The Brooks Review

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The Hype: Yoshida & Co’s Porter BagsAugust 26, 2025
G-SHOCK DW-H5600 After 7 MonthsJuly 31, 2025
Casio Duro MDV-106 Re-ReviewDecember 15, 2022

Recent Articles

  • Mastering the Art of Caring Less

    Jamie Friedlander: Although there is no direct English translation, wu wei (pronounced oo-way) could perhaps be described as “effortless action,” explains Edward Slingerland, a professor of Asian studies at the University of British Columbia and author of Trying Not to Try: The Art and Science of Spontaneity. The concept, which has its roots in ancient…

    Jamie Friedlander:

    Although there is no direct English translation, wu wei (pronounced oo-way) could perhaps be described as “effortless action,” explains Edward Slingerland, a professor of Asian studies at the University of British Columbia and author of Trying Not to Try: The Art and Science of Spontaneity. The concept, which has its roots in ancient Chinese philosophical writings, has seen a revival in contemporary science, Slingerland says, as scientists have begun to study the psychological mechanisms behind it.

    This is a really interesting take on the mindfulness approaches currently dominating everyone’s inboxes. And perhaps way better.

  • These Academics Spent The Last Year Testing Whether Your Phone Is Secretly Listening To You

    Kashmir Hill reporting: “We didn’t see any evidence that people’s conversations are being recorded secretly,” said David Choffnes, one of the authors of the paper. “What people don’t seem to understand is that there’s a lot of other tracking in daily life that doesn’t involve your phone’s camera or microphone that give a third party…

    Kashmir Hill reporting:

    “We didn’t see any evidence that people’s conversations are being recorded secretly,” said David Choffnes, one of the authors of the paper. “What people don’t seem to understand is that there’s a lot of other tracking in daily life that doesn’t involve your phone’s camera or microphone that give a third party just as comprehensive a view of you.”

    It’s even more creepy than I assumed. And way more clever.

  • Massdrop x Ferrum Forge Gent

    The grim reaper of Amazon boxes.

    It has been a while since I’ve reviewed a knife which is made to be an everyday carry blade. The reason has been simple: I found the Chris Reeve’s Small Sebenza 21, and it is perfect. I do mean that, I’ve been using that knife a lot, and it really is perfect. But based on some very strong reviews I picked up this Massdrop collaboration the ‘Gent’ to see how it stacks up.

    The Gent is (as far as I can tell) “produced” by Massdrop, designed by Ferrum Forge, and made by WE Knives in China. It’s basically super weird, so from here on out ‘Gent’ is what we are calling this knife, but do know there’s some stuff around how it got made.

    The long and short of this knife: had I found this before the Small Sebenza, I would have crowned this the perfect knife. And given the price, it would not be absurd to make the argument that it is a better everyday knife than the Small Sebenza — as much as it pains me to write that.

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  • Complex Controls and Complex Decisions

    iPad shortcuts of the future, and when the best thing is the one you like the best.

    Down the rabbit hole we go.

    You must be a member to read the rest of this article.

  • Camping With Kids – Gear Thoughts, Season 2

    Ben goes camping with a lot of kids and tiki torches.

    Last year, a friend mentioned that he thought it would be fun if myself, a mutual friend, and all our kids went camping. That’s 3 dads, and 5 kids, this year from 4 to 8 years of age. All of us have varying levels of camping experience, and we all brought along a ton of gear. I made a short video about this last year, this year I’ve decided to write up some thoughts on the highlights of the gear I took, and some items we needed.

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  • iPad Office Apps, and MacBooks

    I make a comparison to self-driving cars and iPads.

    It’s no secret that I love the iPad and think most of the world can easily get by with it as their only computer. However, most of the world doesn’t agree, and none of this is to say it isn’t without its challenges. Having said that, today I am going to look at the sorry state of iPad office apps, and why in the hell anyone would by a Chromebook over an iPad.

    You must be a member to read the rest of this article.

  • Huge GORUCK Sale

    Amazing deals on the GR1 and GR2, only in select colors and sizes. Typically these are the prices you pay for these bags used.

    Amazing deals on the GR1 and GR2, only in select colors and sizes. Typically these are the prices you pay for these bags used.

  • WESN Microblade Review

    Is that a microblade in your pocket?

    Lurk around the knife subreddits enough and you will start to see a ton of custom knives — typically these are one offs which someone made for themselves. One day I saw this knife, which originally was a concept, then it was brought up as potentially a production blade. This knife then made its way to Kickstarter before being available for everyone.

    The thing about this knife is that it’s not like anything else out there. They label it “microblade” for a reason: the cutting edge is 1.5”. That’s about half of the length of a standard sized everyday carry knife. Further, the entire package, weighs just one ounce. It is very small.

    The WESN Microblade is truly a unique knife.

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  • Thermostats, Locks and Lights: Digital Tools of Domestic Abuse

    Nellie Bowles: In more than 30 interviews with The New York Times, domestic abuse victims, their lawyers, shelter workers and emergency responders described how the technology was becoming an alarming new tool. Abusers — using apps on their smartphones, which are connected to the internet-enabled devices — would remotely control everyday objects in the home,…

    Nellie Bowles:

    In more than 30 interviews with The New York Times, domestic abuse victims, their lawyers, shelter workers and emergency responders described how the technology was becoming an alarming new tool. Abusers — using apps on their smartphones, which are connected to the internet-enabled devices — would remotely control everyday objects in the home, sometimes to watch and listen, other times to scare or show power. Even after a partner had left the home, the devices often stayed and continued to be used to intimidate and confuse.

  • Mindfulness Meditation and Napping

    Yeah, let’s talk about naps.

    It would be rather hard for anyone who regularly reads tech sites, or looks at the App Store, to not know about “mindfulness” and the general trend of meditation. A year ago, with stress mounting in my life, I took to mindfulness meditation settling on the app Calm to help me with it. Though I was never able to build a daily habit, I regularly meditated 3-4 times a week.

    You must be a member to read the rest of this article.

  • My Current Everyday Carry

    The stuff I carry in my pockets.

    A lot of what I write about here revolves around my search for finding better things to carry on a daily basis. When I started working from home, I thought it would alleviate a lot of the needs for carrying, but it actually made my struggle worse.

    When you don’t work from home, you tend to leave your house with the notion that you will be gone for the entire work day. This allows you to grab a bag, and slightly overpack, while having little guilt about doing so. That’s certainly how I approached it, and how most approach it given the “EDC” setups I see online.

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  • New GORUCK Bullet Ruck Out

    Looks like GORUCK has a new variant of that awesome 10L Bullet Ruck out. The major change seems to be the handle at the top of the bag. It is now the proper GR1 style handle instead of the nylon webbing loop. Very tempted to ditch my bullet to get one of these (if you…

    Looks like GORUCK has a new variant of that awesome 10L Bullet Ruck out. The major change seems to be the handle at the top of the bag. It is now the proper GR1 style handle instead of the nylon webbing loop. Very tempted to ditch my bullet to get one of these (if you want mine to help facilitate this swap for me reach out. I have a Steel color 10L SOLD). After the GR1 the 10L Bullet is my favorite GORUCK bag.

    Rumor has it GORUCK has a 15L Bullet Ruck coming out this summer too.

  • For Sale: Filson Tablet Briefcase (SOLD)

    Only one, go for it.

    I have my gently used Filson Tablet Briefcase for sale. This is no longer produced by Filson and while you can still find some retailers selling them, they are getting harder to find. Only reason I am selling it is because I tend to use backpacks over shoulder bags, and I don’t want to part with my Filson Original Briefcase. Color is Otter Green, the best Filson color. My Review.

    Yours for $130 shipped, only to US shipping addresses. First to pay gets it. SOLD

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  • Summer Things That We Buy

    A quick gear guide for summers outdoors.

    Members might recall, last year that I took a car camping trip with a group consisting of 3 dads, and 5 kids. I made a video for that, which showed the absurd amount of gear I alone packed. We are coming up on the second year for this trip, and as such I have been going through a bunch of my gear to get it ready to go.

    With that in mind, and the summer upon us, it is highly likely that many of you are going to end up getting out of the house and this might necessitate some new gear. That’s what this post is about: the gear we buy for summer fun. I’ll be running through some of my favorite gear, and some thoughts I have on gear I am considering.

    You must be a member to read the rest of this article.

  • No one is opening those emails about privacy updates, and marketers are getting nervous

    Michelle Castillo reporting on this catastrophic trend of people not opting into SPAM: “People are not opting back in,” says Michael Horn, the director of data science for digital marketing agency Huge. “It’s one thing for your customers who don’t have a relationship with the brand to decline and not respond, but you’re also losing…

    Michelle Castillo reporting on this catastrophic trend of people not opting into SPAM:

    “People are not opting back in,” says Michael Horn, the director of data science for digital marketing agency Huge. “It’s one thing for your customers who don’t have a relationship with the brand to decline and not respond, but you’re also losing a sales channel.”

    Not to worry. I’m sure they’ll work out some new type of shit.

  • Triple Aught Design Transport Wallet

    Lots of good ideas, which don’t really pan out.

    A bit ago Triple Aught Design released the Transport Wallet, which is the companies take on a wallet for travel and adventure. I had seen the wallet walked through on Instagram, and at only $35 I decided to buy it right away when they came out. There’s a few stand out features which sold me on the wallet:

    1. Hidden pocket and slots for lockpicks.
    2. A way to store small amounts of cash.
    3. Quick access pocket for the credit card you normally use.
    4. Harder to get to storage for everything else.

    The idea of this wallet, or rather the concept of it, is quite interesting. Everything is in a secure spot, but the stuff you need often is readily accessible in an almost one handed manner. However my biggest concern going into this wallet was that I would instantly find it too large.

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  • Your Phone Is Listening and it’s Not Paranoia

    Sam Nichols: With this in mind, I decided to try an experiment. Twice a day for five days, I tried saying a bunch of phrases that could theoretically be used as triggers. Phrases like I’m thinking about going back to uni and I need some cheap shirts for work. Then I carefully monitored the sponsored…

    Sam Nichols:

    With this in mind, I decided to try an experiment. Twice a day for five days, I tried saying a bunch of phrases that could theoretically be used as triggers. Phrases like I’m thinking about going back to uni and I need some cheap shirts for work. Then I carefully monitored the sponsored posts on Facebook for any changes.

    You’ll not be shocked by the results.

    (H/t to Steve)

    Looks like this post has been disputed enough to warrant not reading it. Apologies.

  • iPads, Watches, And Travel

    At the end of this post, I give a mini-review of Dunkin’ Donuts, and I know it’s been a long time coming.

    Going down the rabbit hole a bit this week. Talking about what makes good iPad software, what it would take to get me to switch back to Apple Watch, and a note that I checked a bag when traveling. Dunkin’ Donuts talk too.

    You must be a member to read the rest of this article.

  • Facebook Gave Device Makers Deep Access to Data on Users and Friends

    By GABRIEL J.X. DANCE, NICHOLAS CONFESSORE and MICHAEL LaFORGIAL: “It’s like having door locks installed, only to find out that the locksmith also gave keys to all of his friends so they can come in and rifle through your stuff without having to ask you for permission,” said Ashkan Soltani, a research and privacy consultant…

    By GABRIEL J.X. DANCE, NICHOLAS CONFESSORE and MICHAEL LaFORGIAL:

    “It’s like having door locks installed, only to find out that the locksmith also gave keys to all of his friends so they can come in and rifle through your stuff without having to ask you for permission,” said Ashkan Soltani, a research and privacy consultant who formerly served as the F.T.C.’s chief technologist.

    Only difference: the Facebook users don’t give a shit.

  • Backpacks for Kids

    What a shit-show of a market, here’s what I’ve learned.

    A year ago I was confronted with something I thought would be really fun, but which turned out to be exceedingly frustrating. I needed a backpack for my daughter who was entering kindergarten. I suspect most parents go to Target and let their kid pick something they like, but there’s simply no way I was going to buy my daughter something that wasn’t high quality.

    Since GORUCK no longer makes the Kid Ruck (and they go on EBay for absurd money) I set out researching to find a full-size (all the backpacks she had prior were not full-size, and I define that by “can fit a binder in it”), well made, backpack for my daughter. I hated almost every recommendation that I saw.

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