There’s no denying the Apple Watch’s popularity when it comes to fitness tracking. “Closing the rings” has more than entered the zeitgeist, and the crossover capabilities from training to everyday life are seemingly never-ending with each subsequent software update.

While Apple has definitely made it easier and more enjoyable to monitor our workouts — especially with this week’s watchOS 10 updates adding high-tech new features for activities like cycling, hiking, golf and tennis — what about watch wearers who take their training with a bit of iron?

For those who favor strength training over other fitness disciplines, the ability to track your workouts with an Apple Watch is a little less intuitive. But don’t think you have to abandon your digital companion every time you lace up your gym shoes. With a little bit of digging — or a few minutes spent in the app store — you can train as hard as you’d like while still keeping proper records of your reps and sets. Here’s the skinny on how you can utilize your Apple Watch for any strength training routine.

Why Log Your Workouts in the First Place?

Keeping receipts of your training can have multiple benefits, especially in regards to weightlifting. For one, keeping records of your lifted loads can help you easily progress as your muscles grow and get stronger. The ultimate goal in any muscle-building exercise is to lift more than you previously could, so why not keep tabs on your progress through proper documentation?

Secondly, a detailed workout log can allow you to easily plan out your time in the gym. A good comparison would be a grocery list. If you already know what you plan to buy — or in the gym space, which exercises you plan to hit — the entire experience can go much smoother.

Finally, keeping a workout log can serve as a secondary source of motivation, especially in less than ideal lifting situations. If you get a little down on yourself because you missed that last squat rep, all it takes is a quick scroll to realize your one-rep max is still pounds above where you started. This boost of positivity can be more vital to your continued training success than even the most skilled spotter. After all, fitness is not always about the end result. Sometimes, reflecting on the progress is enough to maintain motivation.

DjordjeDjurdjevic

Doesn’t the Apple Watch Already Have “Strength Training” Workouts in WatchOS?

Yes, but there’s a big big catch: The data recorded is still in line with other workouts offered in the WatchOS service, meaning only your calories, time and BPM are measured as you lift.

Tracking your BPM and calories burned are important to a fitness regimen, especially for those looking to manage their weight. However, if you’re looking to monitor your reps, sets and weight lifted, you can’t solely rely on the Workout app.

If you are interested in tracking your calories and other traditional metrics during your strength training sessions, there are a few methods to do so, which vary depending on your watchOS system. For athletes running watchOS 7 and newer, you can choose between Functional Strength Training modules for exercises involving bodyweight movements or small accessories like dumbbells or resistance bands. You’re also able to Add a Workout and choose Traditional Strength Training for sets more attuned to common lifting exercises like the bench press or deadlift.

WatchOS 6 and older users aren’t left in the dust entirely, but there’s a little more involvement across the aging platforms as you need to add a workout manually — there are no pre-set traditional or functional modules from which to choose.

The App-Free Solution: Voice Memos

Despite the lack of trackable capabilities with Apple Watch’s Workout app, you can still record your performance with software already included in WatchOS. If you already have a good understanding of your training regimen, you can easily record your lifted totals through Voice Memos. This allows for seamless data collection that doesn’t require you to type out sets or statistics. Simply open Voice Memos, speak your totals, and end the recording.

You can then log your sets once your workout is complete by playing back the recordings from your training session. This does take a little more dedication to tracking, and doesn’t give you an immediate point of reference for past lifts, but the voice recording feature can be easier than toting a traditional pen and paper around the gym. Additionally, Voice Memos can be streamed to your iPhone, allowing you to securely keep tabs on your day’s performance.

Eugenio Marongiu

Need More Guidance? Try Third Party Apps

If you’re not interested in speaking into your watch, transferring the recorded data to your Notes tab and shuffling between your watch and iPhone to see what your previous totals were, there still is hope. With third party apps, you can keep tabs on your reps and sets without having to master a spreadsheet post-workout. There are varying levels of intricacies, depending on your fitness needs. Below are three picks that can suit your strength training style.

Fitbod

Apple

BEST APP FOR NOVICE LIFTERS

Fitbod

• $79.99 at Apple

If you’re brand new to the gym circle, Fitbod can be a great tool to get you comfortable with the exercises and modalities. This third party app can sync with your Health app for a streamlined collection of all your data points in one convenient spot. Also, if you aren’t as comfortable with a particular exercise, like say a Romanian deadlift, you can exclude the modality from the library for an easier app experience.

Gymaholic

Apple

BEST APP FOR INTERMEDIATE LIFTERS

Gymaholic

• $31.99 at Apple

With a number of pre-programmed workouts and exercises to choose from, Gymaholic provides plenty of resources to boost your training regimen. Track your lifts, reps and sets alongside your calories and heart rate for a detailed look at just how much you’re pushing yourself in the gym. The most convenient feature, though, is the haptic alert that notifies you when your intended rest period is up. Intermediate strength training enthusiasts should understand the importance of timed rest in-between sets, and this component helps you maintain that intense yet efficient schedule.

Strong

Apple

BEST APP FOR ADVANCED LIFTERS

Strong

• $29.99 at Apple

For those individuals more versed in drop sets, RPE and other strength training terms, Strong is our recommendation for logging your fitness journey. This app allows you to manually curate your workouts and can track reps, sets, weight, body fat percentage and more. Strong also works with the Health app for more streamlined data collection, making it exceptional for those dialed in on their metrics.

The Apple Watch is a premium fitness tracker that can easily monitor your performance across a number of disciplines. While there’s no denying its efficiency in running, yoga or other calorie-burning modalities, it can be just as effective under the barbell, too. With these tips, you can hopefully unlock that digital gym partner your workouts have been missing.

Convinced your strength training regimen needs an Apple Watch now? The Apple Watch Ultra is probably your best pick for athletic-minded scenarios, but you can unlock all the tracking potential above with any of the brand’s latest releases.

Apple

Apple Watch Ultra

• $799.00 at Apple

Apple

Apple Watch Series 8

• $399.00 at Apple

Apple

Apple Watch SE

• $249.00 at Apple

Related Topics

Whether or not you know exactly what a NATO strap is, you’ve definitely seen one. A trend item that has aggressively taken hold of the watch industry, NATOs can be found on just about any watch, from $35 Timexes to $9,000 Rolex Submariners to $50,000 Patek Philippes.

Some watch enthusiasts may scoff at the idea of putting a $15 strap on an expensive timepiece, but NATOs are a fun, functional and quickly interchangeable way to show off your watch. While the straps have become fairly ubiquitous, their origin can be traced back to a single point in history.

Courtesy

Best Overall NATO Strap: Crown & Buckle Supreme NATO

The Supreme is Crown & Buckle’s take on the high-end “seatbelt-style” NATO strap, and the overall effect is a NATO that’s both durable and smooth against the wrist. There are other seatbelt-style NATOs available, but the Crown & Buckle Supreme wins out for the quality of its hardware.

• $28.00 at crownandbuckle.com

Courtesy

Best Budget NATO Strap: Maratac Mil-Nato

The Maratac is one of the cheaper straps we can wholeheartedly recommend, but is not lacking for quality — it’s based on the standard G10 design and then improved. The strap’s nylon weave is tight, cleanly cut, and while it’s not exceptionally soft, it’s more comfortable than some other standard-style NATO straps.

• $17.00 at countycomm.com

Courtesy

Best Upgrade NATO Strap: Worn & Wound ADPT

The Worn & Wound ADPT is a relatively pricy option, but its also a rare for its Made-in-the-USA status. The dedication to quality shows through mostly in the nylon portion of the strap, which is thick, dense, hard-wearing and cleanly cut. It’s not the most comfortable out of the box, but will soften with wear.

• $48.00 at windupwatchshop.com

Photo by Zen Love for Gear Patrol

Zen Love

Where Did the NATO Name Come From?

The answer seems simple: the straps were originally made for NATO troops, right? Interestingly enough, it’s thought that the term “NATO strap” came into use as a shortened version of NATO (or National) Stocking Number (NSN), and otherwise has very little to do with the strap carrying its namesake.

Perhaps the more appropriate name for the “NATO” strap is actually the “G10”: In 1973, “Strap, Wrist Watch” made its debut in the British Ministry of Defense Standard (DefStan) 66-15. For soldiers to get their hands on one, they had to fill out a form known as the G1098, or G10 for short. Subsequently, they could retrieve the strap at their unit’s supply store of the same name.

The NATO Strap Was Made to Military Specifications

Though DefStan’s name for the strap was decidedly nondescript, its specifications were distinct and specific. MoD-issued G10 straps were nylon, only made in “Admiralty Grey” with a width of 20mm, and had a chrome-plated brass buckle and keepers. Another key trait was a second, shorter piece of nylon strap attached to the buckle. Since the strap was to be used by the military, it needed to be functional and fail-safe.

Wind Up Watch

The extra nylon had a keeper at its end through which the main part of the strap passed after it had been looped behind the watch. This created a pocket, limiting the distance the case could move. As long as the strap was passed through properly and snugly on the wrist, the case would stay exactly where it was needed. A bonus feature of a strap that passes behind the watch is that in the event that a spring bar breaks or pops out, the case will still be secured by the other spring bar.

Hunter D. Kelley

The Evolution of the NATO Strap

Since 1973, the G10 strap has seen only slight modification. The current version has been downsized to 18mm (this is due to the 18mm lugs found on the Cabot Watch Company’s military issue watch) and now has stainless steel hardware. In 1978, a company known as Phoenix took over production of MoD-spec G10 straps; those would be the “real deal” if one were looking for them today.

Not long after the simple “Admiralty Grey” G10 was issued, British military regiments began wearing straps honoring their respective regimental colors with stripes of all colors and combinations. One strap’s stripe pattern has become more famous than all the rest, but to call it a G10 or a NATO strap is actually a misnomer.

Eon Productions

Enter Style Influencer, James Bond

When Sean Connery’s Bond famously wrist-checked his “Big Crown” reference 6538 Submariner in Goldfinger, he revealed an interestingly striped nylon strap. Aside from being too narrow, the strap was notable because of its navy blue color with red and green stripes. Many watch enthusiasts have labeled this strap as the “Bond NATO.” Despite the strap’s similarities to a NATO, Goldfinger began filming in 1964, nine years before the first MoD G10 strap was issued. Timeline issues aside, it’s clear that the strap Connery wore had a very simple one-piece construction, not unlike that of a waist belt, and distinct from a true NATO.

Despite Bond’s trendsetting strap choice, it would be many years before the nylon strap industry would take hold. Like many other trends born from utilitarian military items (M65 Jackets, camouflage, etc.), early NATO strap adopters were attracted to the item’s usefulness and “tacti-cool” street cred.

Hunter Kelley

Everybody Needs a NATO, or Twelve

The usefulness is still intact, but now that there are literally hundreds of straps of different colors, stripes and materials sold by vendors around the world, it’s hardly a matter of street cred anymore. This shouldn’t stop you from wearing one, however. The straps are inexpensive, extremely durable, and can be switched out to fit whatever outfit or mood you’re in. In fact, most watch nerds probably have more NATOs than they do watches.

NATOs had been trending ever upwards over the years, and they don’t appear to be a fad going away anytime soon. NATOs are now fully mainstream. Watchmakers of all stripes now either offer a NATO as an accessory to a watch purchase, or even as a watch’s main strap option. The horology purist may scoff at such a thing, but watchmakers would be foolish not to ride the NATO wave; and while they come in varying degrees of quality, a good one is a trustworthy piece of equipment with a rich history.

Related Topics

On a weathered dive boat where beat-up old oxygen tanks are knocked around among other unsentimental gear, you don’t need a refined or preposterously overbuilt luxury dive watch. Something simple, affordable, reliable and rugged is more than sufficient. In fact, I’d argue it even helps you enjoy the experience in a more genuine way.

Citizen’s most representative dive watch is exactly that — and there’s a reason it’s got street cred with divers and is among our first recommendations for affordable automatic dive watches. On boats, underwater and in more quotidian conditions, here’s what I found while wearing the classic Citizen Promaster Dive Automatic, also known as the “Fugu.”

KRISTIN PATERAKIS

Citizen Promaster Dive Automatic “Fugu”: What We Think

I’m a little biased. This Citizen Promaster Dive Automatic is the watch I wore most during my SCUBA certification training and very first dives. That’s something you don’t forget, and this humble little watch elicits some of that excitement as I wear it around in daily life and pen this review.

But objectively speaking, whether you’re in the market for a watch to actually take diving or simply for a landlubber’s dive watch experience, it’s hard to beat for the price. With an MSRP of $550 and a discounted street price on the likes of Amazon or even Citizen’s own site for considerably less, this should be near the top of any affordable automatic dive watch list.

promaster dive

Citizen Promaster Dive Automatic “Fugu”

• $412.50 at citizenwatch.com
  $440.00 (6% off)

• Diameter: 44mm
• Thickness: 13.2mm
• Movement: Miyota 8204 automatic
• Water Resistance: 200m

It’s highly capable for actual diving

Here’s what I noticed about the Citizen Promaster Dive Automatic watch when actually taking it diving. It’s nice to focus on safety and the myriad variables involved in diving and not worry about your watch’s reliability or damaging some expensive heirloom. This is a big part of the watch’s character and appeal.

Artisan Assets

Functionally, it’s solid and practical. I did in fact use it in the old-fashioned way, alongside a depth gauge and without a dive computer. Just before deflating my BCD and descending, I’d turn the bezel to record my dive time. It turns almost as easily with wet hands as it does when dry but with extremely solid action and reassuring clicks (a total of 120 of them around the dial). I also used the watch to time decompression stops on the way up.

I was fortunate enough to be diving in the clear, blue waters of the Bahamas with pretty good visibility, but the dial and hands were perfectly legible at all times — save for at extreme angles, at which the crystal turns into a mirror, but this is true for any watch underwater. Flat crystals as featured on the Fugu perform better than domed ones, however, remaining legible at greater angles.

Citizen has real dive-watch cred

This is where we talk about Citizen’s history of dive watches and that of the “Fugu” itself. The water-resistant Para Water of 1959; the then-record-setting 1,300m-rated titanium saturation diver’s watch of 1982; the legendary Aqualand of 1985 with its electronic, digital depth gauge — these are all part of what’s made Citizen a name you’ll find on the wrists of OG salty dogs who actually make their living at sea.

Zen Love

The modern Citizen Promaster Dive is a family of models where different features and designs aren’t distinguished with collection names. Just as with Seiko, nicknames are helpful, and the most emblematic design of the collection is that of the “Fugu.” The word means puffer fish in Japanese, and the brand says that this is where inspiration for the serrated bezel came from (I’m skeptical about this, but don’t mind my general cynicism).

The Fugu design dates to 1993 and the model known as NY004. It’s informed a number of models since and come to represent the Promaster’s broader collection of dive watches. While similar watches are available in different colors and sizes, as well as with light-charging Eco-Drive quartz movements, it’s only the automatic versions with left-handed crowns that call directly back to the original model and which now feature a puffer fish design on their casebacks.

It’s a hell of a value

People tend to fall in love with ultra-affordable Japanese dive watches. It’s a known phenomenon. These watches might at first seem “basic,” but then go on to far outperform expectations and end up getting a lot of wear simply because they can go anywhere. In the end, though, one grows attached to them as they accompany you through memorable adventures and help you realize that you never needed a fancy dive watch in the first place. The Fugu is one of those watches.

Zen Love

And, though near the absolute entry point for automatic dive watches, modern models like the Fugu aren’t as basic as you might think. Scratch-resistant sapphire crystal is definitely a premium feature of the Fugu. The movement is from the same Miyota 8000 family that you’ll find powering the most dirt-cheap Timexes but, like Seiko’s entry-level movements, these have been upgraded in recent years to include hand-winding and hacking, as well as overall improvements — and it’s been completely reliable in my testing.

From its overall construction to its comfortable polyurethane (a kind of plastic) strap which feels a lot like rubber, it’s hard to find anything to complain about for the price. The only issue I’ve found with the Citizen Fugu is that its crown screws in so tightly that it can be difficult to unscrew when you need to set the time — and doing so with my left hand took a little practice.

Photo by Zen Love for Gear Patrol

44mm isn’t as big as it sounds

For some time, mechanical versions of these dive watches were absent from Citizen’s modern collection. I was excited when, in 2019, there was news of new such models and they were perfectly sized, I thought at the time, at 42mm. Alas, they were specifically for the European market and never made their way Stateside. Then, I perked up again when USA versions arrived in 2023, only to be disappointed to learn they were 44mm for supersize-loving Americans.

That judgment was premature, but I assume many watch lovers will have a similar reaction when they skip right to reading the specs. Today, smaller sizes are en vogue, and everyone gets all excited about 38mm dive watches. Those can be cool, too, but I don’t think I’d want the Promaster Dive in any other size. With short lugs, a rugged attitude, great legibility and a comfortable rubber strap, I love the way it wears on my slim 6.5-inch (17cm) wrist.

It’s got an interesting design

While affordable, rugged watches like this are often called “beaters” and spoken about in the context of diving or other outdoor activities, they can also be the kind of watch you want to wear in everyday casual situations. I, for one, love the offbeat look of such watches, and nobody does this as well as Citizen and Seiko. They have a genuine and sporty vibe that makes me actually want to see mine get more scratched and banged up than it currently is in its relatively pristine state.

That said, its design isn’t as versatile as some. There are dive watches you can get away with in relatively formal circumstances, but you can only dress up a watch so much when it’s got an asymmetric 8 o’clock crown, a funky bezel with alternating serrated sections and a case with some very ’80s-’90s-looking curves. There are currently around 11 variants for the Automatic Fugu, and some of them are sportier than others — but none is going to go easily with a suit.

Zen Love

Citizen Promaster Dive Automatic “Fugu”: Alternatives

The Citizen Promaster Dive is among the most affordable automatic dive watches you can buy (or, at least, that you’d actually want to). But it’s not alone. There are dive watches under $500, and even some automatic options, but you’re mostly going to be looking at Citizen’s fellow Japanese watchmakers (though, the Dan Henry 1970 is a decent option).

For watches comparable to the Citizen Fugu, it’s important to talk about “street price” rather than just MSRP, as many are available on the likes of Amazon, Macy’s and elsewhere at discounts. At time of writing prices for the Fugu Automatic can be as low as around $300-$350 on Amazon.

Seiko is the obvious competitor in this range. The brand’s dive watches at the entry point of its Prospex collection offer a similar level of basic automatic movement and comparable specs. They’re also highly capable divers and tend to offer some of the sporty/funky character of the Fugu. Seiko models like the Turtle, however, tend to be ever so slightly more expensive (while lacking sapphire crystal). Just dig the look and don’t need 200m of water resistance? Check out the awesome value of Seiko 5 Sports watches based on the legendary SKX dive watch.

Orient (part of the Seiko Group) kind of wins the price game for its bafflingly affordable automatic dive watches. We’re talking watches under $200, and even under $150, with 200m of water resistance and automatic movements featuring hacking and hand-winding. There are a number of Orient dive watches available featuring relatively traditional looks as well as those with the off-center 4 o’clock crown often associated with Citizen and Seiko.

Related Topics

The hottest trend in whiskey right now? That would be American single malt. The ascendant style is on the cusp of being recognized as the first new official spirits category in the United States in decades. Small, independent distilleries that specialize in American single malt, like Virginia Distillery and Seattle’s Westland Distillery, have driven this rise to legitimacy by creating the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission and petitioning the government for legal classification. And now that American single malt is on the verge of its big coming out party, the big boys are starting to get involved.

Earlier this year, James B. Beam Distilling Co. dove head-on into American single malt by releasing a brand-new brand dedicated to the craft: Clermont Steep. Jack Daniel’s journey to single malt, by comparison, has been a bit more cautious. Toward the end of 2022, the Tennessee distillery released its first-ever single malt whiskey: Jack Daniel’s Twice Barreled Special Release American Single Malt. That whiskey was a limited release, and pretty tough to get a hold of. But now Jack Daniel’s is adding an American single malt whiskey to its permanent collection for the first time — but it’s still going to be a bit of a chore to snag a bottle. Here’s everything you need to know.

How to buy Jack Daniel’s American Single Malt

There will be no journeys to the liquor store to pick up a bottle of JD ASM. Instead, the new Tennessee single malt is available only at duty-free stores in airports around the world. So if you want to try Jack Daniel’s take on single malt you’re going to need an airplane ticket.

The whiskey is made from 100% malted barley that’s been ground, fermented and distilled in Lynchburg, TN. It’s then matured (there is no age statement) in new, charred American oak barrels and finished in Oloroso sherry casks. The whiskey is set to be sold in a big ol’ 1-liter bottle with a suggested retail price of $100.

What Jack Daniel’s American Single Malt tastes like

Johnny Brayson

I haven’t gone to an airport this week, but I do write about whiskey for a living, so I was able to get my hands on a sample of Jack Daniel’s American Single Malt Whiskey. Here are my impressions. It’s pretty viscous stuff, with long legs that cling to the glass. The color is pretty dark amber, exhibiting a bit of a reddish hue, no doubt a result of the sherry cask finish. On the nose, I detect lots of caramel, raisin and oak — a dark and warm smell that makes me think this will be an excellent fall whiskey.

Even though this whiskey is made from 100 percent malted barley and thus has a vastly different mashbill than Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7, I still detect a healthy dose of that distinct Jack Daniel’s note on the palate — maybe it’s the distillery’s trademark charcoal filtering process, which this whiskey has undergone, or maybe it’s all in my head. Regardless, fans of typical JD will probably like this as well. Outside of that, this is a pretty sweet whiskey, and tastes nothing like a peated Scotch if that’s what you envision upon hearing “single malt.” The flavor is full of chocolate, dark fruits like raisins and prunes, a touch of oak and a nice sherry finish that dissipates pretty quickly.

Comparing Jack Daniel’s American Single Malts

So how does this new Jack Daniel’s ASM compare to the limited release we saw last year? That too was distilled from the same mashbill, obviously, and it was also finished in Oloroso sherry casks. The only discernible difference, at least on the surface, is in their strengths. The new duty-free ASM clocks in at an approachable 90 proof, while the 2022 Special Release had a cask strength ranging from 106.1 – 107.8 proof. I actually had a sample of last year’s on hand, so I was able to compare the two (for science).

Johnny Brayson

The 2022 release is definitely sharper on the nose, and less sweet-smelling. On the palate, it’s again very similar to the new release, just stronger. All of the same flavors are there, but there’s more of an alcohol bite, more burn and the finish sticks around for longer. It’s excellent, but I see why JD opted to cut the proof down a bit to make the single malt more approachable to the curious shopper traveling to their gate.

The new Jack Daniel’s American Single Malt rolls out at select airports around the globe starting this month.

Related Topics

Still can’t find what you’re looking for? Check out some of our other gift guides here.

The holidays are here and if you’re scrambling to find the perfect gift, you might be better off going for a variety of smaller ones, whether or not you’re putting them in a literal stocking. Stocking stuffers may or may not be the main event, but either way they’re a fun way to buy for his many interests.

Whether he’s big into the great outdoors or is a low-key tech reviewer minus the Youtube channel and you’re his only audience, there’s a stocking stuffer for every guy and price range.

Nordstrom

Boy Smells Cowboy Kush Candle

• $48.00 at Nordstrom

The best-smelling kush that’s legal in all fifty states.

L.L.Bean

L.L. Bean Merino Wool Ragg Socks

• $40.00 at L.L.Bean

Look, if you’re gonna get someone socks as a stocking stuffer, be decent enough to buy them a really nice pair.

Huckberry

Best Gift for Whiskey Lovers

Pappy Barrel-Aged Maple Syrup

• $38.00 at Huckberry

While an actual bottle of Pappy may be out of budget (or impossible to find), this barrel-aged maple syrup is an adequate and unique alternative.

Dick’s Sporting Goods

Best Gift for Runners

SPIbelt Running Belt

• $27.00 at Dick's Sporting Goods

Running shorts usually don’t have pockets, and if they do, they aren’t necessarily made to actually hold things. This solves that problem and definitely won’t bounce.

Amazon

Best Gift for Music Lovers

JBL Go 3

• $50.00 at Amazon

Give him the gift of jamming out wherever he goes with one of the best portable speakers you can buy from JBL.

Huckberry

Huckberry x Draplin for Field Notes, 3-Pack

• $19.00 at Huckberry
  $20.00 (5% off)

Whether he’s an avid note taker or needs a reminder to write things down, these journals inspired by Huckberry’s history are just the thing.

Amazon

Crankbrothers Multi Tool 19

• $28.00 at Amazon
  $33.00 (16% off)

If he’s constantly on the bike or working on it, he needs this.

Courtesy

Vessel Helix

• $65.00 at vesselbrand.com

Thanks to its sleek design and unique internal double helix, this one-hitter would make a great gift for any Cannabis enthusiast.

Uncommon Goods

Best Gift for Music Lovers

Upcycled Record Coasters

• $18.00 at Uncommon Goods

If he loves vinyl (who doesn’t?) he’ll love these coasters made from old records.

Courtesy

East Fork The Mug

• $40.00 at eastfork.com

The infamous mug from East Fork is the only mug he’ll ever want. This one in the Amaro colorway can hold 10 ounces of amaro or, like, whatever digestif he prefers.

Courtesy

Pelican Personal Utility Field Wallet

• $47.00 at pelican.com

This is the wallet he will want to take with him on every camping, hunting and fishing trip. It is waterproof and crush-proof, keeping all of his valuables safe and accounted for. It also has a lifetime guarantee.

Bespoke Post

Ostrichpillow GO Memory Foam Neck Pillow

• $60.00 at Bespoke Post

A little luxury that can easily be overlooked, this memory foam neck pillow is perfect for a frequent traveler.

Huckberry

Best Gift for Aspiring Bartenders

Elevated Craft The Elevated Cocktail Shaker

• $70.00 at Huckberry

This stainless steel shaker is supposed to be the last one you’ll ever buy, so get it for him and he’ll be thanking you for a long time.

Amazon

Best Gift for Jet-Setters

Apple AirTag

• $28.00 at Amazon

Get him an AirTag to keep tabs on his keys, wallet, checked luggage or even dog.

NET-A-PORTER

Le Labo Eau de Parfum Rose 31

• $322.00 at NET-A-PORTER

Cologne is something every guy should own. He may not wear it every day, but he’ll be happy to have it on date night.

Stanley

Stanley Easy-Fill Wide Mouth Flask

• $26.00 at Dick's Sporting Goods

For discreet stashing or having a drink on the go, this Stanley flask is up to the challenge — and it will last a long time too.

Amazon

Razer Kishi Mobile Game Controller

• $68.00 at Amazon
  $100.00 (32% off)

If his console of choice is his phone, this game controller is a must.

Amazon

HiCoup Professional Waiter’s Corkscrew

• $16.00 at Amazon

Every man needs a reliable, good-looking wine key.

Timex

Waterbury Traditional Automatic 42mm Leather Strap Watch

• $159.00 at Timex
  $249.00 (36% off)

A nice timepiece is never a bad idea, and an affordable Timex can easily fit its way into a stocking and your budget.

Amazon

Best Gift for Campers

RovyVon Aurora Rechargeable Keychain Flashlight

• $49.00 at Amazon

This keychain flashlight not only has incredible brightness, but also a variety of beam-throwing modes and it glows in the dark so it’s easy to find even after you turn it off.

BioLite

Biolite HeadLamp 325

• $50.00 at BioLite

Headlamps come in handy in too many scenarios to count. From camping to walking the dog at night, they are more useful than you can imagine. This is one of our staff’s favorites and the tech specs back up our testing.

Bespoke Post

Campfire Games Set

• $25.00 at Bespoke Post

Something more than a regular deck of cards (although that would do nicely too), this set includes a deck of waterproof cards, dice and a scoring pad for all your gaming needs.

ThermoWorks

Best Gift for Grillers

Thermapen ONE

• $76.00 at ThermoWorks
  $109.00 (30% off)

If he doesn’t have a meat thermometer, this one can’t be beat.

Amazon

Wilson Tru 32 Pickleball Balls

• $7.00 at Amazon

These are for your favorite pickleball player on your list.

Patagonia

Patagonia Capilene Air Gaiter

• $49.00 at Patagonia

If he doesn’t like wearing a scarf, he still needs to keep his neck warm. This is great for jogs in winter or just cruising around the city.

Bespoke Post

Arcade Belts Vista Belt

• $32.00 at Bespoke Post

This belt is easy to take on and off, machine washable, made with recycled yarn and built to last a lifetime.

Courtesy

Dad Grass Hemp CBD Pre Rolled Joints 5 Pack

• $35.00 at dadgrass.com

If he prefers CBD to THC, then these joints are just the thing to help him chill out.

Patagonia

Patagonia Nano Puff Jacket

• $159.00 at Patagonia
  $229.00 (31% off)

If it can fit into a stocking, it counts. And this Nano Puff jacket packs down nicely for travel and gift giving. It also happens to be one of the best you can buy.

Papier

Papier Monogram Leather Notebook

• $55.00 at Papier

Whether for journaling, note taking or planning, this monogrammed notebook is a thoughtful, personal gift.

Courtesy

PAX 3

• $160.00 at pax.com
  $250.00 (36% off)

Our favorite weed vape makes such a standout gift that you probably won’t need any other stocking stuffers to go with it.

Bombas

Bombas Men’s Merino Wool Calf Sock 4-Pack Gift Box

• $95.00 at Bombas
  $100.00 (5% off)

Bombas socks are some of the most durable you can buy, and this Merino wool set is sure to keep his feet warm.

Leatherman

Leatherman Signal

• $111 at Leatherman
  $140.00 (21% off)
• $111 at Amazon
  $140 (21% off)

One of the best multi-tools you can buy, the Signal is great for outdoor use, comes in a variety of colors and can be easily customized.

Amazon

Best Gift for Apple Users

Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)

• $238.00 at Amazon

You really can’t go wrong with a newly released Apple product, especially the latest and greatest AirPods Pro 2.

Rapha

Best Gift for Cyclists

Rapha Water Bottle

• $20.00 at Rapha

Whether he’s a cyclist or not, buying a water bottle from one of the sport’s classiest brands is an easy hydration solution.

Amazon

Calvin Klein Modal Boxer Briefs

• $40.00 at Amazon
  $60.00 (33% off)

Let’s face it, he probably needs new underwear. These are the gold standard.

Courtesy

Best Gift for Mixologists

W&P Cocktail Ice Bundle

• $64.00 at wandp.com
  $80.00 (20% off)

If he’s an at-home mixologist, then he’s probably set on barware. But give his drinks an extra twist with these fancy ice cube molds.

Courtesy

San Francisco Soap Company Man Bar

• $10.00 at josbank.com

This is probably the most manly soap you’ll ever find — and the packaging makes it look extra classy.

Amazon

Bevel Mens Shave Set

• $90.00 at Amazon

If he’s looking to up his grooming game, this is the ultimate starter pack.

Related Topics

We’ll be the first to admit that driving gloves are an anachronism. They stem from a bygone era of motoring — scarcely imaginable to someone driving a modern Lexus — when virtually all vehicular travel was an adventure and you needed specialized clothing and gear for the task.

If you were operating a vehicle back then, you were completely exposed to the elements. There was a high probability of having to perform some serious roadside maintenance to get yourself home. And driving over rutted roads for extended periods could leave your hands feeling exhausted. Driving gloves made a lot of sense.

Modern luxury cars are a revelation by comparison. Vehicles are climate-controlled and comparatively robust. Driving a Volvo XC90 to work can feel like spending time in a Scandinavian minimalist spa. Few people will really need driving gloves. But a pair of the best driving gloves can still be useful — even if much of that use case is trying to look like Ryan Gosling in Drive.

Amazon

Best Driving Gloves

Best Overall Driving Gloves: Dents Mens The Suited Racer

• $138.00 at Amazon

• Material: Hairsheep leather
• Touchscreen Compatible: Yes
• Lining: Unlined

Dents, established in 1777, is one of the oldest fashion manufacturers in England. They hold a Royal Warrant and made driving gloves for James Bond. These gloves — a collaboration with The Suited Racer — have a classic look but with modern touches like elasticized trims and touchscreen-friendly fingertips.

Huckberry

Best Upgrade Driving Gloves: Hestra Steve Driving Glove

• $150.00 at Huckberry

• Material: Hairsheep leather
• Touchscreen Compatible: No
• Lining: Unlined

Hestra’s “Steve” glove is — you guessed it — inspired by the inimitable Steve McQueen. Designed for warmer weather, it is made from 100 percent Hairsheep leather and unlined so you can feel that leather against your skin.

Amazon

Best Budget Driving Gloves

Best Budget Driving Gloves: Harssidanzar Mens Leather Driving Gloves

• $40.00 at Amazon

• Material: Deerskin leather
• Touchscreen Compatible: No
• Lining: Unlined

These affordable driving gloves from Harssidanzar are made from durable deerskin leather and feature a pre-rotated finger design that curves naturally with your hand for a more comfortable grip on the wheel.

Wolf & Badger

Best Upgrade Driving Gloves

1861 Glove Manufactory Arezzo Men’s Leather Driving Gloves

• $158.00 at Wolf & Badger

• Material: Nappa leather
• Touchscreen Compatible: No
• Lining: Unlined

These handcut and sewn Hungarian-made gloves use fine Italian lamb Nappa leather and are unlined and perforated for extra breathability in warm weather.

Amazon

Best Touchscreen Driving Gloves

Riparo Men’s Reverse Stitched Leather Driving Gloves

• $64.00 at Amazon

• Material: Leather
• Touchscreen Compatible: Yes
• Lining: Unlined

These great value driving gloves from Riparo are handmade from real leather and provide the look for less with reverse stitching for added comfort. They are perforated for breathability and the finger tips are touchscreen compatible.

Uncrate

Best Driving Gloves for Watch Lovers

Autodromo Stringback Driving Gloves

• $110.00 at uncrate.com

• Material: Leather, Crocheted Cotton
• Touchscreen Compatible: No
• Lining: Unlined

These Autodromo driving gloves have a leather palm for a firm grip and a crocheted cotton back for ventilation. A split cuff gives you better visibility of that awesome watch you bought to go with them. Crotcheted cotton on the back adds ventilation.

Porsche Design

Porsche Design TouchTec Leather MixGloves

• $159.00 at porsche-design.com

• Material: Nappa leather, neoprene
• Touchscreen Compatible: Yes
• Lining: Cashmere

These Porsche Design gloves are a more modern take on the driving glove made from a mix of Nappa leather and neoprene. Oily tec leather enhances steering wheel grip and Touch Tec on the thumbs and index fingers allow the driver to use the car’s infotainment screen. The style is more technical racing glove than vintage British motoring glove.

Forzieri

Best Half-Finger Driving Gloves

Forzieri Brown Leather and Cotton Men’s Driving Gloves

• $138.00 at forzieri.com
  $193.00 (28% off)

• Material: Leather, Cotton Mesh
• Touchscreen Compatible: Yes (your fingers)
• Lining: Unlined

These Italian-made half-finger driving gloves are made from supple brown leather and a cotton mesh with great ventilation for warm weather driving. They also come with a two-year warranty. Your fingers are exposed so you can use a touchscreen with them.

Wolf & Badger

1861 Glove Manufactory Rome Men’s Deerskin Driving Gloves

• $216.00 at Wolf & Badger

• Material: Deerskin leather
• Touchscreen Compatible: No
• Lining: Unlined

These driving gloves are table-cut and hand-sewn from supple and ethically-sourced deerskin leather and left unlined and perforated for optimal ventilation and lightness in warm weather driving.

Icebreaker

Ice Breaker Merino Quantum Gloves

• $50.00 at icebreaker.com

• Material: Merino terry fabric
• Touchscreen Compatible: Yes
• Lining: Unlined

These Ice Breaker driving gloves are more for function than fashion. They are made from a merino terry fabric that is soft, stretchy and order resistant. The fingers are designed for use with touchscreens. They are also machine washable.

Aspinal of London

Aspinal of London Men’s Cashmere Lined Leather Gloves

• $135.00 at Aspinal of London

• Material: Nappa leather
• Touchscreen Compatible: No
• Lining: Cashmere/Wool blend

These hand-cut and sewn Nappa leather gloves are lined with a cashmere and wool blend for cold weather and transition seamlessly to non-driving activities.

Nordstrom

Best Fleece-Lined Driving Gloves

Barbour Burnished Leather Gloves

• $100.00 at Nordstrom

• Material: Leather
• Touchscreen Compatible: No
• Lining: Fleece

British brand Barbour is known for their waxed jackets. But they also make cozy fleece-lined gloves, optimal when you’re trotting that vintage Land Rover Defender out on a cold morning.

Related Topics

AI keeps getting smarter. Google’s launch of Gemini, a multimodal AI meant to compete with GPT-4, included a revealing video of a conversation with the intelligence. Gemini, like GPT-4, can handle multiple modes of input, including text, code, image and audio. Its reasoning skills — based on what it is asked and what it sees alone — are stunning. When its human counterpart draws an electric guitar and drums, it suggests some hair metal and throws some on the playlist; it creates intuitive games on the fly and recognizes a magic trick; and it adds captions to a drawing based on what someone on a rollercoaster would be saying (“whee!”). Altogether, it’s a seamless assistant experience that has us asking: How much longer till it’s savvier than us?

Today we’re taking a look at a shark-bit dive watch, a fifteen-year-old bourbon and more. This is Today in Gear.

Today in Gear is our daily roundup of all the latest product announcements, drops and news from Gear Patrol Studios. Send your most pressing product questions to [email protected].

Our Editors’ Favorite Products of 2023

Álvaro Bernis

For as forward-looking as we are at Gear Patrol, we’re also a reflective bunch. Hence the GP100, our annual roundup of the hundred products our editors swooned hardest for this year. From Muppet-inspired timepieces to iconic vehicles re-envisioned for a new era, each product in this collection earned its spot by making an outsized impact on its industry — and product culture as a whole.

A Cult Dive Watch Takes a Bite

Squale

Dive watch brand Squale has a small cult following because its watches are good looking, well-made and reasonably priced. They’ve added some to their panache with the 1521 “Watch Your Hand,” a special-edition collaboration with horological artist Romaric André, a.k.a Seconde/Seconde/. André “vandalizes” watches, and in this case, has imagined the classic caliber’s hour hand on the receiving end of a shark bite.

An Underground Magazine Rises

Café Goblin

Cafe Goblin ($25), a new risograph-print magazine made in Los Angeles, has released its first issue. Its narrator promises not to tell the truth — sometimes. Its blend of war stories, celebrity interviews and provocative art hearkens to our favorite classic magazines. Is it a twisted New Yorker or apocalyptic Playboy? Perhaps it’s just an intriguing survey of the bizarre. You’ll enjoy finding out.

Fifteen-Year-Old Bourbon From Master Blender of the Year

Milam and Greene Whiskey

To make Milam & Greene Castle Hill Batch Three, 2023 Master Blender of the Year Heather Green selected 20 barrels of bourbon aged over 15 years. Then she blended ‘em, bottled ‘em and put ‘em up for sale — and they sold out before you could read this message. Sorry, friend. Keep an eye out on the secondary markets, perhaps?

A Great Guide to Great American Whiskey

Fred Minnick

Some gear isn’t tangible, but rather, usefully abstract. Fred Minnick’s 100 Best Whiskeys of 2023 list, for example, is entirely free and available online here. Don’t mistake Fred’s generosity: He is one of the country’s leading experts on booze, and this list is a very precious item indeed. As a guidebook to your upcoming whiskey pursuits, it will set you on a good path.

Related Topics

The Palisade is Hyundai’s flagship three-row midsize SUV. It aims to be luxurious where its cousin, the Kia Telluride, is adventurous, and it has been a strong seller for Hyundai since debuting for the 2020 model year.

Now, the Palisade just received a swanky new mid-cycle refresh — but the new second-generation model should be just around the corner, and it should bring some significant changes. Here’s what we know so far about the second-generation Hyundai Palisade.

The Palisade should get a bold visual redesign

Hyundai

Hyundai radically redesigned the Santa Fe exterior, giving it a boxier quasi-Range Rover-like look. Hyundai vice president of product planning Olabisi Boyle told CarBuzz to expect a similar metamorphosis with the new Palisade, promising it would take what buyers like to “the next level.”

The Palisade will still be a three-row SUV, perhaps with a longer wheelbase than the current model. It will still be larger than the Santa Fe. But we can expect its new look to be bold, even if it doesn’t exactly ape the Santa Fe’s new design.

And the Hyundai Palisade should finally offer a hybrid

Hyundai

The Palisade isn’t going electric; Hyundai has an Ioniq 7 EV coming to serve that role. But it should finally be getting a hybrid powertrain. Korean outlet ET News reported that the Palisade will launch with two engines, a 2.5-liter inline-our hybrid and a turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 gas engine, replacing the current 3.8-liter V6.

A hybrid powertrain should be a competitive necessity for the Palisade, which is now competing directly with the Toyota Grand Highlander — an SUV thatv has both power- and efficiency-focused hybrids.

When will the next-generation Hyundai Palisade arrive?

DREW PHILLIPS

Hyundai has not confirmed a launch date for the new Palisade yet. But according to ET News, current plans call for the new Palisade to arrive in America in June 2025. That timing would line up with a standard six-year product cycle.

How much will the 2026 Hyundai Palisade cost?

Hyundai

Hyundai has not revealed pricing for the next-generation Palisade yet. We can expect it to be in the neighborhood of the current model, which starts at $36,400. Though the hybrid engine — a pricey option on the Santa Fe — would likely add significant cost.

More Future Cars We’re Excited About

Toyota

• 2024 Porsche Macan EV
• 2025 Mercedes-Benz EQG
• 2025 Toyota 4Runner
• 2025 Toyota Electric Pickup
• 2025 Ford Electric F-Series
• 2027 Porsche 3-Row SUV

Related Topics

Watches and whiskey may not be a natural pairing, but there’s still plenty of crossover between the two product categories. Both are supported by strong enthusiast communities, both are currently experiencing an explosion in popularity that has seen massive inflation on the secondary market for their most hyped products, and both frequently take part in limited-edition collabs. And while we have seen whiskey-themed watches before, I’m not sure we’ve ever seen one as thoughtfully and tastefully done as Oak & Oscar’s new collab with Few Spirits.

In case you’re unfamiliar with either brand, here’s a quick rundown. Oak & Oscar is a higher-end American microbrand based in Chicago, and it’s one of the pioneers in the space, having been around since 2015. Few Spirits is another Chicagoland company. Founded in 2011 and based in Evanston, IL, it touts itself as a grain-to-glass distillery that makes craft whiskey and gin, with a variety of bourbons and an American single malt being some of its key offerings. Now, the two Midwestern brands have come together for a limited-edition bourbon-themed variant of Oak & Oscar’s Olmsted field watch.

The Oak & Oscar Olmsted Few Edition

Oak & Oscar

At first, the new watch doesn’t appear to be too dissimilar from a typical Olmsted. It’s a Sellita SW300-powered stainless steel field watch in 38mm with a sandwich dial and 100m of water resistance. The only distinguishing features are the color of the dial — a deep salmon that matches the labels on some of Few’s bottles — and the Few logo above six o’clock. But once you turn the watch around, that’s where the magic of this crossover comes into play.

Oak & Oscar

Housed within the caseback is a wooden coin with Oak & Oscar’s slogan (and unofficial Chicago motto) “Make No Little Plans” engraved on it. But this isn’t just some random wood thrown onto a watch to please a hipster like it’s the year 2008. The wood came from an actual Few Spirits bourbon barrel. Not only that, but the barrel from which it came is the same barrel that was hand-selected by the Oak & Oscar team for a single-barrel Bottled in Bond bourbon release. And not only that, but a bottle from that single barrel — the same one living inside the watch — is included as a gift with every Oak & Oscar Olmsted Few Edition watch (provided you’re over 21, of course).

A local brand connection, clever use of materials and free whiskey? This is how you do a proper watch collab, folks.

How to buy this watch & whiskey collab

Oak & Oscar is making just 50 examples of the Olmsted Few Edition, all of which are hand-assembled, tested and regulated at the brand’s Chicago headquarters, just like all of its other watches. In addition to including the whiskey, the watch ships with two straps: a handmade Horween leather strap (which is also produced in the Windy City) and a gray NATO strap. If you want a steel bracelet, you can email the brand and they’ll add one to your order for a little extra dough.

The Olmsted Few Edition is available now from the Oak & Oscar online store for $1,850.

Oak & Oscar

Oak & Oscar The Olmsted FEW Edition

• $1,850.00 at oakandoscar.com

Related Topics

While I can say the art of rolling a perfect joint is up for interpretation, rolling machines offer the ability to create a standardized joint every time. Or at least that’s the premise. To find out, we got hands on with some unique stoner gadgets and set out to answer the ultimate question. Can the right tool compensate for a lack of experience and talent?

How We Tested

We are comparing the skills of a seasoned roller to the many machines that assist in the creation of the perfect joint. We will be judging each method based on:

Ease of use: how intuitive each method is to learn and master

Roll time: an average based on 5 successfully crafted joints

Success rate: how often mistakes were made

Joint quality: the uniformity and consistency of the pack

To learn more about our testing methodology and how we evaluate products, head here.

Easiest To Use: The Cone Filler Funnel

Mitch K.

If you lack the skills for rolling, you can still craft an appealing cone shaped joint by ditching the rolling papers and opting for cones. Although a pack of cones are marginally more expensive than papers, you won’t have to fuss with licking any glue or learning how to fold a filter tip. When packed correctly, cones come out looking as good as store bought.

After testing multiple cone fillers we found the most important design principle was to keep it simple. Over-complicated cone fillers made it harder to extract the cone once it was filled which resulted in spilt material and improper pack.

Amazon

BlueBus Tiger

• $14.90 at Amazon

Ease Of Use: 4.5/5 | Roll Time: 0:48 | Success Rate: 5/5 | Joint Quality 4.5/5

What we like: The tray size of the BlueBus Tiger fit into the palm of your hand while having enough capacity to fill multiple cones. The taper of the funnel tip was also smartly designed to fit a wide range of cone sizes snugly.

What we don’t like: The poker rod provided with the BlueBus Tiger is a slim taper which wasn’t the best. We found the best tool for packing a cone is actually the bamboo tamper that comes in a pack of King Palm cones.

Best for Traditional Papers: The Hand Rolling Machine

Mitch K.

Even after James Albert Bonsack revolutionized the tobacco industry in 1880 with his invention of a cigarette rolling machine, the adoption of pre-rolled cigarettes didn’t take off for many years. To understand why adaption was slow, look to the July, 1905 issue of the Tobacco Leaf Journal where a retailer of a pocket cigarette machine held exhibits demonstrating “how much a cigarette smoker can save by using this little pocket machine and rolling his own cigarettes.”

Out of the many styles of pocket sized hand rolling devices, we liked the quality materials of the OCB Bamboo Rolling Machine. The bamboo housing of the device was quite durable but the material that mattered the most was the tactile feel of the apron. Other hand rolling machines we tested had smooth thin plastic aprons that creased easily and slipped on the rollers — resulting in more mistakes. OCB’s apron was just the right thickness, offered good grip and didn’t easily crease. We’ve listed some additional joint roller options below that have quality apron materials.

Amazon

OCB Bamboo Rolling Machine

• $9.99 at Amazon
  $9.99 (0% off)

Amazon

Daycount Metal Rolling Machine

• $8.49 at Amazon

Amazon

Rizla Metal Roller

• $9.99 at Amazon

Amazon

OCB Cigarette Rolling Machine

• $8.90 at Amazon
  $8.90 (0% off)

Ease Of Use: 3/5 | Roll Time: 1:04 | Success Rate: 3/5 | Joint Quality 3.5/5

What we like: Once you get used to the process, the hand roller was still a quick way to craft a joint in under a minute. Hand rollers also kept us involved with the core mechanics of rolling a joint– an element to consider if you do want to eventually master how to roll by hand.

What we don’t like: Compared to other methods on this list, hand rollers resulted in more failed attempts where papers were lost. Also joints came out slightly smaller than the diameter of a cigarette and lacked the fine appearance that other devices were able to achieve.

Most Luxurious: The AI Cone Filler

Mitch K.

While absolutely over the top, The Banana Bros Otto Grinder uses the power of AI to grind and fill a cone with the push of a button. I was skeptical of these claims, but in testing the Otto I did sense intelligence (or fuzzy logic) as the machine quickly adjusted the grind direction and pulse frequency to tackle a wide range of bud density and moisture levels. The only time Otto threw an error is when I put straight sticky freshly harvested flower through the unit, which you should not do to any quality grinder.

Amazon

Banana Bros Otto

• $159.99 at Amazon

Ease Of Use: 4/5 | Roll Time: 1:23 | Success Rate: 4/5 | Joint Quality 4/5

What we like: The Otto is undoubtedly a cool grinder, and quite the helpful tool for those with limited dexterity. The grind of the flower comes out uniform and when the device does jam it’s easy to mitigate.

What we don’t like: Perfectly filling a cone with the Otto is a bit of a dance. You need to estimate how much nug is needed to fill the cone, and while the unit is operating you need to tap the device to compact the flower that is falling into the tube. The size of the cone tube is best suited for large cones and filling standard 1 ¼ sized cones was more difficult.

Fastest: The Cigarette Injector

Mitch K.

Touted as a r/frugal way to smoke, cigarette injectors are a nifty tool used to manufacture your own supply using materials bought cheaper in bulk. While cigarette injectors are specifically designed for chopped loose leaf tobacco, they work well on all sorts of dried material.

In our testing, injectors are best used for creating spliffs, a tobacco & cannabis hybrid that offers a smooth smoking experience — especially if you think weed strains have gotten too strong. Tube injectors also work well with straight flower, but expect some caveats. Run extremely sticky, high moisture bud through an injector and you will have to clean it with isopropyl alcohol. But, that is only after crafting plenty of joints.

Amazon

OCB Cigarette Stuffing Machine

• $59.99 at Amazon

Amazon

Top-O-Matic Cigarette Machine

• $44.34 at Amazon
  $44.34 (0% off)

Amazon

Gambler Tube Cut Cigarette Machine

• $43.55 at Amazon
  $46.44 (6% off)

Amazon

Mikromatic Tube Injector

• $44.16 at Amazon
  $59.99 (26% off)

Ease Of Use: 5/5 | Roll Time: 0:26 | Success Rate: 5/5 | Joint Quality 4.5/5

What we like: The cigarette injector is undoubtedly the easiest to use and fastest performing method to craft some smokes. Additionally, cigarette tubes are extremely inexpensive when bought in bulk (this pack is 1¢ per paper tube) while our top rolling papers choices cost as much as 10¢.

What we don’t like: If you buy a cigarette injector, you will lose all understanding of how to roll a joint and rely solely on this fast acting machine. It’s the end game and best solution on this list. If you send the stickiest of icky through this device, the components will need to be cleaned with isopropyl.

Are Rolling Machines Better Than a Skilled Stoner?

Mitch K.

Roll Time: 1:40 | Success Rate: 5/5 | Joint Quality 5/5

While the skilled stoner Koo was slower than the machines, he wasn’t trying to roll quickly. Koo actually didn’t even know we were testing for time, he existed in a flow state rolling the joints in a style he preferred the most.

Mitch K.

Although the machines were able to create high quality smokes, the style and intricate details of the hand rolled joints still remained on top. Each of cone shaped joints had a tight pack, evenly adhered glue, perfectly folded tips and even intricate top seals. Joint rolling machines will certainly save you time but learning to roll a joint by hand is still worth the effort.

Related Topics

“Growing cannabis in tight spaces is not my usual recommendation,” says Stephen Lipton, the cultivation manager at The Farm Recreational Marijuana Dispensary, an award-winning recreational facility in Boulder, Colorado, specializing in what it calls “craft cannabis.” At any given time, Lipton oversees close to 15,000 plants across seven different facilities in Boulder County. “If you have a really tight space and it gets too hot or too humid, you’re going to have big trouble.”

Despite the hurdles, many first-time growers still choose to cultivate cannabis indoors (which is legal in several states), and there are steps to maximize a plant’s chances of succeeding. It all starts with a plant’s genetics.

“For your typical closet setup, you’re going to want a plant that stays short,” Lipton said. “A lot of time that means an indica. Sativas are really tall and lanky.” (More on the difference between those two cannabis families here.)

While most, if not all, medical and recreational farms cultivate cannabis from seeds, guaranteeing that their plants are free from viruses, most home growers, even those with experience, typically begin with clones — essentially trimmed pieces of female cannabis plants that have been rooted in separate pots.

“When most people think of cannabis — you know, what you smoke — they’re thinking about the flowers of female plants,” Lipton said. “When you grow from seeds, half of them will be males. If you’re only going to do one or two plants, you don’t want to waste your time with that stuff.” A clone sourced from a dispensary or a knowledgeable friend guarantees that the plant is female and will eventually produce bud, pending proper care. “You can get up to four ounces off the right plant — if you know what you’re doing.”

Even with a healthy clone, however, cultivating cannabis can be a long and arduous process — especially in tight indoor spaces. “A lot of people think growing is easy, but it’s not,” Lipton said. “You have to be really on it. Not everyone has success, obviously.”

For some people, cannabis cultivation is a hobby. For others, a lifelong passion. But it’s unique in its vast demographic appeal. “Everyone I know grows,” Lipton said. “There are people in their 20s doing it. I know people in their 60s. It’s a fun thing for people. You don’t have to be afraid anymore.”

Here are Lipton’s tips on growing your first plant.

Step 1: Know your local laws

It’s important to remember that cultivating even one cannabis plant for personal consumption is a felony on the federal level and is punishable by up to five years in prison. On the flip side, many U.S. states have passed local amendments, allowing citizens who are 21 years old and over to grow a limited number of plants indoors for recreational or medical use without fear of prosecution. At present, 24 states, Guam and Washington D.C. have legalized recreational marijuana usage.

Even in our most progressive states, however, the law is far from simple. “In Colorado, it’s now county-specific,” Lipton said. “When the amendment first passed, they said you could grow six plants per person. But now, certain counties and municipalities have come out and said it’s just six per house — there’s no combining plant counts. That means you can have three vegetating and three flowering at any given time.”

Another layer to consider is that in many places, cannabis cultivation must happen “out of plain sight.” “You can’t have any odor,” Lipton said. “If it’s offending people in the neighborhood, then it’s an issue.”

Step 2: Create the right growing environment

Before someone even begins to consider the genetics of their preferred strain, they should first ensure that their apartment is cannabis-friendly. There are five main factors to consider: space, temperature, humidity, the pH of the water and the amount of light.

Space

The space you’ll need: 3′ x 3′ x 5′, minimum.

“The bigger the space, the better. With all the lights, closets get hot,” Lipton said. That said, closets help growers control light pollution when the plant is in its flowering cycle — one of the main reasons home growers favor them over larger spaces, such as living rooms. “If you have a spare bedroom, or a basement even, you can just use that and close the door,” Lipton said.

12 reviews

Gorilla 3×3 Grow Tent

• $214.16 at gorillagrowtent.com
  $305.95 (30% off)

Temperature

The proper temperature you need to remember is 68–78º Fahrenheit.

“A tool you should always have is a little temperature gauge,” Lipton said. “They call them hygrometers. They’re cheap and tell you both the temperature and the humidity.”

Vivosun

Vivosun Digital Hygrometer Indoor Outdoor Thermometer

• $17.59 at vivosun.com
  $21.95 (20% off)

Relative humidity

The proper humidity you need to remember is 30–45 percent.

“If you live somewhere humid, you’re probably going to want to buy a dehumidifier,” said Lipton. “In Boulder, we sometimes have to add humidity.” At home, that can be done with a reliable humidifier.

Levoit

Best Humidifier

Levoit LV600HH Hybrid Ultrasonic Humidifier

• $89.00 at Amazon
  $99.99 (11% off)

Water pH

The proper pH you need to remember is 6.3 to 6.7.

“You’ll need a meter that you can stick into your water and tell you the pH,” Lipton said. “You want something between 6.3 to 6.7 pH for watering your plants. That sounds like pretty sophisticated stuff, but it’s really not. A lot of times, your tap water will be around 7.8. You can use what they call pH down. That’s a crucial step.”

Vivosun

Vivosun Digital PH Meter

• $8.95 at vivosun.com
  $12.99 (31% off)

Lighting

The proper color temperature you need to remember is 2,200k.

“For a closet set up, I would recommend a 175-watt HPS light,” Lipton said. “Some people try to use fluorescent lighting, but I wouldn’t recommend that. You’re just not going to get a very good outcome. Nowadays, HPS lights can just go right into your home outlet, and you’d just need a timer [to set the intervals]. Position the light directly overhead. They can be pretty powerful, so you’re going to want it at least two feet from the top of the canopy [to prevent the plant from overheating].”

iPower

iPower GLBLST400D Horticulture 400 Watt Digital Electronic Ballast

• $95.99 at Amazon

To learn more about our testing methodology and how we evaluate products, head here.

Step 3: Find a healthy cannabis clone

Both medical and recreational dispensaries now sell female cannabis clones, which retail for about $15. Alternatively, it’s commonplace for home growers to gift clones to their friends. “When you get a clone, someone will likely give it to you in a four-inch pot. You’re skipping that whole step of having to germinate seeds. You’re already 10, 14 days ahead of the game and basically ready to plant.”

Step 4: Plant your clone, then maintain the vegetative cycle until it’s mature

Cannabis plants yield the highest-quality (and quantity) flowers after maturing. This usually takes about a month to happen. “I recommend planting in a five-gallon Home Depot bucket,” Lipton said. “It’s really important to have proper drainage, so you want to drill some holes in the bottom. The biggest mistake people make is that they overwater and suffocate the roots. Cannabis likes to be watered and dried out before it’s watered again.”

During the vegetative cycle, the plant should be exposed to a minimum of 18 hours of light. Remember to open the closet door while the lights are on to prevent the space from heading north of 78 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 5: Trigger the flowering cycle

To understand the flowering cycle, it’s important to remember that cannabis is a plant. And, like most plants, it follows the seasons. To trigger flowering — which will take 55 to 60 days to complete — growers reduce the time plants spend exposed to the light source from 18 hours to 12. “You’re basically telling your plant it’s mid-September,” Lipton said.

Sticking to that schedule is key, he added. “Say you’re at day 30 of the flowering cycle and you come into that closet when it’s supposed to be dark and turn a bunch of lights on. You’re going to throw the whole cycle off and that’s the end of that. It only takes 10 seconds.”

Though the 12-hour interval is fairly universal, knowing exactly when to induce flowering is less clear. For the home grower, it usually comes down to space; the longer one waits to trigger the flowering cycle, the taller their plant will be. A good rule of thumb: cannabis will only continue to grow 30 to 50 percent once the light source is reduced. If the plant is growing in a closet, growers should trigger the flowering cycle, understanding that there must be more than two feet of space between the canopy of the plant throughout the entirety of its life.

Step 6: Harvest and cure your buds

After 55 to 60 days, growers begin paying close attention to their plants’ trichomes — the small, bulbous fibers that develop around the flower of the female plant. “Those trichomes will turn from clear to amber,” Lipton said. “They kind of look like red hairs. You know it’s time to harvest when about 10 to 15 percent of the trichomes turn that color.” On average, cannabis plants have a five- to seven-day window of peak harvest time.

To harvest, many growers begin by removing the leaves of the cannabis plant with trim scissors, followed by the buds (using pruners). “We call this bucking,” Lipton said. “Gloves are also extremely important for sanitation reasons as well as to keep your hands from becoming sticky with the resin from the plant.”

The last step involves curing the bud. “Curing is just as important as the growing process,” Lipton added. “We do a slow cure, which means that it takes anywhere from three to six weeks, depending on variety.” Temperature and humidity play a large role during cure and must be maintained to ensure a great final product. “Our actual cure process is somewhat of a secret, so I cannot share the fine details,” Lipton said. “But it’s an art form and extremely crucial to our success.” The reason growers cure bud after harvesting is that it creates a smoother smoke and increases its potency.

Related Topics

You’ve probably never seen a keyboard like the FiiO KB3 before. I certainly haven’t. On the surface, it looks like a pretty snazzy mechanical keyboard. It has transparent swappable keycaps, RGB backlighting and a metal base (made of aluminium-magnesium alloy). But under the hood, it packs a pretty serious built-in amp/DAC for your wired headphones.

Essentially, the FiiO KB3 is a mechanical keyboard for hi-fi lovers.

For those unfamiliar, FiiO is a respected hi-fi maker that’s best known for its portable music players (DAPs), in-ear monitors and, most of all, its external headphone DAC/amps for your desktop. It’s not known for its keyboards — the KB3 appears to be its first — but that hasn’t stopped the brand from throwing its hat in the ring with this unique offering.

FiiO

The idea behind the FiiO KB3 is both simple and clever. Enthusiasts of mechanical keyboards and hi-fi are cut from similar cloth — both tend to appreciate analog — so FiiO made something that scratches both those itches.

Inside, the FiiO KB3 actually packs dual DACs (both Cirrus Logic CS43131), dual amplifiers, and supports lossless audio up to 32-bit/384kHz. It houses dual headphone jacks, one 4.4mm (balanced) and one 3.5mm (unbalanced), and there’s a tactile scroll wheel in the top-right of the keyboard for volume control.

You can customize the KB3 with your choice of switches and keycaps, but its default options — specifically, the Gateron G Pro 3.0 Yellow switches — as well as the construction of the keyboard are designed to dampen a lot of the natural clickiness you’d get with a mechanical keyboard. You don’t want it interfering with your music after all, right?

FiiO

The FiiO KB3 has another ace up its sleeve — it can function as a hub for your computer by adding two extra ports: one USB-C and one USB-C. So if you want to charge a peripheral accessory, like your smartphone or a wireless mouse, or even connect a flash drive, you can do so right through the keyboard.

The FiiO KB3 costs $150 and is compatible with both Mac and Windows computers. It comes in two different finishes: black and silver. And you can purchase it with or without its switches or keycaps. If you already know you’re going to swap in your own, you can save $20.

FiiO

FiiO KB3 Mechanical Keyboard

• $149.00 at aliexpress.com

Related Topics

The Crown sedan is Toyota’s longest-running nameplate, dating back to 1955. The Crown — not the Land Cruiser — was the first Toyota imported to the United States. But you can be forgiven for never having heard of it, as Toyota has kept it out of the American market for the last 50 years. But now — for the first time since Don Henley first wanted to discuss a witchy woman with you — the Crown has returned to America.

Toyota has dropped the Avalon, its full-size droopy-dad sedan, from the lineup, replacing it with the Crown — which is sort of an automotive enigma. It’s not the Crown sedan, which isn’t coming to America, and it’s not the SUV, which will be coming to the U.S. as the Crown Signia. No, the four-door Crown is somewhere inbetween. The Crown is a premium product — but carries Toyota, not Lexus, badging. And it feels both futuristic and — at a time when other manufacturers are launching seriously cool EVs — behind the times.

Toyota brought me to Nashville, home of country music and all the modern luxury condos, for a first-drive launch of the Crown. I later followed that up with a home loan of a Crown Platinum for a week in Michigan— where it grew on me.

The Toyota Crown: What We Think

Tyler Duffy

I struggled with the Crown conceptually. What is it? Who is it for? Sedans appeal to more traditional buyers of a certain age. But with flashy looks that sprinkle in elements of SUV and hybrid powertrains, the Crown is anything but traditional. It’s spacious, practical and easy to get into — but not as much as a crossover would be.

Toyota said at the launch event that the Crown is targeting “younger side of empty nesters” — which feels like a narrow niche.

But once I got out of my head and embraced the Crown life for a week, I found the Crown quite easy to live with. It’s pleasant and comfortable for driving around town. You can opt for robust power with the Hybrid Max or impressive efficiency with the Toyota Hybrid System. Call it an Avalon for the modern (but not too modern) age.

The Crown is excellent for normal driving, but not too sporty

Tyler Duffy

On the first drive event, Toyota directed us to a golf course outside of Nashville, where I spent a day driving several variants of Crown on a 30-minute loop of curvy back roads, stately homes and one gentleman selling ammunition out of his pickup truck along the roadside. We avoided the suffocating Nashville traffic … though traffic is where the Crown’s best qualities would have stood out more.

The acoustic glass delivers the promised quietness. The soft-tuned suspension, even on the Platinum’s giant 21-inch wheels, keeps road bumps out of the cabin. If you’re measured with your inputs with both versions, your drive will be mostly smooth sailing.

The Crown is not particularly fun to drive with vigor. It handles its prodigious weight — it’s 800 pounds heavier than a Camry, and approaching a 4Runner in mass — well. And it takes a direct line through corners. But Toyota doesn’t give you a sport seat, so slosh around. And Toyota’s Proactive Driving Assist steps in to kindly but firmly slow your roll, which can get annoying if you drive like a car journalist.

The Hybrid Max is fun, but the THS is super-efficient

Tyler Duffy

The Crown offers two engines; both are solid options. The 2.4-liter Hybrid Max powertrain (also used in the Grand Highlander) felt smoother and more powerful than the typical Toyota hybrid I was used to. Having 400 lb-ft of torque on tap absolves a lot of sins, even if it does come with a bit of lag. And it’s reasonably efficient, delivering 30 mpg combined.

The 2.5-liter THS setup is the more Prius-like hybrid. And as in other Toyota vehicles, it’s fine. It’s fit for purpose and adequately powerful when cruising, but it becomes progressively more depressing the harder you hit the gas pedal. A hill at the start of our drive route at the launch event that the Hybrid Max gamely powered up elicited an immediate and heartfelt groan from the THS and CVT. But on the plus side, it gets an extra 11 mpg from every gallon of gas.

The Crown’s exterior did attract a crowd.

Tyler Duffy

The Crown was not my cup of tea aesthetically. The hints at sportiness don’t quite line up with its longer proportions. The two-tone black paint extends beyond the roof to a broad swatch of the vehicle’s front and rear. And “Bronze Age” probably wouldn’t have been my first (or even fifth) color choice.

However, the Crown did seem to appeal to its target demographic. I spent about 15 minutes in my local park with the Crown, taking pictures on a weekday afternoon. During that brief span, three couples from the target demographic came in for a closer look and asked me about it. The Bronze paint color proved a particular hit.

But the Crown’s interior is not quite as exciting

Tyler Duffy

The Crown sticks to the Toyota playbook inside. It has Toyota’s fancy new infotainment system; Limited and Platinum trim Crowns get leather seats; and it commendably still provides physical buttons for several functions. But there isn’t much to consider from a design or materials perspective. It’s basic and boring; if you want fancy, plunk down for a Lexus.

But the interior is comfortable and spacious. The seat height provides a relatively ergonomic transition (great for “younger empty nesters”) from standing compared to a low-slung sedan. And there’s ample space in the rear window seats, whether you’re a six-foot-tall adult or a child in a car seat.

What are some Toyota Crown alternatives?

Tyler Duffy

This is a tough one. There isn’t really anything like the Crown on the market. Full-size sedans no longer exist outside the luxury realm.

Toyota suggested the Nissan Maxima and Kia Stinger as rivals. Both of those cars and the Chrysler 300 have been discontinued for 2024. The Volkswagen Arteon is returning for 2024, but that will be its last year. In the Crown’s defense, none of those vehicles were hybrids.

The best alternative for a sleek, luxurious hybrid sedan in the $40,000 to $50,000 range, may be within the Toyota range with the Lexus ES hybrid ($44,590), which earns 44 mpg combined.

The 2023 Toyota Crown Platinum

Tyler Duffy

• Powertrain: Turbocharged 2.4-liter inline-four hybrid; six-speed automatic; AWD
• Horsepower: 340
• Torque: 400 lb-ft
• EPA Fuel Economy: 29 mpg city, 32 mpg highway
• Seats: 5

More Toyota and Lexus Reviews

Tyler Duffy

• 2024 Toyota Tacoma
• 2024 Lexus TX
• 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander
• 2023 Lexus RX
• 2023 Lexus RZ 450e

Related Topics

Mount Gay Rum is the oldest running rum distillery in the world and has been in the business for over 300 years, so you know you can look to it for your new favorite holiday beverage. From its base at the northern tip of Barbados, Mount Gay uses pure, coral-filtered water and the finest Barbadian and Caribbean molasses to create a masterful range of spirits, offering options for your novice to your experts and everyone in between.

If you’re looking for a seasonal sipper, consider Mount Gay Rum’s XO: a triple-cask blend matured in whiskey, bourbon and cognac casks for 5 to 17 years. This process yields notes that read like a decadent holiday dessert – salted caramel, baked fig, clove and dark chocolate. An exceptionally smooth and creamy body and long finish make it the perfect sipping rum. Serve it neat or make yourself a holiday beach vacation in a glass, with a cube of frozen coconut water to bring out a hint of XO’s tropical origins.

Bring this small batch reserve rum to your holiday table this season.

Price: $65

Related Topics

According to a Reuters report published Wednesday, foreign governments are attempting to use data from Google and Apple push notifications to track smartphone use. The traffic flowing from apps that use push notifications gives companies “a unique position to facilitate government surveillance of how users are using particular apps,” said Senator Ron Wyden in a letter to the Department of Justice. It may be time to manage those push notifications, if you prefer to remain anonymous to such governments.

Today we’re taking a look at adventurous glassware, a gold-plated digital audio player, a BOSS x Samsonite collab, and more. This is Today in Gear.

Today in Gear is our daily roundup of all the latest product announcements, drops and news from Gear Patrol Studios. Send your most pressing product questions to [email protected].

A Holiday Treat from Mount Gay Rum

Mount Gay Rum

Mount Gay Rum is the oldest running rum distillery in the world and has been in the business for over 300 years, so you know you can look to it for your new favorite holiday beverage. From its base at the northern tip of Barbados, Mount Gay uses pure, coral-filtered water and the finest Barbadian and Caribbean molasses to create a masterful range of spirits, offering options for your novice to your experts and everyone in between.

If you’re looking for a seasonal sipper, consider Mount Gay Rum’s XO: a triple-cask blend matured in whiskey, bourbon and cognac casks for 5 to 17 years. This process yields notes that read like a decadent holiday dessert – salted caramel, baked fig, clove and dark chocolate. An exceptionally smooth and creamy body and long finish make it the perfect sipping rum. Serve it neat or make yourself a holiday beach vacation in a glass, with a cube of frozen coconut water to bring out a hint of XO’s tropical origins.Bring this small batch reserve rum to your holiday table this season.

Adventurous Glassware, and an Epic Giveaway

Huckberry

Huckberry does fine goods, the Explorer’s Club does epic adventures. In collaboration, the two are releasing the Huckberry x Explorer’s Club Land, Sea, and Space Edition Whiskey Peaks Glassware Box Set. The set commemorates the Explorer Club’s highest, lowest and farthest expeditions in glasses set with topographic impressions of Mt. Everest, the Mariana Trench and Tycho Crater. Plus, if you purchase a set in the next few days, you’ll be entered for a chance to win a Rolex Explorer II and club flag signed by Buzz Aldrin.

A Gold-Star Digital Audio Device

Astell&Kern

A question for fans of portable hi-fi: how to listen, but classier? Korean digital audio player company Astell&Kern gold-plated its top-end SP3000 ($4,400) just in time for the holidays. Meaning you can stuff someone’s stocking with something that both glitters and has independent dual-audio circuitry.

A Sleek Suitcase Collection, but Make It Boss-y

Samsonite

World travelers will take note of three new Spinner Samsonite suitcases, all with a HUGO BOSS touch, in carry-on, large and extra-large trunk sizes. Each Samsonite x Boss suitcase ($950+) is made in tough, lightweight aluminum and features a signature BOSS monogram — just enough for you to stand out at the baggage claim area.

Premium Open-Ear Audio at a Discount

SoundPEATS

Open-ear headphone design offers the polar opposite of its cousin, the noise-canceling headphone: You get great audio and comfort, but can still hear the world around you. The new SOUNDPEATS GoFree2 open-ear wireless headphones ($75+) are powered by 16.2mm dynamic drivers with advanced low-frequency enhancement for excellent sound quality — and you may want to grab them while they’re on sale.

Related Topics

The BMW 5 Series has long had a difficult job to fill. Sandwiched between the attainable 3 Series and opulent 7 Series, it’s forced to represent the brand against such exceedingly good cars as the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, the Audi A6, the Cadillac CT5 (née CTS) and the Genesis G80. That category is smaller than it used to be, as the rise of the SUV has led brands from Lexus to Infiniti to Lincoln to abandon the segment in favor of more popular, more profitable leather-lined crossovers. Still, it’s a highly competitive one — both among buyers and among carmakers, who constantly look to one-up each other in the segment with new designs, powertrains and of course, technology.

To help it stay relevant, the latest generation of 5 Series is going electric — albeit not at the expense of internal combustion. The 2024 models offer a choice of four- and six-cylinder gas-powered engines as well as one- or two-motor electric powerplants, in essence offering a 5er for whatever motivatory preferences you might have. And unlike with, say, Mercedes and its E-Class/EQE models, Bimmer doesn’t force you into an aesthetic choice when you pick your powertrain. Apart from powertrain, the gas- and electric-powered 5ers are largely identical; while writing this review, I had to look closely at my photos to recall which were of the internal-combustion version and which were the electron-motivated ones.

2024 BMW 5 Series / i5: What We Think

After driving a trio of different ’24 5 Series models — the gas-powered 530i and the electric i5 eDrive40i and i5 M60 — in a two-day span, I can say the new G60-generation model is a solid contender in the shrinking-yet-still-very-relevant midsize luxury sedan category, if perhaps not quite the sharp, well-balanced sporty sedan that it once was (and that I, among other gearheads, wish it still were).

The design isn’t as clean as the previous car or as elegant as, say, the E39-generation 5 Series — which remains the high-water mark for the 5er, in my opinion — but it’s still more conventionally attractive than the 7 Series and 4 Series. The interior suffers a bit from BMW’s current prediliction for touchscreens and glass-and-plastic controls over more tactile ones, but look past that, and you’ll find a modern, refined and very comfortable place for four to chill. While it may feel more at home on the highway than tearing up a back road, it’s still well-balanced and able to set a good pace when the pavement starts to bend — and the top-shelf i5 M60i’s performance makes me excited to see what the next BMW M5 is capable of in a year or so’s time.

The gas-powered 530i holds the line for internal combustion

Will Sabel Courtney

BMW’s engines have long been standard-bearers for internal combustion — there’s a reason the company’s middle name is “Motor” — and the new 530i keeps that legacy alive. It may displace just two liters and pack just four cylinders, but Bavarian magic helps the motor crank out 255 horsepower and 295 lb-ft, the latter available as early as 1,600 rpm.

Combined with the nigh-omnipresent, always-excellent ZF eight-speed automatic — which offers up both paddle-shift manual control and a solid Sport mode — the engine is ample enough to blast through traffic in the manner so beloved by every New Jersey Bimmer driver. It feels plenty quick once the inline-four is on the boil, even if it can’t quite match the immediacy of an electric motor. Granted, it’s not the most charismatic engine — direct-injection turbocharged inline-fours rarely are — but while it’s more coarse than an inline-six or a V8, it’s only noticeable at full throttle.

The 530i is nearly 900 pounds lighter than its electric i5 eDrive40i equivalent, and you can feel the difference after just a turn or two. While the eDrive carries its weight low, there’s no masking the sheer amount of extra mass being tossed about; even if the two versions will likely post similar results on the skidpad, the weight difference makes the 530i feel more nimble and chuckable.

Will Sabel Courtney

That said, you’re not going to confuse it with any sort of M5 — past, present, or future. While turn-in is quick and the steering direct, it doesn’t offer much in the way of feedback. And even with the M sport suspension option found on my testers, it feels a little soft, though not to the extent of making the ride too pillowy or boat-like;

It’s a better fit for long hauls, especially with its ample range. The trip computer read 520 miles with a full tank when I climbed in, and considering how efficient BMW’s engines tend to be on the highway, I wouldn’t be surprised if you could squeeze 600 miles out of a tank with cruise control or a gentle foot.

Bottom line: if you’re not ready, willing or able to go EV, the 530i remains a solid midsize luxury sedan choice.

The i5 is a more pleasant luxury experience

Will Sabel Courtney

If you want refinement from your 5er, though, the electric models are the way to go. The rear-wheel-drive i5 eDrive40i has but one motor, but it matches the 530i’s 295 lb-ft and betters its horsepower output, spitting out 335 ponies. (Of course, power doesn’t come free; the i5 eDrive40i’s starting price of $67,795 is about nine grand over the 530i’s.)

It feels far like a more appropriate powertrain for a luxury sedan, though, due to two reasons. First, the instant power delivery of the electric motor makes it much more responsive the majority of the time, giving it the sort of authoritative shove that would feel right at home in a Rolls-Royce. Second, the electric motor is far more refined and quiet in action. With windows shut and the climate control running gently, you could probably converse in whispers with someone in the back seat of the i5.

Will Sabel Courtney

With the climate control off and the windows down, the eDrive40i showed 231 miles of range remaining with 80 percent in the battery, which should equate to around 289 miles with a full charge based on my simple back-of-the-napkin math. (Turning on the climate control would drop that to 273, based on my estimates.)

Much as the carmaker has often done with its power figures, BMW has apparently taken to significantly underrating the range its EVs are capable of; in independent testing from the likes of Car and Driver and Consumer Reports, the i4 and iX have shown themselves capable of going noticeably farther than the Bavarians would have you believe. I’d wager that the i5 could hold its own against the likes of a Tesla Model 3 Long Range or a Polestar 2 RWD on a long journey, even if the guv’ment says those models can go farther on a charge.

The i5 M60 is almost brutally quick, but lacks range

Will Sabel Courtney

Until the next M5 arrives, the zippiest 5er you can buy is the all-electric M60 — and to be honest, it’s so fast, it’s hard to imagine wanting anything much quicker for the full-fat M version.

Dual electric motors and all-wheel-drive mean it feels even quicker off the line and on the roll than its 593 hp and 586 lb-ft would make you think. BMW claims a 0-60-mph dash of 3.7 seconds, but I’d put money on it actually being below 3.5. More impressive, though, is the power on the move; with no need to drop gears, gain revs or build turbo pressure, the M60 almost feels as though it’s teleporting from 30 to 50. On the street, it feels even quicker than the M3 Competition AWD that’s priced almost equally to the M60’s $85,095 starting MSRP.

The suspension impresses as well, with a strong ride-handling balance and remarkably nimble steering that’s so quick, I had to check and see if the car had rear-wheel steering. (It does.)

Prepare to spend a fair bit of time at fast chargers if you’re on a long trip, though. I climbed with 77 percent charge in the battery, which the car told me was good for 187 miles of range. That roughly works out to around 240 miles of range with a full charge … or around 170 miles between road trip stops, assuming you start charging at 10 percent and stop at 80 percent. At an average speed of 75 mph, that’s a pit stop every two hours and 16 minutes. (Charging at home should be less of an issue, as the battery can pick up a full charge in just eight hours on an 11-kW charger.)

The interior is spacious and comfortable

Will Sabel Courtney

Considering the 5er’s relatively high beltline, the interior feels unexpectedly spacious, in particular in test cars with the white leather (or, in base form, its fake equivalent called “Veganza”). Setting aside the user interface for the moment — don’t worry, I’ll come back to that — it’s a cleanly laid-out inside, as well,

The LED strip that stretches across the bottom of the dash and into the doors changes colors and shifts patterns ties the cockpit together like The Dude’s living room rug, while also hiding the air vents. The cupholders — once a weakness of German cars — are mighty and capacious, and the rubber pad in front of them is wide enough for two iPhones at once.

The lack of real buttons feels like a step down in usability terms

Will Sabel Courtney

The new 5er also takes after the latest 7 Series in ditching traditional buttons in favor of touchscreen controls and haptic response “buttons” embedded below plastic panels. It’s a change, but I’d argue it’s no upgrade. The lack of real defined edges — there are subtle ridges meant to indicate their location, but it’s not as clear as, y’know, actual buttons — means the controls are more difficult to find by touch than their predecessors, forcing you to take your eyes off the road more.

And while the new setup looks fancier, it feels cheaper. The glass-like control surfaces are prettier than the buttons of old, but while the hard surface of the controls seems unyielding at first, when you finally press hard enough, the entire panel flexes and creaks a little — not horrendously so, but just enough to feel off. Maybe there’s a sweet spot between “not pushing hard enough to activate the button” and “pushing hard enough to make the panel move,” but if there is, I had trouble finding it.

There’s nothing new about luxury cars going in for this sort of tech; Mercedes-Benz and Audi have been offering similar systems (and sometimes causing similar complaints) for years. And in a world dominated by Jony Ive-inspired minimalist tech designs, it’s not hard to see the appeal. Still, when it comes to piloting multiple tons of motor vehicle at high speeds with your family on board, in situations where distractions of fractions of a second can be the difference between life and death, user interfaces should prioritize ease of use over appearance — and that’s something BMW, like many other carmakers, needs to remember more often, in my book.

The 2024 BMW 5 Series

Will Sabel Courtney

Base Price: $58,895

Powertrain: 2.0-liter turbo inline-four or 3.0-liter turbo inline-six; eight-speed automatic; rear- or all-wheel-drive / 81 kWh battery; single or dual electric motors; rear- or all-wheel-drive

Seats: 5

Luxury Cars We Love

Will Sabel Courtney

• The Rolls-Royce Ghost
• The Mercedes-Benz S-Class
• The BMW 7 Series
• The Bentley Flying Spur

Related Topics

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: If you plan to ski or snowboard more than a couple days this season, you really should consider a mega pass. Why? Because daily lift tickets at any decent-sized mountain these days are borderline insane. Quick example: If you wanted to hit Copper Mountain, a super fun, 2,500-skiable-acre Colorado resort, next weekend, it would cost you $184 a day. That’s kinda nuts.

Meanwhile, the mega passes are package deals that provide access to multiple resorts across the country and the world, and it really only takes a couple trips before they start paying for themselves. Thing is, you’ve gotta act soon, because these passes are going fast. One of the bigger ones, Epic, is no longer on sale and you can only join waitlists for another, Indy.

Thankfully, a couple of other high-profile passes are still available, as is one incredibly charming one. But the deadlines for the first two are imminent: next week. Here’s a handy breakdown of options and deadlines.

Ikon Pass

Ikon Pass

One of the heaviest hitters in the business, Ikon offers three main passes — and gets bigger every year. This season’s new additions include Camelbak and Blue Mountain in Pennsylvania, Schweitzer in Idaho and Alyeska in Alaska (we’ve been, it’s dope).

The Ikon Session Pass (starting at $319) lets you pre-purchase two to four ski days at 39 resorts, including Steamboat, Mammoth, Big Sky and Stratton, plus international resorts such as Revelstoke (Canada), Valle Nevado (Chile) and Niseko (Japan). The Ikon Base Pass ($979) offers unlimited sk’riding at 14 resorts and up to five days at another 36 resorts, with some blackout dates. It includes the aforementioned mountains plus a bunch of other renowned ones, such as Aspen Snowmass, Jackson Hole, Snowbasin and Sun Valley. There’s also a Base Pass Plus ($1,199) that add another eight resorts.

Finally there’s the full Ikon Pass ($1,309), which offers unlimited access to 16 resorts, plus up to 7 days each at another 41 resorts, including all the previously mentioned ones as well as legendary places like Chamonix (France), Zermatt (Switzerland) and Dolomiti Superski (Italy). Unlike with the other two passes, there are no blackout dates. That’s a staggering amount of shredding for the equivalent of, yes, seven day lift tickets at Copper. (Oh and for the record, Copper is on the Ikon Pass.)

Deadline to purchase: Thursday, December 14.

Mountain Collective

Mountain Collective

The Mountain Collective Pass is simultaneously straightforward and universe expanding. For $650, you get two days each at 24 resorts on five continents, plus 50 percent off additional days. (For kids 12 and under, the price is $210, and for teens 13-18, it’s $530.)

Headlining the list of mountains are a lot of legendary domestic and international resorts, including Aspen Snowmass, Snowbird, Big Sky, Jackson Hole, Sun Valley, Revelstoke (Canada), Lake Louise (Canada), Chamonix and Niseko.

This year, Mountain Collective has teamed up with Air Canada, enabling Aeroplan members to score as many as 10,000 bonus miles by purchasing a pass. Considering seven of the resorts are based in the Great White North, it’s a not-inconsiderable perk. If you like to save money but also dream of globetrotting and hitting a bunch of bucket list slopes, this pass might be for you.

Deadline to purchase: Tuesday, December 12.

Ski Cooper

Ski Cooper

Last but not least, Ski Cooper is the aforementioned incredibly charming option. Originating from a mountain in Leadville, Colorado boasting 480 skiable acres, Ski Cooper offers a $579 Season Pass that not only lets you sk’ride Cooper every day but also hooks you up with three days of access to more than 50 other smaller partner resorts across the country, plus two in Canada, two in New Zealand and a mountain called Masella in Spain.

Students aged 15 to 21 can get the pass for $349 and for kids aged 6 to 14, it’s $240. With resorts in 22 states from New York to California, there are probably at least one or two near you.

Deadline to purchase: N/A

Related Topics

Less than a decade old, Leica’s Q line is quite new compared to the company’s 19th-century origins, but it’s left a mark in that comparatively short time. The original Q and successor Q2, released in 2015 and 2019 respectively, established a baseline of excellent optics with best-in-class ergonomics and build quality paired with an almost pathological commitment to simplicity. And while the Q3 is outwardly similar to its predecessors, Leica has moved to include some small but crucial conveniences that, together with an updated sensor, makes it more practical without limiting the luxurious fit and finish you’d rightfully expect.

A stellar fixed lens in concert with a big sensor has made the Leica Q lineage arguably the king of point-and-shoots. The Q3 improvements make it an eminently usable go-to camera for almost every purpose you could imagine. If you can stomach the significant price tag, there’s not much to leave you wanting.

B&H Photo

Leica Q3 Digital Camera

• $5,995.00 at B&H Photo

The Q3’s Summilux 28mm f/1.7 lens has graced every Leica Q camera so far and for good reason: it’s lightning-fast and spectacularly sharp. And on the Q3, which sports a new 60MP full frame sensor (up from a 47.3MP sensor on the Q2), you can squeeze even more detail out of that terrific glass. I was able to crop in and in (and in) on my photos, getting usable results from far smaller sections of shots than I would have otherwise thought possible. If there’s one gripe to have (and it’s a matter of opinion), the 28mm focal length is quite wide, with visual characteristics very similar to your smartphone camera. Better? Yes. But similar nonetheless.

Chris Coe

To learn more about our testing methodology and how we evaluate products, head here.

Among the major quality-of-life upgrades on the Leica Q3 are an important pair of ports: one USB-C and one micro-HDMI. This comes with basic advantages, like being able to connect the camera directly to mobile devices and charge up with a standard cable instead of hauling around the proprietary battery charger. It also enables some extra functionality; the Leica Q3 is compatible with external video recorders, for anyone who wants to get serious about more than still photography.

Chris Coe

Chris Coe

The Leica Q line has long lacked an articulating display, but with the Q3 it’s here. Tilting nearly 90 degrees upwards and around 45 degrees down, the 384 ppi 3-inch LCD makes it eminently practical to use the Q3 above your head and at your waist, turning it into a truly subtle street photography phenom with its wide 28mm lens. The only nit to pick is while tilting is nice, full articulation is better, and something that plenty of the Leica’s significantly less expensive competitors have included.

All that adds up to a package that, if you can stomach the price, is a fantastic camera but also just a wonderful object. It’s as much a pleasure to hold as it is to shoot. And the photos you get not only look stupendous right now, they still will when you’re using this camera 10 years down the line.

Gear Patrol

Related Topics

The worst way to start your workday is with a hangover. With WYNK’s alcohol-free seltzers, you can ditch the morning headache and keep the evening buzz. Each 7.5-ounce can contains 2.5mg each of THC and CBD – you know, the high-inducing compound found in cannabis and its chill, non-psychoactive cousin. Together, they deliver a light buzz that’s perfectly balanced and ideally suited for weeknight hangs, in a package that’s delicious and sugar- and calorie-free.

WYNK’s variety pack is a great place to jump into the infused seltzer lifestyle, with three six-packs spanning all its tasty flavors: Black Cherry Fizz, Lime Twist and Juicy Mango. And, if you’re looking for a double hit, WYNK also offers the variety pack in 5mg cans (18 for $97).

Snag the Variety Pack today (use code “STARTER” at checkout to save $15, plus score free shipping) and bring a WYNK of a weeknight buzz to your next social gathering.

Price: $65 – $97

Related Topics