Here’s a rundown of my favourites car gadgets for winter.  Drop me a comment to send in your recommendations.

12 Volt Drinks Heater C1207 (£10)

The C1207 heater element simply plugs into any 12 Volt lighter socket. Then clip it onto the side of a cup or mug with water in and wait 15 minutes for a steaming cup of something strong.

Ideal for making tea, coffee, instant soup or for heating water to warm baby’s milk.  When it’s cold outside and you’re shovelling snow, you’ll be  glad to have one.

Thinsulate Heated Gloves 467M (£10)

Keep hands wonderfully warm when scraping ice off the windows.  The 467M gloves feature a battery operated heating system to circulate  warmth around the hands. The batteries are hidden in compartments on the cuffs and heat up in a matter of minutes to keep your hands toasty for hours.

They also feature a thermal fleece lining for added heat retention as well as a water-resistant outer material.  Each glove requires 1 x size ‘D’ battery.

5 LED Dynamo Torch HS116 (£13)

The HS116 is the perfect solution if like me, the only time you find the torch batteries are flat is when you need it.

Measuring just 18cm x 5cm and weighing 180g, this dynamo torch has 5 LED’s and a panic alarm. 1 minute of winding gives 10-15 minutes of light and 3 minutes winding can give 60 minutes of light. You can also charge it from a USB port and that gives 6 hours of light.  

Lupo Powerstick Portable Universal Charge S-TC-0801 (£5)

The Lupo Powerstick is the ideal solution for an emergency charge of your cell phone when stranded. It’s a portable universal charger powered by a single AA lithium battery for any gadget with a mini or micro USB port. It enables immediate usage even if cell phone battery is flat.

It claims to provide up to 2 hours talk time depending on the battery used, network provider & the mobile phone model.

Maplin In-Car Ceramic Heater A75FL (£8)

My car takes an age to demist the windshield in the morning. I’m very impatient when I have to wait for it to warm up. 

The A75FL ceramic in-car heater provides all the heat you want and fast. Just simply insert the plug into the car cigarette lighter plug and switch on. It will help to quickly defrost your windscreen and could save you a fortune on de-icer!

It has a fan and heat dual-control switch, and a foldable handle design for window defrosting.  The A75FL has a 2m power cord and detachable 360° swivel base meaning it should be able to reach any window from any 12V socket.

Electric Heavy-Duty Heated Ice and Snow Scrape B00440TWSI (£9)

This heated ice scraper is the ideal addition to any vehicle. Don’t get held up in the morning in the freezing cold!

This heated ice scraper will safely melt away frost and ice on windshields without scratching.  Just plug into the cigarette lighter and you’re ready to go within minutes. It’s ergonomic handle and LED power light means you’ll never suffer in the cold again.

Maplin Heated Hat N58HA (£20)

This 100% Nylon heated hat  is perfect for the inevitable battle through the snow to recover a loved one. The N58HA uses AA batteries to keep your head warm at a toasty 45° C  for approximately 4 hours.  It’s not exactly a fashion gem,  but you’ll be glad of the heat!

Aquabourne Wind up & Solar Radio (£15)

The Aquabourne Wind up radio is ideal to listen to emergency broadcasts during a disaster.  It’ll also provide you endless entertainment when you break down and waiting for the recovery truck.

No batteries are required and 1 minute winding will give you 20 minutes of entertainment. It’s integrated solar charging panel will give 5 hours of amusement from 5 hours of sunlight.

The Aquabourne Wind up radio has a collapsible aerial, measures a tiny  8cm x 8cm x 5cm and also sports of headphone socket. Perfect for when the iPhone is flat!

Gas Buddy for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad (US only)

There is nothing worse than being stuck in traffic whilst the gas tank is running on fumes.  Believe me, I’ve been there soooo many times. 

The stresses of finding a gas station are overwhelming during bad weather and you’ll be glad you have this neat app for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

The GasBuddy app is the most feature-rich fuel finder available for the iPhone.  It is also the most comprehensive source of gas prices and locations in the US and Canada. 

Buy Gas Buddy from iTunes.

Windows and Mac. Even password-protected and encrypted public wifi connections aren’t as secure as you think.  There remains the potential for a 12 year old prodigy to steal your passwords and credit card details.  Also,  with ISPs being forced by government agencies to publish details of your surfing habits, you may want to think about securing all your browsing and downloading habits.  With this simple secure VPN solution from Hotspot Shield, you can be sure your browsing and socialising is secure from prying eyes, your ISP, and even your employer.

Use the comments below to say about your use of public hotspots.

Hotspot Shield is completely free and protects your entire web surfing session; securing both your home internet connection and public internet hotspots. It can be used to secure both wired and wireless networks.  Hotspot Shield protects your identity by ensuring all web transactions (shopping, filling out forms, downloads) are secured through HTTPS. Hotspot Shield also ensures your identity is invisible to third party websites and ISP’s

Hotspot Shield creates a virtual private network (VPN) between your laptop or iPhone and their Internet gateway. This tunnel prevents snoopers, hackers or ISP’s, from viewing your web browsing activities, instant messages, downloads, credit card information or anything else you send over the network.

Simply download the small application from Hotspot Shield, and wait for it to install.   Once completed, a small icon will appear in your system tray indicating if you’re connected or not.

Click Connect/On and a browser will open up, and start to establish a secure connection. Hotspot Shield uses a secure VPN (Virtual Private Network) tunnel to encrypt all your internet traffic from anyone (including your ISP) who may be listening for it.

Once connected with Hotspot Shield, you’ll be able to see further details of the connection including your secure IP address.  This new IP addresses means no one will be able to see your real IP address, determine your identity or hijack your session.  Given the importance of online security, I wouldn’t leave home without Hotspot shield.

Hotspot Shield runs on:

• Windows 7
• Windows XP
• Windows 2000
• Windows Vista
• Mac OS X (10.4 Tiger)
• Mac OS X (10.5 Leopard)
• Mac OS X (10.6 Snow Leopard)

Visit Hotspot Shield

Use the comments below to say about your use of public hotspots.

I’d like to hear your comments and experiences about this sleep disorder in the comments section below.

Haggle at Check-in

Check-in is the most important part of dealing with this sleep disorder and getting a good nights sleep.  This is  your chance to get a good room with minimum noise and disturbance to break your sleep. To begin with,  if there are people behind you waiting to check in,  politely and kindly let them go in front of you. Smile, a lot. This gives you a massive advantage.  Firstly,  the receptionist perceive you a polite and helpful guest.  Secondly,  it gives you more time to check-in, and chat with the receptionist without the distraction of other guests.

For some reason I used to take the first room offered as if the hotel was doing me a  favour. Wrong! You are paying after all.  You really need to treat this as a negotiation as if you were buying a gadget, car or house.  So haggle, and haggle hard. But keep it pleasant, smile (a lot), and be light-hearted.  No one will help you if you’re a nuisance guest.  I often start the negotiation by claiming the last time I stayed at the hotel,  it was particularly noisy and disrupted my sleep.  You’ll be amazed how the receptionist will then engage and find a better, quieter room.  You may be asked what room you stayed in previously so be prepared to think of a (real) room number.

The receptionist knows a lot more about each room than they let on. Don’t be fooled. They want you in a room as quickly as possible, so why would they say a room is noisy?  They will know about previous complaints and disgruntled (and tired) visitors.  Some quick questions for you to check up on are below.  If the answer to any of these questions is yes,  ask for a different room.  The better hotels have a map of the layout of the hotel to help you find your room.  Make good use of this, before you accept the room,  to check the location.

Avoid rooms near an elevator

Avoid at all cost.   All you will hear, all night, are the groaning motors,  the doors opening and closing,  and people talking, stomping, and general anti-social behaviour. Once you tune into these sounds, the sleep disorder kicks in and you won’t get a wink of sleep. Take it from me.  If you are forced to take a room next to a lift, see the emergency options at the bottom of this post.

Avoid main routes

Rooms on a “main route” are notoriously noisy.   I mean, if lots of people have to pass your room to get to theirs, it’s a main route.  These are usually near stairs, elevators, entry and exit routes. You’ll have no chance to drifting off to a peaceful sleep with a heard of elephants trucking past your door every 10 minutes.

Avoid ground and first floor rooms

This is a really obvious one to avoid.  Ground floor rooms are usually “main route” so I avoid the ground floor.  Also, you’re practically guaranteed to have someone above you so you have a risk of noisy neighbours to disturb your sleep all night.  In addition, you’re likely to be woken by early risers going for breakfast, and drunken guests heading back to their room.

First floor rooms are slightly better, but may be above a bar or restaurant.  It’s not fatal,  but if you’re on the first floor, check what’s above and below you first.  I’ve even been given a room on the first floor above a night club!

Once in the room.

Once you’re in the room. Put down the luggage.  Close the door and just listen for 5-10 minutes. Do not yet unpack. Don’t turn on the TV.  Don’t use the loo. Don’t even make a cup of tea.  I’ve previously had disturbed sleep all night by noisy, clanging pipe work,  rumbling air conditioning units and dripping gutters.  Flush the toilet and turn on the taps.  Do the pipes clang? If they do, chances are they will when someone else flushes their toilet and will set off your sleep disorder. What seems a quiet, quaint,  little sound is magnified hugely in the dead of night. Try not to tune into them, as you’ll never sleep.

I once stayed in a room where the fridge was particularly noisy with loud hissing sounds.  Thankfully, I switched it off at night to get a good nights sleep and back on again in the morning.

Also look outside of the room for other obvious signs of sleep disturbances.  A room next to the the Cleaners storage room will be noisy at 6am when the cleaners start work.  Likewise, a room next to the Coke and ice machine is likely to be noisy all night to provoke your sleep disorder.

Look out of the window

Before you unpack, take a good look out of the window. I’ve previously been kept awake all night by a thoughtless bar worker emptying the wine bottles into the recycling bin every 20 mins – until 3am.  If you can see dumpsters and laundry bins, you should expect those to be emptied at 5am. Again,  very noisy and will interrupt your sleep when they are collected.  If the hotel is right next to a main road,  expect noise from the traffic (and emergency services) all night.  Rooms next to highways and motorways should be avoided at all cost.

If you can’t live with any of these, go back to reception and ask for a different room. Don’t worry if you feel your concern is trivial, it’s no different to complaining about a new gadget which isn’t up to spec.  Be bold. Thankfully, you haven’t unpacked, so it’s no hassle for you to move.   However,  if there aren’t any other rooms available,  look at the emergency options below.

How to get a great nights sleep

There are a few golden rules I live by when getting a room, and these are explained below.  If I follow these, I know I’ll get a good nights sleep.  If any of them are compromised,  the sleep disorder kicks in.

Avoid having neighbours

This is my primary rule.  Get a room with as few neighbours as possible. Top floors are perfect as they avoid being main route. Also, you can guarantee no one will be above you.

End of Corridor

Rooms which are end of corridor have nearly zero main route traffic, so you won’t have people passing your door all night. Also, you can almost guarantee you won’t have a neighbour on one side because of the hotel layout.

The Family Block

I often arrive late at hotels,  and usually the few remaining rooms are in the “family-block”.  Bizarrely, I’ve often found rooms in the  family block are by far the quietest. You may have to put up with kids and parents screaming until 8pm. After 8 though it’s usually the quietest location.  Taking a room in the family block is a massive gamble though. You may be unlucky and be next to the sick-child room,  so you won’t get any peace.  Also,  be aware, if you’re a single man,  asking for a room in the family block does raise a few eyebrows, so best to avoid asking for one.  But generally, you will sleep well in these rooms.

What to do in an emergency

Follow the simple rules above, and you’re sure to have a good nights sleep.  However, there have been many occasions of a truly awful room, with no prospect of changing because the hotel was full.  For these occasions, the following hints are tried and tested to keep the sleep disorder at bay.

Change Room Later

If you’re staying for a few days,  let the receptionist know you’re not happy and politely ask to change room when one becomes available. You don’t have to endure an entire sleepless week.  Many hotels don’t like you changing mid-week, so you’ll need to be persistent, but polite.

Generate White Noise

I know a guy who carries a small desk fan in the back of his car for emergencies.  He uses it to generate “white noise” to drown out any irritating background sounds to help him sleep.  Yes, he does still use it in Winter!  He swears he can’t sleep without it. Fortunately,  there are plenty of similar apps available for the iPhone which create beautiful sounds of ocean waves, or soothing rain fall to help you drift into a peaceful sleep.

Eyes and Ears

In my wash bag there is an eye mask and pack of ear plugs.  They go where I go.   I struggle to sleep with ear plugs in everyday, as they ache after a while, so only used in absolute emergencies.

Free Upgrades

Finally, If there are no rooms available, you should ask for a free upgrade to a better room.  There is a reason why these rooms attract a premium and it’s not because the linen is softer.  Explain your concerns politely, and if necessary ask to see the shift supervisor to discuss your concerns.

As an absolute last resort, I have paid for an upgrade in the past, and written a letter of compliant to the CEO of the hotel.  A polite and well phrased letter will often get the result you’re looking for.

I’d like to hear your comments and experiences about this sleep disorder in the comments section below.

For the ultimate in airplane comfort and productivity, I just had to post this image.  I’ve no idea where you can get one, other than having your nan get out the knitting needles!

A simple all-in-one insulated mug,  with coffee filter and plunger means all you need to do is add a scoop of ground coffee, put the filter in,  add the hot water and wait 3-4 minutes. Freshly brewed coffee has never been easier. All you need to do is keep a container of fresh ground coffee at your place of work,  and you’ll never need to spend £2 on that fresh morning coffee again.  For the colour coordinated,  they come in Red, Graphite, Platinum, Blue, Pink, Green and Yellow.

SmartCafe is available at the following suppliers: Amazon.co.uk and Cookware Online and lots of other outlets.   Check Google for other suppliers.

How do you reduce your coffee expenses?

Visit http://www.ehow.com/how_5870636_ice-proof-car-windows.html

What’s your secret to frost-free mornings?