Holiday Gift Guide (Pt. 1)
By Roger Lanny,
Contributing Editor
It seems today that we live and die by our mobile devices—our iPhone or Android is a constant companion, and that iPad or tablet is not very far away. We just couldn’t exist without them but then the battery runs out….
We’ve all been there—a long day, an endless list of things to do, and numerous social media sites to crawl through and post to. By the way, do you know what social media has the potential to do to your safety, security, and future jobs prospects? Just a quick question. While there may not be a handy AC outlet, or that darn charging cable is in the car or back home, if you carry one of these with you, you’ll always be powered up.
The myCharge Hub Plus is a self-contained rechargeable portable charger. It’s been newly redesigned, and has both a built-in Apple Lightning cable and a micro-USB cable. You’ll never have to look for the charging cable. The wall prongs that quickly recharge the Hub Plus (they call it Rapid Recharge) are also built-in.
For comparison to the Hub Plus’ 6000 mAh capacity, the iPhone 6 has an internal 1810 mAh battery, the 5s a 1570 mAh, and the iPad Mini a 4440 mAh. The Hub Plus has plenty of power to charge virtually any smartphone, iPad Mini or similar device, and it touts the speed of recharging – their Hyper-Charge technology.
I found that an iPhone 6 at 44% battery topped off in an hour and a quarter, a 5s went from 14% to 100% in two and a quarter hours. A totally exhausted Hub Plus gets topped off in 2 1/2 hours. Not too shabby.
You can recharge the Hub Plus at the same time as it’s charging your mobile device, and, while I couldn’t check it, its claimed to “maintain battery power for up to 1 year.” Weighing in at 7 oz., it measures a svelte 4.1” x 2.5” x 0.9”. It can be recharged up to 500 times.
myCharge has a variety of devices on their website from $20 to $150 (their powerful 12,000 mAh power pack). There you can also find manuals, how-to videos, warranty & returns, FAQ’s and a link to customer support. They’re available all over, from Amazon to Costco to Target to Best Buy and more, with an MSRP of $99.99 and free shipping from the company directly.
OK, why are there headphones in Women&Guns. Hey, look at ‘em. 9mm headphones, and tactical to boot—I just couldn’t resist. These are very nice in-ear headphones that not only look and sound good, but they have a variety of great features. The driver housings are machined out of a solid piece of copper alloy, and are tuned for the perfect frequency response. Then they add a scratch-resistant titanium coating to give you another layer of protection. However, it looks for all the world to be a 9 mm brass case in each ear, complete down to a headstamp and primer. Munitio then added their proprietary Kevlar reinforced cable complete with Apple certified 3-button Mic Volume Control for both music and phone, which is also an Android compatible 1-button Mic Control. They state that the acoustical engineering of the Nines yield excellent reproduction, minimal distortion, and is well balanced for all music genres. Listening to them on my iPhone 6, these unique headphones delivered excellent stereo with crisp highs, seamless mid-tones, plentiful bass, and good separation. They were very comfortable to wear, and come with interchangeable small, medium and large “Hollow Points” (silicon inserts) to insure that secure, comfortable fit in your ear, while enhancing performance and noise isolation. The standard 3.5 mm stereo jack is 24K gold-plated for trouble free use. Optional ear hooks are provided just in case you need additional help in keeping them in during your more vigorous jogging.
Looking on Munitio’s website, they also have wireless on-ear (Bluetooth 4.2) and corded (with in-line mic) over-ear models. There is a limited two-year warranty. As a bonus to you, our Women & Guns readership, Munitio is offering a time-limited $100 off (expiring 12/1/15), so these beautiful-sounding, conversation-starting headphones are only $79 with free shipping. Just use the code “womenandguns100” during your check-out on www.munitio.com. Happy Holidays and happy listening!
Glasses collect fingerprints and dust. Binoculars, scopes, and red-dots are similarly magnetic. We try wiping them on our jeans, buffing them with our t-shirts, grab paper towels, or whatever else is handy so we can see clearly through the darn things.
Well, most times none of the above are really that helpful, and may even be injurious to the device being cleaned. Some of these “cleaners” are coarse and can scratch. Moreover, if the dust, dirt and detritus aren’t removed from the surface first, cleaning can grind them in, again causing scratches and abrading the coating. What to do? LensPen offers a great solution—their LensPen for lenses, and their Peeps for glasses. Both self-contained units come with a soft, retractable brush to safely remove potentially damaging dust and dirt. Once that’s done, use the specially design cleaning element to remove fingerprints and smudges. The Peeps just pull out, and the LensPen unscrews. They use a unique, invisible carbon cleaning compound on the cleaning surface to readily remove those oily smudges. Why does this work—the same reason folks used to clean windows with newspapers. The printer’s ink in those papers was around 25% carbon, and that carbon absorbed the oils. The carbon cleaning compound used here has been specially formulated to readily handle the fingerprint oil with ease. The cleaning element is designed to never dry out, and the cleaning compound is replenished each time you screw in the LensPen or push the Peeps back in. The Peeps, by the way, is all new, and comes in eight different colors to suit your fancy. In my limited usage, they performed just as advertised. Their instructions and website state they are safe to use on glass, and on CR39 or polycarbonate lens so long as the latter two have an anti-reflective coating on the outer surface of the lens. My optometrist suggests if there is any doubt, just use just a bit of mild soap and water, followed by a very soft, non-scratching cloth, or, preferably, a microfiber cloth. Available from Brownell’s and other distributors, LensPen products also have many OEM and private label customers, such as Canon, Nikon, Leica, Trijicon and Leupold, to name just a few. The LensPen and Peeps each have an MSRP of $14.95.
Holiday Gift Guide (Pt. 2)
By Carolee Anita Boyles,
Contributing Editor
If any one company can be called the leader in serious hunting clothing for women, it’s Prois. The company’s Archtach jacket is filled with goose down that has been treated with an acrylic so that it’s weather resistant and very packable. It has a micro fiber rip stop exterior so that if it tears, the tear stops within a very small grid. It weighs less than two pounds so it’s excellent for back country adventures. The Archtach jacket is available in a variety of camouflage patterns and in black. MRSP $399.99
Browning has expanded its line of camouflage hunting clothing to include women’s sizes. They’ve added the Hell’s Bells line with a little bit of pink on it, and pink deer skull logos. The Hell’s Bells line has all the items that Browning’s Hell’s Canyon line has, including jackets and pants, in sizes up to 2XL. It’s a layering system with either down or Primaloft for insulation. Soft Shell Jacket MSRP $212.00; Soft Shell Pant MSRP $200.00.
Along with serious hunting clothing comes a more playful trend, as camo also has come to the beach and to the bedroom. Wilderness Dreams has a line of lingerie, loungewear and beachwear. For women who don’t like pink, there are items in both camouflage patterns with just some lace to make them dressy. Products in the Wilderness Dreams line include bikinis, bras and panties, camisoles, pajamas, T-shirts, and other fun and flirty items, in sizes up to XXL. With so many products available it’s hard to pick just one, but I’d go for the tank nightgown in Mossy Oak Breakup or Naked North Snow, MSRP $38.00.
Spectra Shot has shotgun shells with color enhanced shot that fluoresces. When you shoot these shells under a black light, you can see every pellet brightly illuminated; you can see your shot pattern, and every pellet in your shot string, so you can see where you miss. It’s amazing what happens when you can see what you’re doing wrong; you can make the necessary adjustments so you can break the target. Spectra Shot ammunition is great for shotgun games. Turkey shot MSRP $25/box; Waterfowl shot MSRP $125/4 boxes.
Click Here to Continue on to Holiday Gift Guide Pt. 3 & 4
