Gear Patrol

Summer Fridays are a thing to be put on a pedestal, the ultimate luxury for 9-to-5, Monday to Friday working stiffs. They’re a chance to bug out as soon as possible, to hit the road or jump a train to the beach, a cabin in the woods or some other resplendent getaway. In any case, we can’t just go into a summer Friday unprepared, men. We cannot go silently into that good mini vacation. What we need is a kit — the perfect gear for the perfect summer Friday getaway.

It doesn’t matter if you’re heading to Whistler for early spring powder turns or Fort Lander for the summer climbing festival; mountain style is a little different than your garden variety runway fare. Put the moonboots and sweat pants down. You’re not fooling anyone. We’ve put together a few indispensable mountain style standards, chock full of storied, quality brands, to help you blend in with the locals — unless you’re heading to any ski resort in Montana. In that case, it’s time to stock up on Wrangler and Carhartt.

For the last two seasons, Michael Bastian has teamed up with Randolph Engineering, bringing to life his vision for sun- and eyeglasses, many of which were inspired by vintage Randolph frames that had long been shelved. While plenty of new classics have emerged from this partnership, the Norwich frame ($295) is a recent standout. The…

Our latest viewfinder comes courtesy of the esteemed sunglass makers at Randolph Engineering. After touring their factory last year, we were certainly impressed with the hard work and craftsmanship that went into every pair of glasses Randolph makes. The Sound of Sight is essentially an artful highlight reel of this process.

Built with a heavy dose of human power, Randolph Engineering has been producing honest, premium quality eyewear, frame after frame at their family owned factory in Massachusetts. We’ve spent time with Randolph’s quintessential Aviators, but this time around we walked away even more impressed having had the opportunity to do an inadvertent test of the…

$145+ | themandonstore.com

Almost a year ago, we featured a pair of Randoph Engineering Aviators on Gear Patrol. Since then, they’ve accompanied us everywhere. This past Monday, we were offered to take a tour of Randolph Engineering‘s factory and we jumped at the chance. We came away with even more respect for our some of our favorite shades…