I came across one of these Bumper Issue bags from Crumpler yesterday and I was really impressed by the build quality. It feels like a nice balance between durable and lightweight. It carries about 450 cubes and has an spot for a hydration bladder and the tube comes straight through the shoulder strap. The back is mesh padded for sweat evaporation. And even though it’s small, it’s still got compression straps in case you don’t have anything to pack with you but don’t want the shape flapping around. It’s hard to see in the pictures, but there are even reflector tabs stitched behind the clips for the compression straps. The bag is full of these very well-thought details.

CRKT’s mini survival knife Ritter RSK Mk5 is a super-lightweight, versatile and durable blade for mini survival kits for hiking, car, travel, etc. It weighs less than an ounce and fits (with sheath) in an altoids tin.

Quiksilver has made a little textile breakthrough with their Diamond Dobby fabric, which reduces skin contact with the boardshorts to prevent rashes from prolonged contact with wet clothes. The little diamonds raise the fabric from the skin, reducing contact by 30%. Check out their minisite for more info.

Commissioned by the city of New York and designed by Fuseproject, the new helmet ‘caps’ are meant to make helmets more customized, more fashionable, and less conspicuous. I think it’s a great idea except for the fact that they almost become more conspicuous because of the added bulk of the ‘caps’ and the bright colors used. And I would rather not wear something that looks like a diaper on my helmet.

If you’re going to go for one with flare, why not check out the Watts helmet by Bern (below). It’s way slicker and they are designed and tested by riders. The shell comes in lots of solids, graphics, and color blocks, it has an integral visor, plus there are lots of options like knit liners and audio hook-ups.

NYC helmet via Wired

More great work by Gitta Gschwendtner – Wedge Racer doorstops, and Bag Stools – woodcrete stools commissioned for the Design Museum Tank.

Along the same lines as my earlier post on Gregory Kenny’s Tree birdhouse – I spotted Gitta Gschwendtner’s Animal Wall over at Dezeen. The BBC has a nice write up on the project, which integrates nesting boxes for birds and bats in Cardiff Bay’s Century Wharf. Cardiff Bay has undergone a lot of development recently, with around 1000 new apartments and houses going up. Gitta’s Animal Wall incorporates 1000 nesting boxes to compliment the human development. Whether or not wildlife will move in remains to be seen!

How awesome are these birdhouses by Gregory Kenny? I love the skinny little posts and the way that they are embedded in the wood stump (FYI – stump not included, though). The Tree birdhouses were inspired by the ubiquitous condos of Vancouver – “the ideal perch for the urban bird.” Each birdhouse is made of steel and reclaimed hardwoods.

Via Design Milk.

The MSR E-Wing Ultralight Shelter is a more sophisticated version of an improvised poncho shelter. Small, lightweight and able to be configured in multiple ways and locations, the E-Wing could save your life some day. Because the E-Wing doubles as a poncho, it could be used for a lot more than just a shelter. See the US Army Survival Manual: FM 21-76 for more poncho uses and shelter types.

And I recommend any worst-case minds out there to get a copy of the survival manual – better to know it and not need it than to need it and not know it. As it is the Army’s manual, it is all terrestrial information. If you end up lost at sea, you are out of luck.