#FlipkartOutdoors, Bloggers’ Day Out

If you are a blogger you will understand how grueling blogging can be, particularly if you are juggling too many other chores in addition to blogging. And if you are promoting in social media sites you would have often wished the day extended a little more than 24 hours I am sure. Bloggers have to unwind and rejuvenate to blog better. We at Indibloggers group too seek out opportunities to unwind. And what if the opportunity to unwind comes in the form of fresh air and activity outdoors?

A hundred of us, bloggers, from Bangalore and some from other cities too, assembled at Mango Mist resort in the outskirts of Bangalore. An adventurous day planned exclusively for Indibloggers by #FlipkartOutdoors ! It was exhilarating to step away from computer, from a virtual world to the world of reality and meet up with virtual friends made through blogging!

#FlipkartOutdoors Warming up

At Mango Mist, we were welcomed with a good spread of breakfast buffet and that enabled little bit of bonding among the bloggers. Soon we assembled for debrief by the meet organizers of Indiblogger, #FlipkartOutdoors. The men in black, I will call them, with their bits of humor and warming up hilarious exercises put us at ease.

High Tech #FlipkartOutdoor Gadgets

There was a small session of brands presentation by Flipkart personnel. The seven brands promoted in the meet focused more on products for outdoor activities. I liked the theme. In this stressed out world, at least somebody is thinking of products to relieve the stress and help unwind. Anoop had big plans for us. He sliced us up into 7 groups. We were instructed to survey the 7 brands in the first one hour and then disperse to take part in the various activities of Mango Mist.

Here is a brief round up of various outdoor gadgets and accessories put up by #FlipkartOutdoors for us to review:

Polaroid Cube

Don’t go by looks, small is beautiful and useful! With the first feel of it you get the impression of hard rubber eraser with rounded off corners. I guess the casing keeps the technology inside safe and absorbs the shocks. We were told the device survives all accidental drops, not deliberate throws, well.

The working can be a bit tricky particularly if you are used to DSLR and smartphones, but with practice you will realize the ease. In this tiny camera there is a tweeny weenie button, hold it down for 3 seconds, it turns the camera on. Push it once for a still pic, push it twice you get video mode, one more push and it stops. Hold it down for another 3 seconds and it shuts off completely. Even a child can handle it! Other advantages:

• Water resistant enough for minor splashes, but for underwater photography there is water proof case
• Various mounts, like on helmets or bikes and straps to tie to your pendant or wrist are available that makes you hands free during activities
• It comes in different colors

Sony Action Cam

This is one gadget which gave me a huge complex! I had my Canon 7D hung around my neck and the ‘Sony’ marketing guy kept comparing features of both. The first one he mentioned sunk my heart: Canon 7D has 19-point auto focus system while Sony Auto Focus FDR-X1000V has 25 contrast detect Auto Focus Points & 117 Phase Detection AF Points. Whew! He then went on to explain Sony FDR-X1000 4K Action Cam. Action cameras are video cameras built to capture outdoor activities from hand held view or head mount or from speeding vehicles. That man’s description of the gadget almost convinced my heart to sell off Canon 7D and go for these Sony action cams. I moved on quickly to next stall.

Altec Lansing

This group had the most interesting display of speakers. They highlighted how the speakers can be used even in a pool. The BoomJacket Bluetooth Speaker has impressive features. They are waterproof, sandproof, snowproof and shockproof – the demo guy there said in one breath. In addition to all these, the speakers are float-able. That got me interested. Ideal for a pool party then – I thought. And as if the guy read my mind, he added there are built in mounting mechanism for attaching to motor bikes and jet skis in addition to pool party use. I made a small video of their demo here:

Garmin

They had a good display of their ForeRunner watches. The screens have data fields easily readable, different running modes like: indoor, outdoor and race modes. The features include automatic upload to Garmin Connect, live tracking, advanced workout plans, audio prompts to stay in pace when you pair it up with compatible phones. You can pair it up with heart rate monitors too. This is one device I didn’t try out, but from what the marketing guy explained seemed like a must buy for all outdoor fitness freaks.

Coleman Tents

They had two versions of tent and plenty of accessories for camping. I found it amazing that a tent that can accommodate 6 persons can be set up in a minute and dismantled too almost in that same time! A lot better than the doll houses I used to assemble for my daughters years back. Complicated and confusing stuffs are not for me especially if I have come to the woods to chill. I felt Coleman Tents score here. They had a wide range of accessories too on display; lanterns, sleeping bags, chairs, coolers. A potty pan on display there attracted the maximum attention with some of them even checking out its functioning. There was a competition for the bloggers, groups of 4, to assemble the tents. We saw the winners walk away with awesome prizes.

Samsung Gear S2

Latest among the wearable technology that was presented to us was the Samsung Gear S2. Smartwatches designed to track the speed with which you are leading your life! I felt the gear, tied it around my wrist; yes, feels good and looks good. Impressive feature explained to us was that one could get calendar notifications, texts and news from this phone on wrist. The leather straps can be changed according to choice of color and changing watch bands is easy. It is amazing how they have customized health and fashion into this gear. The connectivity features are something I fell for. Emails, maps, music; they are spoiling us I say!

Red Chief Shoes

There is a saying: If life gives you lemons, sell them and buy shoes! Yes, buy shoes that are rugged and trek friendly. That is precisely what the ‘Red Chief Shoes’ stall put up for all bloggers there. These are biodegradable shoes, hard outside, soft and comfortable on the inside. A variety of forms, colors and stitches. All sounded so good from the sales guy and I asked if I could try one on. It then the smart sales guy started fumbling. They are yet to design one for women! “Shocking” I said! He managed to save the situation saying, research is on to bring out the best fitting shoes for ladies who trek.

Chilling at #FlipkartOutdoors

We all were given 6 coupons to experience the outdoor adventure activities there. I chose to do only 2 of them, each worth three coupons. One was spine chilling and the other chilling at pool with nibbling fish at my feet.

Zorbing down a slope was scary to be frank. Till I was secured tightly inside the zorb I had no idea what it was going to be like. Once the zorb was set rolling, the whole world seemed to turn topsy turvy for me. It must have been hardly a minute or two of rolling, but tied up inside and at the mercy of zorb’s maneuvers I wished it would end faster.

Food chain reversal – have you ever witnessed it? Leave witnessing; I was a willing victim to this role reversal. I spent 15 minutes in a fish spa at the #FlipkartOutdoors program in Mango Mist resort. This one too was a first time in life experience for me. As soon as I dipped my feet some 30 to 40 fish pounced on my leg. The first 2 to 3 minutes I had to resist hard from giggling because of the ticklish feeling under my feet. Slowly I got adjusted to their nibbles. By the end of it I was feeling very comfortable and didn’t want to come out of the pool.

Good things of life too come to an end. #FlipkartOutdoors activities too came to an end. After a sumptuous lunch and one more group activity, a paint battle, all of us headed home. Writing this post took 4 hours plus, and it was like re-experiencing the whole affair!