Gear Patrol | Spirit of Adventure, Passion for Gear

Turning night into day

The idea of SCUBA diving at night can seem absurd, dangerous and terrifying to someone who hasn’t tried it. But for those who have done it, it can be exhilarating and downright addictive. The ocean becomes a different place after dark and a whole new set of creatures emerges from daytime hiding places – shape-shifting [...]

Ocean Twelve

The International Watch Company has always done things a little differently. First of all, the firm wasn’t founded by a venerable Swiss family in the remote mountains of the Jura or in the Vallée de Joux. Rather, it was an American entrepreneur from Boston, F.A. Jones, who set up shop on the banks of the [...]

Latch on to Michael Phelps, Or Use This

The Bladefish 7000 Turbo ($1,735) is designed to help any underwater explorer keep pace with the surrounding marine life. If you’re last name happens to be Bond, it’ll probably work just as well as a taxi to various underwater missile silos. As the top of the Bladefish line, this high-powered version features a “Turbo” gear [...]

Chairman of the Board

Why is finding a good pair of swim trunks so damn hard? Is it too much to ask for a balance of quality materials, simple design, and fit? After asking ourselves the same questions season after season, we decided to do something about it. So we partnered with the good men at Onia to create [...]

Jump Around

How do you improve the trampoline? Easy, just build one on top of a giant inflatable platform. The Aviva Sports Orbit ($3,500) may be intended for water parks and camps, but if you’ve got the cash, think of this beast as the ultimate lake house accessory. The mondo aquatic trampoline measures 25 feet in diameter [...]

Top Grain

Instead of riding a disposable foam board you’re likely to toss after a few seasons, switch back to wood and ride a hand-crafted board built to last a lifetime. Using just one-third of the wood required for traditional boards, Grain Surfboards are predominantly made from Northern White Cedar wrapped around a mahogany frame. Super light [...]

Fish or cut board

Fishing and paddle boards. A marriage made in Florida. The creation of PE Corey Cooper, the Bote Sup Skiff ($1,399) used advanced engineering and modeling software to create one truly unique vessel. Intersecting a stand-up paddle board with the versatility needed for fishing, the Bote begins life as a 12′ Bote. Cooper then adds a [...]

Don't think Kayak. Think Paddleship.

The Hobie Mirage Oasis Kayak ($2,700) has been re-tooled for 2011 to help improve handling and speed while still maintaining great hauling capacity in the form of three enclosed stowage bins and a large on-deck cargo area. Speaking of hauling, the dual seater also ships with two of Hobie’s unique Mirage drive pedal systems, which [...]

Overboard Insurance

Kids think finding small objects at the bottom of the pool is a chance for adventure, but we all know losing your keys in the lake while jet skiing can ruin your week as an adult. That is, of course, unless you had the foresight to keep a WaterBuoy ($13) clipped to your key chain. [...]

The Evolution of the Revolution

Thomas Meyerhoffer’s portfolio is something other product designers would kill to call their own — or certainly smash their 27-Cinema Displays in sacrifice. His first success came in 1994, when he designed the first pair of wrap-around-lens ski goggles, the Smith V3. In 1996, he led Apple’s eMate design team, which preceded the iMac. From [...]

A river of features runs through it

The modern fly fishing wader has only seen a moderate degree of innovation since the introduction of breathable construction materials. With breathability came increased comfort and performance compared to heavy and hot neoprene or plastic materials, but designers have essentially been tweaking and adjusting a basic model that no one built better than Simms Fishing… [...]

Try Swimming a Mile in these Shoes

Sporasub’s innovative new swim fin, the Revolution Fin ($179), combines the elegance of the traditional freediving fin with the practicality and style of what most closely resembles a bicycling shoe. Equipped with three Velcro straps, the shoe provides a very comfortable, yet snug fit underwater. Pre-molded and built of nylon with a polyurethane covering, the [...]

World surfing champions Mick Fanning and Steph Gilmore filmed by Timeslice (the team behind the Matrix bullet time) for Rip Curl at Sunway Lagoon Wavepool in Malaysia. Achieved using 52 Canon DSLR’s, 3 waterlogged Mac’s, and a dozen destroyed hard drives. Your Monday morning video-caffeine.

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 [...]

A Perfect Fit

In the ongoing list of visceral man-activities, trying your hand at shooting a fish underwater is certainly up there. But, with the thrill comes a fear, justifiably, of knocking out your front teeth due to lack of experience (I’ve seen it happen – not fun). If so, then Riffe has developed the perfect shooter for [...]