Gear Patrol | Spirit of Adventure, Passion for Gear

1990 Meets 2011

The idea of making a wireless phone wired is admittedly strange, but nostalgia for the familiar often drives people to do crazy things. The iFusion ($150) is essentially a Bluetooth speaker dock in traditional telephone clothing. Thanks to A2DP Bluetooth streaming, the iFusion can playback both call audio or music over its internal speakerphone. The [...]

Optical Hat Trick

File this one under “Unobtainable, Yet Awesome”. Nikon is offering a trio of their incredible f/1.4 (super fast) Nikkor AF-S prime lenses (24mm, 35mm, 85mm) in one limited edition set. Unlike most “special editions” though, Nikon isn’t charging a premium. In fact, the set, a whopping $7,000, is still $1,250 less than purchasing all three [...]

Because We Can't All Be Ray Allen

Sick of air-balling those wide open jumpers during your weekly game at the gym? Or perhaps you’re just looking to give junior that extra edge come varsity try outs. In either scenario, the SKLZ Rapid Fire Basketball Training Aid ($125) is the next best thing to hiring a personal ball boy. It’s designed to be [...]

Big Deux Coupe

The original BMW 635CSi from the 80′s was a tough act to follow. Crisp, clean lines and an aggressive stance, along with a beautifully forward angled grille made the 6-Series Coupe of yesteryear a true classic.The reincarnation in 2003 proved to be less than thrilling, looking more like a large lozenge than an iconic coupe. [...]

Lighten your load

So your Ford F-150 is in the shop and you’re forced to take your diminutive Toyota Yaris to Home Depot to pick up some 2x4s. That ain’t gonna work. You can pay to rent one of their vans to bring back a small supply, or you can simply bring along your Malone HandiRack inflatable roof [...]

Make any club a training aid.

Vince Lombardi once said, “Only perfect practice makes perfect.” True for football, also true for golf. Weighted golf clubs have been a hot training aid for years, but who wants to practice with a club they aren’t actually going to play with? Taylormade’s TR3 Speed Sleeve ($30) does just that, transforming any club in your [...]

Does everything for you but run

If you do any amount of running year-round, unless you live in milder climates or you choose to don your Gore-Tex lined Yeti running costume, the winter pushes you indoors and onto a treadmill to perform Hamster 2.0. ProForm aims to make this part of your fitness routine a more enjoyable experience with their Trailrunner [...]

Over the hill and through the woods

Once you’ve driven your way up California’s incredible US 101 highway into Oregon, turned onto the winding “authorized vehicles only” one-lane road, and made your way to the end, what lies ahead can only be described as one of the most spectacular lighthouse locations in North America. Perched on a 205 foot headland, 13 miles [...]

Bad name, really good concept

The Jaguar E-Type is perhaps one of the most significant vehicles ever made. It will never look outdated and it stands as a nearly flawless design 50 years later. The folks at Vizualtech have rendered a concept called the Growler E to honor the E-Type on its half century anniversary. No, you don’t fill up [...]

Seams Ripe For Spring

Sick of sweaters and overcoats yet? We certainly are. That’s why this Maiden Noir Crew Neck Fleece ($165) called to us. Made from light fleece in two great-looking heather color ways with white contrast stitching, it hints of more temperate Spring weekends to come, where a sweatshirt is all you need to warm up in [...]

Give It Hell

Some tools are made for creating, others are destined for destruction. The Garret Wade Box Hatchet ($10) has breaking written all over it. Stare at the head, and you’ll see it’s part hatchet, part hammer, part nail remover and part crowbar, making it the mother of all frankentools. Why the name Box Hatchet you ask? [...]

Neat Seat

If Slam gets their way, “Chool” will one day enter our vocabulary next to the terms, bench, seat and stool. Essentially their concept centers on a stool-like base that can be transformed into a chair by pulling up a nifty slidable backrest. Realizing that there were plenty of ways to iterate on this form, the [...]

American roots, Swiss guts

Sometimes retro goes bad. Like Hasselhoff. Then there’s just plain classic. Case in point, the Hamilton Pan-Europ tribute watch. Based on the original watch from 1971, this reiteration carries forward the classic blue chronograph dial and position six date window, and it just plain looks good. Founded in 1892 in Pennsylvania, this now Swiss brand [...]

Charge of the Bike Brigade

Hybrid vehicles are popping up like Charlie Sheen headlines. You can’t go about your daily business without seeing one. If you’re going to get your hands on a hybrid, make it a good one. And why not throw fitness into the mix with self-propulsion? Well, M55 builds their bikes around that whole idea. Their flagship [...]

Making Master Control Look Weak

The Pioneer VSX-1021-K 7.1 Home Theater Receiver ($550) has iPhone and iPad integration oozing out of its amplified pores. First and foremost, it’s the first midrange receiver out of the gate to ship AirPlay ready — which allows iOS and Mac users to stream music wirelessly to their main home theater system, as well as [...]