A week or so ago, I got my hands on one of the new H2O Audio underwater/outdoor sports iPod cases and I have to say I am very impressed. I blogged a review about the case I got for my Gen4 iPod over at gadling, but the long and the short of it is that these things work marvelously.

I used mine to do some kayaking in the Hudson River and dunked it about two feet underwater. The seal worked perfectly and the melodious (well, sort of) strains of Betterman kept on flowing as the player remained submerged. More importantly, no water seeped into the case whatsoever (of course, I had done a test earlier with the case sealed sans iPod. Whaddaya think, I'm stoopid?) These cases are very well designed, not too bulky, and the external buttons on the case allow easy access and full use of all your iPod's functionality. Yes, even the clickwheel.

The cool thing about the cases is that they can be used for all manner of outdoor sports and activities from hiking, to kayaking, to surfing and climbing. That is, the case also serves as a protection from certain types of abuse (that is, you don't want to toss the thing off a cliff, but if you drop it, chances are your iPod will be OK).  As I mentioned, the cases go to about 10 feet underwater, so they're not great for diving, but for snorkeling, you'd be all set. That said, the company does make another unit (not for the iPod) for diving that they say goes to 200 feet. Big thumbs up.