Festival goers rejoice – no longer do you have to spend the first several hours of your week struggling to master the jigsaw that is tent-pitching!

Quechua are selling this cool tent that springs out of its carrying bag and pops up fully formed – 2 seconds is the claim and looking at the video I can believe it.

Now re-packing it… that’s another story! Still, it looks like a neat idea for the occasional camper.

More details (and cool videos) at Quechua.com

Anybody who cycles a lot will have had the experience of a flat tyre – it’s inevitable given the condition of our roads and cycle paths. So after you’ve repaired the hole you could:

a) spend 10 minutes with a hand pump trying to put a decent amount of pressure back in the tyre, or

b) Use one of these handy CO2 inflators from Topeak to blast gas back into the tyre without the effort.

The cartridges are strictly single use but they should last forever in storage and it seems like a far simpler way of getting the job done to me.

Flat-pack tableware – useful for camping, not so much for your everyday evening meal. If you do like the outdoor life though, the Orikaso range of self-assembly bowls, mugs and plates should be on your shopping list.

The idea is simple but well executed – using pre-folded and cut plastic sheets you can carry around a set of eating and drinking accessories for next to no weight and because they fold flat you can tuck them into a corner of your rucksack and forget about them.

No need to worry about fragile plastic hinges either – you get a 10 year guarantee against failure. Prices seem to vary, so look on Amazon to see what they’re currently doing.

Digital mapping software is starting to become more common with the growth of more powerful phones and PDAs. Effectively replacing an entire pocket full of Ordinance Survey maps, “Quo” from Mapyx is the latest to join the lineup.

Quo is a simple application to use and (more importantly) it’s free to download. Once installed, you can plan routes using the tool which can then be exported to GPS waypoints. A Windows Mobile version of the software is also included, which will display your chosen route on your smartphone/PDA.

Compatibility is excellent with Garmin and Magellan GPS devices supported as well as the ability to import maps and routes from a variety of other applications.

When planning a hill walk, the included map will not contain enough detail so the software lets you buy official 1:25000 Ordinance Survey maps of a specific area. A very slick download interface means you can just buy the maps you’re interested in and have the product automatically integrate then. Covering the whole of the UK in this resolution would get expensive but the software lets you choose your areas in 10×10KM tiles so it’s not too bad – you’ll pay about £2 per tile.

One nice feature I found when playing is the ability to select an area and ask the Quo to find appropriate walks from walkingworld.com – it’s a nice touch and shows the thoughtfulness that went into the product.

You can download Quo for free from www.Mapyx.com

Joby have been making the GorillaPod for a few years now – with it’s unique flexible leg joint arrangement it can hold a camera on just about anything.

Taking that idea one step further is the GorillaTorch – a hands free light using the same articulated leg design.

It looks like a nice solution to the problem of portable hands-free lighting. The legs have been fitted with magnetic feet for additional mounting options and the light itself has variable brightness, using the latest LED technology for up to 80 hours of illumination.

At £34.99 it seems like good value to me – Joby are taking pre-orders on their online store now.

The SPOT GPS tracker is one of those things that you buy hoping you’ll never need, but if you do end up using it you’ll be glad you invested.

It’s a personal locator which at the press of a button sends your location in an SMS or email to your chosen recipients (or the emergency services). It uses satellites to transmit the message so it will work anywhere in the world and doesn’t need any mobile phone services to be present.

The new model has a few improvements over the original model, some cosmetic and some deeper changes. The ones worth noting are:

• 30% smaller and lighter, it now weighs just 148 grams
• More sensitive GPS chipset and antenna for enhanced performance
• Additional functions apart from SOS.

The new functions let you send different types of message – you can give out regular positional status updates to your contacts for example and allocate a pre-programmed message to a dedicated button.

They’ve also put a protective cover over the “get me out of here” SOS function to stop you getting it confused with the other new buttons they added – probably a wise move!

You can find the full press release here

[via Gizmodo]

Olympus have launched this new compact camera aimed at the outdoorsy/action-oriented (or just plain clumsy) market – It has been engineered to withstand a drop of 1.5m, temperatures down to –10 degrees Celsius and can be submerged to 3 meters.

A 12MP sensor means detailed images while a 28-102mm lens should provide enough flexibility for most needs.

The camera has face detection and image stabilisation to help take the perfect picture. It also features a range of “magic filters” which will distort the image for a more arty/fun look and a “beauty mode” to “smooth out imperfections and leave subjects looking refreshed”. Lastly you get “tap control” – a mechanism that lets you tap various points of the camera body to activate certain features. Not sure about that one myself…

Look for it in the shops from now-ish, priced around £300.

[via PhotographyBlog]

Chainsaws will occupy a special place in the heart of anybody who’s been around long enough to remember ID Software’s genre-defining game, Doom. (or, indeed, any fans of the Evil Dead series)

With the advent of the i.Saw USB chainsaw you can bring your space-marine/zombie hunting fantasies one step closer… or at least you might be able to in September when they actually start shipping the things.

It looks like a working, scaled down Husqvarna and is cool, in a “WTF?” kind of way – but when you get down to it the only thing it uses USB for is power so it’s not really that connected. Personally I prefer USB gadgets that actually interact with the computer in some way, like this cool missile launcher.

But since when has practicality ever had anything to do with gadgets?

With Glastonbury around the corner this fantastic futuristic concept tent is being touted by Orange (yes, the mobile phone people) as the next “must have” for festivals. Which it would be, if it existed, and that’s coming from somebody who doesn’t even like camping.

To start with the outer shell is made of a photovoltaic material (solar cells to you and me), to recharge all your toys.

Next up is an internal heating element in the groundsheet to keep out the Glastonbury chill (presumably the tent would have a mains plug – solar cells aren’t going to power a heater for long!)

They also think camping for the modern age should include wireless internet (which is fine, but where does it come from – satellite?) and a charging station using contactless charging technology (we’ve seen demos of this before and been impressed)

Oh, and possibly the coolest thing of all – you can, in FantasyGlasto, send the tent an SMS from your mobile phone to make it glow so you can always find your stuff on a crowded campsite.

Meanwhile, back in the real world you can find more information on what Orange is actually doing for Glastonbury at www.orange.co.uk/glastonbury

[via TechRadar]