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A common refrain of the last year on my Discord has been, “Ben, when you are going to try the Filson Zip Tote finally, it’s such a great bag!” That refrain was on repeat. And then I bought a Filson Rugged Twill Tote Bag with Zipper in Otter Green from a friend. An hour (for real) after it arrived, my wife used it for her personal item on the trip we were about to leave to go on.

And then, things got expensive for me. I have not heard her utter words about a bag she is borrowing: “So, this is mine, right, because I love it and am keeping it.” So it seemed I wasn’t going to test the bag at all, that is, until Filson released a limited color run that she liked better: I bought her one of those and swiped my green one back.

And I get it now. I get why people love these bags, why they make perfect travel/flying bags, and everything in between. The main downside: it’s a particular style, a certain flair, to carry a tote like that — and it’s not really me.

That said, I do not think a better personal item than this bag for flying exists.

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Ok, buckle up, because this bag is something special. When it first came out, I was in Italy, and I was rather annoyed (but a little thankful) there was no place I could go and see Hardgraft gear in person. This bag looked so tremendous when it dropped, I told myself if I left Italy with no new bag, I would buy this. And that’s what happened.

Hardgraft’s H Small Messenger Bag was one of the first in what seems to be a new line of gear. All of this gear features a variant of Xpac I had not seen before, which has a cotton canvas facing on it. It’s best to read how Hardgraft describes this bag (the annoying capitalization is them, not me):

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The Verge (a website walking a fine line between reporting and clickbait) reports on what many think is a rare miss by Apple with the FineWoven items. My cynical view of this issue, is that these misses from Apple are more common than Apple fans admit, but it’s fun to call them out all the same. The issue, essentially, is that FineWoven cases/wallets seem to wear in very unpleasant ways, very easily. Which is readily apparent if you scratch the case with your finger nail.

Independent Apple and Meta marketing blog ‘Daring Fireball’ uses the ‘but leather scratches too’ argument, writing:

I’m curious what real-world usage will look like, but that fingernail test doesn’t seem fair when comparing FineWoven to leather. One fingernail scratched across one of Apple’s leather cases or wallets will leave a permanent mark too. Perhaps it’s the case that such wear looks good on leather but bad on FineWoven.

Man, there’s a lot going on in that paragraph. And it really feels like maybe John Gruber doesn’t use leather very much, because that’s really not how leather works. And what is with the statement “perhaps” leather looks good with scratches? Sure, some leather does, but not all leather. Just an odd add on there.

But Gruber has completely missed the real issue with FineWoven, which Allison Johnson writes in the opening statement of the issue:

But FineWoven is very much not the premium material that leather is. When I popped the MagSafe wallet out of its box, I could clearly see some places where it was already showing wear along the edges. Little bits of lint immediately caught on the fabric, too. And then there’s the fingernail test.

There’s only one statement here, which is supported by three bits of evidence. The statement: FineWoven is not the same premium material leather is. That’s a really clear statement.

The evidence: the case came worn right out of the box on the edges, something which anyone paying for something should be pissed about. The material picks up all sorts of lint, which (and there’s no perhaps about it) is never desirable. And then the nod to the failed ‘fingernail’ test which really seems to be the nit that Gruber has latched on to.

So look, leather doesn’t come worn out of boxes in a manner which is not really easily fixed. And leather doesn’t typically pick up lint. But I can see how people wouldn’t understand the fingernail test as it’s a little counter intuitive. The good thing is, I have five leather things on hand, all of which are design to be in pockets — just like the FineWoven goods.

I scratched each item down the center-ish with the same pressure and same finger nail. This should roughly simulate the goods being drug across any non-smooth item — maybe like a jeans pocket rivet since we know that’s popular at Apple.

Here’s the picture (I’ve circled where it was scratched):

On three of the four in that image, you can see the scratch (and tons more on the first item, which is treated the same as the other leather you see in the picture). So most of the leather scratches, which is to be expected. But as The Verge noted, the scratches on FineWoven don’t “buff” out when you rub the pad of your finger over the mark. I did just that to those same leather items: rubbing each scratch with my index finger pad quickly, no added saliva/water/anything. Here’s the result:

So the scratches are essentially gone. Wild, right? That’s the difference between a premium material and a non-premium material. Which is the entire argument made by The Verge. But to really put a finer point on this, here’s some of the best leather I have — a wallet. It’s been scratched via the same method with my nail, and not buffed, here’s the result:

The scratch was right down the center, you cannot see it because it didn’t scratch. That’s a premium grade, of a premium material.

Leather is a fair comp for FineWoven because that’s what it was designed to replace, Apple said it themselves. And it’s not just that leather looks great with ‘patina’ on it, it’s that leather also is effectively ‘repairable’ in some sense. Which means, FineWoven is bad, if for no other reason than the fact it shows wear from being shipped to your damned house. If it cannot withstand that, how can it withstand life?

Absurd to even remotely defend this bullshit.

For a long time now, I’ve been shaving with a standard 900-blade razor from Gillette, with shaving cream and all that. I switched years ago from electric razors, and will typically only use an electric on the weekends, or take them to travel on work trips. Otherwise, manual shaving.

But, my trip earlier this year to Italy was a touch longer than most trips I take, and packing all the shaving stuff I needed seemed like a bear. The electric razor I had was very old, and thus the charge didn’t last long. So I was in the market for a new razor, something optimized for travel, but without compromise. I stumbled on a review for the Panasonic ES-CV70 which was billed as a travel razor, without compromise. It seemed perfect, so I bought it, took it, and then never stopped using it.

So yeah, it’s pretty good.

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The Hoku is the first light I remember seeing from Laulima, with many people encouraging me to buy one. When you look at that light on the website — you aren’t sure the scale, then you see it next to other lights and you are amazed at how tiny it is. I almost pulled the trigger so many times I cannot count, but it is a twisty light and I generally do not like a twisty.

Then, I heard Laulima was making a Hoku Clicky, similar in size, just a touch longer. I knew I was buying it, but I knew it would sell fast and I was going to be fast asleep in Italy when it launched. Thankfully, a friend came through and snagged it for me.

And I am glad he did, it’s a truly amazing light. It has some flaws, but the good outweighs the bad here and creates a light that gives everything else in my collection a run for it’s money.

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My wife recently picked up a Q2, and within a few minutes of holding it, I was sure I needed a Q2. And then I saw the images it was producing, and I had to have one.

Side note: my wife’s much better review of her Q2 will hopefully come some time this year. The photos she is making with it are astounding.

But instead of a Q2, I snagged a barely used Q2 Monochrom and took it with me to the beautifully colorful Italian coast. This is one of the best cameras I’ve ever used, and absolutely the most fun I have had with a camera. And it can’t even take a color photograph.

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This is the fourth, and final, installment of my ‘State of XYZ Collection’ posts. In this one, we are covering my watches, and while not the quantity hasn’t changed much, there have been two big things to cover.

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