Fjällräven senior
designer Fredrik
Hyltén-Cavallius
wasn’t happy with
the durability of
ripstop nylon, so
his team made
Bergshell—a better
version used in the
Ulvö Rolltop 23
bag. Normal
ripstop fabric has a
ribbed, undulating
surface that wears
unevenly, tearing
as you repeatedly
drag it across
rocks, trees, or
the floor. Using
31 percent recycled
nylon, Fjällräven
weaves Bergshell
flatter, with threads
of the same
thickness to
distribute abuse
evenly, resulting in
a bombproof bag
ready for years of
commutes, hikes,
and long weekends.
$135; fjallraven.us055
A TOUGHER
RECYCLED BAG
A SLICKER STAKE
Sometimes the simplest design tweak can make a big difference. When Nemo CEO
Cam Brensinger, an industrial designer, was clearing camp after a sandy, muddy trip near
Moab, Utah, he noticed his filthy tent stakes. “Though it’s easily overlooked, staking and
dealing with dirty stakes is a significant part of camping,” he says. “We saw a chance to
solve some functional issues.” Starting next year, the simple polymer ring he added to the
Sweepstake Tent Stake will solve a host of frustrating issues. Slide it down and it wipes the
metal clear of muck before you toss the stake into your gear bag. The biscuit also glows in
the dark, making it easier to find the stakes at night. Because the ring is wider than the
metal section, it secures the tent’s guylines in 360 degrees, so you won’t have to worry
about orienting the notch in the right direction. $25 for a set of six; nemoequipment.comPortable smart tech’s weakest link is battery life.
The PowerWatch 2 solves that with a thermoelec-
tric case that contacts your wrist , turning body
heat into electricity—a technology similar to the
one NASA uses in satellites. And the new model
takes it a step further: A solar panel ring around
the watch face generates power from sunlight.
The two technologies produce enough energy to
keep the device’s battery topped off all day and
night , even when you remove the watch. That
means features like a heart-rate monitor and
always-on color display run without needing a
conventional charge. GPS is one of the largest
power draws, so if you want more runtime than the
30 minutes the watch normally provides, just go
for a run: The more heat you generate, the more
power the watch makes. $499; powerwatch.comA Heat Seeker
THE NEATER ROBOT MOWER
iRobot created Roomba to
fulfill the future the Jetsons
promised us: outsourcing
menial tasks like vacuuming.
Next year, the Terra t7 Robot
Mower tackles another giant
time suck—yards—but in a new
way. Until now, lawn bots had
the same flaws: a tedious
boundary wire installed
around the perimeter of the
yard and a random mowing
pattern that never quite
looked freshly cut. The Terra
mows back and forth, leaving
crisp rows. The secret was to
replace the boundary wire
with ultra-wideband radio
signals, which bounce off
beacons staked in the lawn, so
the robot knows where to go.
$TBD; irobot.com