Random Stuff from Dealextreme

Hello again!  Yes, I know it's been a while since I last posted.  Unfortunately there's been a bit stuff going on in life, so the blog has been put on hold for a few months.  I thought I'd breathe some life into this blog with a couple of posts on some small cheapo gadgets I found interesting from Dealextreme.


Glass/Screen cleaner with Keychain Attachment

When I saw this on the dealextreme website, I thought it looked interesting.  I was planning on attaching it to my phone and using it to clean and wipe down the screen when necessary (glossy touch screen smartphones always seem to pick up alot of finger prints!)

 The screen cleaner is pretty small; with the circular portion measuring ~27mm in diameter.  On one side is a plastic covering which says ezyflash (I have no idea what that is?!).  The other side is felt-like surface that is actually used to clean the screen.  Extending from the circular portion is a small strap that can be used to attach the screen cleaner to your keychain or phone.

Felt-side of the cleaner is used to wipe the screen

Unfortunately in practice I'm finding the screen cleaner a little lacking.  It does okay in removing dust and gross deposits from small LCD screens such as those found on your phone or camera.  However, it doesn't do a very good job of removing oily deposits.  Instead of lifting up the oily residue, it just smears it around.  If you need to remove oily residue and fingerprints, I'd suggest using a microfibre cloth.  I find this microfibre cloth to work well, however it is a little more expensive.

Link: http://www.dealextreme.com/p/screen-and-glass-cleaning-keychain-25462


-------------------

Keychain Dynamo Flashlight with 2 LEDs

I like the idea of having a keychain flashlight that can be manually charged by winding the handle.  Hopefully this means you will never have to worry about the flashlight running out of batteries. 

 
This keychain dynamo flashlight measures ~42mm x 32mm x 13mm.  On one side of the body is a button that is used to turn the flashlight light on/off.  On the other side is a wind-up handle that can be retracted in or folded out.

Handle can be folded out or retracted

 The body is made from plastic and to be honest feels a little toy-like.  Its sort of fun winding up the handle to charge the battery, however care needs to be taken not the use too much force.  I was a little over vigorous and I believe the internal cogs lost traction with each other.  I took it part and had a little fiddle to realign the gears.  Here's a photo I took after I opened up the flashlight:

 
This keychain flashlight has 2 LEDs.  The beam is fairly floody and has a blue/purplish tint (which is typical for this sort of LED).  The output is not particularly bright and I estimate it would only be around 2-4 lumens.  When fully charged the light is brighter, however with usage the output drops quite quickly.

Overall, I would consider this dynamo keychain flashlight a cool toy to have, but I would not rely on it for important usage. 

Link:  http://www.dealextreme.com/p/2-led-white-light-hand-crank-dynamo-flashlight-with-keychain-random-color-20ma-nimh-118732

Keychain CPR Face Shield

 
I received one of these a few years back after having done a first aid course.  It's a CPR face shield held inside a small nylon pouch.  The pouch itself, has split ring which allows you to attach keys and other items to it.

Attached with keys and miscellaneous items

In the unfortunate situation where someone is passed out or not breathing, this face shield allows you perform CPR without having to worry about breathing or swallowing that person's blood or saliva.  This helps to reduce the risk of getting transmissible diseases such as hepatitis or HIV.

Face shield contained within

 

Considering what is contained inside, the package is fairly small and light, though a little on the bulky side.  The shape of the package makes it hard to take measurements but it's roughly; 55mm (H) x 55mm (L) x 15-20mm (W).  It weighs around 14 grams.

 To be honest I don't carry this one around on my keychain, but I usually keep in my laptop bag which I carry around with me a lot.  Thankfully I have never had you use it, but it's nice to know I've got it there if I need it.

 
I'm not too sure where you can get them from in your own country.  I did bit of a google search for you guys and came up with a few australian websites which sell these or something similar.  The first link closest resembles the CPR face shield that I have:

(links removed on request)

Additional Pictures:

Items of Interest

Hey guys just a quick update today on some items that I find interesting.


TEC ACCESSORIES GLOW FOB

If you've read my review on the tec accessories glow fob, you would realise I'm a fan of this piece of keychain jewellery. It is now available in a few different flavours from various sources.

Merkava, has the glow fob available with tritium preinstalled, available in a range of tritium colours. This is a good option if you couldn't be bothered doing the tritium installation yourself.

Product link: http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?258245-Merkava-TEC-A3-amp-TEC-S3-Tritium-Fobs-Mission-Ready!-Unlike-any-you-have-ever-seen!

EDCF forums store has the normal GITD fob, but available with a special cerakote coating. This special coating is meant to be hardy and scratch resistant, and is available in different colours. Colours include: black, orange, olive green, tan, burnt bronze.

 Product link: http://www.jsburlys.com/index.php?app=ecom&ns=catshow&ref=tecaccessories

Photo of Orange Cerakote Tec Accessories Glow Fob (borrowed from EDCF store)

FOURSEVENS PREON P0

This is a new AAA flashlight, just released from foursevens at the SHOT show. What interests me about this light is the size and cost. It is very small, and claims to be the the smallest current regulated flashlight around. The DQG tiny II is pretty comparable in size, however the DQG tiny II is currently out of stock and unavailable.

The Preon P0, only has two light levels; 0.25 lumens and 25 lumens. The beam is a very floody beam. It's relatively cheap in price costing only $25USD. If you are interested in reading more about Preon P0, there is a thread on it at candlepowerforums:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?330740-Foursevens-Preon-P0

Product link: http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297_332&products_id=2846




SWISSBIANCO ALOX RAMBLER

Once again another product that I've reviewed and am a fan of. Swissbianco has a new run of the silver alox ramblers.



I have to say I'm tempted to buy another one of these, as a back-up in case I lose my current one. (I probably won't because I need to say my pennies for other gadgets)

I'm particularly a fan of the silver alox, because I feel it wears better. Overtime, annodisation will tend to wear off on the scales, but since these scales are silver the wear does not show up as easily.


MBI CORE TI - TITANIUM FLASHLIGHT PENDANT

I've previously mentioned the MBI torpedo, a AAA light which aims to provide 500+ lumens. This light is still in the works, but another product the maker is working on is a titanium pendant light.  It's a dogtag shaped flashlight designed to be worn as a pendant.  Here the thread on candlepowerfourms:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?324606-MBI-Core-Ti-%28world-s-thinnest-%29-Titanium-Flashlight-Pendant-%28work-in-progress%29

Photos borrowed from the candlepowerforums thread

Sunshine Products Mini Cash-Can / Cash Stash Review

SUNSHINE PRODUCTS MINI CASH-CAN/CASH STASH REVIEW 

BACKGROUND

While I don't tend to do this myself, some people like to carry spare money in their keyring setup.  I guess there are some potentially good reasons to do so.  On the off chance you lose or forget your wallet, but still have your keys... it's handy to have an 'emergency' stash of money you can rely on.  Or sometimes you might just run out of money (happens to me a lot) and there's no ATM nearby, you can rely on that crumpled rolled-up bill, sitting with your keys!

There are a range of keychain money fobs around; most of which are just modified pill fobs/spy capsules marketed as cash holders.  I was given the chance to inspect and review the sunshine products mini cash-can, and I took up the offer as I was intrigued by the design.  The sunshine products cash-can is designed so that once the split-ring is attached to the cash-can, there is no way for the money holder to come apart.


SPECIFICATIONS

-"Waterproof" (Personally, I would only rate it as water resistant, read on for more info)
-1 1/2 Inches Long
-7/16 Inch Outer Diameter
-3/8 Inch Inside Diameter
-Machined from Solid Bar

Weight: ~12g without split ring
Made in the USA
100% Satisfaction Guarantee
Optional engraving service

RRP: $24.95


PACKAGING

The Sunshine Products Cash-can comes in small red velvet satchel.  Included is a 100% satisfaction guarantee certificate, usage instructions and a split ring.  I have typed up the usage instructions for your perusal:

USAGE INSTRUCTIONS

1. fold the bill length-wise, into thirds
2. fold this in half again
3. then in half again
4. fold in half one more time.  Now you should have a compact square
5. wrap this square tightly around the spindle like a horse shoe
6. slip this assembly into the tube all the way (don't worry if your first attempt is difficult... you will soon get the hang of it!)
7. install the keyring supplied to complete your new Cash-can!

Packaging and accessories

 

DESIGN AND BUILD

The Sunshine Products cash-can consists of a inner spindle (which the note is wrapped around) and an outer shell.  At the top and bottom of the spindle is a o-ring which helps to provide water resistance.  The hole for the key-ring attachment is at the top of the spindle.

Inner spindle.  Black o-ring near the top and bottom

Outer shell goes over the spindle with the money wrapped around it

 When a split ring is threaded through this key ring attachment, the split-ring physically stops the cash-can from coming apart.  This is one of the major benefits of this design, and is one of the things that makes this cash-can stand out from the competition.

The split ring needs to be removed to dissemble the mini cash-can

I tried using a few different types of bills with the cash-can.  The only note I had left over from my trip to USA was a $1 bill; this fits around the spindle and into the cash-can, fine.  In Australia our notes are made out of plastic, instead of paper.  I had some concern whether this would be an issue, but various denominations of Australian bills also fit into the cash-can without major issues.  It does take a little bit of getting used to, folding up and squishing the note into the cash-can but with a bit of practice, it's pretty easy.

Note wrapped around the spindle

Crumpled up $20 AUD (plastic bill)

The split-ring that comes with the cash-can is fairly thick and does not allow much freedom of movement around the circumference of the ring.  I have a feeling this is probably on purpose...  Swapping over to a slightly smaller split-ring, it does allow easier movement of the cash-can around the split ring, however the smaller split ring results in more vertical movement between the spindle and outer shell.  I was a little concerned this vertical movement may affect the water resistance of cash-can. 

Testing out if this was an issue, I tossed the cash-can in the washing machine, when doing a load of clothes.  During the test, I had a piece of paper rolled up inside.  After removing the cash-can from the wash and drying it up, I opened it.  There was minor ingress of water through the top opening of the cash-can.  Mind you not a lot of water got inside, but just enough so that the upper edge of the paper was damp.  I repeated this test with the larger split-ring.  I thought the larger split ring would help stop the water getting inside, however I still found there was very minor water ingress.

Overall I would consider the cash-can water resistant and 'weatherproof', but would hesitate to say it is completely waterproof.

The cash-can looks unobtrusive, most people would not realise there's money inside

Despite the issues with the water resistance, the build quality of the cash-can is very good... it feels like a quality product.  When I first received it, the brass was polished up nicely to a pale-gold colour.  I had some engraving on the side of my cash-can, and the engraving was nicely done.  When I received the mini cash-can I was surpised at how small and slim it is.  It is quite unobtrusive and the fact that is holds money would be overlooked by most people.

Size comparison to some pill fobs/spy capsules. The mini cash-can is significantly smaller

CONCLUSIONS

A couple of downsides of the cash-can is that it was not completely waterproof (at least in my sample).  The other issue is the cash-can is so compact, it will only fit one bill.  If you want something that holds more, you'll need to consider something else (sunshine products makes a mini II cash-can).

LINKS

http://www.sunshineproductsusa.com/index.cfm/d-Mini_Cash_Can_Cash_Stash_24.htm
http://www.sunshineproductsusa.com/