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H a rd wa re & H o u s e wa re s Re vi e w Tu e s d a y, M a y 6 , 2 0 1 4 1 6 EASE STRESS ON THE BODY FROM POWER AND HAND TOOLS If you're in the lawn and garden or build- ing and construction industries, or if you just like to get outside and work at home, pain is nothing new to you. You'll be excited to hear about the new Comfort- Tech products from LimbSaver. This all- new line of American-made products is designed to help you work longer with reduced fatigue and backache, while pre- venting numbness and soreness of arms and hands. This year, Comfort-Tech is selling two sizes of their grip-wraps. The 24- inch wraps are perfect for power tools such as weed trimmers, brush cutters, chainsaws and grinders. Its tentacle design maximizes control and comfort. It isolates your hands from the vibration from your power tools while giving you cushion to ease tension in your hands. This helps to inhibit numbness and tin- gling associated with your power tool. The new, shorter, 16-inch grip-wraps are designed for smaller hand tools. They relieve your hands from the shock of using hammers, picks, shovels, axes, rakes, brooms, saws and many other lawn and garden tools. Comfort-Tech Grip-Wraps give you great non-slip grip, even in dusty or wet conditions. You'll now be able to continue working hard without the aches and pains in your arms and hands that you're used to. If you spend any time using a weed trimmer or brush cutter with- out the Weed Trimmer Sling, you know that it is tiring at best. That's why the Comfort-Tech Weed Trimmer and Utility Sling was created. It is designed with two goals in mind: amazing comfort and ease of use. The contour design of the shoulder sling keeps your power tool in balance while reducing body fatigue by distributing weight over your entire back. The universal one-click easy on/easy off connection makes it a per- fect fit for trimmers and brush cutters. It is fully adjustable for great fit and is suited for right or left hand use. Comfort-Tech products are proud- ly made in the U.S.A. with the highest quality craftsmanship. Visit LimbSaver at booth 10334. For more information, go to www .limbsaver.com/comfort-tech or call 877-257-2761. WATER SPORTS BRINGS BACK ORIGINAL ITZATUBE Water Sports, LLC is excited to bring back an "Original." The company's Original ItzaTube™ is reminiscent of days gone by. Whether it is a day on the lake with the family splashing around, or a day at the river with friends for a leisurely float, Water Sports' traditional black rubber inner tube is just the right product to help deliver a great time. Available in 28", 36" or 45" diameters, it is sure to have the right size for everyone. In addition to the Original ItzaTube, Water Sports has also added the ItzaCooler Caddy™ and the ItzaCan Caddy™ accessories to allow you to float with your cooler and a handy drink hold- er designed with a holster to hold your Stream Machine™ water launcher. Like the saying goes, newer does not mean better. Unlike the newer vinyl or PVC rubber, the butyl rub- ber that makes up our Original ItzaTube is thick- er, providing more durabili- ty ("sticks and stones won't hurt me") in the event of a puncture. Unlike some competitors' models that end up in the landfill, it can be brought to your local tire shop for repair and get you back out in the fun. It also offers more comfort by not having those pesky handles that don't ever seem to be in the right place; you can sit how you want. The fun doesn't have to end when the sun goes away and the snow falls, because the durable Original Itzatube is cross-marketed to the winter outdoor sports market. With a quick spin of the package, you can transform your shelf from a spring/summer catego- ry to a fall/winter set. No more worries about a late summer or early winter. Bring back a little nostalgia with the Original ItzaTube. Visit Water Sports at booth 10614. BLUE VIPER IS FIRST 3-IN-1 WEED SPRAYER By Danielle Paluchniak, President, Wabash Valley Farms, Inc. The Blue Viper weed sprayer was created to respond to consumers' calls for a weed sprayer that could handle virtually any job around the home, like getting a single weed in a garden, spraying a line of weeds along a fence or covering a patch of weeds growing in a gravel drive. The Blue Viper is a battery-powered weed sprayer that is extremely easy to use and can tackle all of these chores. The secret is its ability to spray in three distinct ways. First, it can spot spray to get a single weed. Second, the Blue Viper can edge spray a precise line of weed killer that is perfect for along sidewalks, fences or house foundations. Third, it can broadcast spray weed killer over a more extensive area like mulch beds or gravel drives. Spot Spraying The Blue Viper is precise enough to get a single weed in a flower bed or veg- etable garden without killing prized plants around it. This is accomplished by extending the Blue Viper's 30 inch long shaft toward the weed. This pole makes it easy to reach hard to get weeds without bending, stooping or twisting. Then you simply cover the weed with the Blue Viper's specially designed hood. The hood prevents any drift or over-spraying. Spot spraying is that easy: you just place the hood over the weed you want to kill, lightly touch the easy-to-press start button, and you've just gotten that weed. Edging The Blue Viper also can spray in an exact line approximately 1 to 2 inches wide. This function works great as a continuous edger for sidewalks, garden beds, fence lines and house foundations. To use the Blue Viper as an edger, you simply raise the hood 2 to 4 inches off the ground and move the tool along the area you want to spray. The Blue Viper will lay down an extremely accurate stripe of weed killer. Edging is made easy by the Blue Viper's powerful pump, specially designed nozzle and engineered hood system. These parts form a system that delivers the perfect mist of weed killer to effectively do away with unwanted plants. The mist droplets are large enough so that they don't drift, but small enough so that they don't drench unwant- ed plants, which would waste expensive weed killer. Broadcast Spraying The Blue Viper is also a tool that can broadcast weed killer over a larger area, like a gravel driveway or mulch bed. This is accomplished by raising the hood high- er off the ground (approximately 6 to 10 inches). From this height, the Blue Viper sprays a fine mist that is an extremely efficient killer of weeds. In contrast, typ- ical sprayers spray a soaking spray. This can be inefficient, because any weed killer that rolls off the weed is wasted. Visit booth 10573 to see a demonstration of the new Blue Viper weed sprayer. For more information, go to www.wabash valleyfarms.com, call 219-232-4930 or email danip@wabashvalleyfarms.com. THE HISTORY OF SURGE PROTECTORS By Russell Barton, President, BITS Limited While surge protectors have been around since the computer revolution that started in the late 1980s, the technology had remained almost unchanged for many years. They started out as a humble power strip with nothing more then a power switch, fuse and a single MOV. MOV stands for Metal Oxide Varistor, and when the voltage exceeds the line voltage by a certain amount, they con- duct the extra voltage that is present to stop it from reaching the devices plugged in until the fuse blows, therefore protect- ing the equipment. Due to a wide variety of results and dangers, in 1986, UL started testing surge protectors with the first standard. This standard has been revised a few times until 2009, when the third edition became the latest standard. During the first decade, they remained unchanged and with the second decade they increased the number of MOVs for bet- ter and more protection. In 1994, a company called Brickwall created a new technology that did not use MOVs, and like a brick wall, nothing got through. However, the technology also had its drawbacks. Due to its size, weight and cost, the technology never became mainstream. The next major change occurred in 2002, when a small, family-owned com- pany, BITS Limited, released the first Advanced Surge Protector called the Smart Strip. It was the first energy saving surge protector on the mar- ket, and it was also very cost effec- tive. Due to this, it caught the attention of many morning TV shows, reviews and even the Oprah show in 2006. Once a surge protector made such media attention, many other surge pro- tector companies realized that things had changed and they must follow suit. All of the major players like APC, Belkin, Tripp Lite, Trickle Star and Fellows came out with their own energy saving surge protectors. Most of them were all very similar, except Belkin which made its Conserve model con- trolled by a switch that you mount on the wall. Then companies like Wiremold started adding motion sensors to control the outlets. In 2010, an Australian company called Embertec changed the game even further by creating the first surge protec- tor with digital electronics and the ability to save active energy waste. Active energy waste is when the consumer leaves the device on by accident. 2013 was filled with more surge pro- tector innovations than all of the other years combined. BITS Limited show- cased its True Surge, which stops surges like a brick wall without the added cost. P3 international showcased its surge pro- tector that measures the power and even tells you the cost over time. Wireless surge protectors, Ethernet surge protec- tors and more than a dozen other innova- tions were also available from more surge protector companies than ever. Surge protection is now integrated to work seamlessly with the device that it once protected. Visit BITS Limited at booth 1918. For more information, go to www .bitsltd.net, call 631-896-9855 or email russell.barton@me.com.