A round-up of this week's best gadgets
Blackhawk Secretary Trunk
If you’re sick of trying to pack a fortnight into a weekend bag, of micro-managing your carry-on to defy the laws of physics and the eagle eye of the check-in mandarins then the Blackhawk Secretary Trunk is certainly a grand gesture of protest against suitcase-size fascism. It is a very expensive two-fingers to the overhead bin brigade. Just bring the whole lot, work and all.
Looking like something Marc Newson might have knocked out between Lockheed chairs, this is old-style, unapologetically huge luggage with a retro re-look. A patchwork of aluminium panels is formed and bolted in place round a hardwood shell, dressed down with a carefully induced patina of scratches and dents. Like you’d just disembarked from a Zeppelin and the bags got a good, but aesthetically pleasing kicking.
Drawers have label holders and are lined in black cotton. There’s a pop-down desk for your i-whatever. Or perhaps a vintage Remington typewriter is more the thing.
Now given this already weighs in at some 238kgs (525lbs) and is almost two metres tall, with the rest to match, it is going to be quite the sight as you haul it to the extra, extra, extra large items desk. But then that’s the grand gesture. The good news is it has been reduced from $4,295 to just $3,650. Secretary not included.
Blackhawk Secretary Trunk $3,650 from restorationhardware.com
WaveJet
The last decade has been marked by foolhardy wave warriors tackling ever larger walls of water on their surfboards, with our own west coast playing host to a couple of spectacular monster runs. Catching these briny monoliths involves being towed out by a jetski, so nerves aside, there is a logistics challenge, not to mention expense in riding them.
WaveJet isn’t going to remove the need for a tow, but it will bring bigger water within reach of the solo surfer.
It is effectively a personal propulsion device that can be fitted to some boards that will give you a little extra thrust for the paddle out; about four times as much the makers claim. It uses twin impellers to deliver about 9kg of thrust for up to 19km/h of speed. Controls are by way of a wireless wrist remote, with a Li-ion rechargeable battery giving about half an hour of running they say. More than enough to get out among the scary stuff. Endorsed by Garrett McNamara, the Irish-sounding surfer of the current world-record 90-footer off Portugal, WaveJet may be a game-changer for big wave riding. Deliveries to begin in mid May.
WaveJet WaveJet pod $2,500 on its own (boards extra) from wavejet.com
Star Trek Inflatable Captain’s Chair
If possibly the most famous split infinitive in popular culture (or indeed, anywhere) – “to boldly go” – immediately evokes a nostalgic kick for Star Trek and the crew of the Starship Enterprise, then this is surely the must-have inflatable for your travels this summer. James T. Kirk’s famous chair is yours for a few puffs (and a little hard currency, of course).
There have been many iterations of Gene Roddenberry’s original opus on TV and silver screen, with the recent prequel revitalising the franchise, but the merchandising has never quite hit warp speed. So this looks like an easy win for closet Trekkies. The website says it all.
Star Trek Inflatable Captain's Chair $24.99 from thinkgeek.com