I’m DC RAINMAKER…
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Check out my weekly podcast - with GPLAMA, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
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5 Easy Steps To The Site
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In Depth Product Reviews
You probably stumbled upon here looking for a review of a sports gadget. If you’re trying to decide which unit to buy – check out my in-depth reviews section. Some reviews are over 60 pages long when printed out, with hundreds of photos! I aim to leave no stone unturned.
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Read My Sports Gadget Recommendations.
Here’s my most recent GPS watch guide here, and cycling GPS computers here. Plus there are smart trainers here, all in these guides cover almost every category of sports gadgets out there. Looking for the equipment I use day-to-day? I also just put together my complete ‘Gear I Use’ equipment list, from swim to bike to run and everything in between (plus a few extra things). And to compliment that, here’s The Girl’s (my wife’s) list. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!
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Have some fun in the travel section.
I travel a fair bit, both for work and for fun. Here’s a bunch of random trip reports and daily trip-logs that I’ve put together and posted. I’ve sorted it all by world geography, in an attempt to make it easy to figure out where I’ve been.
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My Photography Gear: The Cameras and Equipment I Use Daily
The most common question I receive outside of the “what’s the best GPS watch for me” variant, are photography-esq based. So in efforts to combat the amount of emails I need to sort through on a daily basis, I’ve complied this “My Photography Gear” post for your curious minds! It’s a nice break from the day to day sports-tech talk, and I hope you get something out of it!
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The Swim/Bike/Run Gear I Use List
Many readers stumble into my website in search of information on the latest and greatest sports tech products. But at the end of the day, you might just be wondering “What does Ray use when not testing new products?”. So here is the most up to date list of products I like and fit the bill for me and my training needs best! DC Rainmaker 2021 swim, bike, run, and general gear list. But wait, are you a female and feel like these things might not apply to you? If that’s the case (but certainly not saying my choices aren’t good for women), and you just want to see a different gear junkies “picks”, check out The Girl’s Gear Guide too.
Search results for: 'watch'
MWC 2017 New Watches Hands-on: Huawei Watch 2 & LG Watch Sport
Over the last week or so two new sport-focused watches from non-sport focused companies have been announced. First up was last week’s announcement of the LG Watch Sport (and LG Watch Style), which was then followed by Sunday’s announcement from … Read More Here
Samsung Outlines Galaxy Watch4: First New Google WearOS Watch–Full Details
Today, Samsung announced their Galaxy Watch 4, which is the first watch to utilize the new Google + Samsung variant of Wear OS. This new operating system (or, slightly rebranded one) allows access to the Google Play store, while Samsung … Read More Here
COROS VERTIX Adventure GPS Watch: Hands-on with their new premium watch
The COROX Vertix might look like a Garmin Fenix 5 watch, but are the features the same? I dig in to find out how well it stacks up. Read More Here
MetaWatch Strata Smartwatch Unboxing
The Strata MetaWatch is designed as a glanceable display unit for your phone – items like notifications of text messages, weather, etc… This was the result of a Kickstarter project, where I paid for the unit. At present, I don’t … Read More Here
In the Queue: The Leikr GPS Multisport Watch
The Leikr project was crowd-funded via Kickstarter a number of months ago and has now reached beta stage. The unit features mapping, GPS support, ANT+ compatibility, and Bluetooth compatibility. I’ll be testing it until final release, but keep in mind … Read More Here
The Next Garmin Forerunner Multisport Watch
Without doubt, one of the most frequent questions I get around these parts is: “When will the next version of ____ be released?” – which is typically “When will the next Garmin Forerunner be released?”. I should first say – … Read More Here
Soleus FIT GPS Watch
I’ve reviewed both the Soleus 1.0 and 2.0 GPS watches, and while the basic watch functionality is good, I found the 2.0 software horrible. Thus, I only agreed to review the new downloable Soleus FIT watch if they addressed the … Read More Here
Apple Watch–Fitness Focused
Yes, I am indeed working towards a fitness/sport-focused Apple Watch review. It’s still likely a few weeks away. In the mean-time, here’s a spot to see a few pics and ask questions. Also, see my Apple Watch YouTube videos here!
Garmin Swim watch In-Depth Review
The Garmin Swim is Garmin’s first attempt at a swimming-only product. It builds on the FR910XT’s swimming functionality within the triathlon world, but can it do it all? Read More Here
Hands-on with the new Garmin Vivomove watch
Garmin’s first classy looking wearable is out! Time to dive into all the details, and compare it against the competition. Read More Here
TomTom announces Spark 3 GPS Watch, Adventurer hiking watch, and Touch wearable Body Composition band
Timed to the start of the IFA conference in Berlin, TomTom rolled out three new fitness devices. Though, I suppose technically four devices if you count that Spark 3 also goes by the name Runner 3. And actually, it’s more … Read More Here
Updates on Garmin Vector and new Garmin GPS watch
Note: Please see in depth post on Vector “Everything you ever wanted to know about the Garmin Vector pedal based power meter” posted here (it’s a whole lot more detailed and in depth, and includes comprehensive Q&A with the Garmin … Read More Here
Spring has sprung–and some first thoughts on the Basis watch
Woot! For a brief moment on Saturday, it was both sorta sunny, and sorta warm. Which, by my definition means it’s spring. This weekend was crazy busy, but also a nice segue into a semi-normalized triathlon-focused training schedule for me. … Read More Here
Basis B1 Watch In-Depth Review
The Basis B1 watch represents the first fitness tracker on the market to do 24×7 continuous heart rate monitoring (all without a heart rate strap), in addition to all of the usual metrics like a step-counter and sleep. Adding to … Read More Here
What do you want in your ideal sports watch?
Let me just state this up front: Everyone’s reading…so here’s your chance. Everyone…your chance. But…let’s not get ahead of ourselves quite yet. This past summer I put together a post titled “How I would design the ideal sports watch”, which … Read More Here
Giveaway Extravaganza: Garmin Fenix2 Multisport GPS Watch
Back in early spring Garmin released their Fenix2 multisport watch. This was a well-received move in the sports watch marketplace, bringing enhanced navigation, Running Dynamics, and Bluetooth upload capability into the mix. Oh, and with the Summer Solstice sneaking up … Read More Here
Spending time with the team behind the Basis watch
Walking down the street where the blue dot on the phone’s map was leading me, I started to wonder if I had the right place. As I neared the address, all I could see was an appliance store trying to … Read More Here
How I would design the ideal sports watch
I’m asked on a daily basis which device I prefer and why. Generally it’s in the context of whether oe should choose device X or device Y, or perhaps a combination of device W and device X. My answers are … Read More Here
Giveaway Extravaganza: Suunto Ambit3 Peak Multisport Watch
For those of you waiting for the perfect giveaway deal, this may very well be it. The Suunto Ambit 3 Peak has something for everyone; well actually this one only has everything for just the one person whose entry is drawn … Read More Here
In the Queue: Basis B1 Continuous Monitoring Watch
The Basis B1 watch is the first watch on that market that can continually record your heart rate, skin temperature, perspiration – as well as being a traditional step counter. I’ll be wearing it 24×7 for the next month and … Read More Here
When are you reviewing New Watch X?
In general, I try and get reviews out pretty quickly (within 4-6 weeks) of a new watch, assuming I have access to the watch. For most of the major companies (Garmin, Apple, Wahoo, Polar, Suunto, etc…) – I get access … Read More Here
Giveaway Extravaganza: Polar RC3 GPS Running Watch
There’s no question that the RC3 is my most favored Polar product to date. It’s the first Polar unit to fully integrate GPS into the watch itself. The unit is primarily aimed at the running crowd, but can easily do … Read More Here
Hands on with the new Leikr GPS sports watch
It’s been a touch bit over a week since the Leikr watch launched on Kickstarter. The Leikr GPS sports watch has become instantly recognizable due to it’s larger full color screen – one that essentially looks like a Motoactv on … Read More Here
Hands-on: Garmin’s Forerunner 645 Music GPS Watch
(Update – March 5th, 2018 – My Full FR645 Music In-Depth Review is now available, head over to the link to check it all out!) Finally, Garmin now makes a wearable that plays music. In some ways, that’s sorta all … Read More Here
Hands-on: Suunto’s Spartan Sport Wrist HR watch
This week at CES, Suunto has officially unveiled their first optical heart rate capable watch – the Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR. You may remember back this past summer, when news first came out about Suunto’s plans for an optical … Read More Here