Ben Stein

At first glance, the SFK 275EX looks like many other 275-300 amp hour internal BMS lithium iron phosphate batteries. With Bluetooth communications, heating, long cycle life, and a good warranty it seems to compete well with other batteries. But, closer inspection reveals a battery with features above and beyond anything I've seen in similar form-factor and priced batteries. Not only that, it comes with a thorough and readable manual.

Where did the idea come from that the slobbier we look, the smarter and more competent we are?

IBEX 2024 was a show to remember for me. Starting with Hurricane Helene's development and potential threat, it was unclear if the show would proceed. Fortunately, although there was some impact, the show was able to proceed. My show began Sunday morning, two days before the official open, with two days of judging the IBEX Innovation Awards . Every year, the awards afford me the opportunity to get an early jump on the new and exciting products displayed at the show. This year, the crop of entries was exceptionally strong. I'm going to write a series of entries covering the products that caught my eye. I. believe it's a testament to the strength of this year's entries that quite a few of the products I will highlight were not selected for innovation awards. First up in my list are Revateks' Altion and Altion Max alternator regulators.

Egis Mobile Electric is a relatively new company with extensive marine industry experience and some creative ideas. Egis' submissions to innovation awards over the last few years have highlighted their creativity. This year, they're back with a new version of the their XD Series battery switches, but now with NMEA 2000 digital switching support.

It has been quite a few years in the making, but Maretron's MConnect is out! MConnect is Maretron's succesor to N2KView. With a modern user interface, delivery via HTML5, and attractive price point, MConnect is a major step forward for Maretron and boaters with advanced NMEA 2000 systems. At IBEX, I spent time with the lead developer for the product and got an in depth tour of its capabilities.

METSTRADE is pleased to announce that 58 products from 28 countries have been nominated to enter the final rounds of assessment for the 33rd edition of the globally recognised DAME Design Awards. Winners will be announced on the first day of the show, 19 November.

Hudson, NH: Raymarine – global leader in high-performance marine electronics for the recreational boating, marine first-responder and law-enforcement markets – announced

These three areas of innovation are significantly changing boaters' lives for the better. Innovation in the past five years or so has been a little bit lumpy.

I have owned Panboat 2.0 for a little over 3 months. Unfortunately, I haven't made as much testing headway as I hoped courtesy of a very busy fall with boat shows, speaking engagements, and dodging hurricanes. I leave for Amsterdam to attend METS shortly, but once home, I don't have another show until Miami in mid-February. So, it's high time I get to work outfitting the new Edgewater 280CX with the goodies needed for testing and begin rolling in some new technology.

Baruch Spinoza (November 24, 1632 – February 21, 1677), was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenment, Spinoza significantly influenced modern biblical criticism, 17th-century rationalism, and Dutch intellectual culture, establishing himself as one of the most important and radical philosophers of the early modern period. Influenced by Stoicism, Thomas Hobbes, René Descartes, Ibn Tufayl,