Seven Gadgets of 2015

I'm somewhat of a utilitarian when it comes to gadgets, so this "best of" list doesn't read like a Black Friday ad, geek chic blog, or an online tech forum's must-have post. In fact, some might not consider them gadgets at all.

Most of these items:

are simple, practical, and play to my varied interests
tend to do one thing really well
are relatively inexpensive items, suitable for gift-giving

All seven of these items have proven useful to me over the year.

ℹ️ As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (details)

1. Monoprice XLR-RCA 16AWG Cables

Yes, audio cables.

Inexpensive cables usually means cheap build quality. That doesn’t mean you need to buy exorbitantly-priced gold-plated Monster what-have-you to reproduce sound accurately.

You used to have to go to Bill's Music or work with mail order vendors like Sweetwater to buy audio cables of any quality. It was an ordeal. You'd either drive all over to see the product in-person and hope it was reasonably priced or buy blind over the phone and hope it was the right thing when it arrived via UPS. I guess things haven’t changed much, except that we’re more willing to buy things sight unseen over the Internet.

Monoprice has been changing a lot of people's minds about the aforementioned adage. And now they're selling on Amazon, which means one less account to manage.

I needed to replace some old noisy cables whose strain relief just wasn’t cutting it. You know the type, the ones you have to wiggle a bit to keep them static-free. I wasn't paying too much attention to the wire size; listed as 16 AWG, I was shocked when the cables arrived. They were enormously thick. The old Hosa 24 AWG look dainty by comparison. Now does that mean better conductivity? maybe, but it probably doesn’t matter from a line-level source.

More important is the more-than-ample strain relief, meaning less stress on the conductors over time and no more scratchy connections between media output and console mic inputs.

$10/each via Amazon

2. TS-836A Meter

Around the time I installed solar PV panels on my roof, I picked up this little power meter to track down idle/standby/phantom electrical draw from the electronics around my house.

The TS-836A is easy to use, has a large LCD display, and provides real-time wattage, current, and voltage, time spent monitoring, as well as kilowatt-hours since the unit was first plugged in. Rather than relying on the instant usage, I typically measure electrical usage over a period of a few days or weeks to get a better idea of usage over time. If you plug in your cost per kilowatt-hour it’ll even calculate the cost in dollars and cents for you.

An addictive little gadget that's more than paid for itself in energy savings.

$16 via Amazon

3. Black & Decker Airstation

The air compressors that plug into the accessory outlet in your car do alright for bike tires, basketballs, and pool floats, but I find that they don't have enough oomph to fill car or motorcycle tires. I've done it, but it takes forever, the compressor gets all hot, and you've got the sneaking suspicion that your car battery is being drained to the point of needing a jump-start.

I wanted an air compressor that would plug into a wall outlet.

I've been pleased with the Airstation. It's small, a little bigger than a shoe box. Much smaller than a pancake air compressor at less than half the cost. Relatively quiet operation, too. Not that the noise matters, since you don't need to stand around watching the gauge. Once you set the dial to the desired pressure, you just turn the thing on and let it go, it shuts off automatically when the desired pressure is reached.

And it plugs into the car's DC outlet too, just in case.

$43 via Amazon

4. ThermiPaq Pain Wrap

Not much to look at, the ThermiPaq is a handy reusable heating wrap that’s filled with an aromatic clay compound. Forty-five seconds in the microwave and this thing will put out a steady supply of muscle ache relieving heat for 20 minutes.

Supposedly you can throw it in the freezer and use as a cold wrap, although I haven’t tried it.

I used this thing extensively after slipping a disk in my lower spine. Two notes about usage:

Similar to how some food continues to transfer heat to the container after removal from the microwave, the exterior of the wrap continues to warm for a few minutes. If you heat it to the point where the outside feels hot to your hand, you might end up burning yourself when you apply it to a more sensitive area.
When they say don't reheat within 3-60 minutes, they're serious. I've actually bought two of these, having accidentally overheated one to the point of explosion. One that I didn't own.

$20 via Amazon

5. Raspberry Pi B+

The Raspberry Pi has been a great source of fun for geeks, nerds, makers, students, and everyone in between. Small. Inexpensive. Versatile.

I set about to replace a small business server with a Pi just to see if I could. Months later, the thing is still running perfectly and I couldn't be happier.

The kit I bought included the Pi B+, a clear plastic case, and AC power adapter. While there are newer models available with improved CPU and memory specs, this one did what I needed it to do at a reasonable price point.

$50 via Amazon (and don't forget an SD card)

6. Battery Tender Junior

For vehicles with alarms or vehicle recovery systems, it's pretty simple to kill batteries, especially if they’re left idle.

The Battery Tender Junior is a compact 12 volt battery charger/tender with some basic smarts: after charging the battery it'll flip into float/maintenance mode so as not to overcharge. Easy to use with alligator clips or more permanent ring-terminal harnesses (both included), you just attach to your vehicle's battery terminals, plug it in, and let it doing its thing. Status lights tell you what’s going on and a key to understanding the lights is provided right on the unit itself.

Since purchasing I've kept my motorcycle battery on the tender whenever not in use. No problems. No hesitations or hiccups when starting up.

Electrical usage is fairly minimal. Using the power meter listed above, I estimate that keeping my motorcycle battery charged/tended all year will run me a few dollars. A bargain compared to the inconvenience of getting all dressed up, ready to go, only to find that the bike won’t start.

The thing's got a five year warranty and while some Amazon reviewers say they go up sooner than that, even if it only lasts a year it's far cheaper than a new motorcycle battery.

$23 via Amazon

7. Lodge Scraper

If you've never owned or cooked with a cast iron dutch oven of the non-enameled variety, the sheer beauty of these little Lodge scrapers will likely be lost on you.

Using and caring for cast iron kitchenware can take a little getting used to. Cast iron is damn-near indestructible stuff, but if not properly seasoned the contents of your meal can easily get baked on in such a way that it's a royal pain in the ass to remove (especially if you don't clean things immediately).

If you've gotten yourself into this situation -- as I have -- there comes a time when no amount of force applied to metal scrapers, scouring pads, or steel wool seems to help, at which point options become more limited:

putting the cookware through the oven cleaning cycle, filling the house with smoke in the process
tossing the cookware it into a fire, which I don't have the time for

The polycarbonate scrapers from Lodge are deceptively small, so small you'll be thinking:

there's no way they'll be effective in removing this gunk
these things are going to shatter, sending shards of plastic into my hands or eyes

Durable and effective, you'd be wrong on both counts. I know I was and I've got the clean cast iron cookware to prove it.

$7 via Amazon

Last Modified: 2020-08-09

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