The old fashion beach umbrella. It’s ubiquitous at beach resorts—and in fruity drinks—world wide. But it is difficult to transport. And your typical beach umbrella becomes sub-optimal at the start and end of a beach-going day when the sun isn’t shining directly down.
Now from sporting good manufacturer SKLZ comes a better—and much more portable—version of the beach umbrella: the Sport-Brella.
Spot Cool Stuff can get geeky when it comes to airport codes. Those three letter combinations unique to every airport, used on all manner of airline documents from tickets and checked bag tags, are familiar to every frequent air traveler. So it was only a matter of time before some one incorporated those codes into the design of travel gear.
That some one turned out to be Jason Solarek, a former journalist and diplomat in South America. Solarek apparently shares our love of airport codes because he’s made them central to host of products collectively called Airwear.
With the rings from the Growing Jewelry collection you’ll need a green thumb to keep green on your finger. That’s because Growing Jewelry rings, handcrafted by Iceland-based designer Hafsteinn Juliusson, are topped with real living Icelandic moss!
Think Chia-pet-meets-couture-jewelry.
Question: What’s the single best designed piece of running equipment?
Answer: It’s a pair of gear you already own—your bare feet.
Most running shoes, it turns out, do more harm than good. The problem is that these shoes are designed to “protect” your feet in a way that they weren’t meant to be. When encased in an excessively built-up running shoe the muscles, tendons and ligaments of your lower extremities will atrophy. That’s because your shoes are doing the work that your legs and feet should be doing.
The other problem with running shoes is that they encourage you to run with the wrong form. Your body is designed to run on the ball and forefront of your feet. Try going for a run barefoot and you’ll experience this yourself—your heels will barely touch the ground. In contrast, most running shoes will cause you to land on your heels in a way that won’t only slow you down but will inevitably lead to knee and back pain.
Shoes, of course, do serve a purpose. They keep your feet cleaner and drier than bare feet, not to mention being useful when there’s a sharp rock or nail under foot.
So what’s an athlete to do? Get a pair of running shoes with a design that mimics the advantages of your bare feet. Here are our two favorite:
Mary Poppins would not have gotten far with a Senz umbrella. Her umbrella, like yours probably, catches wind gusts and pulls whatever arm is holding onto the umbrella up and away. And if the wind gust is strong enough it will turn the normal umbrella inside out.
Wearing a Nooka watch you spend a lot of time hoping a stranger will approach you asking what time it is. That way you can pull up your shirt sleeve, twist your wrist around to show them your watch and then see a wonderful, bewildered expression appear on the stranger’s face.
Sometimes cool design is also simple. That’s the case with the “Normal” wristwatch and wall clock from designer Ross McBride. The hour, minute and second hands open a sliver view of the watch face, revealing the time. These cool timepieces are available in both black and white.
BUY: WRIST WATCH | WALL CLOCK
Ruggedness and smart design meet in this passport holder from the Norwegian online store Dansk Design. The sleek stainless steel exterior keeps a passport safe from harm. But what’s really cool is the card slot — it’s located at the top of the passport holder making it easy to slide out your ID or credit card.
Related posts & pages:
Go First Class At The Airport (Even Flying Economy)
Travel Gear
