Dopppio Travel Mug — and more — from Innate Gear

When you’re a coffee fueled somewhat manic depressive north-westerner, you become obsessed with not just where you get your coffee, but how you transport it from point A to point B. And maybe you’ve got some bleeding heart lefty in there too, so you want something reusable.

Furthermore, you already know you’re drinking too much damn coffee, so maybe you could not fill that insulated mug you’ve been hauling around with you all the way? Yeah, that’s going to happen.

Innate knows you have a caffeine problem. And they’ll enable you with a standard line of insulated travel mugs, but they’ve also got a more modest sized container that you can fill with your four shots of espresso, because whoa, now wait a minute, aren’t you trying to cut down?

Okay, we might be talking about me.

Still, that modest sized little charger fits a couple of shots and a splash of milk; that’s how someone who might be trying to cut down would use it. (Or, you know, you could go to decaf.) It makes me a little crazy that there’s almost no such thing as a small anymore in coffee; why can I not get 4 ounces when I order a small? The Innate Doppio mug holds 6.5 ounces, so that’s a start. Let’s imagine, for a minute, how our barristas will respond to, “Size matters, could I have it smaller, please?” A-hem. Not well. Ask me about the time I asked for a small and the barrista said “I have a medium or a medium” while holding up two different sized cups. There’s not enough coffee in the world to make that okay.

I picked up my pocket tumbler from Innate at the Outdoor Retailer show (here’s fellow Gadling gear head Kraig Becker’s write up of the event), you can get yours from REI. They come in silver in black and a burgundy wine color, but there are also a few cute jelly bean type colors — mine is a springy green. No, it doesn’t have an open/close valve on the lid like Innate’s Americano mug, so you might want to think twice about putting it in the water bottle cage on your bike, but it’s great for filling up at home, then walking to the bus stop, then filling up again once you’ve got downtown and are stopping into your favorite espresso joint, and then, filling up in the office while complaining about how the coffee at work is so much worse than the coffee at the espresso joint and how you really, really, really ought to cut down.

Oh, we’re talking about me again. Where was I? Innate Doppio travel mugs. Cute. Inexpensive. Might help you with that coffee addiction. Or not. That’s what I was saying.

Sexy titanium travel accessories from Snow Peak

The spork is one of those things you really shouldn’t leave home without. Yeah, it’s dorky and has funny name, but it’s your friend when you want a yogurt from the corner market and all you have to eat it with are those stir sticks in the hotel coffee condiment package.

And the refillable coffee or other beverage canister, well, are you really still taking your coffee to go in a throw away paper cup? It’s not like you can’t find those refillable things as swag at every other conference you attend, right?

Say you’re not too uptight to reuse your own coffee container, but you don’t want one that says “large software company” or “weird beverage with additives” on the side. Say you want something that’s mad stylish, sexy even. Say you want your spork to express the fact that you are traveling light, practical, and know your metallic elements. Snow Peak has the gear for you and it’s dead sexy stuff, too.

Here’s what hot about the spork: The colors, for starters, those yummy brushed metal colors. They’re not painted, the color is bonded to the metal through some kind of crazy magic, so while yeah, they’ll fade over time, they’ll still hold that shiny blue, that that glowing purple, that sparkly green.There’s a punchhole on the handle so you can put it on your key ring. And really, it’s pretty. Also, for now, there’s no mention of the mighty spork on the TSA’s prohibited items list — I checked.As for Snow Peak’s Kanpai bottle/canister, it’s super sharp too, and super light weight. It’s got three lids for it — one for hot, one for cold, and one with a sliding valve for drinking. You can store the cold lid in the freezer, making your canister the perfect tiny icebox for one can of soda (or, uh, adult beverage). The drinking lid has a tight enough valve on it that it’s not going to leak when it’s in the water bottle pocket on the outside of your daypack. It comes in silver white, or red, and it’s also a very sharp looking piece of gear.

Snow Peak makes a lot of other smokin’ hot gear — their Hozuki camping lantern won a Travel+Leisure design award. The gear in the Snow Peak lines isn’t cheap (the spork comes in at a modest $9.95, but the canister retails for $69.95.) but it’s well designed. It’s the kind of stuff an outdoorsy person like me wants someone to give them as a gift, or that you’d want to give to someone that’s got everything but might appreciate a really good one that’s meant to last forever. (See also: Cafe latte set. Want.) Super lightweight. Serious style. Yeah, I like pretty much all of this stuff. It’s the truth.

Travel mugs are indispensable at sea – Cruise tip

Take an insulated travel mug on your next cruise and it may become your favorite accessory.

Coffee and tea are abundantly available on board, but cruise cups are notoriously small, so you’ll need a few refills for a proper morning jolt. If coffee‘s not your thing, the mug comes in handy for preventing spills in busy buffet lines. Poolside, the insulation keeps drinks frosty.

Save luggage space by stuffing your mug with small items, scarves, ties, or a teeny bikini.

No travel mug? Thrift shops carry tons, and at less than a dollar, they’re cheaper than $10-15 on the boat.

[Photo: Flickr | poohjay]

SkyMall Monday: TimeMug

People are always shocked to learn that I don’t drink coffee. They say, “Mike, you attack the day with the vim and vigor of a boy one-third your age. Certainly, you must caffeinate yourself every morning.” People are also surprised to learn that I rarely wear a watch. They say things like, “But, Mike, you are as prompt as a man with one-third the level of OCD that you possess. Certainly, you must have a precision timepiece.” Well, the fact of the matter is I do not need coffee or watches. I’m high on life and my body clock is more accurate than the U.S. government’s atomic clock. But, for those of you who are without these natural gifts there’s the TimeMug.

The TimeMug finally puts a clock face where you’ve always needed it: on the side of your insulated travel mug. How many times has this happened to you: You’re sipping your cup of coffee, realize you need to know the time, check your watch and spill your coffee all over your trousers? If you said, “at least seven times,” then I’m amazed that you have the motor skills to access this website. Regardless, who needs the time and their coffee separated? By combining their powers, there’s literally nothing that can stop you from being on-time and alert.*

But what if you’re a fashionista who needs a TravelMug that matches your couture lifestyle? Well, for you there’s the TimeMug Rhinestone Collection. Wouldn’t it look handsome in your Bentley’s cup holder? Yes, it would.

As always, let’s rely on the official product description to seal the deal:

With two rhinestone timepiece options and so many dazzling colors to choose from, there’s a TimeMug right for everyone.

The good people at TimeMug understand that the only things that matter to consumers are colors and rhinestones. It’s like they can see into our souls. So, put down your Bedazzler and get yourself a TimeMug.

* Any number of things could still prevent you from being on-time and/or alert including, but not limited to, traffic, insomnia, “Irishing up your coffee,” rabies and explosive diarrhea.

Check out all of the previous SkyMall Monday posts HERE.