Home News

Make your own paracord survival bracelets and fobs with this easy to use jig


If you’ve ever looked at someone’s paracord bracelet and thought “hey, I could make that”, now you can. The Jig Bracelet Maker Parachute Cord Survival Wristband Maker Paracord Braiding Weaving DIY Craft Tool Kit from Yakura comes with everything you need (except the paracord!) to make your own survival bracelets, key fobs and more.

The kit comes with the jig which is made of wood with an adjustable sizing block.

Although paracord is not included with this particular kit, for some weird reason, they included two buckles.

The Yakura paracord jig is priced at $13.69 from Amazon. If you don’t like the home brew look of this wood jig, Amazon sells eleventy billion other paracord bracelet jigs that you can check out that are made of metal and plastic. Some kits even come with paracord to get you started.

Have any of you made your own survival jewelry? If so, let’s hear about it. Leave a comment below.

If you want some inspiration, check out Stormdrane’s blog. He’s the master of paracord and knot.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: , ,

Make your own paracord survival bracelets and fobs with this easy to use jig originally appeared on on May 5, 2017 at 2:25 pm.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

BusyKid lets parents pay their child’s allowance with Apple stock


When I was a kid, I got a wallet-busting $5 a week allowance and I was lucky if there was anything left at the end of the week to put in my piggy bank for a rainy day. Now BusyKid is enabling parents to help their children earn money from chores that can be used to buy stocks, donate to charities, buy gift cards, or trade for cold hard cash. 

BusyKid charges a family $12 a year to use their service. It allows parents to choose from a large selection of predetermined chores (or create their own). When kids check in with the app to mark chores as completed, an SMS message will be sent to their parent to approve the payment for that chore.

On Friday/payday, kids can then use their earned allowance to buy fractional shares of real stocks which can increase or decrease in value as the market rises and falls. The child can even sell the stock with their parent’s approval and a $2.99 transaction fee.

If they don’t want to invest their allowance in stocks, they can donate it, exchange for gift cards or get cash.

 

Parents fund the BusyKid Account by linking to their checking account. The funds are held at a FDIC insured bank and are insured up to a balance of $250,000.

You can learn more about this automated allowance system at busykid.com.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: ,

BusyKid lets parents pay their child’s allowance with Apple stock originally appeared on on May 5, 2017 at 10:32 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

Ringly makes smart jewelry for those times when you want to feel pretty


Let’s face it, fitness bands and smartwatches aren’t the most attractive accessories on the market. They usually have either a masculine or unisex style that does not blend well with fancier feminine attire. Ringly is a company who offers a more glamorous alternative to boring black silicone banded wearables.  

Ringly’s water resistant smart rings and bracelets pair with your smartphone to show notifications using vibration and light. They also track your steps, distance, and calories burned throughout the day.

When it’s time to turn in for the night, you can tuck the ring or bracelet into a specially designed jewelry box that doubles as a battery charger.

Ringly rings and bracelets are available in a variety of colors / styles and are priced at $165. You can find more info at ringly.com and order one from Amazon.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: ,

Ringly makes smart jewelry for those times when you want to feel pretty originally appeared on on May 5, 2017 at 7:09 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

These Star Wars inspired hand engraved coins are insanely awesome


Today is May 4th which means it’s Star War’s day! This day each year a lot of tech sites write about all sorts of kooky Star Wars products, but I didn’t want to do that because I’m sure you all get tired of seeing news posts about Darth Vadar slippers and R2D2 cookie jars. After lots of searching, I found something that I know any Star Wars fan will appreciate. Check out these impressive hand carved coins by Shaun Hughes.

Known as hobo nickels, they are carvings that started in the mid 18th century. The buffalo nickel was a favored coin to alter, which explains the name, but these sculptures are done on any denomination of coins from around the world.

Shaun Hughes engraves/modifies coins with all sorts of different subject matter from sugar skull type art, to cartoons from The Simpsons, to these Star Wars inspired coins shown here.

I can’t imagine creating detailed art like this on a coin sized canvas. These coins are currently available on eBay where the Darth Vader penny shown at the top of the page is at $40. The Storm Trooper coin shown directly above is at $52 and the center pictured Storm Trooper coin has a buy-it-now price of $175.

Do yourself a favor and even if you’re not interested in bidding on one of these coins, click through to one of those links and scroll to the bottom of the page where he includes a video that shows him carving the coin. It makes me want to take up this unique art technique.

May the Fourth be with you, my friends!

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: ,

These Star Wars inspired hand engraved coins are insanely awesome originally appeared on on May 4, 2017 at 6:39 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

Spyslide webcam privacy cover, dfy360 wallet, MultiCinch ties, and more – Notable crowdfunding campaigns


crowdfund

My picks for this week’s notable crowdfunding campaigns include a 3 stringed guitar, two wallets, and more. Click through to read this week’s list of notable crowdfunding campaigns.

The Spyslide: World’s Most Elegant Webcam Cover

What is it?
The Spyslide is a very small stainless steel sliding privacy cover for your laptop’s webcam.

Why do I like it?
I like the Spyslide because it easily protects your privacy in the event that someone hacks your computer to view through your computer’s built-in webcam. The Spyslide is much smaller and thinner than the SPIshutter webcam cover that I reviewed a few years ago. Another advantage of the Spyslide over other products like this one is that it can be used with laptops, desktops and even tablets.

Where can I find more info?
With 26 days left in the campaign, The Spyslide campaign has already reached their funding goal of $5457. You can pre-order a Spyslide starting at $10. After the Spyslide campaign ends, rewards are estimated to start shipping in July 2017. Visit their Kickstarter page for all the details.

dfy360 RFID Blocking Wallet | Crazy Affordable Price

What is it?
The dfy360 RFID Blocking Wallet is a premium slim leather wallet.

Why do I like it?
I like the dfy360 wallet because it features multiple layers of RFID shielding to wrap your credit cards with 360-degree protection to prevent card scanners from using your info without your knowledge.

Where can I find more info?
With 33 days left in the campaign, The dfy360 campaign is very close to reaching their funding goal of $5000. You can pre-order a dfy360 starting at $29. After the dfy360 campaign ends, rewards are estimated to start shipping in July 2017. Visit their Kickstarter page for all the details.

MUTDUT MultiCinch – Tie, build, and fix. It’s a ‘Cinch.

What is it?
MultiCinches are ties that are made of a stretchy thermoplastic. The ties can be used to wrap cables, hang things, and you can even play with them like a fidget toy.

Why do I like it?
I like MultiCinch ties because they are reusable, and their use is only limited by your imagination.

Where can I find more info?
With 39 days left in the campaign, The MultiCinch campaign is just starting to work towards their funding goal of $25,000. You can pre-order a MultiCinch starting at $7. After the MultiCinch campaign ends, rewards are estimated to start shipping in August 2017. Visit their Kickstarter page for all the details.

Loog Pro & Loog Mini: The ultimate beginners’ guitars

What is it?
The Loog Pro & Loog Mini are small 3 string guitars that have been designed to make it easy for kids and adults to learn to play guitar.

Why do I like it?
I purchased the original Loog guitar which came as a built-it-yourself kit. Building my own guitar was very fun, but there were some issues with playability due to string height. The new Loog guitars come pre-assembled. Which is a bummer in a way since you don’t get the fun of building it yourself. But, I assume that they are setup a lot better than the originals. I’d love to get my hands on one of the new ones because they look cool and fun to play. I play the ukulele which has 4 strings. The Loog instruments have just 3 strings, which means they should be even easier to play than a uke!

Where can I find more info?
With 23 days left in the campaign, The Loog Pro & Loog Mini campaign has already surpassed their funding goal of $30,000. You can pre-order a Loog instrument starting at $59 for the Loog Mini. After the Loog campaign ends, rewards are estimated to start shipping in June 2017. Visit their Kickstarter page for all the details.

Arceo Wallet | The Premiere Magnetic Carry System

What is it?
The Arceo Wallet is a precision CNC milled Carbon Fiber wallet from Ronin Energetics, who has other EDC products that we’ve reviewed in the past.

Why do I like it?
I like the Arceo Wallet because it’s been designed to not only carry credit cards, but it also has a built-in compartment that can hold cash, coins, a key, or small tools. The compartment is secured using embedded neodymium magnets. There is also an optional key holder module that you can attach to the wallet to hold your two most used keys. Last but not least, this minimalist wallet looks really cool and unique. I’m a sucker for interesting wallets and this one definitely meets that criteria.

Where can I find more info?
With 43 days left in the campaign, The Arceo Wallet campaign has already reached their funding goal of $3,642. You can pre-order an Arceo Wallet starting at $64. After the Arceo Wallet campaign ends, rewards are estimated to start shipping in October 2017. Visit their Kickstarter page for all the details.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged:

Spyslide webcam privacy cover, dfy360 wallet, MultiCinch ties, and more – Notable crowdfunding campaigns originally appeared on on May 3, 2017 at 11:37 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.