Keychain Transflash Reader

This is a keychain version of a transflash memory reader. It features a USB 2.0 connector on one side and a slot for a transflash card in the other end.

The dimensions are really minimal: 1.02'' x 0.43'' x 0.16'' and weights 0.2 oz. To use it you need to have a transflash memory card too, TF cards are becoming popular since they are used in many cellphones, you can plug the card, insert the reader in a USB port and access the card as a drive without drivers or aditional software. Used in conjunction with a 1gb or 2gb TF card this can be a tiny flashdrive, probably the smalles you can have since the reader is just as big as the USB connector itself so we don't see how it can be any smaller.

The reader has a small hole for a strap so you can carry it on your keychain or a necklace, construction is good enough to survive your keys, there are no moving parts so unless the plastic where the TF card is inserted gets crushed the reader will work fine. Remember you also need a TF card to use this as a flashdrive.

You can get it for $4.50 from DealExtreme.

Mini Reminder Electronic Alarm

The MiniReminder is an electronic novelty used to make sure you don't lose one of your precious EDC items or gadgets.

This gadget has two parts, one receiver and one emiter, you attach the emiter to your item/gadget and keep the receiver with you in your pocket or keychain. The emiter will send radio signals to the receiver and if the units get sepparated 10 or 25 feet (you can set two distances) the receiver starts to vibrate and beep letting you know you have just forgotten your EDC item somewhere.

The manufacturer recommends this for MP3 players, tools, flashlights and even kids(!).

The idea is very cool, in the practical use sometimes the radio signals can't travel well or are blocked and the receiver starts to beep and vibrate when nothing has happened, attending the false positives can be a little annoying so our impression is that this is useful for some special item that is in risk of being forgotten but probably not practical for simple EDC items. Anyway a curious gadget that you may want to experiment.

You can read more and order for $40 from this site.

Grundig Mini 300 Portable Radio

This is a portable tri-band radio capable of receiving SW, AM and FM transmissions.

The radio has a LCD display to show the selected band and station, this display does not have a backlight. The antenna is telescoping. Short Wave reception is very good, you can pick most of the World Wide SW stations without any problems including clock signals and others, AM reception is also very good and FM is fine.

You can listen using the built-in mono speaker or for FM radio you can listen in stereo using the included earbuds.

The 6.6 x 2.5 cm radio radio uses two AA batteries and weights only 4.7 oz. Besides the radio it has a sleeping timer to auto turn off the radio after a programmed time and also a radio alarm that will turn the radio on on your preferred station at a given time. The package includes earbuds a carrying pouch and a SW listening guide.

The radio has nice features and very good reception, SW reception can be improved adding a coil antenna clipped to the telescoping antenna but we don't think that is a need unless your station of choice has very bad reception, for most SW stations tried the radio was clear, sometimes the frequency that you have to tune in the LCD display is not exactly the frequency of the station so keep trying.

You can order online from REI for $30.

ZST MBT Battery Tester

This is a battery tester that measures the battery capacity and not its voltage, the capacity is a far better way to know how much juice the battery has left, in many batteries the voltage will be constant until the cell is near exaustion so measuring voltage has no purpose.

This model can measure more than 30 battery types, including Alkaline, Lithium and Rechargeable C, D, AA and AAA batteries. Primary and rechargeables 123 and CR2 batteries.18500, 17650, 18650, 3v lithium coin like CR2016 and CR2032. A23 batteries, 9v batteries, and many others. It is practical to say that it will be hard for you to have a battery type that can't be measured with this tester. 104500 batteries can be tested even if not listed and some smaller batteries like 10440s can also be tested but it is not recommended to test more than once because the test may take a margin of the battery charge.

Using the tester is very simple: Put the battery with the positive pointing down in its place and use the small probe in the negative contact, percentage of remaining battery capacity is indicated on the LED bar display. The test takes aproximately 2 seconds per cell.

Given that mixing lithium batteries with different charge in a flashlight can result in an explosion (according to several reports) the tester is a good way to know both cells are in the same state of charge. A very nice tester that can be used in a huge number of batteries.

You can read more or order for $60 from Lighthound.