The Week's Best Gear: Really Bright Lights and Beautiful Speakers

It's been a good week. With the impending doom of winter and the end of daylight savings' time, we've been checking out some rad stuff to keep you alive on the commute home, a bunch of new gorgeous audio stuff, and some sweet new packs. Check out all the stuff that made the cut.

Light in Motion Urban 500 - $100
I use this light every day, and I'm convinced it's played a leading role in keeping me safe. USB rechargeable and easy to take on and off the bike, the Urban 500 is incredibly bright, illuminating the road so you can dodge potholes and keep you seen by cars and other cyclists. Yes, it's expensive for a bike light, but after putting it through the ringer, this thing is just as important as an up-to-date health insurance program.

Boreas Waterproof Series - $139
If you're not into the whole traditional roll-top drybag thing, Boreas has an alternative. The 25-liter Echo and the 35-liter Monterey add a zipper covering the roll-top, giving you an even drier space for your commute, rainy hike, or walk on a Thai beach during monsoon season. With open side-pockets for draining wet stuff, a few reflective touches, this is a dry bag for people who might not the look of a standard dry bag.

Bowers & Wilkins T7 Bluetooth Speaker - $350
If you get a speaker, it might as well be a pretty one. After all, you have to display it in public. Bringing their significant design chops to the portable speaker game, Bowers & Wilkins aces this little sound system with two 12-watt drive units. To cut down on cabinet vibrations—which B & W calls the enemy of good sound—they created a honeycomb matrix. We don't know the science, but we can say it brings a pretty cool look to the device. 

Topo x Woolrich - $34-198
Our friends at Topo have teamed back up with Woolrich, hot off their most recent collab with Howler. Using Woolrich's classic fabrics, they fabricated some rad backpacks, duffels, and accessory bags. They're going quickly, so get on it. Who knows when they'll do this again.

BeoPlay A2 - $399
It's been a good week for well-designed speakers. This rugged Bluetooth model from Bang & Olufsen runs for an incredible 24 hour period on a single charge and gives you a full 360 degrees of sound—an oft overlooked characteristic in a mobile speaker, and one that we've never seen on a flat speaker. Hang it from a hook, put it on the table, or tuck it in your backpack.

ICNY Reflective Apparel - $69-219
Even with that incredibly bright bike light, you can't be too careful. With a singular aim of giving you as much visibility as possible to avoid an unexpected ride on a car windshield, ICNY has used 3M reflective tape to make a phenomenal anti-car jacket and a few other hi-viz products.


Koss SP Series - $149
Designed in a "D" shape to better conform to your ear, the Koss SP series is one of the most comfortable headphones we've tried. And being Koss, they sound damn good without much EQ fiddling. They're also covered under the lifetime limited warranty so consider these a solid investment.
 

Burton Snowboard x Martin Guitars - $519
Danny Davis, Martin Guitars, and Burton are all in bed together and the lovechild's pretty awesome. Available in three different shapes for your riding preference, this board will look especially awesome in your edits when shot from below. Go big and show that guitar bottom off.

Filson's Selling Restored Old Bags - $TBD
Filson just restored a bunch of vintage stock into one-of-a-kind bags. With weathered fabric, naturally decorated over the years with patina, these awesome old bags feature interesting color combinations in small numbers. Starting on November 17th, these will go on sale, and they'll add more to the stock every monday.


Ethan Wolff-Mann is an editor at Supercompressor. He spends much of his time avoiding cars on his bicycle. Follow him on Twitter @ewolffmann.