Adventure Medical Kits

by Erik Olsen on

A good place to go on the web if safety is top priority on your next trip and even if it isn’t, is
Adventure Medical Kits.  It’s not that they just toss some band-aids,
Motrin, antiseptic towelettes, and butterfly closure strips together and ship you a kit, they specialize in making them
light weight.   Who wants to worry about packing extra trauma pads when you can barely fit your Crest
ultra whitening toothpaste with baking soda in your toiletry bag? Not me.  Their selection
is one of the best I’ve found with light weight kits ranging from one day to twenty eight day
trips and for large groups as well.    

One I thought was really well put together if your worry both about scrapping your knee and need to fix
some gear on your way is the Cuts and Bolts Essential Kit.  It
includes some standard plastic hardware, sewing kit, tent repair, blister materials, wound management supplies, as well
medications.  And there’s actually a slew of other stuff I didn’t even mention packed inside.  The kit runs
for $31.95.

Weblogs Inc. Greatest Hits

by Erik Olsen on

Howdy folks, as you may—or may not—know, the blog you are now reading belongs to the Weblogs, Inc. Network
(WIN).

The Weblogs, Inc. network features over 80 independent, unfiltered bloggers producing over 1,000 blog posts a week
across 75 industry leading blogs that include Engadget, Autoblog, and TVSquad. We figured we would skim the cream and
give you some of the top posts from a number of these sites—as determined by our bloggers—in one easy to read post each
week.

Tons of linkage after the jump… enjoy!

Engadget has Creative Zen Vision about Microsoft “breaking some new
ground” with a… Battlebot (?!) walking around with Sony Ericsson’s new
W600 Walkman Phone
and chatting up how the Nintendo Revolution won’t support HD.

AdJab covers AutoTrader’s attacks, on
Heinz one-liners,
marooned on Gilligan’s
Island and then

asks what
ads do you love?

Autoblog speaks of
face lifts, how easy it is to be
?green? over a
Bugatti Veyron on eBay, and brings us back down with Flint?s
Buick deathwatch.

Blogging Baby reports on
Viagra for kids, why an OB resigned
over c-section quotas, a catchy new
Backyardigans CD you?ll be humming to yourselves for
weeks, and how men
are using their nipples? Whoa.

Cinematical watches Humphrey Bogart
chew scenery, then casts a
hypothetical
Simpsons movie, while handing out screening passes to
wannabe rappers, and
wonders: did the maid kill
Marlon
Brando?
 

DIVESTER covers
tankless scuba, to observe
intrauterine cannibalism, and
dolphins using tools while a
Great White Shark attacks…
Wow.

Over at
Gadling they are grooving on
Pink Floyd and really
into their newest podcast Quit Your Job.

LUXIST waxes on about
Rick Schroeder?s $29
Million Ranch, Lenny
Kravitz?s Phantom for sale on eBay, while ?Cigar Jack? reviews the
Domaine Avo 50 Cigar.

TV Squad
live blogs The Jackson verdict,
catches the ?flickr-ization? of Futurama
title cards, tells us about some new DVDS,
The Daily Show, and
summer reality shows.

TUAW discusses the possibility of
O

Travel Guide Peru

by Erik Olsen on

Several years ago I slogged the Inca
Trail and took five days to do it. That is the way the trail should be done. Forget taking the bus to the ruins
like the old-timers. That’s for wusses. Besides, the walk is (mostly) beautiful as you get to pass numerous other,
lesser-known ruins and to see and breathe in the fragrant air of the Peruvian countryside. And then, on that brilliant
dawn when you arrive and pass through the gate of the sun at Machu Piccu, well, there is nothing like it, and you feel
all the better because you worked for it.

Well, if Peru is on your agenda, you could do worse than
check out this Peru guide from the
Independent. It covers MP, of course, but a whole lot else besides including info on places to hang out at the beach
and surf, and jungles to trek until the leeches are happy.

Gadling Podcast: Quit Your job

by Erik Olsen on

It is my
guess that very few folks know that June 24th is the International Day of
Leisure. I didn’t. But that doesn’t mean it’s not something to add to your calendar. But more than that, I wonder
how many have ever considered taking not just a day, but a whole year off. Ditching the cube and the bleat of the fax
machine for 365 days of travel or self-improvement?

Well, that’s what our newest podcast is all
about. Our interview is with is with Dean LaTourrette and Kristine Enea, the authors of the new book: Time Off: The Upside to Downtime. These two "leisure
experts" explain how they came to write the book, and tell some stories and details about how you, too, can bail
for a year…or a month…or however long it takes you to make your life a little richer.

Give a
listen.

Host: Erik Olsen.
Format: 22 minutes

General Ecology Water Purifier

by Erik Olsen on

Heading out on a long trip a while back I made sure to pack my
handy MSR water filter. It really does the job when you’re in a place
where good water is scarce. But as most folks know, water filters don’t necessarily do the full job on your water. Some
nasty microbes might get through and turn your trip into one long need to go to the bathroom. Well, I was reading in a
magazine recently about these chemical free water
purification systems from General Ecology.

These purifiers apparently use a”Structured Matrix” chemical-free technology (fancy term!) that serves to remove
viruses, bacteria, and protozoa, as well as  organic and inorganic chemical and aesthetic contaminants. The First
Need Water Purifiers have gotten some decent reviews and might be worth checking out if you’re in the market for a new
water purifying system.