Fetish

De Rigueur
Whether you're trying out for the government's alien autopsy team or dorking around the party like a lost member of Devo, Aero's rugged suit-in-a-can is always in season. The London design firm's one-size-fits-all ensemble in pure white tyvek makes you look like you just came out of the clean room, and three-step care instructions are clearly printed on the side of the tin. Though it's rated for industrial applications, don't be afraid to use it as evening wear at your next fashion-forward function. Aero Work Suit: US$59. Leif Petersen: +1 (415) 453 5500.

Card
A palmtop organizer can make keeping track of appointments a big deal. Why not try something as small and simple as the Rolodex Electronics REX PC Companion? The credit-card-size REX grabs data for your schedules, contacts, and memos right out of a laptop's PC slot. And it has a 256K storage capacity, which adds up to a few thousand names and many, many verbose memos. Starfish Software's installed EarthTime clock automatically adjusts appointments to your current time zone. Rolodex Electronics REX PC Companion: US$179. Franklin Electronic Publishers: (800) 266 5626, on the Web at www.franklin.com.

Warmth
For some sound junkies, the size of the stereo and the girth of the speakers are the measures of manhood. But there's also a tribe who yearn for subtlety in their audio experience, and it's for them that the Holmes Powell headphone amplifier was made. Featuring single-ended vacuum tubes with point-to-point hand-soldered wiring, this instrument seems to turn a pair of headphones into top-of-the-line speakers. It may be an old-school way of getting good sound, but it can't be beat. DCT amplifier: US$3,000. Holmes Powell: +1 (209) 449 9090.

10-4
Don't bother bringing a cell phone to the snow-capped Alps - it's almost impossible to dial with gloves on, anyway. You might instead pick up a couple of Motorola's TalkAbout radios, a grown-up version of the walkie-talkies you had as a kid. The water-resistant units weigh only 7 ounces and can last a couple of hours on batteries. Using a slice of newly available radio spectrum, they offer license-free reception over a 2-mile radius - so friends can call even where Saint Bernards fear to tread. TalkAbout Plus: US$179. Motorola: (800) 353 2729, on the Web at www.motorola.com/talkabout/ .

Lid
Beginning snowboarders know too well the brain-joggling art of the heel-side slam - catching the edge of your board so that your whole body hits the ground backward. Skycap softens those blows to the head. In addition to protecting greenhorns, a good helmet remains standard safety equipment for perilous rock jumps and many high-speed competitions. Because this lightweight brain bucket was designed especially for boarding, it doesn't block hearing or peripheral vision, and cold-weather conditions are addressed by a cozy removable fleece to keep your noggin warm as well as safe. Skycap: US$100. RED: +1 (802) 862 4500.

Folder
No longer made from whalebone and sealskin, kayaks have gone high tech. Feathercraft's K-Light boat is made of expedition-weight nylon and hypalon, and it fits in a backpack until you're ready to shoot the rapids. With an aluminum-magnesium alloy frame, the whole thing weighs 35 pounds and takes less than 15 minutes to assemble. The fiberglass cockpit creates a rigid form for the pack that's easy to carry, so you can continue hunting caribou on land - or catch a flight back to Cincinnati. K-Light Plus: US$1,800. Feathercraft: +1 (604) 681 8437.

Peace
Whenever I picked up the tuba as a kid, an uncle would joke, "Can you play �Lady of Spain'? Can you play �Faraway'? No, no - real far away." Well, don't give reluctant listeners such satisfaction. Instead, take a cue from Yamaha, whose violin sends all its sounds into headphones. The instrument has a volume control, of course, plus an input jack to your stereo, so you can accompany your masterpieces with a full orchestra, karaoke-style. Yamaha also offers a silent piano and trumpet, so invite the whole band over - without risk of heckling. Silent Violin: �69,000 (US$580). Yamaha: +81 (053) 460 2450.

Drive
There's balance and heft to the Canon Optura - think of a well-packed snowball. Shaped like an SLR, the hybrid camera/ camcorder uses mini-DV tapes to store pictures and video. But its distinctive feature is a progressive scan setting, which catches stop-motion images at 30 frames per second without the blurry lines of conventional camcorder images. Because of its crystal-clear action shots, it turns out, the Optura's even better at tracking the flight curve of a speeding snowball than becoming one. Optura: US$2,499. Canon: (800) 828 4040, +1 (516) 328 5000, on the Web at www.usa.canon.com .

Juvenilia
If young Jackson Pollock had had an easel like this, he might not have been so careless with his paint drips later in life. Fisher-Price's 2-in-1 furniture lets li'l artists keep pencils, paints, and other supplies in organized bins and work on a surface that's right for the job. The table's corkscrew handle pulls the unit up into an easel when a kid's feeling creative, or lets it down when it's time for a lunch break. Of course, the plastic surface can easily be hosed off after paint spills to accommodate even a budding abstract expressionist. 2-in-1 Easel Table: US$64.99. Fisher-Price: (800) 432 5437, +1 (716) 687 3000.

Kick
The fastest two-stroke machine you've driven lately was likely a lawn mower - because of US clean-air regulations, the two-stroke motor's simple but powerful design has been banned in motorcycles for more than a decade. Enter Bimota, a small Italian manufacturer that leapfrogged the major bike makers with an efficient fuel-injection system for the two-stroke that's kind to Mother Nature. The cycle carries an aluminum-alloy frame as light as its engine and boasts a maximum power at 9,000 rpm. It sure beats cutting grass. 500 Vdue: US$20,900. Bimota: +1 (412) 782 2453.

Unwind
In old M*A*S*H reruns, it was always Radar who cranked up the shortwave whenever Colonel Potter needed to call HQ. Now, even without incoming choppers, you can tap the airwaves with a few turns of the handle. The AM/FM Freeplay runs for more than an hour on just one 30-second crank, using a steel spring and generator for power. Originally developed for the South African bush, the windup mechanism may one day power flashlights, cell phones - even laptops. Freeplay Radio: US$69.95 to $79.95. BayGen Power Group: +1 (914) 258 5660.

Hypnotizer
Marketed as a mere extension of the boob tube, the RCA network computer is Larry Ellison's Trojan horse. It's the first Internet set-top box to use Oracle's fabled NC platform, letting viewers click effortlessly between Oracle databases, television channels, and Web sites. All your favorite TV shows can be bookmarked and accessed through a smartcard that goes in that little slot in the front. And if those databases deliver on their potential, this sleek black box will become the Volkswagen of PCs. NC: US$299. RCA: (800) 336 1900, +1 (317) 415 4151.

Thanks to Marla Aufmuth, Rakesh Patel, and Jennifer Sullivan.