Your favorite gadget.

[Neil]

Tell me, what's your favorite back country gadget?. I don't mean your favorite sleeping bag or tent.
For instance, last weekend someone at the Bradly Pond lean-to showed me a really cool map holder that fixes on your chest and when you open it up it's like having a little writing desk hanging off your sternum. Another hiker had a wrist watch that was a digital compass, altimeter, barometer and more.

What's that little non-essential doohickey that you love to take with you on every trip?

Personally, I wear a heart rate monitor whose data I can download (and print). It hold 8 hours of data and takes an average heart rate for every 8 minutes so you get a nice graph of your day's exertions.

Don't forget to let us know where you got your gadget.

 

[MichaelJ]

My Elph digital camera. I can't imagine going on a hike and not having pictures for memories as well as to share the experience with friends back home later.

Nothing else is really a gadget. I enjoy having my GPS along but it's not strictly necessary. Would you consider a Leatherman a gadget?

 

[Jaytrek57]

I have a braille compass I picked up a few years back when I lead some backpacking trips for some visually impaired folks.

Pretty cool conversational/educational piece.

Also my briefcase jet car..like the one George Jetson has.

 

[Warren]

A Kestrel 4000- it's a weather instrument the size of a gps. I got it to help develop a better "weather sense"- it does temp, humidity, barometer, windspeed, altitude, and a few other weather related stuff I don't yet fully grok.

It's two neatest features is that as an altimeter it's really easy to use and calibrate. Most digital altimeters I've used are rather boneheaded in operation, this one requires a browse of the manual and that's pretty much it. What really makes it fun is that it is always taking readings and storing them, in intervals you set. So you now know how cold it got while you were sleeping. I used it this weekend to verify that I spent two hours loafing on top of Wittenberg chatting with VFTT'ers by looking at the flat space on the altitude graph after I got home. Nifty.

Previous to getting that I would have voted for those little coin sized LED lights.

Oh, and I do I have a fetish of sort for compasses. Where does one get a braille compass?

 

[spike]

My Suunto Altimax.....

 

[Jay H]

My Ti spork.. It is a neat gadget to show off to friends.. Ooooohhhhh, titatium... and it feeds you! 'nuff said.

Jay

 

[jbrown]

I was going to say that, Jay H!

I love my spork, titanium makes me feel superior to all the silly little gits running around with lexan eating utensils...

 

[Jaytrek57]

Warren--

Try this
Braille Compass

Got mine oddly enough from Outdoor Explorations...there is a thread on this forum about this great organization.

 

[GU Man]

My favorite gadget is my little tripod. It has three legs about 4" long - I call them gumby legs as they're flexible and can be shaped any which way. I used to try and balance my camera on rocks or stumps to take group shots, but it took too much time and the picture was always a little off. This little tripod does the trick.

 

[Mike D.]

Michael, is thet elph the one i saw in backpacker a couple months ago, kinda round shaped and water resistant, if so how do you like it, thinking of getting one so i was wondering how it works, thanx, Mike D.

 

[SherpaKroto]

Lots of gadgets. I guess that's why my pack is so darn heavy! I love my eTrex Summit GPSR, but close seconds are my Primus pack lantern and my Olympus D-40 (although I wish it was faster)

 

[Ridgerunner]

Headlamp !

Some kind of fetish for me...Now, it is a "Tikka plus" but there is this new one that I just saw...

 

[Nadine]

My sierra designs hanging mug holder. Lets me sit in my tent and drink tea without spilling it all over the floor. Weighs only one ounce.

 

[Mike D.]

I realized i never told my gadget-- my leatherman squirt-- 2 1/4 inches long and only 2 ounces.

 

[brianW]

Cammel Pack! I don't think of this as a gadget anymore just a standard piece of gear but since hiking w/ it I feel much better (hydrated) while hiking.

Last year I bought two kid size ones for my kids and they seem to have a lot more energy while hiking also.

 

[Silverback]

My Leatherman tool.

 

[carole]

My favorite....

is my little lap top that sits here on my desk with internet connection. Sure I could go hiking without it but I’d never learn all the fun stuff and meet all the crazy hikers without it!!

 

[Sara]

My favorite is our aluminum drip coffee pot. It is three extremely light weight pieces and makes fantastic coffee. It is always a treat to pull it out and show off while our friends choke down their folgers coffee bags or hot chocolate. ADACKR and I purchased it at a junk yard for $4.00 which makes it even better!

 

[JohnL]

My thermos bottle. It keeps hot chocolate hot and cold GatorAde cold. I don't have to program it or anything. It just seems to know what to do.

JohnL

 

[Steve-O-former]

Definitely the flask I bring along for those frigid winter overnights...