The Brooks Review

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The Hype: Yoshida & Co’s Porter BagsAugust 26, 2025
G-SHOCK DW-H5600 After 7 MonthsJuly 31, 2025
Casio Duro MDV-106 Re-ReviewDecember 15, 2022

Recent Articles

  • Gear Report — 7/1/26

    Gear Report — 7/1/26

    More new tools.

    This week: new tools!

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  • Member Journal — 6/29/26

    Member Journal — 6/29/26

    Some thoughts on Macs with the price increases.

    This week: Om, Macs, and iPhones.

    ## We Lost a Good One

    This past week, Om Malik passed. That was sad news to hear across the tech-blogosphere, as he’s been a staple for a very long time. He was a kind man. Not someone I was close enough with where I’d say he was a friend, but certainly an acquaintance.

    The type of guy who would send me the odd email, which would lead to a back-and-forth email conversation which might last months. He’d ask me for advice on a new blog or newsletter setup. Why me? I don’t know, but I always loved his curiosity.

    The type of guy who, when I was looking for work and reached out to him, put me in touch with the founder and CEO of a company in mere hours. A nice guy. A genuine guy. We shared emails, video chats, and the like, but never found ourselves in the same locale at the same time.

    The world is a little less bright without him.

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  • Gear Report — 6/24/26

    Gear Report — 6/24/26

    This watch is fucking great.

    This week: a quick love note about the **GMC-B2100D**.

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  • Member Journal — 6/22/26

    Member Journal — 6/22/26

    Why I am loving e-ink tablets, even if the category is messy af.

    This week: some thoughts on my e-ink devices.

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  • Indigosea OG107 Field Fatigue Pant

    Indigosea OG107 Field Fatigue Pant

    An excellent pair of fatigue pants.

    Note: this item was provided for review.

    I had not tried anything from Indigosea before receiving these pants, but immediately I was taken by the hand feel. Solid, but soft. These are a fatigue-style pant, which basically means the pockets are sewn to the face of the garment (patch pockets) and they are cut wider and straighter. Effectively, something straight from the WWII-era playbook for soldiers (at least US soldiers).

    These are also an exceptional value, and very comfortable.

    (more…)

  • Gear Report — 6/17/26

    Gear Report — 6/17/26

    A lot of a new gear, mostly tools.

    This week: lots of new gear (tools).

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  • Member Journal — 6/15/26

    Member Journal — 6/15/26

    Random thoughts from water glasses to cars.

    This week: some random musings that have been bouncing around in my head.

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  • Gear Report — 6/9/26

    Gear Report — 6/9/26

    Moving, so a few thoughts on a few thoughts.

    Today, as you read this, I am moving.

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  • Member Journal — 6/8/26

    Member Journal — 6/8/26

    Short and sweet moving edition.

    This week: a quick few thoughts as I am currently moving.

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  • Gear Report — 6/3/26

    Gear Report — 6/3/26

    New tools this week.

    This week: some new gear; and a few gems for my house remodel/woodworking adventures.

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  • KNKG Shift Backpack 27L

    KNKG Shift Backpack 27L

    A fantastic looking and functioning backpack.

    Note: this item was provided for review.

    You might be surprised to learn that one of the hardest things to get me to review is a backpack. I’ve tried way too many backpacks, own way too many, and I am largely not interested in taking review samples. So, it’s a bit of a surprise (to me at least) that I was game to take a look at the Shift Backpack 27L from KNKG. There’s something quite visually striking about this bag, both online in the product photos and in person.

    I have to apologize to KNKG—I slightly forgot to write this sooner. This backpack quickly became my everything bag, and I forgot it was a review sample, and not just a workhorse of a bag for me.

    This bag is everything I wanted other waxed canvas bags to be, put together in a way where it simply excels at everything I’ve thrown at it. And I have tossed quite a lot at this backpack—it’s fantastic all around.

    (more…)

  • Member Journal — 6/1/26

    Member Journal — 6/1/26

    Protecting control and power.

    This week: diving into why control is at the heart of Tokenmaxxing BS.

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  • Gustin’s 562 Selvedge Herringbone Denim

    Gustin’s 562 Selvedge Herringbone Denim

    A very cool pair of denim.

    Note: this item was provided for review.

    I’ve been pleasantly surprised by every item I’ve received from Gustin, and this pair of denim is no different. I wasn’t sure what to expect — a herringbone denim is not something you see every day, but it’s quite a treat in person.

    (more…)

  • Gear Report — 5/27/26

    Gear Report — 5/27/26

    Thoughts on my iPhone and displays.

    This week: a few thoughts on phones and monitors.

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  • Member Journal — 5/25/26

    Member Journal — 5/25/26

    Some random thoughts about software, AI and being busy.

    This week: random (and short) thoughts on AI and builders; the crunch of busy; and sketchy software.

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  • Todoist

    Todoist

    My new favorite task app.

    You can use Apple’s Reminders on the web, through iCloud.com, but only if you also do not use Advanced Data Protection. So, you turn off that and you have a pretty sub-par way to get at Reminders. Ok, fine, whatever. I didn’t really need reminders on the web, it was just annoying to not see my tasks on my Linux machines. Then I started to use the Framework a lot more, and well the system was falling apart.

    I spent weeks trying out different setups (and migrating all my reminders between them) to see what would work. I was done with ecosystem locked tools, I needed something that worked cross-platform. I needed something with really nice apps too.

    I ended up on Todoist.

    For the first week it felt very much like a “whatever, this is fine” type of thing. And then the little bright spots started to show up, and suddenly I felt like I had been missing out not using Todoist.

    (more…)

  • Gear Report — 5/20/26

    Gear Report — 5/20/26

    Clothing and tools this week.

    This week: new gear.

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  • Member Journal — 5/18/26

    Member Journal — 5/18/26

    Nomad, but maybe also Daylight.

    This week: some thoughts on the Supernote Nomad.

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  • Gear Report — 5/13/26

    Gear Report — 5/13/26

    Let’s have a chat about pens.

    This week: I was going to talk more Linux, but you know what, let’s talk about Pens instead.

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  • Member Journal — 5/11/26

    Member Journal — 5/11/26

    Let’s talk about selling my iPad Pro and why.

    This week: thoughts on selling my iPad Pro.

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