14 DAY TRIAL // People like to build, that's a fact; from small and intimate, cozy wooden houses in the mountains to 100-stores skyscrapers in the limited urban area. Nevertheless, to build something you need builders and this means people. Well, no matter how high the tower goes, people are people and they like to have fun. Now I am not quite sure how much fun can anyone have in such a rough environment, but one thing is sure: music or news coming from a radio are always welcome.
Having established these facts, we face a big problem: a building site means dust, humidity and generally speaking a very harsh set of conditions a normal radio will never be able to comply with. Now, what's next? Asking a radio manufacturer to armor one is laughable so ideas went backtrack: why asking a radio guy to make something tough instead of asking a "tough-maker" to add a radio in something already armored? This is how the Makita BMR100 radio came to life.
Makita is a name well-known for the sturdy and reliable powertools that wear it: from drilling machines to table saws, Makita makes many things designed for the domains where raw power is needed to work with tough materials. Looks like Makita has also a more "artistic" side as they have issued what should be called "the heavy duty radio".
The Makita BMR100 has a rugged case built to withstand the worst building site conditions (dust, water, heat or frost) reinforced with steel rod handles working as bumpers as well. I guess dropping it several stores won't cause much damage. Nevertheless, the Makita provides a stereo sound from two side-oriented 3.5" speakers and has a 10-preset stations memory.
A backlit quartz display makes sure you see what's the AM/FM frequency even at night time, so you can adjust it and the volume too, with the two dedicated knobs. Now, the cool part: one recharge of Makita's newest Lithium-Ion battery, the XLT, will provide 2 days of radio functionality (around 16 hours) at a self-discharge rate 5 times slower than usual batteries. The BMR100 will also accommodate Slide Type and Pod Style batteries from Makita so the opportunities are truly wide.
The weight is proportional with the sturdiness (and almost brutality, I'd say) of this piece of gear: weighing 4.2 KG, the BMR100 is definitely one additional reason to wear protective helmets for should such a Makita radio be falling let's say 10 stores it would become a bomb... still playing a radio hit...
Photo credits: Makita