stoplights, but once you hit 50mph things will even out.

via Bicycle Design

Going through the Holland Tunnel from Jersey into New York might have been a better option since it dumps you in the city instead of onto a massive highway, but I guess you have to wait for the traffic to hit wherever you are. An insanely ballsy video. I probably would have ridden my unicycle on the walkway next to the road—actually, I probably would have just stayed home and watched the video.

via The Piton

The 2CLight Hat reminds me of that Northern Exposure episode where Walt wears a hat with lights that shine in his eyes to combat Seasonal Affective Disorder, but he becomes addicted to the lights and runs into someone with his car while wearing the contraption and driving. And I’ll bet you thought I wouldn’t be able to come up with a relevant joke about this solar LED hat? (Am I alone on that episode?)

Sadly, it will never live up to its Northern Exposure inspiration. It relies on a flexible solar panel on the brim to charge a battery that will power two LEDs on high for two hours after the sun goes down. Walking around blinded by a light that lets you see as far as the brim of you hat is a wonderful alternative to letting your eyes adjust to the dark.  The 2CLight costs $35.

via Gizmodo

I have little confidence in my own ability to predict the weather, but compared to the Oregon Scientific Meteo Weather Forecast Watch I’m a jolly Al Roker. For instance, I can tell if it’s:  1. Raining, 2. Sunny, and 3. Windy.  This Boy Scout survival gear might let me know if it’s going to rain, but it also might be indicating rain since I’m walking to a lower altitude. I could be decked out in my garbage bag poncho expecting rain when in fact I’m just driving my Land Rover downhill. I would like this thing a lot more if it came with a beanie that had a wind gauge attached to the top. The Oregon Scientific Weather Station Watch will set you back about $70.

via Trend Hunter

The darkside of online gear deals just got a dose of the Force. You still can’t try on the shirts before SteepandCheap sends them to you, but you can pay a reasonable rate for shipping (today only). SteepandCheap is running a $2 shipping day on everything sold from now until midnight. It’ll likely mostly be T-shirts and tube socks, but I’m sure they’ll sneak in some dumbbells and medicine balls.

It’s nice to see that CamelBak ditched the baby nipple from some of their new BPA-free water bottles. The long national nightmare of toxins in our crunchy-person plastic bottle has come to an end, and we didn’t even need to resort to drinking from baby bottles. A second small but interesting change to the bottle was that CamelBak made the cap sturdy enough that you can hang a full bottle from your pack through it. Nalgene’s always lacked that option, so if we’re going to make some changes I guess it’s okay to go a little crazy.

This is the closest you’ll get to being like that one Transformer with the tape deck in his chest. Just plug in an iPod and you’ll be able to playback sound bites through speakers embedded in the shoulder straps. It’s good for announcing your presence to bears while hiking and generally annoying everyone within earshot all the time. Skullcandy also fits the Link Hydro Pack with a CamelBak hydration reservoir that you can fill with Redbull Vodkas so you can be drunk and annoying without even really trying.