Gear Patrol | Spirit of Adventure, Passion for Gear

Add a Little Chrome to Your Wheels

Move over Chuck Taylor. Meet the Batman of urban lifestyle footwear, the Chrome Midway ($90). Chrome, a San Francisco based company, has prided itself for 14 years on providing durable messenger bags to survive the wear and tear of the city streets and now, with an alternative, all – purpose cycling shoe that looks just [...]

End Kayak Clutter

To deal with the age-old problem of cluttered gear in confined spaces (in this case Kayaks), Malibu Kayaks has created the X-Wing Sliding Console ($130). Designed to confine all your fishing equipment into one compact, convenient location on your kayak, the console provides mounting positions for rods, GPS units, fish finders, compasses, a dry box [...]

Better Than Anything You Could Write In

When the calendar turns to August, the sports world looks pretty bleak. Yes baseball is in full swing, and NFL training camps are underway, but there isn’t much else to occupy our interests. Fortunately, it does bring us one step closer to September, and with September comes football and tailgating (a.k.a. pure joy). In preparation [...]

Wanted: Two Wheeled Multitasker

Fresh off Cannondale’s assembly lines comes the 2010 Bad Boy line of crossover bikes. Originally formulated a decade ago for professional cross-country cyclists, this is a hybrid that resonates masculinity with its speed and power. If you’re an urban commuter with the occasional itch to go off-roading, Cannondale Bad Boys ($700) were made with you [...]

Homemade & Hand-Delivered in NYC

Tucked away in a tiny corner of Queens, homemade ice cream is being made using only the highest quality, locally sourced, and occasionally unorthodox ingredients. But while words like “artisanal” and “sustainability” may make you feel warm, fuzzy, and socially responsible, they don’t necessarily make your mouth water. So here are some words that do: [...]

Get Iced, Minus the Smirnoff

We have all tried (and failed) to create iced coffee by brewing a pot, and immediately pouring it over a glass of ice. A true glass of iced coffee however takes time, patience, and effort. Or at least that’s what we thought before discovering the Fretta v60 Ice Coffee Maker ($33), which effortlessly brews a [...]

Better, Badder, Guidebook

For some, a vacation is supposed to be an adventure, and nothing’s worse than realizing you’ve spent your hard-earned dough and precious holiday time in a tourist trap. That’s why Rough Guides were developed. If you’re looking to go off the beaten path, these guides are the perfect travel companion for a news and picture [...]

Bolstered Blazer

A perpetual conundrum facing stylish men is the ability to look good without seeming dressed-up. While there are many techniques to walking this fine line, owning fashionable and purposeful outerwear that looks great without appearing like you just came from the office can help tremendously. Hlaska’s Surly Navigator blazer/jacket ($375) is a great example that [...]

Vino's Best Friend

Finally, a book that celebrates two of our favorite things: wine and dogs. Photographers Andrea Jacoby and Marjorie Adams recently published Winery Dogs of New York ($40), the fourth and latest edition in a collection of books about dogs that work and play at wineries. The vino-loving, canine-adoring couple visited over 70 New York State [...]

The Wait is Over (South Korea Rejoices!)

It was the spring of 1998. The Lewinsky Scandal was in full swing, Windows® 98 had yet to be released, and Billy Crystal hosted the Academy Awards. Most importantly however, the original StarCraft was released. Eight months later the StarCraft expansion pack, Brood War, was released, providing fans with hope for a potential sequel and [...]

Great Shoes Live on Trees

The Allen Edmonds Shoe Company has been making quality shoes since 1922 and our own experience with a pair of Allen Edmonds McAllister Wing Tips has certainly proven that. First becoming popular after outfitting the Army and Navy during World War II, Allen Edmonds has since moved on to style thousands of influential men, including [...]

American Reinterpretation of an American Classic

Alex Carleton of Rogues Gallery, has a knack for taking classic American staples and putting a modern twist on them. Nowhere is this more evident than his collaboration with L.L.Bean for this August’s launch of L.L.Bean’s Signature Collection. With cooler temperatures on the horizon, Carleton’s take on Bean’s classic Maine hunting boot has us already [...]

Ari Approved

Lately, it seems everybody and their brother is wearing aviators and for good reason, they look great on your face (yes, even yours). While Ray-Bans are facing near-ubiquity, and options like the Randolph Engineering’s military-approved versions we reviewed are fantastic, something a little more unique never hurts. JRS, over at the excellent blog Red Clay [...]

A Lamp For Your Office or Garage

Whether a man’s workspace is a desk with a computer, or a tool bench, it needs to contribute to his productivity. Thus light, and subsequently the light source, are critical component of the workspace equation. While we’ve covered plenty of acceptable lamps here on GP, the Marina Task Lamp ($129) is particularly versatile thanks to [...]

End of Summer, Refreshment

In the blistering heat, when your typical Bud bottle isn’t quenching your thirst, you need something that actually tastes refreshing. That’s when you should break out a 6-pack of Leinkenkugel’s Summer Shandy ($7). The first thing you’ll notice is the citrus aroma that jumps out of the glass. When it hits your lips the lemon [...]