Sport-Brella chair gives seating comfort, UV protection

As RVers, most of us tend to be outdoorsy folks. Getting out in the open air brings such a refreshment--but at the same time, it can be a worry. In the US, the rate of non-melanoma skin cancer has reached what one expert describes as "an epidemic." Howard Rogers, MD, PhD, who practices dermatology in the Advanced Dermatology Center in Norwich, Connecticut. Dr. Rogers told the journal Medscape Oncology, "We define an epidemic as a disease process that affects a large proportion of the population and that keeps on increasing and this shows no signs of leveling off."

Before you run screaming into the shelter of your basement storage compartment, better you should simply open it and remove a Sport-Brella chair. Calmly set up the Sport-Brella in a location with a view of a calming, scenic view such as a river, canyon, or forest, and settle yourself in. Adjust the UV-resistant umbrella, take a few deep breaths, and try not to doze off.

The folks at Sport-Brella.com have built what may be another essential part of your RV gear. Imagine a tidy, sturdy carrying case, out of which you slide an easy opening sporting chair. Pop open the chair, lift a slide, and what opens up is a 50 UPF rated umbrella that shields you from harmful UV radiation, and cuts wind (or gasp!) even unexpected precipitation. The umbrella can be set on either side of the chair and swivels a full 360 degrees.

Concerned about your girth? Not to fear, the chair beats "first class" seating on airlines, giving to a 46" width, supporting up to 280 pounds. The umbrella is a wide, 46" protective dome over the seat's occupant. Built out of nylon and canvas, the foundation is a lightweight steel frame, suitable for use just about anywhere.

In addition to the great sunshade, Sport-Brella chair also has a couple of other useful "accessories" if you will. We found the build-in zippered pouch an excellent place to stow the carrying case and paperback book. And for those who need one, what we used to call a "Church Key" makes opening bottled beverages quick and easy. A cup (or bottle) holder completes the setup.

The Sport-Brella folks were kind enough to send us an evaluation copy, which we lugged with us over a 3,500 mile road trip across the west. Whether in the Rockies of Wyoming, or along the benches overlooking Arizona's Colorado River, the chair gave our tired tushes a welcome relief. The 50+ UPF rating meets the standard for "ultimate in UV sun protection." A 40 - 49 rating ("Excellent" on the scale) indicates that 97.5% of UV radiation is blocked.

With an SRP of $39.99 and available in blue, green, or red, you may find the Sport-Brella chair a welcome addition to your RV equipment inventory. You can order them on-line, or get information on nearby dealers by checking out the sport-brella.com web site.

RV pass time? SCRUBLE scrambles your mind and your letters

"If an earthquake caused your Rubik’s Cube to crash into your Scrabble board, the SCRUBLE Cube would be the result of the mix-up. SCRUBLE Cube is mind twisting word game that anyone who can spell, can play. And, its unique one-piece design makes it convenient to bring along with you to play at anytime in anyplace. Rather than just placing letters on a board or lining up colors on a cube, SCRUBLE Cube brings new excitement to these classic games."

So says the press release on the SCRUBLE Cube. Sounds kind of interesting, huh? We thought so, and the folks at SCRUBLE send us one to play around with. If you're into a calculator workout, here's the math on the cube: There are 7,401 septillion possible combinations on the cube--did I mention you'll need a scientific calculator? With those billions of road miles that RVers drive down the road each year, we figured that SCRUBLE's septillions of combinations might make the miles just shrink in scale.

We trotted our copy of SCRUBLE out to a group of road travelers one afternoon. Tossed to an unsuspecting subject, he took the cube, eyeballed it for a while; flipped the rows this way and that, and after we explained the purpose, tossed it back. "Remember," he drawled, "I only completed 7th grade." Maybe nobody else in the group wanted to show off as everybody else demurred an opportunity to come up with the latest entries for the New World Dictionary.

Undeterred, we asked yet another group of RVers to take the cube with them and try it out on the more "cultured" group up in Portland. Oregon, not Maine, the the land of "tree hugging, french-fry-dipping-in-tartar-sauce, everybody's at least got a BA" Portland. We didn't hear anything for months. Finally a report: Our field testers found the SCRUBLE, "Interesting to look at, and an intriguing idea," but a bit complicated in terms of moves and rules. "We adjusted some of the rules and simplified it by restricting some of the moves and that seemed to move the game on a bit." Still, it was not an unqualified hit.

SCRUBLE Cube will indeed while away the time for the folks that are into intense Scrabble or who are mechanically adept and can deconstruct and rebuild the SCRUBLE cube so it reads, antidisestablishmentarianism or floccinaucinihilipilification. You'll find SCRUBLE Cube at Barnes and Noble and FAO Schwartz.

A video shows more at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26JWYbKnNA.