Gear Patrol | Spirit of Adventure, Passion for Gear

Gunmetal Great

Le Creuset’s wares have always been a staple of upscale kitchens, but we’ve never particularly liked their boisturious color options. This exclusive gunmetal gray version ($300) of their classic 7.25-quart round french oven done in collaboration with one of our favorite Southern publications, Garden & Gun, however, provides a tasteful upgrade to the deep black [...]

Tool House Rocks

The “ultimate workshop” is one of those rooms that frequently crop up in a man’s dream home ramblings, right between mentions of the Holodeck and a putting green. Even for those who’ve never lifted a tool in their life, the allure of escaping to an oasis of tinkering, away from the rest of the house [...]

Snow Might

With enough bite to make a Yeti white with jealousy, Atlas Snowshoe has outdone themselves with the Aspect ($269). Built around an all-new traction system called ReactiV-Trac, the Aspect’ offers up tons of grip thanks to an angry saw-toothed perimeter. Something you’ll want when the powder gets especially naughty. A platform of offset webbing creates [...]

Like their namesake city, Millinocket — population 5,200 — these moccasin boots expand on Eastland’s growing Made in Maine series. Horween leather handsewn by Maine shoemakers feature a hand-rubbed finish and a contrasting crepe-colored wedge. $365 | | barneys.com

Forget one-size-fits-all

Typically, buying a set of custom molded earbuds from brands like Ultimate Ears (now a subsidiary of Logitech) or Etymotic can take months. That’s because consumers must first visit the Audiologist to have inner-ear molds made, which are then shipped to the headphone company for production. Sonomax’s Sculpture Eers Custom Molded Headphones ($199+) ship with [...]

Keep your creature comforts

Plenty of brands sell solar panels to help adventurers keep their gadgets charged no matter how far they wander off the trail. The HiLight (~$257) from Swedish company HiNation provides the same charging convenience for USB or Micro USB devices, while also serving as an LED lantern. Ten hours of sunlight charging can power the [...]

Cutting-edge indeed

So-called “cloud services” hope to make transferring digital data via physical devices akin to cave painting in the near future. That hasn’t stopped pocket-tool legend Victorinox from evolving the classic Swiss Army Knife to house the latest SSDs and transfer protocols. Their new solid state drive line features a special single connector that’s compatible with [...]

Clear the mechanism

If there’s one thing that Bose does well, besides marketing, it’s noise cancelling headphones. They just work, even if they scream “I live for middle-management”. And despite efforts from some of our favorite brands, most of the offerings have been pretty lackluster. AKG aims to remedy that, including their former noise-cancelling headphones, with the all-new [...]

Android or iOS? It's all good.

Android owners continually get the short end of the stick compared to their iPhone counterparts when it comes to the accessory world. Pioneer’s new App Radio 2 does its part to remedy the situation, by adding support for MHL capable Android handsets, in addition to the iPhone 4/4S compatibility the of the original version. That [...]

Cuts like a knife

Just because an everyday carry (EDC) is all about necessity, doesn’t mean it can’t or shouldn’t have a bit of custom flair. The G. Wiseman Sodbuster Pocket Knife ($330), exclusive to Kaufmann Mercantile could be that special something in your pocket (cough). This “as good as they get” pocket knife is made by hand by [...]

Audiophile AirPlay

Did you lust after Widealab’s Aurender S10 music server, only to have your heart crushed by its $6,800 price tag? Pioneer’s newly announced N-50 and N-30 streamers might be just the substitute for those with more humble budgets and who couldn’t care less about internal storage. The N-50 ($699) is the higher-end model and features [...]

Now your see it, now you don't

The BE Light by QisDesign may not boast the ridiculous lifespan of the CSYS LED task lamp, but it does represent an ideal combination between form and function. Inspired by the art of origami, its articulating design allows users to extend the arm to a variety of positions, providing fully dimmable, warm white LED light [...]

The Red Wing Heritage 4563 reminds us why the Minnesota staple is one of our perennial favorites. Beginning with the pedigree 8-inch workboot, the 4563 also combines the benefits of a round-toe design (fewer seams, more expanses of leather) from the oxford silhouette. The result is a dressier iron grinder. Exclusively at Nordstrom. $300 (select [...]

Roombox

The Arcam rCube is another high-end iPhone dock to hit the home audio market along the lines of the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air. What sets Arcam’s offering apart from the rest is the Sonos-like ability to wirelessly network up to four rCubes throughout the house, using an included USB dongle, for a complete home [...]

Carving out comfort

When it comes to comfort on the slopes, snowboarders have always had two legs up on skiers because of their boots. Freemotion is an upstart company hoping to balance things out in this area thanks to an inventive new design that combines a flexible and soft “comfort boot” with a rigid exo-frame. The two components [...]