December '15 Highlight Reel
It’s officially winter, whether the weather where you are feels like it or not! This month, we’re taking a look at items designed to keep your electronics charged up, your skin in tip top condition in the cold, your hands warm, and even a snack that’ll help you eat your coffee.
Power Practical Lithium 4400 Battery Pack
As much fun as it is to disconnect from daily life when we're outdoors, being able to use our electronic devices can still be pretty important. If your phone doubles as a camera or if you need it to call for help, it's important to keep it full of juice. But phones aren't the only devices the folks at Power Practical want to help us manage.
The Lithium 4400 portable battery pack takes 4.5 hours to fully charge, but once it's ready, it packs a capacity of 4,400 milliamp hours (mAh). That means the 4.2 oz hand-held charger will charge your smartphone two or three times, depending on the model, and it'll charge your GoPro around four times. Better yet, the Lithium 4400's 1A USB output charges any USB mobile device. The capacity indicator makes it easy to see how much juice the battery has left, but the real best part? It comes with a built-in crazy bright LED lantern that'll last 30 hours or more. For those of us who hate rummaging around in our bags and packs in the dark, that'll come in handy.
Sierra Sage Green Goo Dry Skin Stick
Winter weather can be tough on your skin, without a doubt, and most of us don’t want to waste time with products that claim to help combat dryness, but aren’t effective. Sierra Sage makes a variety of products designed to keep our skin looking and feeling healthy, and the Green Goo Dry Skin Stick is no exception.
Long-time Cairn subscribers got to try Sierra Sage Bugs Be Gone spray as well as the Green Goo and Arnica Salve in handy little round tins. But if you’re looking for dry skin relief and general skin care in an easy-to-apply, easy-to-carry stick, you’re in luck. The Green Goo Dry Skin Stick is perfect when it comes to soothing problematic dry areas, it’s easy to carry around, and easy to apply. Plus, it’s made with calendula flowers for their anti-fungal, anti-yeast and anti-microbial properties; and other delicious-smelling flowers like chamomile, red clover, and violet. Soothe everything from dry patches of skin on your face from a day on the slopes to dry elbows, dry hands, and more.
New Grounds Foods Mocha Latte CoffeeBar
For those of us with a passion for coffee, drinking a cup of java can be the highlight of any morning. But when making a cup isn’t convenient, or when you’re in need of a little boost of energy on top of something that’ll keep you fueled like a snack bar will, the folks at New Grounds Food came up with a solution.
Co-Founders Johnny Fayad and Ali Kothari came up with the idea to “eat their coffee” as a way to get their morning cup of joe and breakfast in one tiny, delicious package. They launched a Kickstarter campaign in September of 2014, and 44 days later, the two college freshmen had their project fully funded. Now, they offer everything from sampler packs to subscription boxes and more.
The New Grounds Mocha Latte CoffeBar isn’t just a tasty snack; it’s a tasty snack infused with a full cup of fair trade coffee. Ingredients include high-quality energy bar staples like organic dates, organic gluten free oats, and organic crisp brown rice, but halfway down the ingredient list, “organic coffee beans” appear. Given coffee and chocolate go together like peanut butter and jelly, it’s obvious why Mocha Latte is their best-selling bar.
UST Brands Heat-Up Hand Warmers
Regardless of where you are in the country this winter, you’re going to contend with cold weather. With cold weather comes cold hands and feet, especially if you’re out skiing, hiking, or participating in other cold weather outdoor activities. And sometimes, no matter how vigorously we’re exercising or playing, our bodies can’t keep our extremities warm enough.
UST Brands is known for producing everything from survival tools and kits to signaling devices and other items key for staying safe outdoors. Their Heat-Up Hand Warmers are ideal for keeping your hands warm for hours in cold weather when you just can’t keep them warm enough on your own. They’re non-toxic, last for up to seven hours, and at $1 per package, they’re a cost effective item to keep in your gear stash when you need an external heat source for your extremities.
Subscribers, let us know what your favorite item in this month’s box is in the comments below! Not a subscriber? What item would you most like to try?