Ah, summer. There’s just something about the summer.

It’s the time when possibilities seem endless and memories of summers past drive us to destinations as far as another part of the world, or as close as our backyard to try and create new ones. Summer, in a word, means adventure.

Like any adventure, you’ll need to make sure you have the right tools to not only get the most out of it, but in some cases, survive it. So while items like a cooler and a good e-book might be known necessities, here are some gadgets you might not think of that can help make this summer adventure an instant classic memory.

Turtle Shell Speaker

One of the most exciting gadgets of the summer, the Turtle Shell from Outdoor Tech might just be the most versatile and complete outdoor speaker available.

Sure, it’s wireless with perfect sound quality, exceptional range (30 feet), battery life (9 hours) and speakerphone capability, but you’ve probably come to expect that in portable speakers. The Turtle Shell is unique, though, in just how good it sounds, and how durable it is, as it can’t be stopped by dirt, rain or shock damage. When you factor in such features as the ability to attach it to a bike, and some undeniably good looks, this is the only outdoor speaker you need.

Price: $129.95

BioLite CampStove

There’s a variety of gadgets built for camping that are, in one way another, designed to bring you the comforts of home wherever you go. That’s great, of course, but in some way you still want to be able to enjoy the outdoors without feeling like you’ve brought the entire modern world with you.

The BioLite provides a compromise in that department, as it’s an electric campfire that runs off twigs like a usual campfire, but provides a more powerful and sustained flame than you can get out of the old fashioned method. Even better, it takes the energy from that same flame and can convert it to an electrical output through its available USB port should you need it.

Of course, if a better campfire isn’t appealing enough, you can always add the available grill top add-on for a complete outdoor cooking tool.

Price: $129.95

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Premiering this Wednesday on the Nat Geo Channel, “Bid & Destroy” combines the thrill of finding lost treasures with the demolition and destruction of homes and businesses with wild results that are amazing to see! This new 12-part series, produced by the guys behind “Pawn Stars,” begins this Wednesday, October 10th at 9:00 and 9:30pm ET/PT for a double stack of episodes.

Set in New England, this crazy series showcases the wacky crew of Danley Demolition as they go on modern day treasure hunts inside condemned homes and buildings just before they demolish them with the “claw and destroy” technique. The company bids on demolition jobs and then effectively owns all the contents of the home/building that will be torn down, so they have a limited period of time to scour the place for valuables. The posse tending to this modern day scavenger hunt is led by Brian “Cowboy” Gurry, one of the co-owners of Danley Demolition. These guys have a near mystical ability to find what everyone seems to have lost once in their life, like wallets with money, jewelry, and family valuables along with forgotten treasures like sports memorabilia and even the miscellaneous safe or forgotten muscle car or two. Gurry told us that many people love to hide money and valuables and then forget about them, which explains why he’ll check every book he finds in a house for money stuffed inside, often with great success.

The intrigue surrounding the search for hidden treasure is then combined with the fun of watching home and buildings get torn apart. The great production quality includes wild camera angles complete with remote GoPro mini video cameras inside homes as they are being destroyed, giving the audience a hair raising perspective and view to the awesome power and destruction that goes on the act of complete demolition like never filmed before!

To get a “hands on” experience of what it would be like to really have the ability or tear through a building with the touch of a button, Nat Geo invited us to Las Vegas to operate some heavy machinery and building destroying excavator equipment at Dig This, the heavy equipment playground located just off the Strip. As you can see from the photos above, they had several full scale Cat brand excavators and bulldozers available for us to try out. After taking the requisite breathalyzer test, (BAC +.06 is a no – no), we climbed into the huge yellow machines. Fortunately my sushi and saki hi jinks from the night before were long behind me and I passed with flying colors! The destructive powers of these machines shocked me at first, but soon I was chucking around 2,000 pound tires like they were tot-sized life preservers at the neighborhood kiddie pool. Brian Gurry was on hand to relate some of his experiences with us on how the heavy equipment we were using applied to building demolition, and his comments on how a somewhat larger version of the Cat excavator I was using could easily chomp straight through the lobby of the Mandalay Bay casino and go out the other side were quite revealing!

We had the opportunity to spend some time with Brian as he explained how the business worked and his techniques for finding hidden value in old buildings, and with 25 years experience in home demolition he has some great stories. The proverbial needle in the haystack is Brian’s specialty, and he gave use a few tips that anyone can use to find hidden valuables. We at Bullz-Eye were so impressed we following up with some features like top ten ways to find lost things in your home or hotel based on Brian’s advice.

We think you’re going to love watching Brian and his somewhat maniacal crew of seek and destroy excavator and bulldozer operating misfits. The personalities make the new series very watchable along with all the fun looking for hidden treasures and then ripping buildings down. Brian’s casual demeanor and humorous banter on camera with his nephew Eric added greatly to the show. All initial 12 episodes promise to be winners, and the two screeners showcased for us this week were no exception. Check out “Bid & Destroy” tomorrow night on Nat Geo.