Recent Articles

A while back, Filson launched the Dryden line of bags. These bags are primarily nylon, with touches of leather, brass, and other ‘standard’ Filson materials. They are less expensive then their twill and tin cloth counterparts, but still far from being inexpensive themselves. I’ve taken a look at the Dryden Backpack already, today I take a look at the much more compelling, Dryden Briefcase.

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It’s getting to that time of year where people are going places, and if airline ticket prices are any indicator — many of you are traveling. Wanderlog came into my life this year, and I’ve found it to be a pretty great tool for travel — perhaps the only travel type app that has ever proven useful for me.

You should download and install it, but for those of you who want more convincing and less trust, I’ll expand on why…

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Note: this item was provided free of charge for review.

Mystery Ranch’s Coulee lineup has always been one that I waffled on — the past version sizing was always a little larger than I wanted for a day hike at 25L being the smallest. For 2023, Mystery Ranch revamped the lineup and released the Coulee 20. A 20L variant with a robust (but removable) hip belt and everything you could want from a day hiking pack.

It’s a winner for me…

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One of the most common modifications I do to bags is messing with the zipper pulls. I don’t like metal zipper pulls with something attached to the very end of them, as they jingle when you move about and annoy the crap out of me. The fix for this is pretty easy, and can be non-destructive if you prefer, so I thought I would share some different options I use/have used over the years.

Especially, since I’ve been seeing some brands start to sell zipper pull kits, for stupid prices. Most of this stuff can be done very low-budget.

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As I watched all the reactions from the 2023 Watches and Wonders trade show, I started thinking about what all these luxury watch brands represent. Why do I gravitate towards some, and not others — the big questions in life.

And what I realized is that Tudor and Grand Seiko are at the top of their game, and the others just don’t get it.

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I don’t particularly like tote bags, I view them as a necessary evil I need to deal with from time to time. Whether that is for hauling groceries, or towels to a pool party, or as defacto organizers for oddly shaped items in the back of my car on road trips — I deal with totes, I don’t embrace them. That makes me something of an anomaly amongst my group of bag toting nerds — but it is what it is.

And then I received a Mystery Ranch Bindle 20 in trade, and this is a tote I can get behind.

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For all the knives I have tested, and all the Spydercos I have owned over the years — I’ve never owned the Dragonfly 2. It’s a hugely popular model, but one I had oddly never owned. When my Discord let me know about a sprint run using Super Blue steel, I figured why not. After all, I’ve disliked every Spyderco I’ve bought over the last two years, so what’s one more?

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