Gadget Guru’s magic box

Guru’s summer was filled with odd noise and the smell of solder. A good friend – yes, GaGu has not yet alienated everyone – Kickstartered him a Gecho Loopsynth DIY kit (¤55/£48), which is just about the oddest audible device yet to hit Guru’s collection. Tap it, wiggle it, wave your hands over its sensors, and it pulls off some impressive (and mostly unfathomable) sonic tricks. Had GaGu found it before it was bought for him, he would almost certainly have ravaged the very concept of it in these pages; as it is, the Gecho is awesome, and Guru must now carefully question his own existence.

Summer’s blinding glare also tempted GaGu to leave his stinking den for once, and that meant taking off the obvious-knockoff Yeezy slippers he’s been wearing and switching to a new pair of running shoes. Given Guru’s heavy gait, the ASICS DynaFlyte – apparently the product of 300 iterations of prototyping – are the perfect choice. Their chunky soles are made of FlyteFoam, which protects Guru’s delicate soles from heel to toe, and they have an impact guidance system too, perfect for the pavement missile that is your author in flight.

With increased running, Guru has also realised that his usual liquid diet of craft beer and red wine isn’t the best option for hydration. Things haven’t got desperate enough quite yet that GaGu would dip a Lifestraw (£20) into a puddle – let’s be honest, Guru hasn’t reached more than a mile from his house – but his

Camelbak Octane Dart (£59.99) is great for replacing that sweat. There’s a re-engineered spout which fires 20% more fluid mouthward and it’s secret, too: there’s room in the outer for a phone, and nobody’s going to know if you’ve slipped a bit of gin into its 1.5L liquid bag.