–my query was inspired by a desire for handy pocket optical devices, but if you know of other neat goodies, by all means let me know.
A co-worker of mine showed me a little gadget he picked up at a yard sale the other day: one of those little pen-sized microscope/telescope combination deals. I once got one of these for a birthday gift, an extremely cheap non-precision instrument which barely performed either function at all, let alone well; so I was shocked to discover that these things actually can be made to work impressively as advertised. Unfortunately the manufacturer of my associate’s version seems to prefer a select clientele, as calling their toll-free number resulted in a “screw you” message from the phone company.
This put me in mind of another magnifying gadget I have envied in the past, this one purchased by a buddy while stationed in Germany. It was about the size and shape of a squarish belt buckle, yet unfolded into a surprisingly powerful tabletop magnifier in a sturdy aluminum stand. I’ve seen vaguely similar magnifiers in hobby shops, but with less powerful lenses in a fragile-looking plastic housing. I’m looking for something I can drop frequently, as I most certainly will, without fear of breaking it.
Feel free to recommend other naturalist-themed trinkets. One of my new year’s resolutions is to spend more time outside communing with nature, or at least looking at bugs.
Personally, I prefer the loupe variety; they come in several styles including folding models with protective cases. Some have multiple lenses that can be used alone or in combination to provide varying levels of magnification. Hold the loupe to your eye and then focus by moving the specimen.
Another one of my favorite gadgets is the Digital Blue QX5 USB Microscope It is really amazing how good of a micrograph you can get with this plastic toy. Adding supplemental lighting makes it genuinely useful as a piece of lab equipment. Highly recommended.
If you would like to collect locality information for your specimens, or just geotag your cool photos, I would highly recommend a simple Garmin consumer grade GPS unit like this one and the free Garmin DNR software (link ) from the Minnesota DNR. You can create waypoints and then save them to Google earth/maps or use them to tag the photos in Flickr/Picasa, or even save and export GIS shapefiles.
Sierra Trading Post has some fine deals on high end binocs. Get two pairs- one big and one compact. Generaly most dudes can’t handle anything more than 10X, their ahnds are too shaky. The bigger the lens (50mm vs 20mm for example) the better, all other thing being equal.
Other snazzy gadgets include a Pocket survival kit. Ebay has some deals there.
Get one of the Swiss knives with the larger locking blades, eg Trekker.
Orvis makes Buzz Off socks and clothing. Get at least the hat and the sox.