Made to transform a trip
Shape-shifting innovations put a twist on the familiar in this roundup of travel gear.
Picture perfect
The quality of photos from a smartphone is so good that many travelers leave their bulky camera gear at home. To give you more photographic flexibility, Pixter has introduced a pack of four compact specialty lenses that clip onto any smartphone.
The Pixter Pro Pack includes a wide-angle lens; a 238-degree super fisheye lens; a 10X macro lens; and a telephoto lens. The lenses have front and back lens caps and come in a padded travel case. Cost, info: Pixter Pro Pack lists for $154.90 (lenses are about $55 apiece a la carte). lat.ms/pixterpropack
Twofer toy
Taking a buddy along can make children happier, particularly when that pal is a plush companion that morphs from a toy into a pillow.
Pillow Pets are stuffed animals (also some cute cars) that widen and flatten into a pillow with the release of a cinch strap. All are machine washable.
Pillow Pets also come as zippered sweatshirts. Bunch up the garment for a nice, fat cushion or usethe padded hood part as a pillow. www.mypillowpets.com
This bag does tricks
Pulling a rabbit out of a hat is just a trick; pulling a backpack out of a wheel-aboard bag? That’s magic.
That’s what the wizards at Eagle Creek Luggage have conjured with the new Morphus International Wheeled Carry-On. With a quick unzip, what had been a single roller bag separates into a backpack and a wheeled bag, offering about double the space you started with.
Both are made with polyurethane-coated polyester and have padded handles, lockable zippers and reinforced seams.
The wheeled bag has a hinged kickstand keeps the bag upright. The soft backpack has zip-away padded interior sleeves that can accommodate a 15-inch laptop and a tablet. Cost, info: Morphus International Wheeled Carry-On costs $329. lat.ms/ bagandbackpack.
A bag that suits
Is anything as cozy as curling up in your tent inside a toasty sleeping bag? Is anything as awful as having to get out of that warm sleeping bag to venture outside?
No problem if you have the new SelkBag Wearable Sleeping Bag, designed to keep you comfy in and out of the tent.
It looks like a giant snowsuit, with zip-off booties, big kangaroo-style pockets, and wrist flaps that let you quickly free your hands.
It’s made of ripstop nylon and polyester with hollow fiber polyester insulation.
The zip-off booties let you substitute your own shoes, but the booties’ reinforced nylon soles and lateral grips for traction make them tough enough for a stroll.
The bag comes in a range of colors and patterns, including Star Warsthemed designs, in adult and children’s sizes.
One quibble: The SelkBag is not equipped with a drop seat, so you must wriggle out of the bottoms when nature calls. A fix is in the works. www.selkbagusa.com travel@latimes.com