Best Stuff of the Year 2009: Rugged Gadgets

In the past, rugged gadgets were huge and rubbery, making them totally unusable to the normal person. Things have changed, though, and now you can get gear that's tougher than you are without looking like your dad who always has seven gadgets clipped to his braided leather belt.

Casio Exilim EX-G1 Camera

There was no shortage of rugged cameras to choose from this year, but Casio has a heritage of being bad-ass. Their rugged phones and watches have gained a lot trust from those who abuse their gadgets and their slim-line camera is just as burly. It has a 12.1 megapixel sensor and the whole thing is shock-resistant, waterproof, freezeproof and dustproof. That means you can kick off your underwater photography career during this year's meeting of the Polar Bear Club. Actually, maybe you should wait until summer. $299.

Sonim XP3 Quest

If there's a tougher phone out there, we haven't found it. This burly goon has a screen like the one you'd find on a phone seven years ago, but it's almost impossible to kill. So, while it's bad at updating your Twitter page, it can withstand more shock, dust, water and extreme temperature than any other phone in its class. It meets several military standards for durability and will work just about anywayere, which will come in handy when you're buried under an avalanche. $599.

Japan Self-Defense Force Sunglasses

Don't let the picture fool you, these glasses won't be able to block a gunshot, but they are a lot tougher than those fake designer ones you bought from that pagoda in the mall. Each lens can withstand an impact from a .3-inch object traveling at over 100 mph. While that scenario is unlikely, it does make us think that these might last a little longer than our other shades, all of which have been crushed by us sitting on them at some point in the past. $300.

Dell Latitude XT2 XFR

Netbooks are great for dicking around, but they last about as long as a five-year old on a construction site. Dell's burly tablet PC is as rugged as they come. It has an "IP54 level of Ingress Protection," which means even dust and moisture won't be able to take this sucker down. The screen is a 12.1-inch multitouch LCD so you can use all sorts of touch-sensitive apps on it. One important note: While it could survive a small explosion, giving it to your old-ass aunt will still probably destroy the OS within a week. You have been warned.

Otterbox Defender for Blackberry

If you work in a tough environment and want a phone that can actually, you know, do stuff aside from making calls, you can always throw your precious Blackberry into one of Otter's ultra-tough cases. You retain all the functionality of your keyboard and screen, but you'll make your handset impervious to the elements as well as drops. It's great for those who work in construction or those who like to get a little wasted and drop their phone out of a cab every Friday night. $60.