Road trip survival with Powerbag, Third Rail, Fitbit, and TripIt

I travel quite a bit and after a couple of recent trips, one to CES in Vegas and another for a very successful tug refloating in California, I thought it would be worth sharing with you some of my favorite gear that stood out among the crowd. You can check out photos of a Powerbag pack, Third Rail iPhone battery pack, Fitbit fitness tracking device, and TripIt travel software in this gallery.

Check out my full ZDNet Mobile Gadgeteer post for detailed thoughts on using the gear on road trips.

The Powerbag allows you to charge up to 4 devices at once.

The Third Rail battery pack slaps on easily.

Your iPhone slides in and on the Apple connector.

As you can see not much size is added when your iPhone is in the Third Rail system.

The speaker sounds great when you have the Third Rail case on the iPhone.

A microUSB port is part of the Third Rail system. There is also a switch to toggle on the battery.

The battery attaches to the back to charge up your iPhone.

Here you can see where the battery attaches. You simply set it on the back and slide it down to lock it in place.

There are openings for all the buttons and ports on the Third Rail System.

The battery is very light and has a capacity of 1,250 mAh.

Here you can see there are two microUSB ports to charge.

The Third Rail is to the left of the iPhone 4S.

The Third Rail is not nearly as thick as the Mophie Juice Pack Plus.

A small adapter is included that lets you plug in your own USB cable.

You can use the battery pack to charge up other devices.

Here is the Fitbit Ultra retail package and included accessories.

A holster is provided so you can attach the Fitbit to thicker belts and other gear.

The Fitbit comes in blue or pink.

The Fitbit Ultra comes with a dock that you can sync up wirelessly.

The Fitbit Ultra sits in the dock to charge up.

I usually place the Fitbit Ultra in my small jeans pocket, similar to what is shown here.

To track our sleep you need to attach the Fitbit to the included wristband.

TripIt released a new version for iOS that includes a What's New screen.

Here is a sample of a typical short trip.

You can also manage your points in the new TripIt iOS version.

The Third Rail System retail package is green and black.

The back of the Third Rail retail package shows the details of the battery pack.

This is what you will find in the Third Rail System package.

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