Posts Written by Paul Strauss

The Überleben Kessel is a compact and capable camp kettle. It holds up to 37 oz. of liquid so you can cook up a full pot of coffee or tea or use it for cooking soups or stews. It has a hanger handle that folds down for travel, a pour spout, and a hardwood handle on its lid. Available in stainless steel or titanium.

Soy sauce is made from soybeans, wheat, salt, and water. Food Kingdom visited a Korean factory that makes a more complex condiment. There, they combine 15 ingredients, including vinegar, pears, mushrooms, kelp, garlic, and pepper. After cooking and straining, the liquid sits in urns and is finished with more fruit, sugar, and wine. Strangely, we saw no soybeans.

The performance version of the Cadillac Lyriq is the quickest accelerating factory Caddy yet. The AWD electric SUV packs 615 hp and 650 lb-ft. of torque and launches from 0 to 60 mph in 3.3 seconds. It has a special Competitive Mode, adaptive damping, Brembo front brakes, and rolls on 22″ alloy wheels. Its 102 kWh battery provides up to 285 miles of range.

Lady Luck? More like Kitty Luck. This silly cat scratch toy from SuckUK looks like a roulette wheel from The Cosmopawlitian Casino. It even spins like the real deal and comes with a jingling ball for your kitties to play with. Place your bets on how long the cardboard layers will last before your kitties rip it to shreds.

Artisan Cutlery’s latest CJRB pocket knife has an elegant design with a 3.15″ spear point blade and an easy deployment mechanism. It has a smooth-opening ceramic ball-bearing pivot and a button lock safety switch. The knifemaker offers it in four handsome styles: Carved Copper, Classy Carbon, Suit, and Ti, and All Dressed Up.

There’s something so satisfying about making old, tattered objects as good as new. MW Restoration did an amazing job taking a distressed early pinball game and bringing it back to life. The restoration of the basketball-themed table included a full disassembly, sandblasting, rust removal, a fresh coat of paint, and a brand new playfield graphic and hoop.

This small, orb-shaped light from Olight is perfect for ambience or as a bedside nightlight. It has a 75-lumen warm white light source and color-changing RGB LEDs, which can be controlled via a mobile app or directly on the sphere. Modes include a countdown timer, music sync, and multi-light control. Its rechargeable battery lasts up to 40 hours in low mode.

What you’re looking at is an incredible feat of engineering. This machine from Adapa uses 1,300+ actuators and 50,000 magnets to bend and shape large objects. It can make curved panels up to 26 feet x 16 feet without custom tooling. Applications include architectural panels, sculptures, boat hulls, and more. Here’s a smaller version of the system.

The Roli Piano has 49 full-sized keys for two-handed playing. It connects with a mobile app to learn piano using its color-changing keys, and can also be used for creating music with features like per-key pitch-bend, polyphonic aftertouch, and MIDI. The optional Airwave tracks finger positions and adds expressive control. Super early-bird discount ends 1.25.25.

This compact flashlight from Fenix produces bright white light at up to 700 lumens and also has UV and red laser light sources. A side-mounted RGB light adds an ambient splash of color in swirl, flashing, or breathing modes. The E06R is also IP66-rated waterproof and has a magnet in its tail for easy mounting on metal surfaces. Available in grey or turquoise.

This innovative folding axe from CRKT and Caswell Design can safely fit in your pocket or gear pouch. Its patent-pending mechanism deploys a D2 steel blade and spike with a flick of the wrist and locks securely into place. When closed, it automatically engages its safety so it won’t accidentally open. Drops 4.2.2025.

Korg’s Handytraxx Tube turntable is designed to produce quality sound in a portable unit. It uses a triode vacuum tube to produce warm analog sounds and spins vinyl on a smooth and stable aluminum platter. It has built-in stereo speakers, phono and line-level outputs, and a USB port to digitize records. It can also run on battery power.

Balatro is one of the best and most addictive games of the year. Developer LocalThunk teamed up with Fangamer and artist Tony Kuchar to produce an IRL deck of playing cards based on the ones in the game. Each card has pixelated graphics on the front and back, and the deck includes four of the game’s jokers. Now we need a set with all 150 jokers.

Zenlet’s ball, cup, and string plaything provides hours of entertainment for bored hands and minds. It’s based on the traditional Japanese skill toy called Kendama with a minimalist spin. Using your hand as the toy’s base, it’s now pocket-friendly. It comes in wood and aluminum variants for beginner, intermediate, and advanced tricksters,

Danner teamed up Brandblack to create this hip and functional boot for everyone. Combining rugged and street aesthetics isn’t easy, but this shoe pulls it off. It has an off-white Nubuck upper, quick-adjust lacing, and a waterproof GORE-TEX lining. Its textured Vibram Wrap Tech midsole features Megagrip compound for confident walking on varied terrain.

In this award winning stop-motion short, a lonely woman lives locked away in the middle of an epic storm. When she steps outside of her house, her keys get sucked into the vortex, and she finds herself swept away in the chaos. But she also discovers the world she’s been missing as a recluse. Directed by Maria Tomazou and written by Marius Scholtz.