The warmest wools are: qiviut (musk ox down), yak wool and bison wool.

Merino and alpaca wool are also very warm fibers. See my previous article for a closer examination different types of wool.

Listed below are the warmest socks I’ve tested:

Warmest Boot Socks

• 50% Bison and 50% Merino Boot Socks by Buffalo Wool Company — a very warm sock with full terry loop knitting — $45
• Icebreaker Mountaineer Socks — 79% Merino Wool, 20% Nylon, 1% LYCRA Spandex — $21
• Smartwool Merino Wool Heavy Cushioned Socks — 70% Merino Wool, 29% Nylon, and 1% Elastane — $22
• Time May Tell Merino Hiking Sock — 80% merino wool, 14% Nylon, 5% Poly, 1% Spandex — $15
• Darn Tough Boot Socks — 64% Merino Wool, 33% Nylon, 3% Lycra Spandex — $25
• Wayfarer Sock by Khunu — 56% yak wool, 34.5% nylon, 9.5% Elastane — £22 ($28)
• 78% Alpaca Socks by Williamston Alpaca — 78% Alpaca, 20% Nylon, 2% Lycra — made in the USA — $22

Warmest Crew Hiking Socks

• Icebreaker Everday Crew Sock — 79% Merino Wool, 20% Nylon, 1% Spandex — $20
• Fox River Trailhead Heavyweight Crew Sock — 77% merino wool — $17
• 100% Cashmere Socks by Lona Scott – very soft and warm — made in Scotland – $40
• 100% Alpaca Wool Socks by Gamboa — $20

The post The Warmest Wool Socks appeared first on Reactual.

• For well water or other problematic water, I recommend Big Berkey drip filters. These filters use a combination of ceramic and carbon block filtration. Overall, they are the least expensive type of filters to maintain.
• If you are only interest in a pitcher filter — this BWT filter will remove most contaminants
• If you are able to spend $1500 to $3000, “whole house” filters are the an inexpensive long terms option. These filters are installed at the pipe where the municipal water pipes enters your home. I recommend the whole house filter by Pure Effect.

The Contaminants You Want To Remove

Typically, you want to remove these contaminants from your water:

• Toxic metals (Lead, Mercury, Aluminium, Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, etc.)
• Additives (Chlorine, Chloramines, Fluoride)
• Chlorination By-Products (Trihalomethanes or THMs)
• VOCs and other Organic Compounds (Pesticides, Herbicides, Pharmaceuticals, Fuels)
• Bacteria and viruses (Giardia, Cryptosporidium, etc.)
• Radioactive substances (Radon and Uranium, etc.)

If you use municipal water, you will usually find these contaminants:

• Chlorine
• Chloramines
• Fluoride
• THMs (Trihalomethanes)
• VOCs (volatile organic compounds)

If you use well water, these are the most common contaminants you’ll find:

• Particulate matter (dirt, bits of leaves, etc.)
• Bacteria and viruses
• VOCs (volatile organic compounds)
• Radioactive substances

The Effectiveness Of Different Types Of Water Filters

Pitcher Filters

Pitcher-style filters such as Brita filters are inexpensive units, making them very popular with consumers. However, in the long term, they are actually one of the most expensive option. The filters cartridges require frequent replacement — the cost for 40 gallons is $7-10 each, or $130-$190 for 750 gallons.

Almost all pitcher-style filters use GAC or “granulated activated carbon” as the filtration medium. Typically, GAC is coconut husks that have been heated to a high temperature in the absence of oxygen and then granulated. These filters do remove some chlorine and hydrogen sulfide (rotten eggs odor) — but are not effective at removing VOCs, metals, pesticides or fluoride. Overall, they are not very effective water filters.

Faucet Filters

Filters that attach to your kitchen faucet are very similar to Pitcher Filters, but they do filter a little better than the pitcher-style filters. However, they have the same drawbacks — they are expensive to maintain and they do not remove many contaminants. You must replace filters every 100 gallons at $20-$40 each or $140-$180 for 700 gallons.

Colin Ingram, author of the The Drinking Water Book rates all faucet filters no higher than “Acceptable”.

Gravity-Fed Drip Filters

In my opinion, the best water filters are gravity-fed drip water filters. These filters are excellent at removing chlorine, chlorination by-products, fluoride, VOCs, pesticides, particulates and pharmaceuticals. These filters use “candle” type filters, which are widely available and can be customized to your specific filtration needs.

Gravity-fed filters require no electricity to operate — water is filtered as it drips from the upper chamber to the lower chamber. Because the water is filtered slowly, the filtration is much more effective than a faucet-mounted filter. Generally, slow filtration methods tend to be best.

Berkey is best-known drip filter manufacturer. They make good quality filters. You might also consider ProPur filters. Their latest filter, the ProOne G 2.0, will remove fluoride — including hydrofluorosilicic acid (few filters remove this contaminant).

These filters use carbon block filtration, which works by the process of adsorption (different than absorption). In this process, the carbon attracts certain contaminants at the molecular level, and the contaminants become attached to the surface of the carbon. Once the surface of the carbon is full, the filter must be thrown out and replaced. However, the ProPur filters can be periodically scrubbed, and thus reused for years.

These filter are certified to NSF/ANSI standards #42 (test for chlorine, taste, odor and particulates), NSF Standard #53 (tests for Cryptosporidium, Giardia, lead, VOCs and MTBE) and NSF Standard #61 (tests that toxins aren’t leached into water). They are manufactured in England.

Berkey filter are available from Amazon for about $300.

Overall Rating: Excellent

Reverse Osmosis Filters

Reverse Osmosis filters use a membrane which removes many contaminants from water. They are usually paired with a Granulated Activated Charcoal filter to remove chlorine. Most reverse osmosis filters are installed under the sink and have a holding tank. The semipermeable membrane separates many contaminates (which usually have a larger particle size that water) from the water and rejects a large amount of water in the process. The result is a waste of several gallons of water for every gallon filtered and many naturally occurring minerals (including calcium and magnesium) are also removed from the water.

However, they are quite effective filters, in terms of removing contaminants. However, they do not reduce VOCs or pesticides (unless a Carbon Block filter is included). They can take up to an hour to filter one gallon of water and the filters need to be replaced regularly.

If you want to go this route, I recommend the iSpring Reverse Osmosis System, which is quite reliable.

Overall Rating: Very Good

Countertop Distillers

Countertop distillers are effective water purifiers, but they take some time to distill water (for example 5 hours to distill 1 gallon). They also require electricity to run, and they give off some heat and the integrated fans make some noise. Also, most distillers do not remove VOCs (like benzene) because they have a lower boiling point that water. So they will vaporize together with the stream, resulting in a contaminated distillate.

Countertop distiller that get a rating of “Excellent” from Colin Ingram in the The Drinking Water Book are: Megahome Countertop Distiller, Waterwise 4000 and Waterwise 8800, Kenmore 34480 and Pure Water Mini-Classic.

Megahome Countertop Water Distiller

This distiller is sold under many brand names — it’s the most widely distributed distiller in the world. It has many quality components despite being inexpensive. It produces 1 gallon of water in 5 hours. The water is passed through a small granular carbon filter. There’s a sealed connections from the distiller to the water collection container, so there is minimal risk of contamination by air. The unit has a stainless steel boiling chamber that is easily accessible for cleaning.

The Megahome Countertop Distiller is available from Amazon for about $150.

Waterwise 4000 Countertop Distiller

This is a more powerful version of the distiller listed above. It has the same features but produces 1 gallon of distilled water in 4 hours. Also received an “Excellent” rating from Colin Ingram in the The Drinking Water Book.

The Waterwise 4000 is available from Amazon for about $320.

Overall Rating: Excellent

The post The Best Water Filters appeared first on Reactual.

The Details

Date night for two at the movies can easily run over $60 dollars in an urban area once you factor in exorbitant ticket prices, concessions, and parking. All that and you risk sticky seats, texting teenagers, and chatty couples. Making your own home theater is becoming an increasingly affordable alternative to pricey and unreliable nights out at the movies, with quality projector prices falling and pixel counts increasing.

Once upon a time you needed a spacious, cave-like room to make owning a home projector a feasible entertainment option. But the proliferation of short-throw projectors and steadily rising lumen counts mean that projectors are no longer exclusive to suburban basements. Even apartment living rooms can benefit from the immersive experience of an HD projector. You just need to make sure to buy the right projector for you.

There are a couple factors to keep in mind when picking a projector. First, determine the brightness of your room and how large your screen will be. If you do have a windowless room without any source of natural light, you don’t need a high lumen (measure of brightness) count. Likewise, if your projector screen is less than 100 inches, there is no need to pay up for a 4k resolution projector.

Since your projector will likely stay put in your house, things like portability and built-in audio playback aren’t a concern. Instead, consider whether the projector has low lag time, if it has 3D capability, whether it supports media streaming services, what its casting distance is, and image quality.

I’ve identified a few of the best projectors for different consumers below:

The Best 3D Projector

If you are still deciding between an LCD TV and projector for your home theater, a few minutes with a high quality 3D projector will put an end to your waffling once and for all. The latest 3D projectors give a true approximation of the cinema multi-plex experience. Their grand size and gorgeous colors convey the 3D experience in a way that an LCD TV just can’t. Immerse yourself in three dimensions with crosstalk,” the blurry illusion created by two different transmission channels.  Like all 3D technology on the market, there is some loss in brightness when viewing in 3D.

A few alignment options give some flexibility in set up. Lens shifting allows for the projector to be slightly off center from the screen, though you will have to manually do any lens shifting.

The 1700 lumen lamp will last 5000 hours in eco or 2000 at the highest setting. In low and medium ambient lighting, this projector gives bright and crisp colors and HD black. The lumen count is a bit low for bright rooms, so this is best in dens and media rooms.

The HW40ES is sold as a “gaming projector,” and users have the option to use it in a gaming mode that is said to reduce lag. Reviewers have empirically proven that lag time is reduced to 24 milliseconds, which is one of the absolute best for gaming.

It does not come with 3D glasses, so you will need to invest in a pair that is compatible with Sony projectors.

The Best 4k Projector

For those that want only the best image quality, sharpest contrast, and latest tech, a 4k projector is the way to go. 4k is the new gold standard for video resolution. The new video technology refers to the 4,000 thousand pixels found alongside the horizontal line display. Right now, Sony enjoys a total monopoly of the 4k home projector market. Of the 4k projectors Sony offers, the VPLVW350ES SXRD is the best value for an unbeatable image.

This behemoth of a projector weighs close to 40 pounds and is a commanding 25.1 x 22.9 x 12.6 inches. Inside comes Sony’s SXRD 4k movie theater technology and anamophic 3D capability. This top of the line tech enables you to cast onto a larger screen than some 1080p projectors. Sony says that full brightness (1500 lumens) and resolution are achieved on a 150 inch screen.

Since 4k is relatively new, not a whole lot of media is specifically made for 4k resolution. This is definitely changing, but 1080p HD is still the standard as of now. Sony equipped with the 350ES with Super Resolution upscaling so you can enjoy your content in 4k in the meantime. It uses a ‘Mastered in 4k’ algorithm to upscale HD movies and shows into 4k content. Sometimes this results in a noticeable difference, other times its hard to make a meaningful distinction.

The VPLVW350ES SXRD comes with a 3 year warranty.

The Best Projector for Football Fans

Plan to marathon NFL games all Sunday? You will need an extra bright projector if you are going to set up your home theater in a room with any natural light sources to get the most our of your daytime viewing. The brightest home theater projector is the Epson Home Cinema 1440, which has a staggering 4400 lumens.

This model uses 3LCD projectors for Full HD 1080p images that are rated three times brighter than other projectors in its class. This means you get stunning HD imagery in well-lit rooms, even with all the blinds up.

Easy slide horizontal keystone correction and automatic vertical keystone correction make alignment relatively easy. However, a lack of lens shift means you have to mount the projector dead center from where the image will be projected. This model is also lightweight and compact for a home theater projector, weighing just 13 pounds.

The post The Best Home Theater Projectors appeared first on Reactual.

Fluoride is fairly difficult to remove from water. The filters produced by Brita and Pur use activated carbon for filtration. They do not remove any fluoride.

These filtration methods are recommended by the EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) and the WQA (Water Quality Association):

• Bone Char Filtration
• Ion-Matrix Filtration
• Activated Alumina Filtration
• Reverse Osmosis Filtration
• Distillation

Here is the document (PDF file) that states the WQA (Water Quality Association) recommendations.

Pitcher Filters

This US-made Aquagear filter is said to certified by ISO 17025 accredited labs tests to remove 90% of fluoride in water. However, I have not tested this claim so I cannot fully recommend it.

Distilllers

Distillation is capable of removing just about anything (except volatile compounds) from water. If you have a distiller, you can use it to remove fluoride. However, distillation takes time and lost of electricity, and makes water taste flat and lifeless.

My recommended distiller: the Megahome Distiller, which costs about $200.

Reverse Osmosis Filters

Reverse osmosis relies on pressure and a semi-permeable membrane to remove contaminants from water. It can remove around 90% fluoride in your water. Contaminants are trapped by the membrane and flushed away in the waste water. The process requires between 2 and 4 gallons of water to produce 1 gallon of clean water.

Like distillation, reverse osmosis removes almost everything from water, and makes the water taste flat.

My recommended filter is the iSpring 75GPD 5-Stage Filter, which costs about $170, plus any installation costs.

Why Remove Fluoride From Your Water?

Fluoride is a toxic substance. It is used in pesticides and rodenticides. The FDA now requires that all fluoride toothpaste sold in the U.S. carry a poison warning that instructs users to contact the poison control center if they swallow it. Excessive fluoride exposure is well known to cause skeletal fluorosis (a painful bone disease) and dental fluorosis (discolored teeth). Excessive fluoride exposure has also been linked to a range of other chronic ailments including arthritis, bone fragility, glucose intolerance, gastrointestinal distress and thyroid disease.

Since 2010, over 70 communities have rejected the water fluoridation, including cities like Calgary, Alberta and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Most developed nations have rejected fluoridation, including 97% of western Europe. According to the British Fluoridation Society, there are more people drinking artificially fluoridated water in the United States than all other countries combined.

You also absorb fluoride when showering and bathing. Unfortunately, there are no shower filters that will remove fluoride. However, you can install a whole house filter. I recommend Pure Effect Whole House Filters. Another option is to capture rainwater and use it instead of municipal water — see the book Rainwater Collection For the Mechanically Challenged for more information.

The post The Best Water Filters For Removing Fluoride appeared first on Reactual.

The world’s thinnest tablet in the “mini” category, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2, runs Android 5.0 (Lollipop) OS and has a 2048 x 1536 screen resolution. Its Quad 1.9GHz Intel processor and 32 GB Flash Memory makes it a capable machine for browsing the internet and for running apps from the Google Play Store.

The AMOLED display delivers the vibrant, lifelike colors with deep contrast and rich display that consumers have come to expect from Samsung’s flagship line of portable electronics. The Galaxy S2’s rear-facing 8-megapixel camera takes reasonably good pictures, although your phone likely has a better camera. Its battery life also leaves something to be desired. The battery lasts six hours on average.

The Galaxy’s most attractive feature is, of course, its svelte figure. At .22,” it is even thinner than the iPad Air 2. Other perks such as Samsung’s exclusive Smart Switch software and fingerprint scanning round out the tablet.

Samsung also offers a 9.7” edition of the Galaxy Tab S2.

The Thinnest Tablet Running Windows: Toshiba dynaPad

While the Android OS is fine for entertainment purposes, you will want a tablet with Windows OS if you intend to do serious work on your tablet. Think of the Galaxy Tab as an over-sized smartphone and of the dynaPad as an undersized laptop.

The dynaPad packs much more impressive hardware in its extra .05” of thickness. It runs the powerful Intel Atom CPU and has 4GB of RAM and 65GB of internal storage. Engadget writes:

“The 1.28-pound tablet feels at once luxuriously light and reassuringly well-built. The secret ingredient is a carbon fiber frame that’s coated in a soft, rubbery paint that makes the device easier to grip than a big-screen tablet ought to be. It also helps that the device has a mix of rounded corners and flat, slightly chamfered edges.”

It has Gorilla glass screen, which is resistant to scratches and cracks, and a sturdy carbon-fiber frame. The dynaPad’s durability is a great asset for an ultrathin tablet, because it doesn’t require a bulky case for protection.

The dynaPad is now available for pre-order and will be sold online and in Windows stores later this month.

The post The Thinnest Tablet appeared first on Reactual.

The Details

Summer is coming. Whether you want to watch the new season of Game of Thrones in the backyard or show MLB games on your bar’s patio, a projector is a great alternative to outdoor TV. You get a much larger screen size and some peace of mind, knowing that you can take the projector inside with you at night.

While there are no projectors specifically designed for outside use, there are a few elements that determine if a projector is suitable for the great outdoors. The main factor is brightness, which is determined by the lumen count. Anything less than 2000 lumens won’t hold up to outdoor ambient lighting — so get something north of that number. For daytime use, you want over 4000 lumens for a decent image. The good thing about high lumen projectors is that they also cast a larger screen, which is great for backyard movie nights and other big gatherings.

So do you a need a screen specifically designed for projectors? Nope! Any flat surface will do, although it is better if that surface is white and contour free. Go ahead and string a sheet up between two trees, or point the projector at the side of your house.

If you have want the clearest possible image, outdoor projection screens are available and do an excellent job of maximizing contrast and perfecting the entertainment experience.

The Best Large Screen Projector

Hold on to your hats. The Optoma EH500 3D DLP Projector is a blindingly bright 4700 lumens, which means it gives true HD images on 300 inch screens without a problem. So cast the game or a movie on a 3 story wall and impress your guests.

Using Texas Instrument’s DLP BrilliantColor technology for multi-color processing and native 1080p HD resolution, the Optoma EH500 gives a stunning picture in 10,000:1 contrast ratio. This is ideal for presentations and DIY drive in movie theaters. An array of connectivity options- including VGA, HDMI, and USB- make it easy to get your media on the screen.

Don’t be afraid to bring it outside. It can operate in temperatures as low as 40 degrees and as high as 100 degrees, making it suitable for a variety of climates. It has a projection distance of 1-10 meters, which allows for a good deal of flexibility. It also has front, rear, ceiling, and table top projection.

The downside of the Optoma EH500 is its short run-time. It is made for six hours on and six hours off, which means it is not the best for sports bars that want to show back-to-back games on their patio. The high lumen count also means that bulb life isn’t as long as we’d like — just 2500 hours on regular setting.

The Optoma EH500 projector is available at Amazon for about $1200.

The Best Outdoor Projector

A good outdoor projector is light enough to be lugged around, bright enough to cut through some ambient lighting, and equipped with options to make alignment a pain-free process. It should also be affordable enough that, should the worst happen, you aren’t out an entire car down payment. BenQ’s HT2050 satisfies all these requirements and more, projecting true HD images on screens up to 180 inches in size.

The latest in BenQ’s line of quality affordable projectors, the HT2050 is a 1080p Full HD projector with a 15000:1 image contrast ratio. At 2200 lumens, it is bright enough to use outside with some ambient lighting, but can’t be used during full daylight like the Optoma EH500. At night the black levels are very good for this price range, but do fade away a bit with ambient lighting. It uses 3D DLP.

This is not a short throw projector. The throw range is 1.15 to 1.5 meters, but from the furthest distance you can achieve an image size of almost 200 inches, which is massive and will satisfy a crowd of hundreds of people.

It has vertical lens shift and keystone correction, which helps with set up. Most projectors at this price range do not have horizontal keystone correction and lens shift, and unfortunately this projector is no exception. The zoom is about standard for this class, as are the HDMI and USB connectivity.

It weighs about 10 pounds, which is light enough to easily be brought over to a friend’s house and for easy storage.

BenQ’s HT2050 projector is available at Amazon for about $800.

The Best Outdoor Projector Screen

Invest in a projector screen if you want a professional and polished viewing experience. Good outdoor projectors are weather resistant to an extent, but you will still want something portable that you can disassemble in inclement conditions or if not in use. Elite Screens Yard Master 2 is a great outdoor option. The screens are durable and can be put up and broken down with ease. Sold in many sizes, they can be set up indoors and outdoors, just like your projector.

The Elite Screens Yard Master is a snap button single-piece frame supported by detachable aluminum legs and frame. Full tension gives the screen taught appearance reminiscent of a theater viewing experience, and black masking borders provide additional contrast for the best possible image.

Ground stakes, rigging cords and support rings help the Yard Master 2 stand up to moderate gusts of wind. The screen is also made for the outdoors, and can weather a spontaneous rain shower. It comes with a carrying bag for easy transportation.

The post The Best Outdoor Projectors and Projectors For Large Venues appeared first on Reactual.

The Details

Hopefully our recent string of battery reviews has convinced you to expand your rechargeable battery collection. NiMH cells are non-toxic and last for hundreds of recharge cycles, keeping them out of the landfill for longer. That’s both cost effective and eco-friendly. Once your battery arsenal grows large enough, you will want to invest in a battery organizer to reduce clutter.

Don’t be the person who tosses them helter-skelter in a junk drawer. One day you will be running late to catch a plane and will need to grab a fresh few to power the camera or a flashlight. When that happens, you will want to know exactly where your batteries are.

Enter Kovot’s battery organizer, complete with a removable tester. This sturdy and functional container holds AAA, AA, C, D, 9 Volt, CR and AG13 Buttons Cells. It has a 72 battery capacity, and each battery snaps into place with a satisfying click.

The case is a sleek black rectangle, perfect for sliding in drawers or laying out on a workbench. It has the otpion to be mounted on the wall and is made out of relatively strong plastic, although there is no outer layer of plastic to seal the batteries tightly inside.

While the Kovot comes with a battery tester, many Amazon reviewers noted that it had weak soldering and thus was not the most reliable tester on the market. Overall, this case is good as an organizer but consumers might want to look elsewhere for a reliable battery tester.

The post The Best Battery Organizer appeared first on Reactual.

• The printer that uses the least amount of ink is the Epson WorkForce ET-4550 EcoTank. It has wireless connectivity, color printing and, for those few who still need it, a fax.
• Epson also manufactures the Pro WF-R4640 EcoTank, which includes ink to print up to 20,000 black and 20,000 color pages. It has two paper trays and is great for medium-sized businesses.

The Details

We have two choices when it comes to printers: inkjet or laser. If you only need to print black-and-white documents, go with a laser printer. They are typically faster than their inkjet competitors and produce a sharp, crisp black-and-white text. If you print graphics and photos, you will want an inkjet printer. They excel at photos, but are also capable for standard black-and-white printing.

Epson’s EcoTank series of printers conserve the most ink of any inkjet printers. Though they are an investment upfront, they will save you plenty of money in ink over your lifetime. The ET-4550, which is designed for personal use, is sold with 2 years of ink. It can print up to 11,000 black pages and 8,500 color pages, which is equivalent to about 50 standard ink cartridges.

When you do run out of ink, it won’t break the bank to refill. EcoTank’s use ink from bottles instead of cartridges. The refill ink bottle costs about $50 and lasts another 2 years.

Epson claims it can do away with ink-wasting cartridges because its printers use Micro Piezo print head technology. The hardware has permanent mechanical print heads that  are always connected to the printer. This means ink can be used from anywhere. In the EcoTank’s case, it is brought in from a massive reservoir on the side.

For Businesses

If you need faster printing speed, larger tray capacity and bigger inkwells, Epson offers the WF-R4640. Like the smaller model, the WF-R4640 uses ultra low-cost DURA smudge-resistant ink. The included ink reservoir is good for about two years worth of prints, or 20,000 black and 20,000 color pages.

It has 580 page paper capacity and a color touch screen display.

The post The Printer That Uses the Least Amount Of Ink appeared first on Reactual.