Gear Patrol | Spirit of Adventure, Passion for Gear

Explaining the Basics, Debunking the Myths

It is ironic that, while watch companies are turning out more capable dive watches – helium release valves, absurd water resistance, innovative bezels – fewer and fewer SCUBA divers are wearing watches at all. Go on any dive boat and you’re lucky to find one person wearing anything besides a dive computer on his wrist. [...]

Your Mac's New Big Brother

Screaming thunderbolt three times while hoisting a sword into the sky won’t do anything. The nifty technology embedded in Apple’s latest über monitor does, however, provide new Mac owners with a hassle free docking station, not to mention 27 glorious inches of display real estate. Specifically, connecting one MagSafe cable to the display, and one [...]

2 x 2 x 2

Taking what could have easily been another touring bike, Autum has created a veritable supermodel Franken-cruiser. And guess what? It works. Boasting not 2, but 4 low profile tires mounted on custom alloy rims, the Autum Epitaph ($2,950) is like no other. A black, powder coated steel frame offers a stark contrast to the aged [...]

Box of Awesome

Surprise the chip off the old block or just re-connect with your inner child by picking up the Summer Camp Care Kit ($145) from Best Made Company. Jam-packed with a horde of nostalgic treasures including Latex slingshot tubing, a four way vintage Swiss army flashlight, a three blade whittling knife, an engineer’s compass, a 45x [...]

World’s 18 Strangest Pools Popular Mechanics Surreal Architecture Projection BoingBoing How Noun and Verb Shortages Could Predict the Next Stock Market Crash io9 Cool Alone Won’t Save Your Company Harvard Business Review The Women’s World Cup The Big Picture Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Apple Trailers

And You Thought HD Made the Game Look Good

Neil Leifer is the world’s preeminent sports photographer. Don’t recognize the name? Well, just know that 160 of his images have graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, 40 have made the cover of Time, he’s published over 15 books, and he took this photo of Muhammad Ali’s 1965 knock out of Sonny Liston. Mull over [...]

Speed Channeled

Two of what? No, it’s the Shelby Supercars Tuatara (pronounced “twu-tar-ah”), SSC’s newest superweapon in the top speed battle with Bugatti. As if SSC’s Ultimate Aero’s 257 mph was not enough, Jerod Shelby aims to re-trump Bugatti by overtaking the Veyron Super Sport, which topped out at a blistering 264 mph (otherwise known as airborne [...]

Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win is the latest epic music video to be released off of the iconic rap trio’s new album, Hot Sauce Committee Part I. Directed by Spike Jonze and featuring musical guest Santigold, the lengthy spectacle runs 11:00 minutes long (that’s just two minutes shy of Thriller proportions), and [...]

Conquer More

Pure. Uncut. Powder. We’re not discussing Whitney Houston’s daydreams here people. We’re talking about the stuff that transforms passionate snowboarders into giddy Catholic school girls. Sure, if you can commandeer a chopper on a whim, accessing the stuff in the prime backcountry of your choice is an easy affair. For those of more humble means, [...]

The Sound and the Fury

The dictionary defines criterion as “a standard of judgment or criticism; a rule or principle for evaluating or testing”, so it goes without saying that christening your flagship product with such a definitive term shouldn’t come casually. It’s a good thing then that “casually” describes anything but the Jeff Rowland Criterion Preamplifier ($18,000). Built to [...]

The Portable Big Picture Show WSJ Off Duty Is Anyone There? When Your Email Goes Unanswered NYTimes Road to (capsule): A Moment with Carl Cunow of Onia Por Homme Wall of Touchscreens Makes Fleet Commander a Hutt-Size Star Wars Game Wired 30th Anniversary of Donkey Kong Slashdot World War II in Photos The Atlantic

Snack Better

Want a crash course on the “miracles” of modern industrial food science? Then take a gander at the ingredients of a bag of big brand microwave popcorn. What seems like a simple process apparently requires a labs worth of chemicals and GMO’s (genetically modified organisms) to flavor, preserve, and pop those gum aggravating kernels into [...]

800 miles for $7,000 less

If you asked us how to make a car cost $7,000 less you’d probably end up missing a few essentials. Things like a back seat, the sound system and maybe even a few cylinders from the engine, but somehow VW has pulled the equivalent of an automotive hat trick with the 2012 Volkswagen Passat ($19,995). [...]

Stash in Style

A cluttered coffee table has killed many a well-designed room. The Caliper Coffee Table ($300) from CB2 can help keep remotes, books, and other constantly accumulating living room detritus out of sight thanks to two cleverly hidden end drawers. Styled to match most modern decor, the table’s white oak veneer top with a steel tube [...]

Bog Deep and 12 Miles to Go

For the uninitiated, or those of you who haven’t heard, Tough Mudder is one of the forerunners of the now fully entrenched obstacle course challenges and race phenomenon. The brain child of former British Army Officer Will Dean, Tough Mudder combines military style obstacle course components with an 8-12 mile trail run. In the last [...]