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Product: Off-Road Trip

Manufacturer: Roundup:

Wired Rating: 0

Route 66 has the world’s largest ketchup bottle. Yay. Here’s a better road trip idea: Leave the asphalt behind and visit someplace that’s not already on a postcard.

1. Outdoor Research DryComp Ridge Sack
WIRED Super-lightweight and surprisingly strong. Shrugged off mud, water, rocks and scraping branches. This day pack even survived the ultimate test — being checked as airline baggage. Comfy straps.

TIRED Hip belt could use some padding. Still smells like our campfire, even after washing.

$120, outdoorresearch.com

2. ARB Fridge Freezer
WIRED It may be the size of your old Igloo, but this is no mere cooler; it’s a full-on fridge, complete with electronic thermostat. Runs off a 12-volt socket yet works as well as your kitchen model.

TIRED Costs almost as much as your kitchen model. Exposed cooling fins are easy to damage. Heavy.

$850, arbusa.com

3. Cobra CJIC 350 Power Pack
WIRED We brought it along for its air compressor — handy for tailoring tire firmness to terrain — but it does so much more. It’ll jump-start a V-8, power a flatscreen or charge your iPod.

TIRED Jumper cables too short. Wimpy compressor takes forever. Three separate power switches?

$100, cobra.com

4. Garmin Oregon 550t Navigator
WIRED Because “Elvis Rock” (a) isn’t on any map, and (b) might not look like Elvis when you’re sober, the 550t lets you take a geotagged photo that you can click on later to find your way back. 16 hours of battery life! Water- and shock-resistant.

TIRED Better off-road than on: Street maps cost $100, screen is too small, and instead of “turn here,” it just says “beep.”

$600, garmin.com

5. Black Diamond Sprinter Headlamp
WIRED Small, bright and rugged. Flashing red “follow me” light on back. Comes with a jillion different plugs for overseas charging.

TIRED No plug will help if you run out of juice in the middle of nowhere. Wiring-lined head strap chafes a sunburned brow.

$100, blackdiamondequipment.com

Product: First Responders

Manufacturer: Roundup:

Wired Rating: 0

We searched high and low for an ultralight, super-basic first aid kit that we could take anywhere. It didn’t exist, so we designed our own.

Video by Cody Pickens

The Wired Rickshaw Rescue Kit
Together with Rickshaw Bagworks, we created this water-resistant survival satchel to carry a pared-down collection of remedies that will get you back on the trail—or as far as the ER.

Ace Instant Cold Compress
Smash this packet to bring frosty relief to pain and inflammation.

Adhesive bandages
You know, Band-Aids. You also know when to use them.

Adsafe Plus CPR Face Shield with airway valve
Lets you give or get mouth-to-mouth without locking lips.

Advil (ibuprofen)
Fights inflammation. Pop two at bedtime to get your achy limbs ready to move the next day.

Alcohol prep pads
Use these to clean your cuts—and the Leatherman you’re about to use to remove that splinter.

Aspirin
Can help keep your ticker tocking if taken at the first sign of a heart attack.

Benadryl
Halts the sneezing, itching, and swelling associated with allergic reactions.

Burn Jel
This lidocaine ointment takes the burn out of your, um, burns.

Cipro
The broad-spectrum antibiotic in Cipro knocks out bacteria like Manny Pacquiao.

Dr. Scholl’s Moleskin
Still the best way to prevent blisters from bubbling into infected sores.

Imodium
Diarrhea can cause life-threatening dehydration. Imodium will stop the flow and help you get out of the john and back on the trail.

NexTemp Disposable Thermometer
Uncrushable, paper-thin, accurate to two-tenths of a degree.

Nuun Portable Electrolyte Hydration
Dissolvable tablets stave off dehydration by adding ions to your H₂0.

OxyContin
Highly addictive, but Tylenol won’t cut it if you snap your tibia.

QuikClot Sport Advanced Clotting Sponge
Slap this on a badly bleeding wound to halt hemorrhaging.

Steri-Strip Wound Closure Strips
Seal nasty gashes until you can make it someplace that has sutures, antiseptic, and anesthetic—or at least a needle and thread and whiskey.

Tegaderm Transparent Film
Leave that gauze at home with your leeches and hacksaws; this sticky, breathable dressing provides sterile protection for any body part.

Triple antibiotic ointment
Keeps nasty bacteria from turning a minor scrape into a serious infection.

Tylenol (acetaminophen)
Cools fevers like nothing else—and for some diseases, like dengue, it’s the only safe treatment.

Product: Self-Helpers

Manufacturer: Roundup:

Wired Rating: 0

A mirror will tell you how you look, but it won’t tell you what’s going on under your skin. These gadgets will help you monitor your inner health, so the contents match the wrapper.

1. Garmin Forerunner 110

The newest Forerunner is small enough to fit under the cuff of a dress shirt and yet it still talks to satellites. It’s also a great example of a company listening to its customers: Garmin users have been clamoring for a less expensive watch that records where they go and how fast they get there. The 110 does just that.

WIRED Small, affordable, accurate. Lets you use Garmin’s Connect Web site, where you can save and track all your workouts.

TIRED Clip-on USB adapter can be flaky. Getting a lock on the satellites can take a minute or two, so leave time to do some quality stretching before you take off.

$250, garmin.com

2. Zeo Personal Sleep Coach

Strap on the headband before you nod off and in the morning you’ll have a quantified picture of your night’s sleep. Zeo takes an EEG of your nappytime brain waves, so it knows how you doze. And it goes deeper too: By identifying “sleep stealers,” the device helps you find out how, for example, the light from your TV increases the time it takes to fall asleep.

WIRED Opt for detailed information or a single number—your “ZQ”—that measures quality of slumber. Can use your brain signals to determine the best time to wake you up.

TIRED You might sleep better without a transmitter strapped to your head. No wireless uploading.

$249, myzeo.com

3. Tanita BC-350

Your scale only measures your weight? Please. The BC-350 not only tracks your pounds but measures body fat, bone mass, metabolic age, and hydration level. Using a mild electric current (too small to feel), the scale measures the impedance of your body to analyze the nitty-gritty details.

WIRED If you can read standing up, you can use this thing. Allows multiple profiles, so you can see how you stack up against friends and family (eek).

TIRED No way to store data, so get comfy with Excel if you want to track your stats. Don’t expect any advice, either: Though it serves up lots of info, the scale offers no action plan or system for setting goals.

$270, tanita.com

4. GoWear Fit

Who knew so many sensors could fit into a single armband? The GoWearFit packs an accelerometer, a temperature monitor, and a galvanic skin detector. These three electronic superheroes join forces to provide an insanely accurate accounting of how many calories you burn in a given day.

WIRED Fits unobtrusively under clothes. Data uploads to an easy-to-navigate Web site.

TIRED Not waterproof, so it can’t crunch how many calories you burn in the pool (or the shower). Elastic armband gets a little ripe, snuggled up next to your armpit and all. Ugly display sold separately. The Web site has only basic goal setting, like “I want to get more active.”

$190, bodymedia.com

5. Philips DirectLife

Toss the DirectLife in your pocket or dangle it around your neck and its accelerometers keep tabs on how much you move. USB-sync it with a Web site account to track activity levels, identify trends, and set fitness goals. Wow, that was easy.

WIRED Online training coaches are just an email away; their periodic friendly reminders help you stay focused.

TIRED Do you really burn the same number of calories lifting weights as you do sitting on the sofa? (No.) There’s no display except some LED dots that show how much of your daily goal you’ve accomplished. No wireless data transfer. $12.50 monthly fee. Boo.

$99, philips.com