Gear Patrol | Spirit of Adventure, Passion for Gear

Fusion reaction

Let’s get it out of the way. There’s an undeniably Aston Martin aura about the all-new 2013 Ford Fusion. And rights (or rites) of design or not, we reckon it’s been a while since anyone’s spoken that highly about a mid-size Ford sedan. At least not here in the U.S. and perhaps going all the [...]

And nary a single apple-shaped logo around

When you sweat the details, and we mean truly sweat, people notice. When you do it with a seemingly impossible low price, people take even more notice. With Vizio’s foray into desktops and laptops it’s evident the engineers and designers have colluded to do just that. A culmination of two years worth of design, the [...]

4 and we're floored

Faster, smarter, and more lust-worthy than ever, the Nikon D4 ($5,999) is the culmination of a carefully chosen list of features and enhancements, leaving what works and adding what’s needed for the latest in a long line of full-frame (FX) pedigree pro cameras. That’s something you do when your flagship camera is considered by its [...]

Chasing the light and an explanation how

The first in a series of upcoming editions, photo artist Bruce Percy has compiled 40 of his incredible photoworks into The Art of Adventure: 40 Photographic Examples (~$61). Spanning the waterfalls of Iceland, to the Bolivian Altiplano, to Nepalese buddhists, each photo — like Patagonia’s Pehoe Curve (pictured above) — are stunning examples of Percy’s [...]

A bit of a different tone from our usual Viewfinder fare, Pickin’ & Trimmin’ reminds us why we love our Southern roots — and even moreso, bluegrass music. It’s also further proof that the Barbershop (the institution itself) is one of America’s greatest treasures. Filmed by Matt Morris, the documentary has garnered heaps of attention [...]

Analogous

It doesn’t take a sleuth to see that the analog stereo bandwagon is growing beyond its fringe enthusiast roots into a mainstream consumer request. But unlike their positively eyegasmic flat screens, we can’t recall a time we’ve ever clamored for a piece of Samsung audio gear, much less an iPod dock, but the Samsung DA-E750 [...]

Gourmet kitchen in nature's motel

Just because you can’t (or won’t) lug your Calphalons along with you doesn’t mean your bivouac has to be barren of cookware. At least not with a set of GSI Outdoor cookware like the Pinnacle Base Camper ($110). Built with durability and easy stowability in mind, the set includes everything you need for your next [...]

The Grid at 200: Lines That Shaped Manhattan NYTimes Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Ultra-Thin Tribute To Mad Men Hodinkee What George Clooney Learned This Year Esquire 10 Things We Learned About Apple This Year SplatF TV Producers Applaud Film Producers Variety This Will be the Year That Was The Morning News World’s Fastest Car Named for Sluggish [...]

We’re taking Monday off to be with friends and family — not to mention recuperate — but until then, here are a few sage words for the New Year from Mr, Franklin himself. We couldn’t have said it better. Our best to you in 2012.

Boutique of a better variety

Blending editorial and a tight selection of menswear, Boylstron Trading Co. demonstrates great stuff doesn’t have to be so damn complicated. A personal one-on-one approach at their store and a shiny new website (hat tip to their designers) make procurement dangerously easy and we’re digging their original editorial, The Trade which features original lookbooks, ace [...]

1,000 miles never felt so easy

Recently, we hopped into the 9th generation E-class for an extended test on the unfamiliar (to us) roads of Miami. Over the span of a week, we logged nearly a thousand miles hurtling our Mercedes-Benz E350 Sport everywhere from South Beach to Little Havana, from the University of Miami to Dania Beach and we’re still [...]

Stuff in a box

A practical way to store not just knives but also spices, keys, power-outlets, iPods or even a small TV, the S-Box (costs vary) can be installed into any surface with cabinet space beneath. Think: end of a kitchen island, breakfast bar or near the primary workspace you like to do your best Mario Batali. With [...]

Whoa, down in Mexico

With just 20 bungalows strewn across 99-acres of mountainside in Mexican wine country, Endemico Resguardo Silvestre might be the best reason to go South of the Border yet. Designed with eco-friendly mentality the demure, yet capacious rooms (each measures about 215 sq ft), called EcoLofts, are built from corten steel and elevated from the ground [...]

In the course of a year it’s easy to forget just how much stuff crosses our desks and just how much of that we write about. For 2011 it was more than ever — with nearly 3,000 posts published. And it being that time of year, it’s time to wrap up, like last year, with [...]

Method to the madness

At our humble New York office we’re surrounded by a coliseum of publications dedicated to creating excellent reading on this internet(s) we call home. Count the rest of the web in and suddenly you’ve got a lot of places to bookmark, subscribe to, add, watch, like and follow. It’s hardly duck soup. So it goes [...]