Hi-Tech Water Toys — For Grownups
What better way to enjoy a day at the beach than with some really cool water toys?
Megan Miller, an editor of PopSci.com, the Web site of Popular Science magazine, displayed the latest hi-tech water toys on The Early Show Thursday, everything from wetsuits to kite-boards.
Popular Science gathered a collection of the coolest gear for the beach — products that combine advances in technology, such as wireless communication, waterproof heating elements, and clever engineering to please everyone from extreme sports fans to average Joes by making watersports more fun, comfortable and safe.
HEADZONE HELMET $455
This is the official helmet and coaching communication system of USA Water Ski Team. The helmets are fully waterproof and can be used in salt or fresh water; helmets come in five sizes (small to extra-large).
The electronics in the helmets are controlled by magnetic reed switches that are encased in waterproof resin. A small magnet is used to turn the receiver on and off, adjust the volume, and change the channel. The magnetic key can be found on the leash supplied with the coach's handheld radio.
The coaching system is being used in the following water sports: kiteboarding, wakeboarding, waterskiing, windsurfing, surfing, sailing, canoeing, whitewater rafting, and kayaking just to name a few. Plans are in place for introducing the coaching system to many land-based applications like skiing, snowboarding, cycling, etc.
RIP CURL H-BOMB $700
The world's only rechargeable wetsuit. Rip Curl's H-Bomb is the world's first power heated wetsuit. It's a wetsuit designed to keep you super-warm by positioning a source of heat on your upper back. This heats your core and enables your body to experience warm blood to your extremities. The heat is generated by two coated fiber elements positioned on your upper back. The elements conduct electricity that generate the heat that warms the blood. The elements are made of fiber — there's no metal here, so there's no electromagnetic field generated by any metal component and there's no metal to corrode when it's in salt water and you're in the barrel.
What does it feel like? It's an infrared heat with a therapeutic heat quality usually used to relieve muscle soreness and tension so it keeps you loose. You keep really warm, even on the low setting and it just keeps you feeling warm all over.
How is it powered? Rip Curl's H-Bomb is powered by two Polymer Lithium Ion 7.2v batteries. These are the same batteries found in your mobile phone, iPod and laptop computer. There is no danger of exposure to these batteries by radiation, electric shock or explosion even if it is called the Bomb! The batteries are positioned on your lower back where they are cushioned against your body by a layer of neoprene sponge so you can't feel them. ripcurl.com
HYDRO OPTIX MEGA 4.5 DIVING MASK $199
HydroOptix has developed the world's first dive masks that deliver a razor sharp natural panoramic field-of-view. See almost five times more than you could with flat diving masks, which block 75 percent of your view. Flat masks not only cause edge blurring and shape distortions, but cripple your eye-hand coordination and situational awareness by blocking so much of your natural field-of-view. Even highly trained divers with years of experience find task performance greatly improved when their TRUE-view is restored by the Double-Dome dive masks. However, the concave shape of water creates a secondary optical phenomenon: you must be nearsighted to use the mask.
Many naturally nearsighted divers can use the mask with just their naked eyes The view is so astonishing that hundreds of 20/20 divers have learned to wear contact lenses. They become temporarily nearsighted just to use the mask, and tell us that wearing contacts is worth the hassle, because of the vast improvement in vision. Low-cost disposable contacts are now part of their standard dive gear. Yes, if you are 20/20, this probably sounds ridiculous. But once you try it, you may decide that your valuable time underwater deserves a razor-sharp view almost five times greater than anything else. Both new divers and instructor-trainers are wearing contacts again, years after successful LASIK made them 20/20. hydrooptix.com
NIKE MAXSIGHT CONTACT LENSES $60 (3 pair)
These disposable contact lenses, co-developed with Bausch & Lomb, improve your game by filtering 95 percent of UVA and UVB rays without the need for cumbersome shades. Look like a cat in amber lenses that help you see fast-moving objects better during games of football, baseball or tennis. Or use the gray-green pair to reduce glare during non-contact sports like golf and running.
The lenses are medical devices that require a doctor's prescription, so they are not available at "Dick's Sporting Goods." Also, the lenses are available in a wide range of optical power to correct both near-sightedness and far-sightedness. However, they can be ordered in zero power, which means an athlete who has perfect vision can still use the contacts and benefit from the optical tint.
nike.com
EWA-MARINE HOUSINGS $19 to $50 & up
Underwater camera and camcorder housings tend to cost a mint and are usually hard-shell, which makes them tough to pack for travel. Ewa-marine makes dive-ready flexible bags that accommodate a wide range of digital and film cameras and camcorders and can be submerged to about 30 feet (some versions can go down to 150 feet, depending on the model of camera). All camera housings feature an optical grade glass lens ports for brilliantly sharp images. Super easy to use, all are waterproof to 33 feet, some as deep as 165 feet.
Also make pouches for phones and other valuables that are 100 percent waterproof. You can even use them in the surf, they have a lanyard and belt clip, but most importantly you can talk and receive calls while the phone is inside the housing! (Three sizes for different phone models.) Plus, most phones in the pouches even float if dropped. Other pouches hold your ID, cash or small valuables. Many sizes available — some have depth ratings of 300 feet, good for all water sports, surfing, swimming or scuba diving.
rtsphoto.com
THE HOBIE MIRAGE ADVENTURE ISLAND $2,999
The Hobie Island is a kayak, a sailboat and a trimaran all-in-one. The core component is the kayak. Add a sail and it converts into a sailboat. A set of akas and amas (think Hawaiian outrigger) to each side and transform it into a trimaran. Remove all and it becomes a fishing boat with built-in rod holders. This unique sailing machine, unlike any other sailing craft on the water, can be used by anyone at any level. atkenco.com or
CABRINHA KITE-BOARD $1,500-$1,700
The Cabrinha kite-boards have very special safety systems to keep riders from getting into trouble, and a special re-launch system. There is a patent on the bridles, less arc in the canopy, and some degree of sweep/matched curve in LE and TE are all characteristics of a kite that will have a huge range and will de-power by letting go.
cabrinha.com
Kite-boarding:
Also known as kite-surfing or fly-surfing, involves using a power kite to pull the rider through the water on a small surfboard, wakeboard or kite-board.
About Kitehouse:
The Kitehouse is a startup travel company from Key West, Florida offering specialty kite-boarding tours. The Kitehouse owner, Paul Menta, is well known as a leader in the kite-boarding industry and wrote the book for certifying kite-boarding instructors.
Menta is also the founder of Kite Surf the Earth, which evolved into the Kitehouse. He is a championship-level wake boarder and competitive kite-surfer, and has been involved with water sports since the age of 6 when his father put him on a set of water-skis.
He progressed from water-skiing to wakeboarding in his teens and found the sport would not only allow him to compete on a professional level, but also allowed him to earn a living doing what he loves. From wakeboarding, kite-surfing was the next obvious step.
Now listed as a master instructor for the Professional Air Sports Association (PASA), Paul trains the world's instructors as well as students with techniques that he has developed and perfected after teaching more than 1,000 students.
Paul regularly writes for several sports magazines and has published numerous manuals on all aspects of kite-surfing. He also holds the Guinness record for kite-surfing the fastest from Key West to Cuba.
Powerski Jetboard $7,995
The patented Powerski Jetboard is the only motorized wake-ski board in the world. Bringing together several different extreme sports, it's a cross between a high performance surfboard, a competition waterski-wakeboard, and a jetski. But unlike the old standup jetskis, the Powerski Jetboard is easy for a novice, yet challenging for the athlete.
powerski.com