Review: Shokz Openswim Pro

 I started doing more swimming again, and once again, swimming isn't like cycling. The scenery doesn't change (and in America, the scenery is particularly awful), and it's pretty much boring to do just lap after lap. Since I'm not a competitive swimmer, I can't even bring myself to push hard and do intervals and try to go faster. (Swimming speed is almost 100% technique --- no amount of thrashing about will speed you up --- you just have to get the perfect stroke in consistently)

I've tried plenty of swimming headphones in the past, and they've all failed. One possibility, however, is Bone Conduction headphones. I found a pair of Shokz Openswim Pros at a sub $100 price on eBay and jumped on it.

Openswim Pros are called Pros because in addition to having onboard storage and waterproofing, they can pair to a bluetooth phone and stream audio as well. At a public swimming pool I'm not going to have my phone next to the pool to stream music, so in retrospect I didn't need the pro.

The nice thing about the headphones is that they work. The sound quality isn't great, but they work both in an out of the water. The worst thing about them is that their in-water and out-of-water sound volumes are completely different. So if you adjust it so that you can hear the music at a decent volume, when your head's in the water you feel like you're getting music blasted at you at high volume. This is of no issue if you're doing the crawl or backstroke. If you're doing the breast stroke, however, this is very annoying.

Another problem with the product is that there's no display and no method for organizing songs. The device will either shuffle all or play them all in order. You have no way of playing an audiobook split into chapters in a reasonable fashion. That's OK. Music in the pool is better anyway, because falling asleep while swimming would be embarrassing.

All in all, I enjoyed the product and use it. It's good.

Review: TheMagic5 Swimming Googles

 I've been using Cressi tempered glass swimming goggles for years. They work, even though they're heavy, but they do leak on initial entry into water, and I usually spend the first few laps constantly adjusting the googles until they're just right. I saw an add for TheMagic5 goggles, which claim to personalize a pair of goggles for your face such that they won't leak and will fit perfectly. 

I was skeptical, of course. I've used various goggles and they've always leaked. And of course, if I were running the show, I would consider just buying standard googles and then making the same fit guarantee. The ones for whom it didn't work would just return the goggles but the ones for whom the goggle fit would be pleased and would have paid an insane amount for non custom goggles. I tried them anyway.

The goggles take far longer than the website promises to deliver. From ordering to delivery (the scanning process demanded a smartphone app with the camera and it took a couple of tries but in total took about 15 minutes) it was more than 3 weeks. When they showed up, they were unusual, being split where the nose piece is (the nose piece is actually a slot on one side and a hook on the other so you would put the two sides together. The instructions say to just let the goggles find their place on your face and not to over-tighten. The goggles come with anti-fog coating and you're told not to touch the inside of the goggles.

To my surprise, the goggles just fit and did not leak! The weird curvature of the goggles made me think that there was a layer of water at first, but when I flipped over and did a backstroke there was no stinging in the eyes from chlorine. No amount of diving, flipping, or playful thrashing about in the water dislodged the goggles. And the goggles never fogged up either!

I'm forced to recommend these and rescind my cynicism. They work. I use them and think they're great.

New Zealand 2024: December 27th - Iris Burn Hut to Manapouri Hut

We woke up late enough that several other parties had already left the hut and gotten going. One exception was a party that had an injured hiker from the day before. We would learn later that they had to leave him at the hut for a helicopter evacuation. We ate our breakfast, packed, and started walking on the forest path. While not completely flat, day 3 was supposed to be much easier, and we got going at a good clip.

We met up again with Udi, and had a nice chat with him. He told us about the injured hiker from the day before, and told us he was on a 6 week trip in New Zealand with a rented RV. He’d not managed to get the Milford Track or the Routeburn track, but told us about another Great Walk which allowed mountain bikes, enabling him to do the track in 2 days. Given how easy today’s walk was, he’d decided to hike all the way to his RV today and skip the last hut.

While walking with Udi, we saw an injured goose. It had an injured wing. We wondered if it would survive through the next winter, but it was clearly ground bound and quite distressed that we were apparently chasing it down the trail. It eventually got off the trail, and we walked past it after taking a few photos.

A runner came past us, and as he passed us, he looked like he wanted to talk to me, and then said: “Are you Piaw?” “Yes, but I don’t remember you!” “It’s Nick Su, from Aurora! I’m on my honeymoon!” It turned out that he had planned to do the Kepler Track with his wife, but she got pregnant, and so he had to scrap the 4 day hike and run the entire track in a single day (he did it in less than 8 hours!) instead. If we’d had any pretensions at being strong tough hikers, Nick definitely put an end to that!

We eventually made it to Lake Manapouri, after which it was only a short walk to the hut. In fact, we arrived at the hut at 3:00pm, which was plenty of time to keep going to Rainbow Reach, but the hut looked gorgeous and there was a breeze which would keep away sandflies. The water looked inviting, and Xiaoqin declared that she had had enough hiking for the day, and so we stopped. Udi wrote his name down on the huts list of people who’d had a reservation but elected to walk on.

We once again ended up upper bunks, parked our gear, got changed, and went for a swim. While at first the water felt cold, once you got immersed in the water it was quite peasant and I swam for a good 10 minutes, much more than I’m capable of staying in the water in any Sierra lake. The views were beautiful. The boys were willing to play in the water, but we could not persuade them to swim.

Once we were done swimming, we hung up our laundry, and made dinner. People were arriving in earnest, and we finished dinner just in time to hear the hut warden talk. The hut’s tap water had a strange brownish orange color, and the ranger explained that it was caused by leaves dropping into the water source. As with the other huts on the Kepler, she said she drank the water from the tap without any treatment and had no adverse consequences, but also said: “If I get a bit sick, it’s no big deal. But if you’ve only got another week in New Zealand being sick would kinda ruin it.” Using the water filter got rid of the strange color in the water so we just did it anyway.

After the talk, the colors around the lake looked gorgeous, so we went down to the water for photos, but the wind had died down and the sandflies were out in earnest. We snapped a couple of selfies and retreated back to the hut for some quiet time before bed. I noticed that my CPAP battery was down to one light, and was unlikely to last the night. Fortunately, everyone else in the bunk room were either confident of their ability to sleep through it or already had their own ear plugs, so my efforts to give everyone ear plugs were rebuffed. I used up the rest of my small powerbank charging my phone up, and went to sleep. I’d awake at 1:00am with the dead CPAP, but all in all decided that it was a reasonable trade-off to avoid carrying another pound of weight.

June 23: Lago di Fie and the South Tyrol Archaeology Museum

 We packed up everything and dropped the keys to the apartment off and then walked down to Hotel Regina, where of course we were too early to checkin but they allowed us to leave our luggage there. I'd considered just cancelling the reservation and extending our stay at the apartment, but the reason I'd picked Hotel Regina was that it was right across the street from the train station, making loading passengers and luggage into Lukas' car the next day easy. I thought we should visit the Otzi museum first, but we were so early that Xiaoqin suggested that we go swimming at Lago di Fie first. I'd already packed all the swimming gear and a towel into the backpack, so we were ready to go.

The bus ride was pleasant --- the bus takes a route that's not insanely steep compared to what a cyclist would use, but the traffic on that road would make cycling unpleasant! Once off the bus, we were greeted by amazing scenery, the equal to what we'd see anywhere else. The hike itself was short, and with our new working shoes it was not a burden at all!

Upon arrival at the lake, we discovered that it was very organized: there were 2 restaurants, changing rooms, and even lockers! We grabbed a table and ordered some snacks, and then I went in for a swim, and after playing a bit in the water, the kids did as well. It was a pretty perfect swimming temperature, much warmer than most alpine lakes in the Sierra, but cooler than a heated pool so you could swim as hard as you liked.

There was some grass and seeweed growing in the middle of the lake, so you had to take care for it, but I took my time exploring the various structures, swim ladders, and diving boards built around the lake, and then returned. Bowen had managed to swim to one of the other structures ,but didn't know how to navigate the grass, so I jumped back into the water, swam to a clear spot, and had him join me before leading him to a route back.

After that, it was time to have lunch, which was very good food, with huge portions suitable for cyclists and hikers. hike back. It turned out that there was a way back that didn't involve backtracking and let us visit another lake, so we took it.

The second lake wasn't nearly as inviting, with green water that didn't make you want to swim in it, but the hike back showed us more scenery, and we didn't have to wait too long for the bus to take us back to the train station where the day had become much warmer. We checked into the air conditioned hotel, took a quick rest, and then headed back out to the Otzi museum, though in the afternoon heat we made sure we stopped for ice cream first. I had ordered a replacement GoPro mount from Amazon, and it showed up, so now Xiaoqin could use her GoPro again!

I expected the kids to enjoy the museum, but I didn't expect them to like it so much. We spent almost 2 entire hours in there, and the kids so enjoyed the material that Xiaoqin would be showing them videos of Otzi the iceman and various documentaries going forward. We had more ice cream when the museum closed, and then went to the same place for dinner, since the kids liked it so much yesterday. We bought some food for the hike, and then went to bed. The next day was a taxi transfer day, but we'd also scheduled a hike as well!

Review: Wacool Snorkeling Set for Kids

 On a snorkeling trip you need good masks and snorkels. I've long maintained that even if you're not planning to snorkel, the mask/snorkel is the best way to teach your kids how to swim. The Wacool Set has a high quality tempered glass mask, and a decent snorkel. The snorkel mouthpiece is too big for Boen, so we had to substitue the one from a previous purchase for when Bowen was smaller.

We've spent  lots of money on various swimming equipment for kids over the years, but these pay for themselves on one sailing trip, and I can recommend them.

Review: Noric Flash Waterproof Camera Float

The biggest problem with a waterproof camera is that you want it to float when you're snorkeling and you want it to be neutrally buoyant when diving. The Nikon W300 as I learned to my misfortune a couple of years ago sinks. With that in mind, I bought the Nordic Flash Waterproof Camera Float. The package comes with 2 floats and two quick release buckles which you then attach to the camera's anchor/neck-strap points. Even though rated for 200g, it floats well enough when attached to the Nikon W300. The float is wide enough for an adult to slide all the way up past the elbows, and the quick release is handy to drop the float if you need to dive. (That's a good way to lose the float if you're doing so in open water, however!) Together with the float, the camera is bulky enough that it tends to fall out of the pocket of my swimming shorts, but fortunately I was always able to find it again in the swimming pool. I have reasonable confidence that if I ever drop the camera again while paddle-boarding I'll be able to find it again in short order, rather than watching it disappear into the depths.

Recommended.

Review: Nikon W300

After losing our AW130 last year, I waited until May to replace it with the Nikon W300 this year for the Shasta Trip, but didn't use it all that much during the trip, so waited until this past snorkeling trip to review it.

The image quality and other attributes of the device hasn't changed much between revisions --- the zoom range is identical, as is the resolution, etc. I would review all those aspects, since I mostly only notice what changes.

First, the UI seems to have degraded. It's no longer easy to switch scene modes, but the camera seems to do a good job of selecting which mode to use so I'm not going to gripe too much. What's impressive though is the wireless connectivity, which used to upload downgraded photos via the Nikon Camera app. Now, a new app has been tasked with this, and it's called Snapbridge. This connects to the camera via Bluetooth, and now downloads full resolution pictures to your phone without having to open up the camera and pulling out the SD card. Usually by the time we returned to the hotel from a snorkeling trip all the photos have uploaded to the phone and are ready for sharing.

I looked around for other waterproof cameras and none of them have the depth rating (100') that the Nikon has, and I've had very bad experiences with waterproof cases in the past, so this is still the camera I recommend for divers and snorkelers.

Review: Vaincre Kids Snorkel Mask

I'll state up front that there's a ton of controversy over the concept of a Snorkel Mask, with some claiming that it's dangerous, while others claiming that it's because of either a cheap knock-off or use misuse. These masks are intended for surface snorkeling only, and not for free diving, so it's quite possible that some people killed themselves by free-diving in it. Examining the snorkel mask, it's also quite possible that an improper design could cause air exchange to be a problem. Of course, Americans can make nearly anything dangerous.

That said, I bought the Vaincre Snorkel Mask because try as I might, we could not find a snorkel with a mouthpiece that would fit Boen. It is my belief that the elimination of concerns about breathing is the biggest obstacle to learning to swim, as my experience with Bowen bore out. Bowen was the kind of kid who would follow instructions, but Boen wasn't, so with him I had to get him a snorkel mask so he could breath through his nose instead of trying to do that while wearing a mask/snorkel and then choking.

Our first day of swimming bore this out. Boen loved it so much that he wore it into the Jaccuzzi.

Then the next day we took Boen and Bowen on the whale shark tour, and once he saw that Bowen had a mask and snorkel just like daddy's he refused and insisted on wearing a regular mask and snorkel as well.  But he just couldn't fit it into his mouth and never made it off the boat. Then he tried again the day after at an easy snorkel tour and would still end up breathing water instead of air.

On the final day of our trip we went to Santa Maria Beach and finally, Boen was willing to wear the snorkel mask into real snorkeling conditions. The difference was nothing short of a revelation. Not only could he see fish for a change, with his fins he happily pushed away my hands and chased after them by himself. While it wasn't a super long trip, it was clear that he was happy and comfortable in the water in ways that he wasn't before using the snorkel mask. In the pool, he's now confident that he can swim and propel himself, which wasn't true before.

Now I will state that I was always monitoring the kid (anyone in real snorkeling conditions with a 4 year old has to do that anyway!) and checking for any signs of distress or pain. But on the same Santa Maria trip Bowen had much more struggle with his snorkel and mask, and needed to abandon the entire attempt without even seeing a single fish, so you can have problems with any kind of equipment. The onus is always on you to check on your kids using this stuff.

With that in mind I'll recommend this piece of gear. Boen would never have been able to snorkel without it, so put me in the "these things are safe if intelligently used" camp.

Review: Polar OH1+ Optical HRM

This year's Spanish tour highlighted that I really liked using the Garmin Fenix 5X as a head unit, but when it gets mounted on the bars, the unit makes up HR data. I supposed I could just ignore it, but the engineer in me hates collecting bad data. During the tour, I used the Garmin chest strap, but it had a few major problems, chiefest of which was that I simply didn't like wearing it. I browsed various reviews of optical HRM straps that can be worn on the upper arm, and the Polar OH1+ seemed the most useful for my situation, coming with a swim goggle adapter for swimming.

Out of the box for cycling, the device seems much more accurate than the chest strap or the built in Fenix 5X optical HR sensor, lending credence to DCRainmaker's claim that the most important factor in optical HRM accuracy is where you wear it. The better accuracy can be attributed to 2 things: (1) is that the strap is worn under a sleeve, which not only hides it in photos, but also shields it from sunlight, which helps accuracy. It also doesn't bounce like the Fenix would, which given its weight unsurprisingly gives inaccurate results. (Not that the much lighter Vivoactive HR was any better --- Arturo and I liked to call its HRM science fiction data generator)

The better performance over the chest strap is because at the start of a ride, I don't always remember to put liquid on the monitor for better electrical contact, so the HRM would spaz out at the start of a ride.

The sensor itself is a small disc that weighs 5g. The band is 14g, and the charger (which is also tiny and easy to lose) is 8g. This compares very favorably with the Garmin chest strap's 73g. The charger doubles as a usb sync device if you record your HR during a swim session.

I tried it twice while swimming. The first time, I saw blips in the HRM output that puzzled me.

I saw the dropouts and were puzzled. I thought it might have been user error (which happened the first time because I didn't realize how to verify that I had truly started a recording on the device --- look to see that the led blinks twice every 2s). The second time, I tried it again and with better monitoring, figured out what happened:

Every time I did a flip turn, I ran the chance of flipping the unit so that it faced away from my temple instead of monitoring it. At one point, the unit even fell off the goggles onto the floor of the pool, and luckily I saw it! What this means is that for swimming, the unit is strictly useful only for pool use where you have a chance to spot the missing unit and retrieve it. Don't try to snorkel or open water swim with it.

I tried a third time and shifted the unit forward on the goggle strap, and lo and behold, I finally got a clean run of data.

While the unit does pair with the Fenix 5X for swimming and will show you your heartbeat during rest periods between intervals, the Fenix does not maintain a connection with the unit during the workout proper and will not record HR. You have to use the polar app for that! This is disappointing but the swimming is a bit of a bonus anyway, as compared to using the unit for cycling, where it is lighter than its competitors and also a little cheaper.

All in all, I'm keeping the unit. It's useful enough when touring, and despite the glitches it is somewhat interesting to see how hard I'm working during my swim workouts, and is much more accurate than either of the devices it replicates the functionality of. Recommended.

Review: Waterfi Swimcast

The Waterfi Swimcast is a chromecast audio device stitched together with a battery and then wrapped in a waterproof'd housing and then bundled with a set of waterfi short-cord headphones. Despite my relative happiness with the Diver MP3 player, I'd discovered that I was very bad at changing the playlist downloaded to the music player, and hoped that the ability to pick say, an Audible audiobook for the duration of the swim would give me much needed variety during my swim session. The kickstarter version of the unit at $99 was cheap enough that I decided to give it a shot.

The first version of the device arrived, charged up, promptly overheated and died. I sent e-mail to Waterfi, and they immediately shipped me a replacement unit while I shipped the defective unit back. Great customer service!

The best part of the Swimcast is the bundled short-cord headphones, which you can acquire separately from Amazon at $30 per set. These are simply speaking the best headphones I'd ever used while swimming. Because they're short, they don't get tangled up when you put them away. Nor do they ever add resistance to your swim, and despite appearances, they're tough enough that when the Diver MP3 player falls off the goggles they stay in my ear!

Unfortunately, the Swimcast itself is a big bust. This isn't a problem with the unit: at home, it charges up great, and streams music and audio just fine. It's just that public swimming pools have overloaded WiFi, and the private swimming pool I use occasionally has the WiFi router setup so that my phone can't reach the Swimcast, even when both are paired to the same WiFi access point. The net result is that it's not actually practical to use this unless you're in the population with great WiFi in a swimming pool. Oops!

All in all, I'd say the short cord headphones are the best part of the package, but you can buy those for $30 each, so there's no need to pay $150 for the Swimcast. I don't think I'll ever get to use this. If you live near me and have access to a swimming pool with great WiFi, you can come by and borrow the unit.