We’ve scoured the gear scene and found these bright ideas and cool new travel gadgets for your next adventure.
1. Lumeno tail light – A wheelie bright idea
R350, Fox and Sons
Whether you’re exploring a new town at dawn or the kids are doing donuts in the campsite, the Lumeno tail light is a nifty safety light for travelling cyclists. The red LED light gives you added visibility with a new feature that creates a beam of light on either side of the bicycle, giving the illusion you’re taking up more space so you’ll get a bigger berth by traffic. The unit works off a rechargeable battery and shines for about six hours.
Buy it: R350 from foxandsons.co.za
2. The Jetbeam HC20 headlamp
R650, Jetbeam
South African company Jetbeam, makers of high-quality flashlights, have recently released a military-grade headlamp, the Jetbeam HC20, with a beam distance of a whopping 140 metres. It’s designed for hardcore outdoor travellers and puts out 800 lumens (more than twice as much as most other top-of-the-range commercial headlamps), is submersible to two metres and is protected by a metal aluminium alloy body.
But what is a lumen? A lumen is a unit measurement of the total amount of visible light generated by your device, thus indicating how bright it is. Most lights are categorised by lumen count and the higher the number the brighter the device. A wax candle generates 13 lumens and a household bulb generates 1 200 lumens, if that gives you any indication.
Buy it: R650 from jetbeam.co.za (You’ll also need to buy the special battery charger separately).
3. Celestron Nexstar telescope
R28 999, GL Agencies
A new smart telescope from Celestron, the Nester Evolution 8, uses a Wi-Fi connection to pinpoint constellations in the night sky. Compatible with both Android and iOS, the telescope is controlled via a wireless smartphone or tablet. A built-in battery allows users to pore over the galaxy for up to 10 hours, viewing either the entire night sky in real time or selecting constellations from a list.
Buy it: R28 999 from glagencies.co.za
4. LED Lenser NEO headlamp
R320, Awesome Tools
The LED Lenser NEO is an incredibly lightweight (54g) headlamp generating an impressive 90 lumens for its puny size. Despite its compact size the wide light distribution range gives you 10 metres of of illumination, 40 hours of battery life on its lowest setting and the neon range is both funky and on trend. Expect to find them on stylish trail runners and on your very own noggin thanks to the affordable price.
Buy it: R320 from awesometools.co.za
5. Solar Buddy, LED solar lantern
R150, Naturally Solar
Last year we tested eight solar lanterns to find the best environmentally friendly alternative to battery-powered light. The Solar Buddy came out top as the best-value buy, giving us 17 hours and 36 minutes of light and illuminating a range of 79 centimetres.
Buy it: R150 from naturallysolar.co.za
