Nifty USB Gadgets Great for Outdoor Activities

 October 2017         Ian Chiu

You are entering the world of mosquitos and flies when venturing into the wilderness. Here’s a USB swatter that will prepare you to take out any flying insects that are getting in your way.

Aptly named the Zap-It, its 3,000-volt grid even has enough power can roast even swarms of bugs with one swing of this swatter racket. Since it is USB rechargeable, you’ll have virtually unlimited of ammos to take out those annoying flies for your camping trip. There’s also a bright LED light that can provide illumination in the dark.

As avid outdoorsman we personally have used Steripens to help ensure that we did not get sick when drinking water of unknown purity. In fact, we usually tuck one into our luggage compartment when we travel abroad. While a SteriPen may not help with actual containment, they do kill all the wee beasties in the water (in under a minute via UV radiation) which can ruin a vacation faster than a hurricane.

The latest Steripen promises to be just as effective as other models, but does not require you to replace the batteries. Instead of using your typical disposable batteries, the new SteriPen Freedom uses rechargeable and in an interesting twist uses a standard USB cable to charge them. Yes, for the first time ever you can plug in your SteriPen Freedom to your laptop.

Unfortunately, while it can indeed charge via your laptop, the new SteriPen Freedom does not have any abilities to tell how much charge is left in its on-board batteries. We personally would love to be able to plug it in and have it pop a small window and inform us battery life and/or the remaining life of the UV lamp which the company claims can last up to 8000 treatments. With that being said, with a relatively reasonable price ($120), we can see not only ourselves but many technology savvy outdoorsmen picking one up to give as “stocking stuffers” for the upcoming Christmas holidays.

This dual-arc lighter from Tacklife comes in handy when you need to start a camp fire in the woods. It produces plasma wave that is hotter than flame so it can set most things in the wild ablaze. Moreover, the flameless lighter is completely windproof as well as splashproof, making it practical under different weather conditions.

The front section of the electric lighter can be rotated 360 degrees for accessing hard to reach areas. This is nice touch for added flexibility. And with its built-in 2600mAh Li-ion battery, the Tackle packs is good for a thousand uses on a single charge.

The Normei is a novelty USB fan that you can hang around your neck. Unlike others, it blows upward to your face and neck to give you a cool breeze. The fan might look odd on you at first but this will come in handy when you are a long hike during summer months.

The 2,200mAh battery inside the unit lasts about two hours before it is completely drained while fully recharging the battery takes approximately an hour. There’s also a dial for adjusting fan speed. Four colors – black, blue, pink and white – are available to choose from. Last but not least, there’s a small sponge where you can add a few drops of perfume but keep in mind USB fan cannot double as an oil diffuser.

If you suffer badly from pollen or similar airborne allergies every spring and fall, or simply suffer from Mysophobia, those wacky creators over at Thanko may just have the answer for you: USB Pollen Mask. Like a surgical mask, the Thanko is only rated for large particulate filtration but suit provides full head covering so help keep ‘pollen’ away from your ears and eyes as well as your nose and mouth.

All facetiousness aside, the USB mask is basically a yellow plastic clad hat with a plastic hood that drapes around your head. The front – much like a hazmat suit – is clear plastic so as to allow you to see out of the thing; albeit with greatly reduced peripheral vision.

Because plastic does not breathe, the wearer actually sucks in fresh air via a top mounted vent. This vent has a filter to trap particulates and as an added bonus also comes equipped with a USB fan for active air movement. All that is required is a free USB port on your system and you should be breathing clean fresh air with not a care in the world.

USB Duplicators By Nexcopy
Nexcopy manufactures a variety of PC-based and standalone USB duplicator solutions.

PC based systems support advanced USB functions such as write protection, CD-ROM partition and multi-partition creation, while standalone systems are ultra-fast, high speed USB copiers duplicating gigabytes of data quickly and accurately.