GOGO Lantern review

This is a long overdue review. I received another fabulous product to review - the GOGO Lantern.

Well if you are the outdoorsy type and love camping, among the essentials you have to carry include a lamp, a torch and buckets - well, now you can have all of that in one cool package with the GOGO lantern. It is not yet available in the market and I received a review sample.

The bucket is collapsible and made from plastic thus making it highly portable. Attached to the bucket is the lamp with the LED lights.

Fully charge it up and it will last between 6-8 hours. You can charge the lantern via the built in solar panel or via USB cable. The indicator turns green when it is charged above 80% and turns red when the charge is below. The red indicator starts blinking when the power is low.

The review piece I received did not come with any instructions so I had to figure out some of the features myself. The lights detaches from the bucket by turning it slightly counterclockwise at the bottom. It is completely waterproof (IP67 certified).

The amazing thing about the lantern is that it comes with capacitative sensors and automatically turns on when you put in in water or attach it via the built-in magnet, to a metallic surface. You can also turn it on manually by pressing the button in the centre. It has three modes. First press: normal mode; Second press: bright mode and Third press: blinking lights. You then press it again to shut it off.

The lantern also came with a lanyard which you can use to attach the lamp and hang it around your neck converting it to a great hands free lantern.

It come in three colours, namely orange, light blue and light green. You can further customise the lantern by painting the bucket with a design of your choice.

Though ideal for a camping trip, the lantern would be perfect for a hiking trip, BBQ party or a trip to the beach.

Their Indiegogo page should be up soon and I am sure that they would be able to reach their funding target really fast.

Seiko Astron - My dream watch 1

One of my friends recently asked me what my "Grail Watch" was. This term is used among watch enthusiasts to describe a watch you really desire, in other words, your dream watch. My friend's (and mine) grail watch is the legendary Moon watch - the Omega Speedmaster Professional. A really good looking classic watch and definitely on my wish list. But not really my dream watch.

Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional 42 mm (Steel on steel)

I thought long and hard but I realised that I did not really have a grail watch. I have to admit that I really liked the Tissot T-Touch when it first came out but I am quite happy with my old Tissot PR50. Most of the watches I have owned are digital and I guess that I like watches with lots of functions with buttons you can push, as compared to the boring analog watches.

Anyway, I told my friend that I wanted a watch which was accurate, tough, waterproof to at least 100m, long lasting battery (at least 10 years before changing the batteries) and last but not the least, with World time.

Why World Time? Because I hate the feeling of flying long distances and having to get down at a foreign airport for a connecting flight and not knowing the local time. I always get worried that I might get the local times wrong and miss the connecting flight.

That's why I was delighted when I found out about the Seiko Astron. It is the World's first Solar powered GPS watch which automatically adjusts to the exact local time in all the 39 time zones on earth, with the push of a button. Other features includes a sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, water resistance up to 100m and power save function. It is solar powered which means that you do not have to change the battery - ever. Moreover, they have a perpetual calendar that is correct until February 28, 2100.

Kintaro Hattori Special Limited Edition

As you might have expected, the watches do not come cheap and price of the models under this brand range from £1495 to £2995 for the Kintaro Hattori Special Limited Edition (named in honor of Seiko's founder and limited to 5000 pieces). This is on the Seiko UK site. The Omega Speedmaster Professional, which retails at £2880 is actually cheaper than the limited edition Seiko Astron model. Meaning that it is definitely a watch for hardcore Seiko fans I guess.

I found out that you can get the Astron watches slightly cheaper on Amazon. The cheapest was £1,159.86 for the SEIKO Astron SAST009 [Japan import] which costs £1495 on their official UK site. The Seiko Astron definitely ticks all the boxes and is my grail watch for now.

Click image to buy the Seiko Aston on Amazon UK