So I want to do a little product review for you all today. As I’m sure you’re aware, ever since I started making walking a “serious business” sort of thing, I’ve used the iTreadmill app on my iPod to track my steps/mileage/calories burned/etc. I started doing so on an old iPod touch.

But due to years of use and several winters during which he was exposed to very cold temperatures for very long walks, his battery eventually crapped out to the point where even during the summer, he couldn’t last a full 15-mile walk. So a few years ago I upgraded to the next gen iPod Touch.

I’ve tried to be more protective of his battery, especially in the winter. During winter walks, I’ve kept him in a plastic baggie in my pocket and did my best to cup my glove around him to protect him from the cold and wind (I think the wind really zaps the battery life).

Over Christmas break, I decided to go on Amazon and see if there were any products designed specifically for insulating cellphones (and/or iPods) against cold weather. Turns out that most products of this sort are mainly designed to protect cellphones from too much heat/sun, but are also supposed to work in the cold.

I searched around for a bit before I found a reasonably-priced product that had a few good reviews discussing its performance in cold weather, so I decided to buy it.

It’s called Phoozy and it looks like this (iPod for scale):

And it really makes a difference. It’s been cold as all hell up here ever since I got back from Moscow, but with this little insulator, my iPod can make it all the way through a 15-mile walk without needing a recharge (I used to have to stop in the one heated public bathroom I pass on my walks to give my iPod a few minutes of charge in order to get it through a winter walk).

So that’s pretty freaking awesome. It’s too bad I wasn’t doing this from the start, but hopefully this will help preserve the battery life I have left.

YAY!