Garmin, makers of all things GPS, presents the Dakota 20, a versatile, tough, touch screen GPS device that’s small enough to take with you on the go, smart enough to be your everyday GPS device, and tough enough to ride along on the trail or sail.

The Dakota 20 features a touch screen and color maps, runs on 2 AA batteries, and takes microSD cards for memory expansion. The microSD cards provides one of the delivery system for Garmin’s library of optional maps, including marine, lake and topographical maps. The maps can also be downloaded or delivered on DVD, and then transferred by USB to the Dakota 20.

The device itself stores up to 1000 waypoints, 50 routes, and 200 tracks. Optional accessories available for the Dakota 20 include a belt mount, a bike mount, a heart rate monitor strap, and a bike cadence sensor. This makes the Dakota 20 ideal for both guiding you through rough terrain and monitoring your workout. Combine the Dakota 20 with the bike mount and cadence sensor to get useful information on your ride, including pace, climbs, descents, speed, distance, and route. Combine it with the heart rate monitor to track your effort on that cross-country run.

If geocaching is your sport, the Dakota 20 is sure to tickly your funny bone with dedicated geocaching functions: location, terrain, difficulty, hints, and description. Get complete geocaching capability without a single hand-written note needed. The Dakota 20 also lets you wirelessly share your waypoints, tracks, routes and geocaches with users of many other Garmin GPS devices.

You can buy the Dakota 20 on Amazon

Suunto continues to build on its line of wrist-worn lifesaving gear. The Core model (in addition to being a watch) includes an altimeter, barometer, digital thermometer, weather trend indicator and a digital compass. As with all the Suunto outdoor gear watches, the Core is a rather bulky for a watch, but it does pack a lot into the package.

As a watch, the Suunto Core features the usual digital watch functions: stopwatch and countdown, time and date, alarm with snooze. Additionally, the Core displays the time in a second time zone of your preference as well as the time of sunrise and sunset.

As a compass, the Core is easy to operate and clear to read, with north marked by two lines on the outer edge of the display.

The barometer and altimeter both rely on air pressure to give their readings; altimeter function will be thrown off by changing weather conditions. The altimeter also includes a log function that will record your altitude at fixed intervals that you select. The barometer includes a storm alarm function that will alert you if the air pressure drops rapidly, and the storm alarm can be set to on even when the watch is not in barometer display mode.

Buy the Suunto Core on Amazon

This is a helmet camera that you can wear on most any helmet, or directly on your noggin. The Blackeye 2’s improvements over the Blackeye include a more secure battery compartment and the addition of volume control.

Memory is not a factor for this camera; it hooks into the A/V port of any camcorder or a DVR recorder, and transfers its output directly to the other device for recording. This is just the eye. And the ear, since it includes an integrated microphone.

Out of the box, the Blackeye 2 includes two 8 x AA battery packs: one with RCA adapters and one with a mini A/V input jack. Those don’t include the batteries, it’s just the case for the batteries. Eight AA batteries deliver 10-15 hours of recording time.

Attaching the Blackeye 2 to your helmet is just as easy as attaching it to your head: The headband just grabs the front lip of the helmet, “no screws, no tape,” as Blackeye calls it.

Connection cables, replaceable foam pads for the microphone, and a variety of helmet adapters are also included. The camera delivers 420 or 540 TV line resolution (not HD), features a 92 degree field of view, and boasts 0.2 to 0.5 lux light sensitivity. The Blackeye 2 Headband Helmet Camera is water resistant, but don’t go deep-sea diving with it.

It’s ideal for hikers and climbers; this is not an ideal camera for bike racing, as the lens mounts just above and directly between your eyes and is always pointing in the same direction your eyes are. You’re likely to get a lot of footage of the road with bike racing, which is better served by a side-mounted camera that can be angled up. On the other hand, if the goal is to get the shot from the viewpoint of the competitor, nothing can beat the mount of this camera for it.

Go get the Blackeye 2 on Amazon

The Ecco GPS Locator wasn’t originally designed with you, the outdoor fan, in mind. Its initial marketing has been toward people who find themselves in a new city and can’t remember where the hotel is. But imagine the absolute freedom of wilderness wandering without having to remember your way back to base camp.

The Ecco GPS Locator is about the size of a key chain, and can be mounted to a key ring quite easily. It resembles the alarm control of most cars, perhaps a little smaller, and does have a built-in key ring. It also has the capability of tracking 32 satellites simultaneously, to give you a position fix in 60 seconds. This is not a GPS tracking device. It’s a GPS back-tracking device. It works like this: You bring your truck as far into the woods as you can, and establish base camp. Now lock that position into the Ecco. It can hold up to three positions at once, so you might also mark a Plan-B meeting location, the location of the truck, or the location of an emergency phone. Now wander! Hike, tromp, climb, scramble, and scamper through the woods to your heart’s content. And when you’re ready to go back, the Ecco will point the way back to the locked position with an easy-to-read directional arrow and bright display, complete with distance information and proximity rings that alert you when you’re getting closer.

One note: Don’t lose the Ecco if you decide to lose yourself in the woods.

Buy the Ecco GPS Locator on Amazon

2CLight Company introduces a bright idea in baseball caps: The Solar Light Cap.

Available in three styles (Baseball, Trailblazer, and Sportsman), the Solar Light cap is a unique solution to the need for a small amount of light on a night adventure. The cap is a hand-washable, 100% cotton with plastic or polyester mesh, baseball-style cap with a pre-bent brim and a twist: A built-in, self-contained, solar light system.

The flexible solar panel is built into the brim of the cap, protecting you from the sun during the day while it recharges three nickel metal hydride long-life batteries. NiMH batteries have no charge memory and can be recharged many, many times. With daily use, the batteries in this system are expected to be operating at 80% after three years. This allows that the solar system to be sealed against dust and water, since the batteries never have to be changed. At night, the Solar Light cap’s two ultra-bright (25,000 millicandela each, 10 lux @ 2m), warm white LEDs come into play, casting a beam capable of illuminating up to 22 meters ahead of you.

The lights will operate at full intensity for 2 to 4 hours (or 5 hours on full charge, achieved after 3 days of sun/3 hours on a 1-day charge), or up to 36 hours using the dimmer switch. There are also four modes in which the light can be kept on: steady on, alert flasher, SOS blinking and the 2-minute PartyFlasher mode.

A microprocessor controls the entire solar system in order to maximize the light output from the Solar Light cap.

Casio presents the Pathfinder PAG40-7V, a multi-function outdoor watch. As announced on the strap-mount of the watch itself, this is a triple-sensor watch: altimeter/barometer, compass, and thermometer.

It tells time, in a digital display, with five alarms and an hourly alert, and the time, day, date, month, and year all appear simultaneously without over-cluttering the large face. The top section of the face is reserved for a graph that displays readings from the barometer or the altimeter. You can choose to display the current readings or opt for displaying a graph of saved readings: The watch will retain 50 readings taken at 15-minute intervals for either the altimeter or the barometer.

One of the interesting things about this watch is that the compass functions on a second LCD display, overlaid on the first one, appearing as blue compass hands over the other display.

While the black, white and green color combination is sporty, this isn’t a dressy watch, it’s a rugged watch, with rubber and plastic construction and 53mm across the body of the watch. Water resistant to 100m (330 ft), resistant to low temperatures, and with a mineral crystal, this watch is as tough as it looks. It’s also stealthy: The bezel turns silently so as not to startle any wildlife you might be trekking while wearing it, and the automatic backlight can be switched to manual use when it’s not desirable to have your location announced by the light on your wrist.

You can buy the Casio Pathfinder PAG40-7V on Amazon

Satsports introduces an all-weather GPS device customized for eight different sports: cycling, mountain biking, running, hiking, walking, golf, skiing, or snowboarding.

With a long battery life and a bright screen, the Satsports GPS is ideal for outdoor sports. Satsports GPS’s software displays real-time information on speed, distance and altitude. The current information on these three is displayed in large numbers readable at a glance without breaking your stride… or rhythm. Smaller numbers show average speed, maximum speed, time, duration, and altitude variances. The bottom section of the screen displays a dynamic, graphical analysis of various features of your activity. With simple controls that you can operate while on the move, you can scroll through a number of different graphs and maps.

Stats Viewer is a bit of desktop software that lets you upload and analyze your activities on your PC. No need to upload every time without fail… Stats Viewer and Satsports GPS can handle storing multiple sessions on the Satsports GPS until you’re ready to upload them.

Stasports GPS comes out of the box with not only Satsports Log (the running and cycling software), but also Satski and Pocket Caddy—applications tailored to skiing, snowboarding and golf—as well as an MP3 player, Image Viewer, and Video Player. Satski features unlimited access to ski maps with PC software, and the Pocket Caddy for golf includes DIY Course mapping.

Also included with the Satsports GPS are a bike mount, a car mount, a car charger, a wall charger, and a silicon case with a built-in 6hr back-up battery. Between that and the 3.7V, 1050mAh lithium ion battery, Satsports GPS is ready to keep going as long as you are.

Satsports GPS website: www.satsportsgps.com

Divers who are fans of the T-Touch series from Tissot have been awaiting the release of the Sea Touch line. T-Touch has long been a favorite for connoisseurs of fine watches, offering the combination of the look of a stylish watch and the features of a sport watch. Sea Touch continues that tradition, with functionalities tailored to deep-water diving. This is a diver’s watch, plain and simple… with looks that will go anywhere.

Sea Touch features a sapphire crystal touch-screen (as with all the T-Touch line), and the touch-feature works underwater even with diving gloves on. Sapphire crystal is the hardest substance aside from diamonds, making it extremely scratch-proof.

The watch features the new double-seal system that only Tissot uses, highly water resistant, making the watch waterproof down to 200 meters. Because it’s a diver’s watch, Tissot customized it for divers: The functions include a depth gauge, a dive log book, and rates of descent and ascent, as well as a compass.

With Sea Touch, Tissot switched from a titanium case to a stainless steel one; steel has proven to do well underwater without discoloration when properly manufactured. Watch bands are available in steel and rubber (orange or black), and the face is available in black or white.

Tissot Sea-Touch is sold on Amazon

Related posts:

• Tissot T-Touch: Tissot T-Touch: not just a precise watch
• Tissot T-Touch Trekking: Trek Further with Tissot T-Touch

The ContourHD Videocamera is a wearable camera that you can wear almost anywhere. That description applies in more ways than one. This is a light, water-resistant, shock-, dust-, vibration- and impact-resistant video camera that weighs in at just 4 ounces (116 grams) and can handle rain, dust, or snow with ease—so wear it anywhere you go.

The ContourHD utilizes VholdR’s unique TRailTM Mounts, allowing the camera to slide and lock onto a series of different mounts that are available. This means you can wear the camera on your helmet, of course, but also on your goggles, handlebars, seat-mount, roll-bar… etcetera. So while you’re wearing the camera almost anywhere, you can literally wear it almost anywhere.

The camera itself is far more than a gadget. This is a HD resolution, 5 megapixel camera with a 135 degree wide-angle lens and a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. And lasers. Yes, lasers. The ContourHD uses two lasers to help you line up the shot, since you’re not looking down the barrel of the camera when it’s mounted on your shoulder. Turn on the lasers, and where they intersect is the focal point of the shot. Nothing could be easier, except maybe actually taking the shot, which the ContourHD does with an oversized, 1-button control that’s manageable even if you’re wearing gloves.

Buy the VholdR 1200 ContourHD on Amazon

This is fun. The FreeLoader Pro Solar Charger is a pocket-sized device that includes high-power solar panels as well as a USB cable. Either will charge up the FreeLoader’s internal battery which will, in turn, deliver a full charge to a digital camera battery, supply a cell or smart phone with 70 hours of talk time, or load up your GPS navigator.

This is really ideal for long treks into the wilderness. No need to tote along a heavy package of extra batteries so that your GPS-based electronic wilderness guide can keep up with you. Now you can reload it on the mountain top with solar power. The FreeLoader out of the box includes 10 power adaptors, allowing it to supply power to iPod, iPhone, iTouch, Nano, Nokia phones using both standard and mini adaptors, all current Samsung phones, all current LG phones, all current Sony Ericsson phones, Nintendo DS Lite , Motorola phones, Blackberry and most smartphones, Garmin, SatMap and most GPS, Bluetooth headsets, PDA’s, Sony PSP, Archos and most MP4 players, 2 way radios, portable DVD players, e-books, digital cameras and PDA’s.

That’s before you buy anything else! The lithium ion battery will hold its charge up to 3 months. That should be long enough to find some sunlight.