Ken Santema

Got my Open Source Hardware Summit swag bag

Open Source Hardware Summit swag bag.

This upcoming Friday is the Open Hardware Summit 2021. Due to the whole COVID thing, the conference is being held virtually for the second time in a row. But to still get the feel of going to the summit there was an option for early ticket purchasers to get a goodie bag. In this post I’ll share a few pics of what came in the swag bag.

Before going on I should note $20 tickets are still available for the summit. I think this is a more than fair price due to the great lineup of speakers and topics lined up. There aren’t any more goodie bags available. But all money going to the Open Source Hardware Association is used to promote what I feel is a critical industry for the present and future of makers.

The swag

You have to get at least one of these bags when attending a summit! ShopBot stepped up to provide this very important item.

Swag packs like this are great for keeping project parts together. This one will likely be used for a droid I’m starting to print.

This calendar from hackaday and Digi-Key is probably my favorite thing in the swag bag.

Hackaday and Digi-Key provided a cool calendar.

I already have the calendar hung by my desk!

I had to take down a 3D print off the wall so I could hang this cool calendar.

My second favorite item is the S.H.O.V.E.L. from Sparkfun. Most of us tend to think of PCBs when talking open hardware. The crew over at Sparkfun have this great survival spork thingy to show open source hardware goes way beyond electronics. I plan to keep this at my desk and use it mostly to help others understand the importance of open hardware. Plus, it just looks cool!

S.H.O.V.E.L. from Sparkfun.

Below is some of the other cool swag. The Arduino Lanyard might become my main one at work for a while. The signature Arduino color scheme really is sharp. Not only did Sparkfun provide a S.H.O.V.E.L., but they also included a 16GB USB thumb drive. Fellow hardware company Adafruit provided QT-PY (probably one of my favorite microcontrollers for cosplay use). And of course, the beverage holder promoting QuickLogic’s Open Reconfigurable Computing (QORC) open source hardware will come in handy.

Various items in the swag bag.

At first I thought this was a button provided by Blue Clover Devices.

Is it a button?

But no! This is actually a cool little bottle opener!

This is actually a cool bottle opener from Blue Clover Devices

And of course what is a summit without stickers. A nice variety came in the bag.

Who can’t use more stickers?

A kit from Lunchbox Electronics

The bag also include a little open source hardware kit called the Stop and Go Kit. This kit was quick and easy to solder up. The holes at the bottom of the kit fit into legos. Later on when the kids are awake I’ll have to go find me some legos to test it out.

Stop and Go Kit from LBE.

Here is a video of the kit in action.

Stop and Go Kit from LBE in action.

I’m looking forward to the Open Hardware Summit this Friday. I actually took a day off work to “attend” this virtual event. That is rare for me to do during tax season.

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