BTW, if you hate the gallery format as much as the Grinch hated Christmas, click here.

GoPro Hero HD cam: HD video, mounts for helmets, chests, boards—even cars—make it pretty easy to share high-def versions of your adventures back home or on the internet. $270 [Review; GoPro]

Mountain Hardware heated jacket: Turn it off while moving, turn it on while resting. Easier than peeling off and reapplying layers on a cold snowy day. $400 [Review; Mountain Hardware]

The cheapest MP3 player you can find: Everyone has a nice one. But if you're roughing it up outside, you want to bring a crappy one and you want it to be somewhat disposable. SanDisk has some 25 dollar ones on Amazon. I used to use an iPod shuffle til they removed the buttons. For sports involving gloves, things with big buttons are best. A good stocking stuffer, but explain it as such so you don't look like a cheap ass. [Amazon]

Nike Plus: If you like running, the Nike Plus informatics system will track and log and compare your mileage with that of your friends. (I hate running.) $29 with an iPod nano or iPhone or iPod Touch, or $69 for one that doesn't need an iPod. [Review; Nike+]

Remember, though, that Nike Plus doesn't map your routes. If you've got an iPhone, I recommend Motion X GPS Sport app for tracking all sorts of outdoor activity routes. $3 [Review; iTunes Store]

Patagonia Nano Puff: Ounce for ounce the warmest tightest packing jacket Patagonia makes. PrimaLoft One (60g) filling makes it so. I'd use it as a good fall/spring outer, or a good winter/ski extra midlayer for when the cold creeps in. $150 [Patagonia]

Rugged Cameras: The W80 Pentax is pretty compact, takes OK photos and videos, and is shockproof to a few feet, coldproof to 14 degrees F and waterproof to 16 feet. I like it for winter sports. $300 [Review; Pentax]

The larger Lumix DMC-TS1 is only coldproof to 32 degrees on paper, and waterproof to 10 feet, but it takes superb images and videos. $400 [Review; Panasonic]

DON'T BUY Columbia Heated Boots: Seems like a good idea but they're not. Unlike heated jackets, which warm your core and are located on your center of gravity, heated boots won't do much to warm your body and are in danger of shorting if you step in a stream. They're also heavy and the weight on your extremities is tiring. [Columbia]

A Heli Trip: Sending a loved outdoor geek on an adventure is going to be better than any sort of piece of gear they might lug. Say, for a ski bum, a heli ski tour. Most people I know, unless deep into the scene, will consider replacing a chair lift with a helicopter, an extravagance. It's not that much, though. Couple hundred bucks [Ruby Mountains]

Don't forget to recommend your own favorite outdoor adventure gear in comments—include pic and pricing if possible.

All Giz Wants is our annual round-up of favorite gift ideas, including amazing attainable objects and a few far-out fantasies. We'll be popping guides catered to different interests several times per day for the next week, so keep checking back.

Kinda Like the Old One

The GoPro Hero HD is squarely based off the old model. It has the same mounting system, case, physical shape and user interface. It is so similar, I suggest you read the original short review I did and then come back here for the low down on what makes this one better. Here's the link. Or you could just take these basic points as a foundation.
• Awesome mounts for everything.
• Meant to be semi cheap so you don't sweat it, yet capable.
• It has a 170 degree field of vision and the case makes it waterproof to 100 feet. Very rugged.
• Two buttons for controlling the basic UI. Shoot, toggle modes. The UI is so rudimentary you'll often forget how to use it, but all you need to do is turn it on and shoot.
• There's no native LCD for viewing replays.
• It's not tiny.

The Video is Now HD

Instead of the paltry 512x384, the $270 camera with surf mount has several modes, most HD. On the silky smooth 60 frame per second mode there are standard definition resolutions of 848x480 or HD at 720p/1280x720. Both are 16:9 ratio, which is recommended only for motorsports or other activites where you're not trying to catch yourself in frame standing up. The 60 frames per second modes are noticeably smoother in normal playback but they're meant to also look better if you slow down the frame rate playback for slow motion in your favorite video editor. The grain was noticeably worse when using 60FPS indoors, but not a deal breaker.

In 30 frame per seconds, there are modes for 720p again, but also a 1280x960 which is 4:3 high def. That's the default and I used that for surfing which is (usually, if you do it right) something you do while standing. The 1080p mode is 16:9, and 30 frames per second but limits the field of vision from 170 to 127 degrees. Again, the 16:9 modes are used less than you'd expect in sports shots. There's also a center weighted mode for exposing the road when shooting from inside a car, and leaving the dashboard underexposed properly.

The bottom line is that this new camera is in HD. That's the big improvement

Quality

This is a still of the movie at full res, not the actual 5MP stills.
First, watch the movies the guys at the company produced here. Then watch my shitty one filled with shitty surfing. Colors were a little washy/green but the ocean and the sky together, with the lens collecting droplets, well, that isn't an idea situation. Watch it for yourself and form your own conclusions, but note the reflections off the water which will inform you of pretty decent autoexposure and sharpness. It's a vast improvement over other sports cams and the standard def version. Oh a little thing held over from the last generation that isn't a ding or a plus: the 170-degree angle is great for reducing apparent vibration and for making sure what you want in shot is in the frame, but has the unfortunate side effect of making things like waves and jumps and other otherwise impressive looking things seem smaller.

Storage Capacity

Average recording times:
1080p: 12 min/GB
960p: 14 min/GB
720p: 16min/GB @30fps; 11 min/GB @ 60fps

GoPro recommended you use fast SDHC cards to save battery life. And that on a 32GB card you can get almost 6 hours of recordings, although you'd be constrained by battery life. Oh one annoyance — every time you clear the card, the files are named from 001, 002, again. So if you copy them over to the same location, they'll ask you if you want to overwrite. I wish the camera kept its file name numbers in series.

Battery Life

The other big change is that instead of being powered by a pair of AAAs, GoPro jammed a 1100Mah 3.7 volt battery in the case. I did not do a full run down test, but shooting 51 minutes of video didn't reduce the charge one notch; GoPro estimates you can get 2.5 hours of battery life from the camera in normal climates, regardless of the definition of video you're shooting. The old model died quickly in the cold if you weren't using rechargeables but this camera's housing retains a bit more heat making it better for the winter. You charge it by USB. Unfortunately you can't charge it while doing a USB transfer, yet. They hope to fix this by firmware later.

Sound

Stills

I didn't test this mode, but GoPro claims the 5MP shots are better due to better processing. There are several still modes, as before: Single shot, triple shot that takes three shots over 2 seconds and a time lapse mode that can be set to record a shot every 2, 5, 10, 30 or 60 seconds. And a 10 second delay timer. For me, this is not why you get a sports camera.

The Surf Mount, in Particular

Oh it's 3M double sticky and it seems to hold up just fine. You clean your board of wax and then use a bit of rubbing alcohol to apply it. Let it settle overnight. To get it off (permanently) you use a hair dryer, which sounds a bit scary when it comes to something nice and fiberglass, but what do I know? (That's why I put this one on a pop out longboard.

The Future

Another big but so far not useful thing on the new camera is the expansion port. they plan on offering a bigger back door for the case, so you can fit in an external LCD screen for replays or an extra battery pack. I like the idea. I'm thinking they could probably go ahead and work on making the camera smaller even if it costs a bit more, in the next generation, though. I like GoPro enough to use it, even though gadgets on the mountain or in the surf piss me off by way of distraction. Now that they've got mounts, higher resolutions and battery endurance covered, I think making it even smaller is the next step to making it more enjoyable.

High def modes

Best mounting options in the business

Rugged, yet affordable case good for bumps and waterproof to 100 feet

Wide angle lens captures 170 degrees of motion so you fit in the shot and vibration is dampened.

Smooth 60 frames per second great for action shots

Relatively cheap for what you get

Case kind of biggish
[GoPro]

Seriously though, somewhere in this image is an outdoor shower that heats water up to 140 degrees in two hours using solar power. Of course, now all you can think about is a cold shower right? Well, the product page will bring you crashing back down with the imagery conjured up by the following line:

"you and your family can take several showers consecutively before the tank needs to reheat."

That is so wrong. [Herrington viaRed Ferret via DVICE]

For most of my adult life, I lived up to the modern stereotype of a geek by staying connected and staying inside and equally pale year round. And I regret it. I don't know why we live like this, when the gadgets are inherently meant to be used outside, capturing photos and videos of the best memories not in front of our Xboxes, and wireless speeds and smartphones are so good at keeping us in touch with work and loved ones while we're traveling. There's no excuse, if you love life.

Except, as I said, my excuse has been San Francisco. Because of the consistent climate, I just always tend to forget about any seasonal change. June hits and we have all these Apple keynotes and whatnot, and then July starts and finishes within something like, oh, 30 days and August will inevitably do the same. Then September happens, which is the spiritual death of Summer for everyone, student or not. I thought to myself, here you go again, taking things for granted. So I sought out the sun. Lisa plotted a vacation, to Kauai and Oahu. Hawaii was personal time. I was doing nothing but camping on the beach, jumping into lava formed tide pools and did not check my email or phone for 4 days. The world did not end. I surfed a little and visited friends like Philippe resting after his big race. I brought minimal technology along the way. I can't say it was good. Apparently, when I ditch the internet, I start binge eating to replace the stimulation of twitter and blogs and email. Once, I ate three meals in a row with major ingredients being SPAM (the meat) before 4pm one day. There was a second, non SPAM dinner after that. And two working days later, 4400 new messages. Christ alive.




I got back last Wednesday and immediately took off with some Gizmodo writers and friends to REAL Watersports at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to learn how to kiteboard, surf, drink a lot of sponsored beers (Heineken Light, thanks for the trip) and ultimately, test beach and water gadgets. And in the proper context of being outside, we realized that half of the gadgets we thought were cool were dumb, and half of the ones we thought were useless were totally impressive. You can't really test out waterproof cameras without spending time with them on the beach or in the ocean. Cases get beat up, lenses get smudged with grime and cam housings cause ridiculous amounts of glare out of the H2O. Nor can you do the same with Jetskis or metal detecting sandals. It's all more subtle than that, but I'll save it all for the reviews, which will come.

The reason the trip was sponsored is that we wanted to get some help from our friends. We invited Joel Johnson of Gizmodo/BoingBoingGadgets fame, John Mahoney from Giz and Pop Sci, and Seth Porges from Popular Mechanics, and invited them to bring as much gear as they could haul down. And Cape Hatteras was an incredible place. Basically, the area is a mecca for kiteboarding and surfing, with the outer banks being exposed to a shallow body of water to the west, almost 30 miles wide in some parts, calm but windy for kiteboarding, and the biggest surf breaks on the Atlantic coast on the other side of the island, which was walking distance away. When it came time to kiteboard, we got slaughtered. It's basically like wakeboarding on a boat while remote controlling a kite that's pulling you. And really, we're not the most athletic crowd, so that didn't help much. Also, it rained a whole bunch. One day, we only got into the water by borrowing some demo skimboards and surfboards from REAL and heading towards the Atlantic. The current was strong, but it was just so satisfying to finally swim in the Atlantic, after all these years. It's a little darker, but because of the gulfstream, a lot warmer. Can't say I missed my wetsuit all that much.

It was muggy, and the summer showers as relentless as the mosquitoes, things that I wouldn't have to deal with in the monotone climate of SF, but nothing compares to the lift of spirits I get spending time with the people who write for this site, eating bbq and testing tech. We all work remotely and generally only see each other when there's a, like, super-serious liveblog or CES show to cover. And I remembered not only how much I love this feeling of...well, summer, but how much different tech is in the context of the heat, the moisture and really the distraction of the real world.

'Till school starts we'll be running more stories about tech and summer. Sometimes involving the ocean sometimes the beach, sometimes just the most tangential of connections. It's already August, but I'll be satisfied if we can celebrate what's left of the most glorious time of the year and what it means to all of the tech nerds here.

Summermodo is a chance for Giz to get outside and test our gear where it belongs.

Weatherproof TVs are nothing new, of course, but this one pushed the envelope in terms of size with its mammoth 65-inch HD LCD screen. It's also wireless, with a transmitter that allows campers (people) and camper (Winnebago) to be separated by more than 150 feet of wildlife, lush green lawn or, in the case of my house at the ol' alma mater, patches of dead grass, beer cans, and the occasional prone body or two.

Alleged "glare reduction coating" helps when viewing the outdoor TV behemoth in direct sunlight, but the equally large $35,990 price tag doesn't really help anyone but Innovizion. Seriously, if you're going to spend that kind of money anyway, might as well buy a few dozen "normal" HDTVs in a smaller size. As they burn out from moisture, dirt or the rain, simply replace them with a reserve. Stupid, yes, but so is spending $36,000 on a TV. [Innovizion via Born Rich]

The Price: $200

The Verdict:This is the best sports cam I've ever used. The various mounts allow it to be strapped to a helmet, a chest, a rollbar in a car, or on the glass or metal of an auto's flat surfaces via suction cup. There's a plug mount and 3M mount for surfboards, or a 3M mount for ski/snowboards. There are even bicycle mounts for facing rear and forward. And I could see the chest mount being applicable to almost any sport, from martial arts, to kayaking, to hockey. (The mounts are sold separately.) It's cheap enough you shouldn't worry about it too much either, at $200. Although I did still worry about it a little bit: The mounts worked, but I've popped the 3M mount off a snowboard on a hard day of riding, and since then have depended on the large suction cup and a tether for safety.

It's housed in a tough plastic case, that locks tight, which makes it waterproof enough to submerge it 100 feet. The camera takes SD cards, and between the 2xAAA battery life and 2GB of storage, you end up with about 1 hour of footage and life in the cold. Buy rechargeable batteries. (The camera is noted to have shorter battery life in colder weather and using lithium or NiMH you can get 2-3 hours in regular climates.) Video quality comes in at 512x384, and works well on cloudy days, but in bright environments it shines. The Hero also has a 5MP still mode which can record stills continuously at 2 or 5 second intervals. (I've included some samples in the gallery.)

The f/2.8 lens has 170-degree field of vision which allows for not only better light sensitivity, but the full context of whatever maneuvers you're pulling, and reduced jitter from vibrations. But it also has the effect of reducing the visual impact of what you're doing. A small jump will look small. Don't take this the wrong way — I prefer this wide angle lens to the alternative, which is having a zoomed-in, shakey cam shot. One other gripe I have is that the camera's group delete icon looks like the multiple still shot mode icon. I deleted a batch of great videos one day, by accident. I swear, I jumped over a house that day. Really.

Check out this video from the USC Ski team, or any of the company's samples.

Here's another of an RC Car doing a 20 foot backflip, with a Go Pro Hero camera.

At the lower end of the spectrum, I've compiled a few shots of me mostly falling.

*That song is a Hey Jude cover by Rico & the Rudies, from a Trojan Beatles Reggae box set.

As for the falls, don't worry. If you get this camera and use it to capture your adventures away from the computer, you'll likely look much better! I highly recommend this thing.

[GoPro will be bringing some Hero Wide cameras to Snowmodo.]

Snowmodo is our snow sport winter meet up at Lake Tahoe, California, with prizes, discounts, tons of fun snow activities, a party and GADGETS. If you can make it please RSVP and find out more info by clicking on the banner below. I'll let you wear my hat (below).

Gore-Tex is about to take another step forward in its dominance of artificial wet weather skin. Now, they can fuse together outer layers with foreign inner layers, to two great results.

Gore-Tex's most capable shell materials have always had to be stand alone, making them a little bit like wearing a crinkly sheet or garbage bag (without the sweat build up, of course). They're taking their 3 layer shells and bonding them to interesting inner liner materials in an extension of their "comfort mapping" tech. So, if the chest and back need insulated, they can attach a piece of fleece there; or padded armor on elbows and shoulders; or antimicrobial liners on armpits. The sub brand isn't new, but before, comfort mapping involved sewing, opening up the potential for unsightly seams and water leakage. Now they heat press the new layers in, so that there are no extra punctures in the outer layers, and things like pockets can be sewn now into the inner materials without causing punctures, either. The materials will be breathable, but not as breathable as the naked Gore-Tex layers we're used to now. But it would be nice to have a jacket while peeling off a few undergarments. (I'll take some pants with built in butt and knee padding, please.)

The other tech is called X-trafit. Most multi-layer gloves get some parts turned inside out when you take them off. Also, multi layer gore gloves have reduced mobility, grip and finger feel because of the slipping of each layer against another. X-trafit gloves fuse the inner and membrane together, while a grippy material between the inner liner and the outer shell makes the entire thing feel as if it's one piece of material. The only downside is that these gloves are not going to be as warm as those with many different components.

The Gadget: The toasted bliss that is Ardica's heated jacket pack. I will never brave the cold without one.

The Price: Varies but around $375 for jacket and system

The lowdown: The idea of a heated jacket isn't new. But neither is the perception that such a set up would be heavy, bulky, sweaty and involve making sacrifices in the core material, features and breathability of the garment itself. Not here! Here's what Ardica's system is, and here's why it works and why I want it so badly.

The Ardica system is, basically a battery pack powered heating system that manufacturers can build into their jackets.

Ardica the company has a background in fuel cells, but they knew that making a consumer jacket heating system would require it to work in the real world at a relatively affordable cost, today. So the entire system is built around a power source of lithium ion batteries arrayed in a soft pack that looks like a waffle, and that fits in the upper back between a person's shoulder blades, in a pocket in the heated garment. The power source is 10 watts, enough to heat a person's core — and therefore their whole person — for 3-8 hours. 10 Watts of juice goes to the jacket's 2 elements on a wearer's front chest and one on their back, or through a USB jack which can power a USB device directly, or a 1watt sub-battery that can charge devices with its ipod/iphone and usb mini jack variants. The heat output is controlled via a LED lit waterresistant switch that toggles between three settings.

I still wonder what happens if the system gets drenched. Lithium ion packs have advanced management in them, but that management is electronic, and, can be foiled as we saw with all the exploding laptop stories from a few years back. What if you fall on this a lot?
You'd think that such a system would be uncomfortable, but within a few seconds of wearing it and turning it on, it had all the coziness of heated seats in a car on a cold winter morning or sitting next to a roaring hearth or napping in the sun one summer afternoon after a cold dip in a pool. The weight of the battery is about that of a large laptop battery, and since it's placed on my back, it was not noticeable, nor did it swing around while I moved. (Maybe while wearing a backpack I'd notice it.) The jackets are going to go for $375 with the system and a premium jacket. A little steep for an regular, non waterproof jacket which you'd wear as a layer under a shell, but the potential for comfort in the cold is well worth it and the fact that the system will be built into brand name gear like Mountain Hardware makes it a little more bearable. [Previously mentioned Marmot — I think I might have imagined that.]

Consisting of little more than a toilet paper dispenser attached to a shovel, this all but destined for a Hammacher Schlemmer catalog design allows you to:

1. 1. Go outside
2. 2. Dig a hole
3. 3. Poop
4. 4. Wipe
5. 5. Bury
6. 6. Win

And no longer will dogs have all the fun when it comes to defecating on someone's lawn. However, the portable toilet paper caddy seen in the pic is, well, pretty worthless. Unless you're in the habit of wandering campsites distributing TP to those in need like some kind of potty medic. Then it works. [FDeco via Crib Candy]

BBQ Tower Smoker: This six-foot-tall smoker has enough racks and surface area to simultaneously cook just about any type of meat that you can think of. And it won't take up a ton of your patio space. Available for $500. [Hammacher Schlemmer via Link]

The Ultimate Tailgating Trailer: If a sporting event is in the cards this weekend, kick your tailgating party up a few notches with this tailgating trailer from Gameday Customs. The standard model includes a 26-inch LCD, satellite dish, CD/DVD player, 1000 Watt generator, and a toilet—but you will need to upgrade to get your fresh water system with sink, refrigerator and, of course, the BBQ itself. Naturally, partying this hard will set you back a few—to the tune of $14,000 or more. [Gameday Customs via Link]

Solar Powered Grill: It will probably take a year to cook a burger with a grill that reflects the sun's rays, but if you have a thing about the environment this may be an attractive option. Was available for $249. (Or you could build one yourself, like this guy.) [Tammock via Link]

Koolatron Portable "Drive N' Grill": If you decide to take a road trip this weekend, that doesn't mean you have to pass on the BBQ. This portable grill plugs right into your cigarette lighter to keep you cooking while on the go. And it is actually called the "Drive N' Grill," so my guess is that safety isn't a top priority. Available for $36. [1ofakindbuys]

Longhorn Steel Grill: Nothing beats cooking meat in a grill shaped like meat. Available for $1699. [Traeger Grills]

Smoker and Grill Trailer: This smoker/grill combo hitches to the back of your vehicle and features a whopping 108"-long cooking chamber for serious BBQ projects. Available for $8545.04. [Grill Showroom]

Beer Barrel BBQ: This simple design makes for a charcoal grill that is big enough to entertain your guests, but small enough to transport just about anywhere. Available for around $140. [Drinkstuff]

Ariete SteakHouse Indoor Grill: The product page calls it a grill, but we know a steak toaster when we see one. The SteakHouse cooks your meat vertically and heats it from the side so the fats and grease drip down into a tray without smoking. Yup, sounds like a toaster to me. Available for $220. [Ariete via Link]

Cook N' Dine Tabletop Grill: This tabletop grill functions indoors or out thanks to a flameless cooking mechanism that runs on electricity. The center of the stainless steel surface forms a shallow cooking pit that heats up to 430 degrees Fahrenheit—no pots or pans necessary. Prices start at around $1600. [Cook n' Dine via Link]

The Ultimate Smoker and Grill: Technically you can't buy this gigantic smoker and grill, but you can rent it for a carnival-sized crowd. This beast can cook 200 steaks or 1,000 hot dogs simultaneously, it can slow smoke 2,000 pounds of meat and it features a 48" flat screen television with satellite and a Bose sound system to entertain guests. Rental packages start at $5,000 (before additional expenses). [Adventure Alliance]

Bonus Accessories: Now that you have the grill, you are going to need some cool accessories to go with it. Here are a few favorites:

Roast My Weenie: This little dude has balls of steel—literally. Available for $15. [Roast my Weenie]

BBQ Sword: Ha Ha...pork sword. Available soon for $29.99. [Firebox via Link]

Condiment Pistol: Fill up this oversized cartoon gun with your favorite condiments and blast your burgers. Plus, you will always have the upper hand if a food fight breaks out. Available soon for around $30. [Firebox via Link]

The Performance: Two hours of battery life. Doesn't feel like its top quality in build. Slightly grainy, but videos are perfectly acceptable. (That's a link to the company's vids, which are representative, but also a lot more interesting than my bunny hops. Charges by USB. For $350, I wish it came with a MicroSD card. Thumbs up. [Guest editor's note: Thumbs up? What do you mean thumbs up, sucker? Who is going to wear that thing on his head, you fool? Only fools like you and Murdoch, that's who! I ain't getting that thing on my head!]

The methods aren't new, as Primordial's site is filled with news clippings from 2006, and I think an old Polaris outdoor GPS had this tech. But Magellan's press release says the tech is now exclusively theirs. It's smart, but its probably unwise to depend on such a system to navigate outdoors. Whereas road data goes out of date every few years, the seasonal swelling of rivers, altering of terrain and paths, falling trees, and other quickly changing outdoor conditions are best handled with common sense and local knowledge. Couldn't be too harmful to know where a deep forest starts and a sheer rock face drops, though. [Business Wire]

As well as a 4x zoom, the MINOCTAR lens is multi-coated with a 42mm fixed focal length, allowing for macro shots as close as 24 inches. There's a two-inch TFT color screen, built-in flash and, as well as an internal memory of 16MB, there's a slot for an SD memory card up to 2GB. Running on two AA batteries, the DC6033 WP will be available for $299. [Aving USA]

is it just me, or has that guy got his hand down his pants? You'll go blind, you know. [Yanko]