Awesome Living

Ideal for pros and CSI junkies, Evident’s Orion-Lite is a 455nm LED Forensic flashlight for detecting body fluids, fluorescent powders, dye stains, and trace evidence. Thanks, Mac!

It won’t stop bottle bandits, but this Metal Wine Cage makes other racks look like grape juice; it’s built out of rustic-finished welded and fabricated iron and sports a padlock with chains.

The Stanley LED Torch Watch is definitely goes in our “Why not?” gadget bin for sheer multifunction goodness; it’s a timepiece, an alarm, a mini-LED flashlight, and timer all-in-one.

The stealth warrior’s equivalent of a Swiss Army Knife, the Ninja Tanto Battle Package features a full-tang blade with a hidden push dagger, three throwing spikes, and ten caltrops.

Cars will fly by the time Good Art Hlywd’s Snap Key Fob is up for retirement; made with ultra-thick American Steer leather on a heavy duty sterling clip, it should last about 100 years.

This 14 Day Lantern will last longer than we will in the great outdoors; its LEDs will produce 160 lumens of light on 4 D batteries for up to 336 hours and will work even if dropped in water.

While there are louder whistles, Ultimate Survival Tech’s JetScream Whistle is a potent blend of reliability (it won’t freeze in cold weather), portability (it’s flat) and loudness (122 dB).

Cheap, simple, but ultra-reliable, the Douk Douk Knife has been used for over 70 years by the French; it sports a single carbon steel blade and blackened folded steel handle.

Own a piece of WW2 history with this Spitfire Sculpture; limited to 24 pieces, it’s crafted from the Spitfire engine of an RAF ace who fought in the Battle of Britain; #13-24 sit on engine conrods.

The Francis Baker NATO Survival Compass may be tiny at 3 grams, but it could save your life; used by SAS, NATO, and even WW2 pilots, it’s corrosion resistant and glows in the dark.

Because it’s good to know where your priorities fly: Ryan Vanderbilt’s table&tennis is a slick, wood-topped, metal-framed conference table that also doubles as a ping pong table.

It’s likely called the Looftlighter because that’s the sound it makes when it annihilates your fireplace; part hairdryer, part blowtorch, this uber-lighter blasts air and heat at over 1,000°F.

The Embassy Pen is equally at home in your office space or outer space; it features a deep knurled aluminum body, stainless steel clip, and pressurized refill good from -30°F to +250°F.

Magico’s Ultimate II speakers are impossible to miss, visually or aurally: the 5-way horn-loaded system stands 7.5 feet tall, weighs 800 lbs, and sports woofers with 2000 watt amps.

This Wine Barrel Bistro squeezes one last drop out of retired oak wine barrels, turning them into a table and stool set that features recycled staves, barrel-hoop foot rails, and leather seats.

Neato’s XV-11 makes other robot vacuums a-la the Roomba suck: instead of bumping around, it uses lasers to detect and map out objects up to 4 meters away; it’s due out 2/2010.

The world’s smallest AA flashlight, the Maratac AA measures just 2.99″ long but packs a 50,000 hour LED, aircraft aluminum body, anti-reflective lens, and a brightness of 85 lumens.

Swiss+Tech’s Transformer Xi 12-in-1 does double duty in your pocket as a key ring and a multitool; it includes 6 screwdrivers, an LED flashlight, dual worklights, and a straight edge.

Han may be off making the Kessel Run in 18 parsecs, but we’ll be content to loaf like Jabba in this Millenium Falcon Bed by Kayla Kromer; photos are by Heather Leah Kennedy.

Because spatulas are for sissies: these Fusion Finger Tongs are silicon mitts that let you get up close and personal with your food; they’ll withstand temps of up to 500 degrees F.

Don’t get your D-branes rolled up in a bunch, but this Calabi-Yau Manifold Crystal is a perfect gift for string theorists and extra-dimensional geeks: it’s a 3″ 3D cross-section of a 6D space.

The pen is definitely pricier than the sword with Sruli Recht’s Carbon Dater; it writes with a .30 carat black diamond held in place by a brass claw and set in a hand-tooled carbon rod.

Scott Trosclair is one super man: he’s turned his cubicle at a film animation studio into a mini Fortress of Solitude, complete with LED-lit acrylic crystals and a hand-sculpted Jorel head.