Posted by: Guest
on Aug 23, 2010
Every year backpacking and outdoor publications and websites come out with their top ten products. It's a great way to learn about a new cutting edge products, old tried-and-true favorites or find an idea for that perfect gift. Here are some of my favorite rugged products (and some that are still on my wish list). Maybe you can use them while you are out backpacking or hiking this year.
10. Felt Virtue Two - This bike features an awesome new suspension design, great for the most hard core of riders. If you're more of a traditionalist however, you can't go wrong with a Santa Cruz Superlight.
Posted by: Guest
on May 31, 2010
Humphrey Bogart and some of those guys from Hollywood's good old days may have had rugged good looks, but other than that, not much was rugged back then. Cars certainly weren't, and a couple decades later, computers definitely weren't. In the early days of Pen Computing Magazine, which we launched in 1993, we often saw "rugged" machines that looked tough but were little more than science projects inside. Maybe the manufacturers thought we wouldn't take them apart. We did. And what we saw often wasn't pretty.
Even today it's not always clear what "rugged" means. Or "semi-rugged" or "durable." A few years ago word reached us that a manufacturer was all bent out of shape because we had listed one of their products as "semi-rugged" and their competitor's as "rugged." Well, they had it as "semi-rugged" on their own website. Oh well. Point is, it's really not easy to figure out what is rugged, or how rugged.
One thing that gets me is how much "rugged" stuff these days is shiny and gleaming. To my way of thinking, shiny and gleaming surfaces get scratched, and very easily at that. They sure look good, but personally I wouldn't mind some good old-fashioned real protection, like rubber or plastics -- stuff that is really scratch-proof. And what's with those eensy-teensy little Phillips screws use in so many "rugged" products? Here's Blickenstorfer's law: all Phillips screws must be hard enough not to get stripped by a screw driver. They must be large enough so a regular screw driver can handle them. And they should all be the same size.
Posted by: Edward Jones
on May 05, 2010
I am fortunate to work for Trimble. I get to work with interesting technology, use really cool products designed by Trimble employees and work with pretty active folks. Some of the guys do what is called "Adventure" motorcycle riding. It's not your average dirt-bike riding or dual sport riding. This type of riding is in remote areas for days at a time.
