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BananaGuard
Tested
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Price: £3.95
(£4.35 for Glow In The Dark version)
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Weight: 60 grammes
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Features:
Perforated and hinged plastic banana case available in nine
colours including glow in the dark version. Dishwasher
safe.
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Keeps your banana safe and glows in the dark (optional)
Relatively expensive.
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The Concept Simple, it's a moulded plastic case designed to
protect your banana from impacts in transit.
Features Banana-shaped plastic case with hinge and two
snap-shut fastenings. The case is perforated to prevent premature
ripening or something like that and the design is patented. Who makes
such a thing? Those cunning Canadians, the nation that also brought
us the Mounties, maple syrup, Arc'teryx and the North Shore - all
pretty ingenious things, apart from maple syrup, which is just nice
on pancakes.
In
Action If like us you're a bit of a banana head, you'll be
familiar with the crushing disappointment of retrieving a banana from
your pack only to find it bruised, blackened and weeping. The
BananaGuard successfully puts an end to all that.
We've been using it extensively for walking and mountain biking
and so far it hasn't let us down. The shape is claimed to fit pretty
much any banana and so far we've found that to be true. The odd one
needs a little gentle persuasion and some dwarf 'nanas are simply too
small and rattle in the case, but most slip in and are held firm once
the twin catches are closed.
The size of the case does seem to be significantly larger than a
single banana, but the small increase in load volume and weight is
well worth it come lunch time. After eating, the case is also handy
for stashing those banana skins and packing them out to the, erm,
trailhead, if we have such things in the UK.
BananaGuard UK supplied us with a number of samples in each of the
nine vibrant colours and we concluded that the yellow one is probably
most appropriate (yeah, we're conservative on the banana front). The
Glow in the Dark option costs an extra 40p but works well and is
probably money well spent if you're the sort of person who leaves
their bananas lying around in the dark :-)
Despite a mildly disquieting resemblance to a sex toy, the
BananaGuard entranced and delighted everyone who used it. Or at least
it kept their bananas happy and unbruised. With really heavy use, it
looks like the hinge and catches may eventually fail, but it hasn't
happened so far and, be honest, how many times do you need to open
and close a banana case on an average day in the hills?
Purchasable online, it's not particularly cheap, but as the TV ads
might say, 'an unbruised banana? Priceless.' We're still a little
unsure as to the point of the glow in the dark version, but it works
and is a great talking point if you happen to meet someone while
carrying it through a pitch black forest...
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Performance
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Value
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Pushed for time:
Plastic Canadian case that protects your banana from
bruising in transit. Works brilliantly and is available in a
pimpy glow on the dark variant for nocturnal banana fiends.
Lovely.
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Know more or want to?
If you'd like to add your own experiences of this product check
out our user review system and post your opinions to the world. If
you have questions you can mail
us direct, ask
Richard Gear or try a posting to our gear
forum.
Charles Ross
