A 'banana' life saver! (Banana Guard)

Member Name: funkimunki

Product:	Banana Guard
Date:	10/11/08 (248 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: No more mushy bananas

Disadvantages: Can be a tight squeeze

This product is designed to prevent your banana getting battered and bruised in transit, which would make it ideal a public transport commuter or bike rider like me.

The guard itself is made of polypropylene plastic with 4 rows of small holes along the entire length. This is so that your banana can 'breathe' thereby preventing it from early ripening. There is a very sturdy locking mechanism (a catch on either end, and one in the middle to hinge it closed) that prevents it from opening whilst in transit.

It mainly comes in yellow (it is for a banana after all) but a variety of colours can be found such as purple, green, blue and glow in the dark! It has been shaped in order to make it fit most banana shapes (90% apparently) with a curve about 1/3 of the way down the product. If you consider the Banana Guard in the shape of a triangle, the measurements are as follows:

Longest length -25.4cm
1st Side -10.1cm
2nd side - 17.8cm
Width of actual product -5.1cm
Maximum depth (considering triangular shape) -12.2cm
Weight - approx 59g

As it is made from polypropylene plastic, it is dishwasher save so can be cleaned easily.

I have had my Banana Guard for about a year now and so far have only found 1 banana that I could not get to fit in it (I eat a banana every day so have definitely tested this out!). Even so, a lot of the time it is quite a tight squeeze meaning that the lock at the centre of the guard sometimes catches the banana on closing meaning it gets a nip and therefore bruised. As I only usually keep the banana in the guard until I get to work (about an hour and a half max) this doesn't usually cause a problem but if I leaving it for several hours I can find that the middle of my banana has turned to mush - exactly what this device is meant to prevent. It certainly doesn't happen often (perhaps twice a month) but frequently enough to annoy me!

The guard was originally bought for me as I cycle to work and was constantly destroying my bananas in my rucksack (not to mention all the banana 'debris' covering other items in the rucksack). As I have a large backpack, the size does not bother me but I think it could be a bit large for children, which is one of the other large markets for this product.

Admittedly, the unfortunate shaping could cause some embarrassment but I have learnt to embrace it - I work on the site of an old nuclear site and have to have my bags check regularly by armed officers; it's certainly an ice breaker!

Overall, I think this is a great product and a genius solution to mushy bananas. I would recommend any lover of the potassium-rich fruit to get one of these and lengthen your bananas life!

© of funkimunki. Also posted on Ciao under jonescraiga

Summary: Get one now and prolong you bananas life!