Gear Patrol

The fourth installment in our Staff Favorites series features Mr. Matt Neundorf. Hailing from Toronto, this proud Canadian is one of GP’s newer recruits — but there isn’t a lick of green about him except for his prowess in DIY projects. A confessed car nut, an avid drinker of craft brews (especially those from his native Great White North) and an old hand at home renovation, Matt’s a natural — especially since he also brings his level-headed, humorous writing to bear on GP assignments. When he isn’t filling GP readers’ heads with dreams of roaring autos and whirring power tools, Matt works on his own personal home renovation projects, purveys construction equipment and sources consumer goods.

Our third installment of Staff Favorites turns to Mr. Ben Bowers. Second aboard the GP express and the reticent co-founder of Gear Patrol, Mr. Bowers is first and foremost an inquirer — using his battle-hardened eye of skepticism while monitoring the pulse of the internet, et al.; typically, he does so while reading a pantheon of feeds and bookmarks on his mobile device du jour.

At GP HQ, Ben is also the catalyst, and prizewinner, of often heated culture debates, where his insatiable appetite for music, movies and other media provides him with a panoply of pop-culture knowledge, particularly in early hip-hop and independent films. Beyond the walls of media and analytic thinking though, Ben’s interests are far less studious. A fair-weather sailor, patron of cocktail mixing and a die-hard Nets fan, Ben is also a proud Baton Rouge native — undoubtedly the reason behind his occasional son-of-Creole outbursts in an otherwise self-composed nature.

Need proof that the fashion world is cyclical? The fact that esteemed eyewear brand Persol reintroduced clip-ons last year is all the evidence you should need. While traditionally synonymous with bad taste, the PO 3007 V and 3002 V frames make a strikingly good case for the design’s revival, especially considering their price and convenience…

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…