Hot off the shelf

Summertime, and the livin' is easy ... and a little dangerous.

Sunburns, stinging insects and animals, heat stroke or exhaustion — it's enough to make you want to stay inside.

Not really.

With the official start of summer, many of us also are exposed to a dizzying array of products designed to make our summertime lives, well, easier and safer. But it's a buyer-beware situation. The media are bombarded daily with products purported to be new and improved. Some are, and some aren't. Here are three, Lowcountry-appropriate products that intrigued us this summer.

Canopy chair for shade

From a health standpoint, we all should be finding ways to minimize our sun exposure, by using sunscreen, wearing large-brimmed hats and UV-protective clothing and seeking out shade.

Finding shade at mostly treeless Lowcountry beaches can be difficult. While beach umbrellas are one solution, they are often cumbersome and prone to blowing over in the wind.

Kelsyus, a leading manufacturer of outdoor accessories, makes a nifty line of chairs with canopies. In fact, it's Original Canopy Chair won a Best Product of the Year Award in 2008 in a survey of 100,000 consumers.

Its beach version of that, the Beach Canopy Chair, came out this spring and is a traditional low-profile beach sling chair with variable reclining positions and an adjustable canopy. It also folds up and includes a strap for easy carrying.

The chair, which cost $60, is available at Amazon.com, Dick's Sporting Goods and Sports Authority (call to check supplies).

Squish aims at pain

Savannah-based Coastal Solutions produces several Lidocaine-based products designed to relieve pain and itching from an array of summertime pests, including Chigger Chaser, Fire Ant Coolant, Bite Fixer and Jellyfish Squish.

The ingredients on each are exactly the same, but the labels and logos are nifty. All come in a .24-ounce pen sprayer that costs $6. Jellyfish Squish comes in a 4-ounce bottle and sells for $10.

According to spokeswoman Christie Koppel, Jellyfish Squish is sold in many Charleston area beach stores, Piggly Wiggly supermarkets, campgrounds, pharmacies and is "used by the Isle of Palms Fire Department."

So we called IOP Fire Chief Ann Graham to see what she thought about it.

"We experimented with it and have mixed reviews," says Graham. "Some people said it made the pain (from jellyfish stings) worse and some thought it was better. I think a lot of it depends on people's individual pain tolerance."

The department, which treated 124 jellyfish stings in 2008, still has some leftover Jellyfish Squish but doesn't plan to buy anymore.

"We didn't get any better results with Jellyfish Squish than we do with baking soda and alcohol, which is a lot cheaper to use."

How 'kewl' is this cap?

We received the "HyperKewl Evaporative Cooling Sports Cap" in February and figured the cap, designed by Carlsbad, Calif.-based TechNiche International, was worthy of a product testing when it mattered more, say, mid-June.

And we knew exactly who to put the cap, which costs $25 online, through its paces.

Larry Schrecker is president of the Charleston Running Club. He is what some refer to as a "heavy sweater."

As recommended by the manufacturer (which makes an array of products with "polymer embedded fabric" design to absorb, store and release water), Schrecker soaked it in tap water and ice-chilled water and tested the cap on several runs.

Schrecker's assessment was contrary to HyperKewl's press material saying "the response has been incredible" and that runners, tennis players, golfers and others "agree that this product provides hours of cooling comfort and protection."

Other than the first 10 minutes after dunking it in ice water, Schrecker said, "It never felt 'kewl.' "

He adds, "It also weighs a good bit even after squeezing out the excess water and (it) took a little while to get used to that, as well."

To be fair, Schrecker says it may work better for more sedentary activities, such as fishing, or in regions that are drier, such as the Southwest, where there is such a process known as evaporation.

There's not much of that happening in the Lowcountry in summer.