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In the midst of a storm when all else fails, the Kovea Spider Stove will do the trick


NEWS – Every year when hurricane season is approaching, I cannot help but remember my ordeal in NYC during Hurricane Sandy. During that storm, I spent 14 days without electricity and heat, and many nights I purchased food from the only restaurant that was somehow able to survive. While I did have gas during the storm, and while I was able to light my electronic ignition stove with matches, I often wonder what would have happened if I had an electric stove, or if the gas lines were damaged and unable to deliver gas. Since that storm, I have stocked up on a few emergency items that include propane powered indoor heaters, but I am still undecided about a stove.

Today, during one of my bouts of surfing the internet, I came across the Kovea Spider Stove. This little stove is powered by fuel canisters, has an anti-flame system pipe providing a powerful and stable flame, sits low to the surface, and allows you to place the fuel canister away from the stove for added safety. It is also very portable with its foldable pan support legs. When all else fails, including the loss of electricity and gas, it seems like it can get you through preparing a meal.

If you would like to learn more about the Kovea Spider Stove, or if you would like to purchase it, you can head over to Amazon and check it out. It is available for $59.90

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In the midst of a storm when all else fails, the Kovea Spider Stove will do the trick originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 13, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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Skeeter Screen Yard Sticks will rid your backyard celebrations of mosquitos

NEWS – Nothing ruins a 4th of July celebration faster than mosquitos. Over the years I’ve tried several different products. Sprays, candles, even bracelets and each has there issues. Candles blow out, sprays are messy and who really wants to wear a bracelet. Skeeter Screen has come up with something just a little different, Yard Sticks Mosquito Repellent Lawn Incense.

Powered by DEET-free natural repellent made with lemongrass oil and geraniol (from geraniums) these large incense sticks measure 23-inches in length.

All you have to do is light them and stake them were ever you want to rid yourself of those pesky mosquitos. The incense also works to deter flies, fleas, and ticks.

And they can be used just about anywhere. Place them in flower pots, outdoors in a vase, bucket or directly in the ground.

Each stick provides a coverage area of about 200 square feet and will burn for 3-4 hours.

Yard Sticks are biodegradable too.

Perfect for garden parties, boating, fishing, camping, poolside, and outdoor family gatherings.

The Skeeter Screen Yard Sticks come in a pack of 15 for $16.95 and are available on The Grommet.

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Skeeter Screen Yard Sticks will rid your backyard celebrations of mosquitos originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 4, 2018 at 3:15 pm.

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Throw some shade on your iPhone with the myFlipShade

It’s summer. You want to be outside in the fresh air and sunshine, but if you want to look something up on your phone, send a text, or read a book, it’s pretty difficult to see the display when the sun is shining. Even with the phone’s display setting at the max brightness level, the glare from the sun will make the phone’s screen appear to be almost black. Is there a solution other than going back indoors? myCharge thinks their myFlipShade will do the trick.


myFlipShade is a shade for iPhone 6 and newer iPhones including the iPhone X. It attaches to the back of the phone with sticky tape and folds flat when it’s not needed and opens up into a sun shade when you do. The plastic shade helps improve the visibility of your iPhone screen outdoors and provides a measure of privacy for people who like to look over your shoulder.

It’s priced at $9.99 and you can find it on Amazon.

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Throw some shade on your iPhone with the myFlipShade originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 11, 2018 at 11:00 am.

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WORX 20V GT Revolution Trimmer/Edger/Mini-Mower review

I’ve been a homeowner since 1989, but I have never used a weed eater to trim around trees or the edges of sidewalks. How can this be you ask? I’ve always had problems starting pull string style equipment because I have crummy shoulders and not enough upper body strength. So Jeanne has done the weed eating around our home. But she doesn’t like having to keep track of which gas can has the 2-cycle oil mixed in and sometimes she has trouble getting the weed eater started too. So, I was excited to try the WORX 20V GT Revolution Trimmer/Edger/Mini-Mower when it was offered because it runs on a battery which means no gas cans or special gas and oil mixtures are needed and no pull string to start it. I’ve always wondered how well battery powered outdoor tools work and now I know because I’ve been using this one for the past few weeks. Yes me! I’ve actually started weed eating and trimming for the first time in my life. Let’s check it out.

What is it?

The WORX 20V GT Revolution Trimmer/Edger/Mini-Mower is a 20-volt battery powered weed eater that can also be used as an edger and a mini mower because it has two removable wheels.

What’s in the box?

  • WORX 20V GT Revolution Trimmer/Edger/Mini-Mower
  • 3 spools of line
  • 2 20V batteries
  • Battery charger
  • Manual

Design and features

The WORX arrives about 95% assembled. It has a black plastic shaft that features a rear handle with a pistol style grip that has a power button that you have to hold down as you grip the handle to power on the trimmer. Once it’s running, you can let go of the power button, but you have to continue to grip the handle to keep it running. There’s also an adjustable auxiliary handle that folds down as shown above.

The auxiliary handle can pivot around 180 degrees so you can customize how you hold it.

To adjust the position, you have to press in on the orange locking knob on the side.

The trimmer has a telescoping shaft that lengthens by twisting the orange locking collar to extend the shaft.

Here we can see the WORX 20V GT Revolution Trimmer’s shaft is fully extended. Extending and retracting the shaft isn’t difficult, so it is easy to adjust the length for your height and posture and it makes the trimmer easier to store if you have a small garage or shed where you store your yard work gear.

The business end of the WORX trimmer has several features. First of all, there’s the spool holder. That’s the circular orange part pointing down in the image above. You can see the red line sticking out of the feeder hole in the trimmer’s head.

The spool holder has an orange plastic cap that holds the spool in place. It makes switching out spools really easy compared to a few trimmers that I’ve worked with in the past. The WORX trimmer comes with 3 spools of DNA2 DoubleHelix cutting line (10ft of line in each spool) and when you buy the WORX trimmer you can sign up to receive free spools for life where you get 6 spools and only have to pay shipping costs ($8.62/package of 6).


There’s an extra on-b0ard spool holder on the trimmer’s handle so you won’t have to head back to the garage or shed if you run out of line in the middle of a trimming session.

Back to the trimmer head…


The angle of the trimmer head can rotate in 6 positions so that it can go from trimming to mowing, to edging. You’ll also notice the metal wires. That’s the flower guard.

You can extend or retract the flower guard to help prevent you from trimming foliage that you don’t want to trim.

You might be trying to figure out how this weed eater can transform from a trimmer to an edger and a mower. The secret is the edger/trimmer support wheels that are included.

The wheels snap into the trimmer head. There are two places where the wheels can be attached. One location is the side of the trimmer head shown above. In this location, the WORX 20V GT Revolution Trimmer can be used as an edger.

All you have to do is attach the safety guard…

Then you can roll the edger down the sidewalk.

Or, you can attach the wheels to the underside of the safety guard.

You can then roll the trimmer around like a tiny mower. I found the mower setup to feel a bit awkward. Granted, I am not a trimmer guru as we already established at the start of this review… But for me, using the WORX as a trimmer or edger felt the easiest for me.

Before we can start trimming, we have to put gas in the trimmer… charge the batteries! The WORX trimmer comes with two 20V batteries and a charger. The charger can only accommodate one battery at a time and it takes 5hrs to charge each battery. It should go without saying that as soon as you get one battery charged that you should go ahead and charge the other one next. It is nice that the batteries seem to retain their charge for quite a while. I charged both batteries about 3 weeks ago and have only used one battery so far and the other one is still showing that it still has a full charge.

How do I know how much charge the battery has? There’s a tester built right into the end of the battery. You can see it in the image above. It’s that rectangular red button to the right of three dots along the bottom front edge of the battery. When you press the button, the lights will light up in green to show the capacity. The first light is low, the second light is 50%, and the third light means it the battery has a full charge.


The battery snaps into the bottom of the handle and is easy to detach when you need to switch it out for a fresh one.

Let’s trim some grass!

It’s time to watch my very first weed eating video! Seriously, this video is the first time I’ve used a string trimmer, so be kind to me please. 🙂

https://youtu.be/Y8DdYCyvRCU

There were several things that surprised me about the WORX trimmer. First of all, I was surprised by how well the trimmer was able to cut thick grass. It even wacked through thicker stalks of mutant weeds and baby tree shoots that you get when you live in a rural wooded area like I do. I’ve also been surprised by how strong the line is because I’ve not needed to press the button on top of the handle to feed new line. And last but not least, I’ve been happy so far with battery life. Actually, I’m still on the first battery after weed eating several days for 15-20 minute sessions.


Cleanup is pretty easy too. I just sprayed everything with a hose and the WORX trimmer was pretty much good as new.

What I like

  • No messy gas and oil to mix
  • Simple to start
  • Easy to replace line spools
  • Converts from a trimmer to an edger and a mini-mower

What needs to be improved

  • Nothing

Final thoughts

As my first battery-powered trimmer, the WORX 20V GT Revolution Trimmer/Edger/Mini-Mower has impressed me with how easy it is to use, battery life, and versatility. Now that I’ve used a battery powered trimmer, I’d like to replace our gas blower with a battery powered blower and do they make battery powered rototillers too? 😉

Price: $99.99
Where to buy: WORX and Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by WORX.

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WORX 20V GT Revolution Trimmer/Edger/Mini-Mower review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 6, 2018 at 1:01 pm.

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The new EGO Power+ 15” POWERLOAD String Trimmer comes with strings attached

Are you a fan of cordless yard tools? I hadn’t thought much about it until I reviewed the EGO Power+ 530 CFM Blower. After that, I was a convert. Granted, the battery life is limited and extra batteries can be expensive, but my driveway and walkways are cleaned more often simply because I can just grab the blower and … blow. No cord or startup hassles. That blower has spoiled me. Well, EGO makes other yard tools as well, such as hedge trimmers, string trimmers, chainsaws and even lawn mowers and snow blowers—all based on the same interchangeable EGO ARC lithium batteries. EGO’s newest tool is a re-designed string trimmer, the EGO Power+ 15” POWERLOAD String Trimmer with carbon fiber shaft. 

I constantly struggle with string replacement on my Stihl gas-powered string trimmer—not to mention the fumes and vibrations from its 2-stroke engine. It takes at least 10 minutes to disassemble the head, hand wind the string and then re-assemble the head. Not easy when you’re already sweating in the summer sun. What’s so special about the POWERLOAD String Trimmer is the way string is replaced. All you have to do is run the string through the head and press a button until the string is automatically wound. That’s it. Watching the video of this on EGO’s website makes it look not only easy but fun as well. 

The POWERLOAD String Trimmer also has a carbon fiber shaft that’s stronger than any other string trimmer shaft available. The shaft is equipped with a lifetime warranty—guaranteed to last forever. The trimmer comes with a hi-efficiency brushless motor with variable speed control, bump feed line advance and uses .095” professional cutting line.

Anything that saves time and makes hot Florida summer yard work easier is okay in my book. The EGO Power+ 15” POWERLOAD String Trimmer comes with a 5.0Ah Battery and Charger and sells for $329.

Visit EGO for more information.

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The new EGO Power+ 15” POWERLOAD String Trimmer comes with strings attached originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 4, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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