Category: Articles

Note: this item was provided for review.

My new home office is the coldest room in the house, and because of that, I’ve had cold feet a lot of the days I’ve worked in this office. Add to that my recent move from muggy and hot Houston, to cool and dry Boulder — it’s a recipe for needing slippers. Thankfully, Kyrgies sent over their Indoor Wool Slides for me to test out, and they might have found a customer for life.

I have no complaints about these.

(more…)

Note: this item was provided for review.

Many years ago, I decided to spend real money on a sweatshirt — I never saw the point in spending that much on one before then. They are all the same, right? Simply “sweatshirt material” after all. But once I got my hands on that premium sweatshirt, I realized the multitudes of nuances — a nice sweatshirt simply feels premium and undeniably nice.

While I don’t generally wear sweatshirts day to day, I have been wearing them more than ever with my move to a colder climate, so I was pumped when Gustin offered to send over their Vintage Heavyweight Sweatshirt in Navy. Especially since I have only two nice sweatshirts on hand.

I’ve been wearing this and living in it for a good while now, and it’s fantastic.

(more…)

Note: this item was provided for review.

When I was offered this jacket to review, I thought it would be a pretty neat looking jacket, but maybe not the most versatile. However, shortly after this jacket arrived, Fall with spurts of Winter hit the Boulder area. And the Rampart Jacket quickly became my “easy” go to for covering a hugely variable ‘feels like’ in temps here.

This jacket is far more versatile and easy to wear than I thought, and is fantastic.

(more…)

When I think of pocket knives, there’s two iconic blades which pop into my head: a Swiss Army Knife, and a Buck 110. Those are also the first two knives I used growing up, getting my first Swiss Army knife at the ripe old age of five. And handling the Buck 110 not too long after that.

I’ve had a Buck 110 for 7 years now, an item of my grandfather’s I inherited. It’s Damascus steel with a horn handle scale and nickel bolsters. I never use it, I treasure it too much. I’ve bought variants of the 110 since then, the Slim and others to try out more modern takes on the classic. They are all not that great, and not really a Buck 110.

Then, Buck added magnacut steel to the custom shop for the 110, and I bought myself a 110 of my own. It’s amazing, overbearing, and well worth it.

(more…)

Note: these items were sent for review.

A while back, my wife gifted me one of the first iterations of Leader Studio’s camo mouse pads. I loved the aesthetics of it, and it’s always found a home in random areas of my office. So when Leander Studio asked for a quick video chat, I was pumped to talk with the brand. On that chat we talked about how they were wanting to help craft work spaces which feel inviting, where people want to work and be there. This thinking and philosophy immediately clicked with me.

They sent me over a sampling of items to review, I took time to rearrange my entire desk. A new desk pad, mouse pad, and valet tray all arrived. They also sent over two of their leather pouches. They told me “no rush” and so I’ve been not rushing anything.

(more…)

We are heading towards the peak of AI startups and development (though far from close to the peak). We are many months removed from Earnings Call proclamations executives made to stake their claim in the AI game, and to let shareholders know that they (at the very least) know about Generative AI and those executives making the ask ‘please help improve our stock price because we not proved to you we know about AI.’

Perhaps I missed it, but I’ve yet to see Earnings Call proclamations touting the mass efficiencies gained, or how profits have been generated directly, from these AI initiatives (excluding, of course, the biggest tech companies who are selling these services/tools to other big companies at profit).

(more…)

I have long ignored this line of Filson shirts, not understanding why it might be good or why it might be popular. After deciding I wanted to look a little more put together for hiking, or when wearing clothes for working in the yard, I started thinking more about this shirt. Then I read David Coggins raving about how he loves this shirt, and I decided I needed one.

I picked up one second hand, then another, and then Filson put them on sale, so I got another. It turns out, there’s a reason people love these, and that reason is that this shirt is very comfortable and very durable.

I own both the long and short sleeve variants of Filson’s Washed Feather Cloth shirt, the only difference is the sleeve length. (This review is for the washed variants, the previous variant was not labeled as ‘washed’, but the material was the same.)

(more…)

Note: this bag was provided for review.

When I first saw the Radix line of bags, I was sold — but I was living somewhere where I didn’t go hiking. When I moved to Colorado, I thought I should get one, but wanted to wait and see what I might need. Well, I now have a Radix 31 in to review, and I’ll just say this now: it’s my favorite hiking bag.

Here’s what the Radix line is to me: it takes the concept of ultralight backpack bags, attaches a real harness to the bag for carrying weight and doubles down on that by adding a stellar internal frame.

Mystery Ranch absolutely nailed this bag.

(more…)

Note: this item was provided for review.

Roughly six years ago, after being drenched from an unforecasted storm while waiting for a commuter bus, I decided that I would always have a lightweight rain shell with me going forward. I’ve carried dozens, while trying to find the right mix of light weight, good quality, and performant. That’s exactly the type of scenario the Triple Aught Design Astral VR Shell was designed for.

It’s silly light, and surprisingly good.

(more…)

This item was provided by Triple Aught Design for review.

Perhaps this is because I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, but a good fleece jacket feels like a wardrobe staple — a must own. Growing up, it was always the classics — we wore them for everything, all day, from hiking to dates. At some point fleece jackets shifted into wild hybrid rain jacket things, which lost some of the classic look, but they’ve always held a spot in my heart. I love wearing them.

Which is why I was pretty excited to check out the Triple Aught Design Ranger Jacket LT. I’ve heard nothing but great things about this jacket, but I had no idea what to expect. My first impression of this jacket was: wow this feels really nice.

This jacket gets better each time I wear it.

(more…)