I’m DC RAINMAKER…
Here’s how to save!
Wanna save some cash and support the site? These companies help support the site! With Backcountry.com or Competitive Cyclist with either the coupon code DCRAINMAKER for first time users saving 15% on applicable products.
You can also pick-up tons of gear at REI via these links, which is a long-time supporter as well:
Alternatively, for everything else on the planet, simply buy your goods from Amazon via the link below and I get a tiny bit back as an Amazon Associate. No cost to you, easy as pie!
You can use the above link for any Amazon country and it (should) automatically redirect to your local Amazon site.
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Check out my weekly podcast - with DesFit, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
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5 Easy Steps To The Site
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In Depth Product Reviews
You probably stumbled upon here looking for a review of a sports gadget. If you’re trying to decide which unit to buy – check out my in-depth reviews section. Some reviews are over 60 pages long when printed out, with hundreds of photos! I aim to leave no stone unturned.
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Read My Sports Gadget Recommendations.
Here’s my most recent GPS watch guide here, and cycling GPS computers here. Plus there are smart trainers here, all in these guides cover almost every category of sports gadgets out there. Looking for the equipment I use day-to-day? I also just put together my complete ‘Gear I Use’ equipment list, from swim to bike to run and everything in between (plus a few extra things). And to compliment that, here’s The Girl’s (my wife’s) list. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!
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Have some fun in the travel section.
I travel a fair bit, both for work and for fun. Here’s a bunch of random trip reports and daily trip-logs that I’ve put together and posted. I’ve sorted it all by world geography, in an attempt to make it easy to figure out where I’ve been.
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My Photography Gear: The Cameras/Drones/Action Cams I Use Daily
The most common question I receive outside of the “what’s the best GPS watch for me” variant, are photography-esq based. So in efforts to combat the amount of emails I need to sort through on a daily basis, I’ve complied this “My Photography Gear” post for your curious minds (including drones & action cams!)! It’s a nice break from the day-to-day sports-tech talk, and I hope you get something out of it!
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The Swim/Bike/Run Gear I Use List
Many readers stumble into my website in search of information on the latest and greatest sports tech products. But at the end of the day, you might just be wondering “What does Ray use when not testing new products?”. So here is the most up to date list of products I like and fit the bill for me and my training needs best! DC Rainmaker 2024 swim, bike, run, and general gear list. But wait, are you a female and feel like these things might not apply to you? If that’s the case (but certainly not saying my choices aren’t good for women), and you just want to see a different gear junkies “picks”, check out The Girl’s Gear Guide too.
Asia & Pacific Ocean
A weekend in Saipan
Over the last 8 weeks or so I’ve been jetting in and out of countries all over the place, mostly in Central America. In the vast majority of the cases, I was there working for only 24 hours, sometimes up … Read More Here
Days 14…and 14 – Three countries, one 30+ hour day
On Friday it was time to depart the Maldives and begin our journey home. So we packed up our little villa and then headed out to catch the seaplane. But before leaving, The Girl lined up her complete collection of … Read More Here
A day with the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme
Back a few months ago while following the Underwater Thrills blog, I saw a story about a Whale Shark research program in the Maldives. After a bit of poking around, it turned out the program is partially supported by the … Read More Here
Days 11-13 – Maldivian water games, a night and day difference
Given the Maldives are a collection of tiny islands in a vast ocean, you spend the majority of your time in or around the water. The good news is…I like the water. The bad news is that there isn’t enough … Read More Here
Days 9-10 – Welcome to the Maldives
After a short hop through Singapore (again), and then a longer four hour hop, we arrived at a very small slim parcel of land in the Indian ocean where the Male Airport sits. Of course, since I’m pretty sure only … Read More Here
Days 4-6 – A prelude to a Bali Triathlon
After arriving on the island of Bali from Singapore, we sought out our pre-booked rental car place at the airport. However, despite booking with a major international car rental company via a major travel service (Travelocity), no car rental humans … Read More Here
Day 3 – The Singapore Sleepover
After a 6 hour flight from Beijing, China our Boeing 777 landed in Singapore, Singapore (the city with the same name as the country, sorta like New York, New York). By time we cleared immigration, customs and everything else it … Read More Here
Day 2 – (A very cold) Beijing and some really big wall
For reasons only the time zone gods can explain, after just 5ish hours of sleep, we were both wide awake and ready to go. As soon as the hotel’s breakfast place opened up we headed on down to check it … Read More Here
Day 1 – The Tokyo shuffle and beyond
The first flight, on the first day. Our trip started in Seattle just after noon where we jumped on a very empty United 777 headed nonstop to Tokyo. After departure we climbed out over Puget Sound under clear and sunny … Read More Here
Voted off the island!
Ha! Awesome! I was watching tonight’s Survivor – more out of interest after my trip to Palau over the holiday break than the show itself. We had been told that the tribal council area was at a place near where … Read More Here
Palau Travel Information and Logistics
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post – I wanted to do a roundup of travel related information for Palau. Information on travel to Palau is fairly sparse as I found out – so I figured anything I can add to … Read More Here
Palau: From the Air
After we had completed enough kayaking through Palau, we decided to take to the air. Our intent was to get to the island of Peleliu, which was where a large World War II battle occurred – the Battle of Peleliu. … Read More Here
Kayaking Day 3: Jellyfish Lake
After coming back a day ahead of schedule (we were cruisin’!) from our kayak camping trip, we got persuaded into going back out in the kayaks for another day (although after a good nights sleep in a real bed). It’s … Read More Here
Kayaking Day 2: Here comes the sun!
(If you’re just joining me, check out day one first) We got an early start due to being up before sunrise. We tooled around our beach area a bit, basically just wasting time. After a breakfast consisting of Pop Tarts, … Read More Here
Kayaking Day 1: For the love of all raindrops holy, please stop raining!
That’s it – I’m changing my blog name, blogger ID and everything else associated with ‘rainmaker’. Clearly it was omen. But…let’s back up a second first. So we set out this morning (well, three days ago – but you’re going … Read More Here
One Fish Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish
One of the major advantages of traveling in a westerly direction is that you body naturally wakes up earlier. Yesterday I was up at 6AM, right now it’s 5:30AM. After getting up at six yesterday, it was off to the … Read More Here
The Tour de Guam
We arrived into Guam last night late enough that it was dark out. I was looking forward to getting out and exploring things in the daylight, and in particular looking forward to going for an open water swim. Daylight struck … Read More Here