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PRODUCT REVIEW
PDA protection in the great outdoors
By Brett Warcola
How many times have you had that sudden urge to go mountain climbing or skydiving but didn't because you were waiting for that important email to come, with the location of this Friday's happy hour or the latest edition of tips from PalmPower Magazine? Well now you have no excuse because Grinder Gear has created three PDA bags that'll allow you to bring your Palm device, Visor, or most any other handheld computer with you on all your outdoor excursions. Marketed as SUBs or Sport Utility Bags and coming in a variety of colors, these bags provide stylish protection for you GPS-equipped Palm VII, your Palm Vx with digital camera, or any other PDA application you may need.
I took these new bags from Grinder Gear out on a little adventure of my own, and I really liked what I saw.
The Scout
In order to give the bags a proper field test, I took them to a local hiking trail and tried them out using my Palm IIIxe and other various items. Braving the dreaded Lyme disease-carrying deer ticks and mosquitoes harboring the West Nile Virus, I spent the day hiking, on and off the trails, in order to get a feel for how the bags would perform under stressful outdoor conditions.
The first bag I tested was the Scout. This is the smallest and most basic of the three bags offered by Grinder Gear, and it's pictured in Figure A.
FIGURE A
 
The Scout offers triple-layer protection. Roll over picture for a larger image.
With a flip top cover, EPV-sandwiched foam, fleece lining for screen protection, belt loop webbing, and a belt clip, this bag is the ideal size to wear when you're hiking or biking. The bag is well constructed for any type of outdoor activity and features a Cordura spray skirt to protect against dirt and water. The flip top makes one-hand opening and closing a breeze, and there's also a shielded, zippered pocket that's ideal for batteries, keys, cash, credit cards (for that Starbucks just off the trail), a Swiss Army Knife, or any other small item you may need in the backwoods. The flip top and pocket are pictured in Figure B.
FIGURE B
 
Here you can see the flip top and front zipper pocket. Roll over picture for a larger image.
I used this bag to carry my Palm IIIxe and my keys on my hike through the wilderness of Valley Forge. This bag was actually put to an extreme test in the very beginning of the hike when I accidentally dropped the Scout while clipping it to my hip and sent it tumbling down a hill. However, after retrieving the bag from the thorns of a small bush, I found that my Palm device was perfectly intact and functioned fine. No dirt or moisture from damp grass had penetrated the bag, so even my keys were clean as a whistle. I then knew that I could enter the woods with confidence in the safety of my PDA.
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