This design from Birkiland merges two important functions into one simple package. You can keep yourself completely dry from rain while punching someone with a dibilitating blow to the face with this invention.

I really don’t see myself ever using this invention except maybe in a rough and rainy London Neighborhood? A bit too James Bond-ish for my personal tastes, but I’m always wooed by the product mashup.

Birkiland - Umbuster

Z-bar is quickly becoming the lamp of choice by architects wanting to add a bit more style to their drawing board. I should know. I’ an architect and I have one at work. I ‘ve asked other architects. They too have purchased one. I think it goes over well because it’s "green" sleek, simple, and most importantly for poor architects, inexpensive. The one criticism is it’s not easy to draw under this light because the LEDs make multiple shadows which induce headaches.

Z-BAR High Power Red by Koncept

Handpresso, available at Charles and Marie, is your ticket to never being stuck on a back country hiking trail without a good shot of espresso easily available. I used to carry something called a Jetboil. My friends raved about this thing, so I had to have one. And as it promises, the Jetboil boils water in seconds. Here’s the catch. The Jetboil comes with a coffee adapter to make French press style coffee, but the device led to a scalded hand and lots of grounds in my cup of coffee. Admittedly, I didn’t use the press quite right when I got the hand scald, but it has never worked quite well for coffee when I did use it right. Now, my savior comes in, and its name is Handpresso. This plus the Jetboil is the one-two punch for the camping barrista.

Scott Amron sent me a link to his Die Electric project months ago, and I loved it so much that I wrote a post about it and but somehow it was lost in the ether. Finally, I’m back on the case: Die Electric is a play on dialectic mixed with a little die and a little electricity. It’s conversation involving sculpture and a standard A.C. outlet. I’m not sure how the initial aha! moment was born, but once it sprouted Scott wholeheartedly took on the challenge of using the A.C. Outlet as the most useful of structural cantilevers asking himself, ” Just what can I hang off of a plug?”.

The answer, among many other things, is a vase allowing you to add a bit of cheery flowers to any unused power outlet.   Yes, it seems a bit iffy to actually be plugging this into a socket. And, after all, the name “Die” is in the name of the project. But what the hell. I encourage you to buy into Scott’s project.  Just don’t sue me if you get hurt.

Maybe for a slightly safer feeling project of Scott’s, try out the off switch hook. No electricity involved.

Definitely check out the link below for a complete line of clever and beautiful products:

Bubblicious