The Brooks Review

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Casio Duro MDV-106 Re-ReviewDecember 15, 2022
Grand Seiko SBGX261February 23, 2023
The Hype: Yoshida & Co’s Porter BagsAugust 26, 2025

Recent Articles

  • Aer Duffel Pack 2

    A unique and smartly organized duffle/backpack hybrid bag.

    Note: this backpack was sent to me from Aer for the purposes of this review.

    Aer was one of the first companies I saw doing a duffel pack — a duffelbag-backpack, hybrid. I see them all over when I am shopping around for bags, and they’ve always intrigued me. I never tested the first version, so this review is based solely on what the Duffel Pack 2 is.

    Aer makes this bag targeted at people looking for one bag to carry all their work gear along with their gym gear — in that sense this is a niche bag. However, in practice it’s a fairly normal backpack and can be used as such. To test the bag I took it on a long trip to the Washington Coast, and put it through its paces there.

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  • Ulysses Switches to Subscription

    Big news from the world’s best writing app, they are switching to a subscription model — which also allow you to pay once and get Ulysses on Mac and iOS. Great change, and reasonable pricing too. I know first hand how expensive it is to develop apps, so I am glad to see my favorite…

    Big news from the world’s best writing app, they are switching to a subscription model — which also allow you to pay once and get Ulysses on Mac and iOS. Great change, and reasonable pricing too. I know first hand how expensive it is to develop apps, so I am glad to see my favorite app switching to a more sustainable model.

    Now, to the more important news, Ulysses changed their iOS icon. Gone is the gradient on the butterfly. What a fantastic change, kudos.

  • ESEE Izula

    Like a pocket knife on steroids.

    Fixed blade knives are among the coolest knives you can get — they are bad ass. But, the usefulness of them is questionable. Are they useful? Yes. Are the useful very often? Not really. ((For most people, that is.)) However, there are such things as smaller fixed blade knives, among which the ESEE Izula is one of the more popular options.

    The Izula has a small, but able, 2.6” blade on it made of 1095 high carbon steel. It’s like a mini version of my favorite survival knife, the ESEE 4. And that makes it really interesting.

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  • A Good Bag versus a Bag I Use

    It’s not about what I carry.

    I review a lot of bags on this site, and because I have a best page, as well as commenting on what I carry on a day to day basis, there’s some confusion on whether a bag (or anything else) is good, if I don’t carry it, or list it as “best”. So I want to take a moment to clarify all of that.

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  • iPad Productivity Report – 8/7/17

    Which iPad Pro size is right for you, screen cleanliness, iPadding kids, and do you want an iPad Pro?

    August always feels like such a dead month when it comes to Apple related things. You’ll see a ton of rumors or “leaks” leading up to new iPhones in the fall, and the rest of the community seems to live like hermits preparing grandiose shit no one will read in its entirety. Any ways, back to iPads.

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  • Mystery Ranch Urban Assault

    A great alternative to a GR1, lighter and cheaper. Still, not better than a GR1.

    One question I am often asked: “I want a bag that is like the GR1, but lighter and cheaper, do you know of any?” My answer is always: “Sorry, no, but let me know if you find something.”

    The reality is most people use a backpack to go to and from work, but want it to be able to pull double duty for travel or day hikes as needed. That last bit rules out a lot of the bags you see coming out of Kickstarter — most of those bags are not even close to being comparable to a GR1 — but the GR1 is still heavy and expensive for most.

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  • Social Media Making Me Miserable

    Markham Heid: One recent study examined the links between Facebook use and wellbeing. “We found that the more you use Facebook over time, the more likely you are to experience negative physical health, negative mental health and negative life satisfaction,” says study author Holly Shakya, assistant professor and social media researcher at the University of…

    Markham Heid:

    One recent study examined the links between Facebook use and wellbeing. “We found that the more you use Facebook over time, the more likely you are to experience negative physical health, negative mental health and negative life satisfaction,” says study author Holly Shakya, assistant professor and social media researcher at the University of California, San Diego.

    Good article.

  • Aer’s New Backpacks

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  • Flowfold Wallets

    The Flowfold wallet is dead simple, but near perfect.

    Another in my wallet search. IMPORTANT, these wallets were provided to me in exchange for a review and help me please, because I just saw they sell backpacks.

    Ok, so to recap where I am: the EZGO was too bulky but otherwise great, the Slimfold wasn’t limiting enough, but otherwise great, and the Magpul was bad, and otherwise bad. Today, we talk about Flowfold. I received two of their minimalist wallets, one with white sailcloth, and another in a different material ((They do not specify what it is.)) colored aquamarine.

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  • iPad Productivity Report — 8/1/17

    There’s no need for LTE on iPad, and also these new autocorrections are great.

    A shorter report this week, as I took vacation last week, but I wanted to touch on WiFi only iPads, and the auto-correction hubbub.

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  • Magpul Daka Wallet

    This is a wallet which only holds two cards and is not good.

    Another selection in my wallet search.

    Finding the Slimfold too accommodating, and the EZGO too large, I decided to go as crazy small as possible, which is the Magpul Daka. It’s basically a piece of polymer stuff that holds about two credit cards and nothing else.

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  • Minaal Daily Bag review by Fatih Arslan

    Interesting review given that he is coming from my top bag choice, the GR1. If there’s one complaint I heart about the GR1, it’s the weight, but that weight is what makes it so damn good to carry. You don’t notice the weight on your back, but you do notice it when you pick up…

    Interesting review given that he is coming from my top bag choice, the GR1. If there’s one complaint I heart about the GR1, it’s the weight, but that weight is what makes it so damn good to carry. You don’t notice the weight on your back, but you do notice it when you pick up that damn bag.

    Minaal is a brand I’ve never used and one I am constantly asked about. In reading Arslan’s review, I was surprised he concluded by liking it. Though, I’ll admit, the Star Trek comment made me want to try it.

  • iPad Productivity Report — 7/22/17

    Talking about iPads, talking about basic apps, talking about your questions, talking about the multi-tasking and two handed usage.

    Something special seems to be brewing for those who care about the future of iPads: momentum. Since day one, there has been people using iPads for their work, then as their only computer. This was always a niche market. Now, in the past few weeks, I have seen so many people talking about, or even making in part, the move to iPad being a primary computing device I can’t help but see the snowball starting to roll down The Mountain. It should be one hell of a year, and mercifully lead to more interest in iPad app development.

    Which leads us right into the topic for this week: the basic apps matter, not the pro apps. I also answer some reader questions, and talk about iOS 11 multitasking.

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  • Slimfold MICRO Wallet

    A fantastic “nothing is there” wallet which can expand a lot, and that turns out to be a problem for me.

    Recently I started on the quest to find a new wallet. So, enjoy the ride.

    I am a huge fan of having a wallet that is no bigger than it needs to be. I don’t carry much in my wallet, typically 3-4 cards and the occasional bit of cash. This has always lead me to pretty minimalist wallets, but the EZGO wallet I have been using for a while now was beginning to bother me: it’s too thick.

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  • Cedric and Ada’s Steel Test and Results on Everyday Commentary

    Fantastic set of testing for blade steels. Really interesting to see where things like S30V and S35VN fall in comparison to M390 (my current favorite steel). Be sure to read part 2 as well.

    Fantastic set of testing for blade steels. Really interesting to see where things like S30V and S35VN fall in comparison to M390 (my current favorite steel). Be sure to read part 2 as well.

  • Removing Barriers — Outlier’s Approach to Fashion

    Eugene Kan: In the words of Abe: “We don’t see ourselves as a lifestyle brand. We don’t focus on it too much. Apple doesn’t care who buys it, they focus on making the best possible product. You can do whatever you want with it. It’s not like if you buy it you’ll look like a surfer…

    Eugene Kan:

    In the words of Abe: “We don’t see ourselves as a lifestyle brand. We don’t focus on it too much. Apple doesn’t care who buys it, they focus on making the best possible product. You can do whatever you want with it. It’s not like if you buy it you’ll look like a surfer or the hottest skater. You buy Outlier to open the range of your possibilities. We’re not selling an identity or way of life. We let you choose your own life. You can do what you want and the clothes will follow you and work.” It’s an interesting take when most strong brands in the modern era are predicated on selling a particularly idyllic way of life.

    For those thinking it’s nuts I love Outlier clothing so much, this article explains it well. You can go from a hike to a nice dinner in the same clothes, and socially fit in both places, all the while being comfortable in both places.

  • Skinth Mondo Shield

    An interesting but imperfect EDC pouch.

    I recently tested the Maxpedition EDC pouch to see how that faired, today I want to check out another EDC pouch from Skinth called the Mondo Shield. They have a wide range of pouches which are primarily designed to be worn on a belt. While I have little interest in carrying this from my belt, I do appreciate the ability to do that should I really want to feel like an EDC nerd.

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  • Apple Leather Sleeve for iPad Pro

    The Apple Leather Sleeve solves quite a few issues for me.

    I’ve long struggled with what to do when I travel with my iPad. Far too often I have one bag, and this travel style presents two immediate problems you might not think about — both of which the Apple Leather Sleeve solve.

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  • Car Camping (video)

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  • Transmit 5

    I may not use the Mac anymore, but Transmit is one hell of an app. This one adds Rackspace support, which gives me oh so much hope that this support with come to iOS.

    I may not use the Mac anymore, but Transmit is one hell of an app. This one adds Rackspace support, which gives me oh so much hope that this support with come to iOS.