Gear Patrol | Spirit of Adventure, Passion for Gear

Amateurs Need Not Apply

Does your addiction to labeling leave your Sharpie’s drier than a Southern Baptist wedding? Then Sharpie Professional Markers ($4) is made for you. Their professional seal of approval means the stronger tip will last 50% longer than those amateur chisel points you’ve grown to love — ensuring you’ll always have ink to leave your mark [...]

From Boxy to Foxy

Even though Geely sounds like a name your kid might have chosen for his pet hamster, the Chinese automaker can respectably take the stage with a beautiful new concept car, the Volvo Concept Universe. In the 70′s and 80′s Volvos were relatively reliable European cars but tended to channel large kitchen appliances on the design [...]

Chair Apparent

Not unlike wearing a digital watch with a bespoke suit, a folding chair has a way of making everything else look cheap. The Flux Chair is different. Designed by two Hollanders, Douwe Jacobs and Tom Schouten, the Flux chair was inspired by the need for flat folding and innovative furniture that’s both practical and stylish. [...]

The right play for this book

Photos by Gear Patrol Falling from grace is an experience many businesses never recover from — especially in the vicious world of consumer electronics. BlackBerry, once the darling brand of the technological elite and synonymous with power and status, is working to be the exception. In just a few short years, while companies like Apple, [...]

Step towards natural running

Despite the “less is more” trend in running shoes, it can be tough for a runner to make the drastic transition if they’re accustomed to full support runners. Going the bio-mechanically correct barefoot approach is a step far easier said than done. And for just that, Puma has developed a running shoe. Recently, we reviewed [...]

Sometimes more is more

The newly introduced Lexus LF-Gh Concept stands apart from the myriad anemically designed hybrids we’ve seen (sans the Bugatti 16C Galibier). But what makes this car so important is not its expected fuel efficiency but rather the bolder design direction it will take Lexus. Note the spindle-shaped grille, large and quite original, that seems to [...]

Schoolyard Carries

The Billykirk Schoolboy Satchel ($355) wins our vote for its timeless looks and size. Made from 100% vegetable tanned leather and measuring a shoulder-friendly 14″ L x 10″ H x 4″ width, it’s the perfect bag for hauling your tablet or ultralight laptop around town without being mistaken for a bike messenger. Removing the shoulder [...]

Yes, it’s another timelapse and yes we had an entirely different post ready for this edition of Viewfinder, but then a new, astonishing piece of work by the time-bending maestro Terje Sorgjerd landed on our desks. Sorgjerd, who filmed the Aurora Timelapse we brought you a couple weeks ago is back with an even more [...]

Slow Speaker Movement

The result of four years of R&D, the handmade all-wood Blumenstein Ultra Fi Orca Speakers ($550) are designed with a singular purpose: deliver bone-tingling sonics from a bookshelf speaker without a wallet annihilating price. Hi-Fi buffs (and common sense) will tell you that one of the best ways to make this happen is to reduce [...]

Soundly Made Lounging

With warm weather beckoning, consider swapping out that Aeron in your office with the Gallant and Jones Kitsiliano Beach Deck Chair ($215) and some scenery. Inspired by the classic English Deck chairs found sprinkled on the banks of the Thames, each Kitsiliano is made by hand from North American Black Walnut and can ship with [...]

One man's trash is another man's art

In his much-lauded series, Disassembly, photographer Todd McLellan photographs discarded items and turns them into stunning works of art. The series has been gawked at/over throughout the interwebs, but our hands down favorite is Old Typewriter — blame it on our fondness of the written word. Here, an old Smith-Corona typewriter has been painstakingly disassembled, [...]

Holy Craft!

Every so often, you find something so big, you just can’t ignore it (cough). Well, there are watercraft, there are boats… and then there’s the aquatic behemoth known as the Zubr LCAC (Landing Craft Air Cushioned) or more commonly known as hovercraft. Easily the world’s largest hovercraft, the Zubr Class LCAC was introduced by the [...]

$349 | Indochino

Rolling the pain out of paint

The Black & Decker Rapid Roller ($35) is designed to make your next paint job take half the time compared to using traditional roller brushes. Featuring an exclusive pivoting head, the brush can be used straight on or at 40 and 80 degree angles for easy edging and maneuvering in tight spaces. Thanks to its [...]

When it comes to traveling you may still rely on tried and true packing lists, but it goes without saying that gadgets and tech, have become both welcome and obnoxious additions — so much for packing light. In this Essential Gear feature we bring you our list of travel-tech endorsements, field tested by the GP [...]