Category: Articles

The Alpha Executive line of pens are among my most used, and most loved. I’ve had my Electroless Nickel model for some time now, and I still use it a ton. These pens offer a lot of great options for ink, as well as an excellent clip, and peace of mind with a secure screw cap — have no worries tossing it in your pocket or bag.

Recently, Prometheus announced a second version of the pens, with titanium being the first material. I jumped and bought one immediately. My favorite pen, is now even better than it was before.

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I am not sure how to start with this bag, but perhaps I should start by telling you two things: this is possibly the best shoulder bag I’ve ever used; and it will be exceedingly hard for me to convince you of this if you have not handled a ‘Tanker’ bag before.

There’s a long history with Yoshida & Co’s Porter line of bags, and I was dying to get my hands on some while I was in Japan. I had ideas of buying just something small as a keepsake — I did not think I would run into the store yearning for something better to use for the rest of my trip.

That’s why I bought the Tanker Sling Bag W Zip (XL) (product number:
622-15153) — the largest of their shoulder bags before you move into travel, or briefcase territory.

It is an exceptional bag.

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I realized that it’s been almost a full nine years of rucking as my primary workout, and wow. It’s been a while since I wrote about it, so I thought I would take a moment to talk about the gear I use.

I previously wrote about rucking gear in 2017, rucking and gear in 2020, and rucking clothing in 2021.

I ruck about 2.5 miles, six times per week — in all weather from snow and ice, to 100°F. Let’s dive into it.

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Over the years, I’ve standardized on bag brands a few times. There was a short-lived period where all the bags I used were GORUCK. Another period was nearly all Mystery Ranch. Then came the Filson bag onslaught — which had less of a take over nature, and more of a playful collectors hobby — but then lead to a takeover. Through those times, I never thought: “I am going to switch everything to this brand,” as much as I noticed I had done it after the fact. Each time consolidation has happened, I slowly sprawl back out to more brands.

I am writing this today, to head off some comments and emails about Porter.

After getting my hands on Yoshida & Co’s Porter lineup of bags, I made a very conscious decision, that I wanted to move all my bags over to Porter bags (where it makes sense at least). And that process is in the works, so I thought I would take a moment to talk about the why of this change.

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I am not immune to a good impulse purchase, and that’s exactly what happened with this knife. I saw it pop up in my email, and clicked through, was impressed by the price so I clicked order. That was quite some time ago, and I’ve been using it since.

This isn’t going to be a go to knife for me, but certainly does have some interesting attributes, and is quite well made. It’s a good value given the overall fit and finish, with the blade being quite the slicer.

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Those who know me, know that I really don’t pay attention to social media. Which means I went to Italy when everyone was going there without knowing everyone was going there (until my wife informed me of the bad news), and I went to Japan this summer — also when everyone was going there. Though, this time, I knew everyone was going and had been going. Japan had been our plan for quite some time.

My grandmother was Japanese, and thus I am a quarter Japanese, and until I was an adult I never realized how much influence that had on our family growing up — how we did things and behaved.

I love Japan. I’ve been a few times before, studied the language many years ago, and have family there. We had been waiting for our kids to be the right age to be able to handle the walking, the differences, and to remember the country. Many years ago, we targeted 2025 for this trip, so it was happening.

We spent 16 days in Japan, in five different cities, with one of my closest friends, his wife and kids. It was spectacular, and I am already itching to go back. But, it had also been a full 18 years since my last visit, and this time as an adult — not as a 20-something playing an adult.

Here’s my thoughts on the cities we visited, and on Japan overall — as someone who deeply loves the country and could not care one lick about Anime. I will note that I found that I am still reasonably conversational in Japanese, which (as I’ll talk about more) helped quite a bit.

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Note: this item was provided for review.

I am a little embarrassed to admit how excited I was to get the Injex Shank. One of my favorite jacket styles, and one of my favorite fabrics coming together in a really killer looking item. Essentially a very lightweight, but still substantial looking, jacket.

If wearing this on two 10hr flights is not testing enough, adding in the movement to and from the airport, then I don’t know what would be a better test. I fell in love, and I remain in love with this one.

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Note: these items were provided for review.

I am not historically a ‘case person’ when it comes to my iPhone. I cannot remember the last time I actually used a case on a regular basis (maybe the iPhone 4?). That said, this iPhone 16 does seem a lot less durable than my other models. I’ve been plagued by an easily scratched display, and thus my confidence in the phone has tanked. So when Benks reached out to send me a couple of their Kevlar based cases, I jumped at the chance.

They sent the ArmorPro and ArmorAir models for my phone, and while both are quite nice and have their place — the ArmorAir has not come off my phone since trying it. And I doubt it will come off my phone — it’s fantastic.

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Note: this item was provided for review.

I’ve noted before (several times now) how much I love Outlier’s Injected Linen fabric, and here they have applied it to a very simple and casual pair of shorts called Injex Littlebigs. Cut a little wider, elastic and drawstring waist, killer pocketing, and a fantastic length. These shorts have been worn almost daily since I got them in to test out.

They’re fantastic.

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Note: this item was provided for review.

I was encouraged to try Outlier’s ‘new’ Ultrafine t-shirts (for both Cut One and Cut Two), as I was told that they are even softer and so much better. Which is a bold claim, as I already hold the last Ultrafine t-shirts to be the softest and essentially, best, merino t-shirt on the market.

That is, until I opened the package with the new ‘exquisite merino edition’ fabric, and holy cow is this unbelievably soft. The best got better. This was also my first go trying the Cut-Two model, and though I initially thought it would be too wide, I think it’s my preferred cut now.

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Note: this item was provided for review.

When Pioneer Carry sent over the Co-Pilot Travel Wallet, I let them know it would be quite some time until I could test it. Well, I have returned from a long international trip where I was able to test this out, and I am thoroughly happy with this Passport Wallet. It’s a lot more than just another passport wallet, and has a couple of interesting attributes that I used over and over again.

This is good kit.

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There are endless categories of backpack types out there, but I think the hardest of them all to find a good backpack in the ‘grab-and-go’ class of backpacks. This backpack is the genre defining backpack — it’s the classic Jansport. Simple, unobtrusive, no-fuss, all utility. Finding a better looking backpack that can still do this like a Jansport is not easy — I’ve been chasing it for a long time.

Bags like the Filson Journeyman come tantalizingly close, but things like an overly large weather flap, and scratchy brass zippers will always set that bag back. As good as it looks, there’s just enough friction, that I keep looking for the next one.

Enter Amundsen’s ‘V-Bond’ (aka Vagabond, depending on the website you look at) 25 Daypack. It’s a very simple backpack, which somehow really nails the ease of use, while adding excellent visual interest.

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