Cool Gear Received:

I've got some new stuff in the mail to test and write about in the upcoming weeks.  First, I was offered a pair of Margaritaville polarized sunglasses from the Margaritaville Store: 

 

This style is the Havana, which retails for $159.95 and appears to be well-made.  I've been wearing them everyday for driving and find them comfortable and the optics good.  I'll put them to the test in the coming weeks with a couple of sea kayaking trips on the Gulf coast, and see how well the polarization works to reduce the glare.  This is a good time of year to test that, as the air is clear and the light seems to be at it's brightest - making it a great time of year for coastal photography as well.  I'll let you know what I think of the sunglasses here when I've had time to really evaluate them, but I can say at this point that I already like them a lot, and they come with some nice accessories, like a microfiber cleaning bag, an integrated leash system, and a nice zippered, hardshell case to protect them.  Oh, and the palm tree logos on the ear pieces and lenses are a nice touch too.

I've also got a couple of gear reviews to do for Sea Kayaker magazine.  One will be a round-up of the latest chart-enabled hand-held GPS units that I will get started on as soon as they are sent from the manufacturers.  In the meantime, I'll be testing several different water filtration packs by Hydration Technology Systems.  Of particular interest is the SeaPack Crew Emergency Desalination Pouch, which could be a good back-up system for sea kayakers and a valuable addition to a ditch bag or life-raft for sailors:

I'll be testing these to see if they work as advertised, and when the article is published in Sea Kayaker, I'll post a link to it here.