By Gregg Ellman
Twitter.com/greggellman
Pelican Products Inc., is top-notch company known for making indestructible storage products for EMS, Fire and photography equipment and even smartphone and tablet cases you can drive over.
Pelican is releasing an addition to their portable cooler line with the Pelican ProGear 55QW Tailgater Cooler. Consider it a cooler for life.
Obviously with that name and football around the corner, it will be ideal for stadium parking lot get-togethers, although stocking it with cold beverages during summer’s relentless heat is more ideal to me.
It holds 55 liquid quarts, has a built-in bottle opener, stainless steel hardware, heavy-duty wheels and built-in handles to hand carry. I preferred to use the handle, which let it roll along.
As mentioned, Pelican is known for durability and this cooler is tough. It’s built to military standards and engineered with rugged polymer exterior walls, which feature a 1.5-inch polyurethane foam core. This ensures an amazing 72-hour ice retention.
It’s built with a unique dual lid-within-a-lid design to help organize the contents stored inside, while giving you easy access to the beverages and trays for food.
There’s also a sloped drain and a garden hose attachment for easy cleaning.
Details: www.Pelican.com (Pricing to be announced.)
Watch looks nothing less than amazing
Brathwait watches really aren’t electronic gadgets, but it does run on a battery and caught my attention the second I saw it.
Since I didn’t know much about the Brathwait company, I trolled around the company website and gave myself a little history lesson after I found it’s named after Richard Brathwait, who is claimed to be the world’s first gentleman.
In 1631 Brathwait published “The Complete Guide to the English Gentlemen,” which came to be known to slice the male species into two groups, the man and the gentleman.
Along with that, they run on the statement, “We are all about genuine quality at a fair price, as a gentleman would go about it.”
Back to the watch, the Brathwait Automatic Minimalist Wrist Watch ($335) was on my wrist for a few weeks and it looked nothing less than amazing.
Specifically, it has an anti-reflective, 1.9 mm dome sapphire glass, which gives it incredibly clear face clarity. The watch casing is AISI 316l stainless steel.
It’s available with handmade, Italian calf leather or a 20 mm wide stainless steel mesh version.
I had to strain my eyes to read the backside to find it is water resistant up to 328 feet (100 meters).
While reading that I also noticed some signatures on the backside, of five of the world’s most experienced climbers and recognized Sherpas of Nepal. And for each watch Brathwait sells, they will donate proceeds equivalent to one days’ work to the Sherpas of the Himalayas.
A side note, while wearing it I actually had a few people ask if it was a “smartwatch” which it isn’t. It’s just a plain old great looking wristwatch.
Details: brathwait.com
Bluetooth speaker offers great sound
Acoustic Research’s new Glendale outdoor wireless Bluetooth speaker is designed to blend into any outdoor environment.
When you first see the speaker, you might think it’s a hanging outdoor light or even a bug zapper, but when you crank it up the secret is revealed.
Inside the attractive design are a midrange driver, tweeter and booming passive rear subwoofer, which combine to deliver 10 watts of sound.
And if you get two of them, they can both pair to the same media source for a wireless stereo sound that your neighbors will be sure to hear loud and clear.
An included AC adapter will power the speaker and if you want to truly cut the cords it will run on 8-AA batteries for up to 12 hours of sound.
The Glendale is built with an IPX weather resistant case to withstand an unexpected rainfall.
Details: www.acoustic-research.com, $119.99
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