I have a friend I go canoeing with and every year he brings some new gadget along for the trip.  Last year it was night vision binoculars, which are real neat to use particularly looking at the night sky you could see about ten times more stars.  This year he brought gloves with LED lights that were great for working on stuff in the dark.  Next year? 

Anyone have any neat gadgets to recommend.

starwatcher

+1 on night vision, it's truly amazing.

One of the things I love about meeting up with folks I've never met before is watching what they do and what they use.

Portable solar panel that charges batteries for headlamps, depth finder, GPS. My buddy brought one last year and it was pretty neat. I brought back up batteries just in case though. It worked pretty well.

I picked up an LED headlamp two years ago on a ~$13.00 whim. It's the size of a walnut, weighs an ounce, has three brightness settings+.... it's a wonderful thing. My only complaint is to reduce brightness it's basically a strobe light. Not real noticeable but the first time in the rain kinda freaked me out.

I use it rather often at home and it seems the original batteries are still hanging in there. Do LEDs dim with old batteries or do they just die. Somehow I expect new batteries will cost more than a new (batteries included) headlamp.

LEDs will definitely dim as battery power dies, not just a simple on/off.

Thanks JJ. Good to know, I appreciate it.

Hey! Guess what my wife got me for my birthday..an XG-55!

It's a wrist-watch that also has an altimeter, compass, barometer, chronograph, weather forecast, and daily alarms.

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It's cheaper than a sherpa, but you get what you pay for (under $99 list price). One of the disadvantages I can see immediately is that it says it's "water resistant" which usually means "don't get it wet."

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Anyway, I get to be Mr. Gadget on our next trip! :)

starwatcher

Goal Zero solar recharger
Minibull M5 alcohol stove (not really high tech, but cool)