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Looking back at the year of gear.
This was an interesting year for gear in a lot of ways — so I thought I would wrap up the year commenting on different gear categories and how they felt over 2025. In some ways there’s a lot of good out there, but in far too many other ways, it was disappointing.
I’ll go category by category.
What an amazing looking and feeling shirt, which fails the odor test.
I was looking to hit a free shipping minimum and tossed in a 50th Anniversary Edition of the Wickron Long Sleeve Tee from Montbell — this is their standard active material which can be found in many variants across the lines of clothing Montbell sells. I’ve been using it for many weeks now, and thought I’d share some quick thoughts.
Generally, there’s better options on the market than this.
Save money, buy cool watches.
Vero has a great sale for the holiday, including my favorite The Smokey Bear Campfire Edition (Review.)
Buy some for everyone.
Solid savings from Benks on the best cases I’ve found and the only cases I use.
A fun game, now on sale.
Note: this game was sent to me for review.
This is a fun backyard/outdoor game, and it’s 25% off today.
Feels like one of those games my kids will decide to play for a while, make up completely new rules for and keep playing — and onward with the cycle. Good stuff.
I still do not understand how this is priced so low, but it’s a hell of a good deal.
I’ve written a fair amount now about Yoshida & Co’s Porter line of bags, and once you start diving down that rabbit hole, you’ll quickly find that Uniqlo makes some bags which look awfully similar to Tanker bags, but at a price well under $50. Which is crazy. I picked up the Uniqlo 2Way Utility Bag in Japan to see if the bag is any good and how it compares.
I am very torn. This is decidedly not up to quality standards of Porter, and it’s lacking some of the better Porter features. The design is very similar to Porter, and I loathe copies when I buy stuff. That said, for the price, this is a very good bag to buy. I suspect most people will see this well before they see the Tanker Helmet and Tote bags it is copying.
So floppy.
Believe it or not, this is one Ruck I’ve never had from GORUCK. I’ve ordered one.
My favorite slippers, now even better.
Note: this item was provided for review.
I’ve been wearing my last pair of Kyrgies daily, so when they offered to send over the Bishkek Kicks, I was very excited to get them. I’ve been wearing them a couple of weeks now, and I am very happy with them. A little different than the slippers I had before, but in most ways a lot better too.
I absolutely love these sunglasses, and wear them all the time.
Note: this item was provided for review.
After receiving and reviewing the Namba Slate from Shinzo Tamura I was clamoring for more. Those quickly became the only sunglasses I wear, so when they offered to send a pair of the Abeno Granite my way, I couldn’t wait. These are a different frame and a very different lens — as moving from dark lenses to very light — I wasn’t sure what to expect.
Now I am questioning all of my decisions and why I focused so heavily on dark lens sunglasses only. These hit a really sweet spot, and I love the way they look.
Easily the best t-shirt I have owned, a real gem.
Note: this item was provided for review.
I keep trying to sort out in my head how you explain one t-shirt being better than any other. It’s a simple item, with seemingly very little room for differentiation, and yet we all intuitively know there are good t-shirts and then there’s all the others. This Allevol t-shirt is very good and well worth your time and money, so I’ll do my best to explain why.
A strong contender for the best chinos on the market today.
Note: this item was provided for review.
Finding good chinos, something well made with excellent materials, proves a lot harder than you might think. Especially if you want to keep the cost of the item under control. So I was quite excited when Warren reached out to send me a pair of their Pomfret Country Chinos in the Sanded Olive Canvas. Olive chinos are among the most versatile color options you can select, in case you weren’t aware, and I was unhappy with my current stock of olive chinos.
The moment I opened the package, I knew these were going to be hard not to love. And the more I wear these, the more I realize that I have only been wearing these chinos. They are fantastic.
A fantastic base layer in the cooler months, but sunny parts of the world.
I was needing to add some shirts to my kit, to use as base layers when hiking, and occasionally to use when I ruck in the mornings. After a lot of whittling of options I picked up Himali’s Pursuit Tech Tee in the long sleeve version. This is a really nice product, which is near perfect for what I need.
