Gear Patrol | Spirit of Adventure, Passion for Gear

Michael Bay-Free Transforming

It goes without saying that we appreciate well-designed furniture from an aesthetics standpoint, but having a cool, practical feature definitely sweetens the pot. Case in point, the Metamorphic Chair/Stool/Table ($395) by Reeves Design is a handsome chair made from sustainable American Black Walnut that matches perfectly with a Combine Collective keyboard tray. Thanks to some [...]

Most people assume fashion shows are all about runways and break dance fighting. Ok maybe just runways. The reality is that plenty of brands put on just as big of a spectacle by throwing champagne-fueled parties, bedeck with models posed against choice backdrops. We were invited to one such event last week for Michael Bastian’s [...]

$250 per Megapixel, If You're Counting

Ringing in at a lofty 10 grand your first thought might be “for a Pentax?” but the 645D is nothing to scoff at. The 40-megapixel medium format camera will feature a massive 44x33mm CCD sensor, 3.0″ 931k dot LCD display, to capture ultra sharp high-resolution images. The traditionally shaped, weather-resistant, ruggedized steel-alloy body will be [...]

What, No Pegs?

Back in the 80s, it was cool (or at least we thought it was) to put baseball cards between the spokes of your bike tire so everyone could hear you doing your best Lance Armstrong down the street. Now, nearly 20 years later, baseball cards have been replaced by 1.2 kW electric motors that allow [...]

A Year Ago on Gear Patrol

Tech-Laden Shades with a Classic Disguise

There are hundreds of brands out there making Wayfarer-like pairs of shades, and at first glance the Activist Eyewear 10.01 ($450) may seem like just another imitator. Look closer though and you’ll notice details you won’t find on other specs. Before we dive into the specifics though, let’s first make it clear that Activist Eyewear [...]

Corona's Best Friend

Fall may officially be here, but that doesn’t mean we’re all trying to squeeze the most out of the last few weeks of warm weather, and there is no better way to do it than with a lime-topped cerveza. Good thing you won’t need to over pack for the barbeque – just toss a Citrusaw [...]

Your Grados Can Look As Good As They Sound

Grado has been turning out fantastic headphones since the late 1980s and has become one of the most respected headphone brands in the world. Their phones sound undeniably phenomenal, but, frankly, the looks haven’t exactly kept up. Some users call them retro (others are less gracious), but either way a pair can benefit from a [...]

A Tent Without Poles

What’s next – a car without wheels? From the, “why didn’t I think of that” category comes the NEMO Morpho 2P ($350), a lightweight backpacking tent that eschews conventional aluminum poles for support in favor of collapsible “airbeams.” Poles have been a necessary evil of tent construction forever and though modern tent poles are light [...]

It's Like Watching Wood Being Chopped

It’s hard to go far in a conversation about axes (you do have conversation about axes, right?) and not hear the name Best Made Company dropped a few times. Well, everyone’s favorite axe company has a new series of short films coming this Fall entitled CHOP. Succinctly described as “celebrating the collision between a Best [...]

Meet The Classic Work Boots Slightly More Stylish Cousin

Timberland boots are well known by working men and rappers alike largely for the same reasons. Their beefy looks, comfort, and durability are simply hard to match, especially for around $100. Feeding off that heritage, Stussy and Timberland have collaborated to create the Stussy x Timberland XXXth Anniversary Desert Boot ($195) which mix elements of [...]

A Different Kind of Apple Wood

Like Apple but looking for a more natural look? Check out Combine Collective’s Black Walnut Keyboard Trays ($64-$79). They also work well for those of you who start twitching when their separate wireless peripherals start to scatter (att: Eric Yang). Made in Vancouver, Canada from whole and solid-joined sustainable hardwoods harvested in North America, Combine [...]

The Wormwood Tradition

The Leopold Brothers believe in a strong sense of tradition and it is understood that tradition is what makes their spirits so good. The Leopold Brothers Absinthe Verte ($67) is crafted from a 100-year-old recipe of anise, grande wormwood, and sweet fennel along with a number of “proprietary botanicals.” The spirit is distilled in a [...]

6? Nah, More Like a 10

We’ve never considered the previous generation BMW 6 Series much of a looker, a victim of the incoherent design that’s plagued BMW’s from the past decade. The new BMW 6 Series Concept — if you can call it a concept, as this pretty close to what will hit our shores in mid 2011 — is [...]