The Grey NATO - 125 - How We Fall
Published on Thu, 24 Sep 2020 06:00:24 -0400
Synopsis
The podcast discusses plans and activities for the fall season, including enjoying cooler weather, wearing cozy layers, enjoying whiskey and campfires, doing outdoor activities like hiking and camping, and gearing up for winter. They also recommend some YouTube channels focused on solo adventures in nature and minimalist outdoor living.
Links
Transcript
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| Jason Heaton | Hello and welcome to another episode of the GrayNado, a Houdinki podcast. It's a loose discussion of travel, diving, driving gear, and most certainly watches. This is episode 125 and it's proudly brought to you by G-Shock and their Master of G line of tough, toolish, and tech forward watches. We thank you for listening. Jason, how are you doing? |
| James Stacey | I'm doing pretty well. It's, uh, the days are getting shorter. I don't have to, uh, run the air conditioner or the fan here to keep cool while we're recording. So, um, you know, times, times are changing. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. As far as our bi-weekly weather update goes, uh, uh, yeah, it's, uh, it is a little bit, uh, cooler these days, which is awfully nice. |
| James Stacey | We're having a bit of a second summer, but it's, uh, you know, it's weird to have kind of summery temperatures during the day, but then like the sun goes down by 630 or you know, before seven o'clock. So it has that weird feeling of like, yeah, you know, in the summer we were outside until like nine 30 cause it was warm and bright and now it's, it's warm and bright. And then at six 30 and now we're back inside kind of in getting into that fall winter mode. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. I mean, absolutely. And, and to be honest, in some ways I really am not ready for summer to be over. I feel like I didn't really get a summer. Um, I think I worked maybe more than, more than I had planned to. Yeah. But the other side of it is, is I kind of like it. I'm back into sweaters and long jackets and really okay with, with the cooler temps for the most part. Although if I'm honest, I just, I just kind of flatly despise winter and it's not so like, I like snow and I liked skiing and I like going out and walking around in the snow, but I hate shoveling it. I hate what it does to a vehicle. I hate, I hate the fact that like, if you're, if you're cold, you're just cold, like you've got to make some change to get warm, which I'm not, I'm not a huge fan of. And again, compared to Vancouver, the winter in Toronto is a lot more aggressive. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. And winter, I've long been a fan of winter if it's a good winter, but a lot of times we get these sort of gray, hard ice on the roads and not much snow to have fun in. And then it's, then it's really no fun. Then you're kind of stuck inside and you know, putting in the kilometers on the, on the rowing machine in the basement, kind of gritting my teeth, waiting for, waiting for spring to come. But, uh, we'll see. I think this year has been very different, uh, for obvious reasons that everybody's dealing with, um, just being around more. I think I mentioned a few episodes back that, uh, it's been one of those years where I've been able to kind of soak up the, the changes of seasons that the plants, the birds, the, just kind of the, the different light during the day and doing things more around here. And I'm wondering if fall and winter are going to feel different than in the past where it's broken up by, you know, a week of travel somewhere and then you come home and then you have three weeks home and then you're traveling somewhere else. I'm wondering if this year it'll feel a little different. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, it may just. And it, you know, it might, it might mean that a lot of this feels a bit longer. I'm not sure. Yeah. So what have you been up to the last couple of weeks since we chatted last? |
| James Stacey | Yeah. So last episode I was just about to embark on that. bit of a road trip, first longer road trip in the Land Rover. And, um, it was a resounding success. We didn't have any mechanical issues. We had just a blast. We, we just to recap, we loaded up the old Land Rover and headed South. Um, Ghoshani went to college down in Decorah, Iowa, and it's about two and a half hours. If you just take the straight state highway down, um, just a straight shot across the border. Um, But given that the Land Rover doesn't go fast enough and it doesn't feel confident on 65 mile per hour highways, we took back roads and broke the trip, the first leg of the trip into two by camping at a state park about two, two and a half hours south of here. And you know, it was great. It was, it was our kind of second big camping trip of the, of the summer. And we, we loaded everything up. I had about half of the back of the truck filled with, you know, oils and fluids and tools and all that sort of thing. And most of which I didn't need. Um, we got to sneak in a hike, uh, check out some fall colors. Um, but I think what the most rewarding thing about the trip was driving an old vehicle, an old truck like that, going through small towns and having to gas up or stop and stretch the legs or, or, you know, go to the bathroom. It just brought people out of the woodwork. Whereas if I was driving our Volvo, uh, that, that stuff just doesn't happen. Uh, you know, we'd get people of all shapes and sizes, colors, and stripes of you know, politics and everything else, I presume would just walk over and start talking and ask a question. Or I remember seeing one of those on TV or, um, you know, what, is that a Jeep or what is the, you know, um, where are you going and, and that sort of thing. And, um, that connection with people, you know, while discouraged to these days, um, for, for health reasons and public health reasons, You know, standing at a distance talking to somebody about this truck led to other discussions about where we were and what we were doing and just all sorts of topics. And I've really enjoyed that. Despite being an introvert, I do enjoy those social interactions with people that just kind of want to, you know, share and talk about what's going on. And I feel like we need more of that. And I feel like the Land Rover became a vehicle not just for forward movement, but for this social interaction. And Ghoshani felt the same. We, you know, it was, it was certainly tiring and loud, you know, this, this thing has almost no soundproofing. So it's, it's a very loud drive. Um, but it was a real pleasure and we took it on some back roads. And, uh, by the time we got home, rather than being beaten up and exhausted, like I thought we might be, we both kind of looked at each other and thought we need to do that again, but do we need something a little bit bigger and maybe slightly more capable at higher speeds? And that led to, mulling and looking around at, uh, boy, I hate to even, I hate to even start talking about this, but, uh, something bigger, like a, like a more modern defender. Um, you know, there's a company locally here, actually very close to our house, a Bishop and Rook that sells imported right-hand drive, mainly diesel defenders from, you know, the eighties and nineties. And, um, he has a one 10 hard top two door, uh, which is a kind of a rare, configuration on this side of the pond and it's more of kind of a work truck and it would be such a great vehicle to put, uh, you know, a kind of a false floor or like a plywood, uh, piece of plywood in the back and a sleeping pad and, and use it as sort of a camper. Um, so we're, you know, we're, we're mulling that. I think we need to sleep on it and kind of consider our options. But, uh, that type of trip is definitely, we're going to do more of those. I really enjoyed it. |
| Jason Heaton | Lots of, uh, lots, lots of Jeeps out there for you. Yeah. Yeah. And by somebody's project Jeep with the top already on it. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. We, you know, we'll get into it with the final notes today, but certainly after watching some videos of people doing this stuff at Jeeps has planted that seed as well. So we'll, we'll see where we, we'll see where we land. |
| Jason Heaton | I really, I really like this. And again, we'll get, we can get into this when we get into the later things in the show, but definitely, definitely looking into some light overlanding. additions to the Jeep here for the next little while. |
| James Stacey | You know, just before we close out on this topic, the thing that somebody else recommended, I've got a lot of friends with Jeeps now, and when I mentioned this Defender idea, they all said, get a Jeep. It's got, you know, nationwide dealer network and, you know, potentially a warranty if you get a newer one, et cetera, et cetera, parts availability. But the thing that stood out about our little trip in the Land Rover was The social interaction and the people that came out to talk because they saw this old strange looking vehicle for sure. And I don't know if you'd get that with a Wrangler with a rooftop tent and kind of a burly looking. I find a lot of the, especially the newer Jeeps that are kind of tricked out. They're almost intimidating looking. They almost don't invite approach unless you're kind of into that stuff. Whereas an old kind of rattle trap truck with a tire on the hood does, you know, |
| Jason Heaton | I absolutely agree. There's a different sort of social scenario surrounding an old Land Rover or even a new Land Rover in some ways, like a Defender up until two years ago than there is with a Jeep. And there is so much of the Jeep modifying culture tends to make them look like military vehicles. Right. Yeah. and that's not universal, but it's certainly not uncommon. And once you make an already large vehicle three inches higher and put giant wheels on it and cover it with like a decorator crab worth of living supplies, they definitely aren't as maybe kind of cheerful. It's funny because in some ways you compare something like a Chrysler vehicle to a to a Land Rover product, you would think the Chrysler vehicle would be the everyman sort of vibe, but it kind of isn't. There's something more agricultural, more uh not working class i'm not sure what it is about the the land rovers there is something a little bit their charm is entirely different yeah yeah for sure yeah um but yeah i think i think that's great and i don't think you can go bad either way especially if your plan is to use it for these adventures because you're going to spend so much time working on the vehicle to get it ready for these sorts of things that yeah one vehicle's kind of use and maintenance scenario probably isn't going to be any different than another because you'll just love, you know, kind of tinkering. I think that's part of the value of these sorts of things. From my side, I haven't really done anything other than work and we're furthering the project property when we have time. Toilets are a pain, I've learned. You're threading a needle with those, especially ones that deal with the sort of winters. that you get in a cabin. So we'll take another stab at it in a coming weekend. |
| James Stacey | Is it tied into a septic system, I'm guessing? |
| Jason Heaton | It is, yep. Yeah, there's a full septic system and everything, which is good, certainly. But yeah, we're just... The bathroom reno is kind of partly done. We got partway through it and hit some roadblocks. And that's fine. It's all part of the learning thing. And luckily, it's not so cold here that we can't go up and camp and enjoy chilly nights in a tent, which I'm a big fan of, and bonfires, which you can't do in Toronto and that kind of thing. So looking forward to as many of those days as possible before the snow sets in. Because I think at that point, The property is way down a road and then way down a private road after that. And even with the Jeep, I think that there's going to be a point where there's no driving in there without a plow. And so we'll see. We'll see how long that goes for. I'm hoping to at least get there through Canadian Thanksgiving. American Thanksgiving would be an absolute blessing. Beyond that, we do have some just kind of relative news from within the sphere of the watch world and the TGN world. The first one is kind of a big congratulations to Vordic Watches, who after a pretty long-standing legal battle has won their case against Hamilton. And that means that they're allowed to modify vintage Hamilton pocket watches, which it doesn't seem like something you necessarily need to go to court for. in my mind, modifying something of an existing stock, but I don't, I'm certainly not a legal expert in any way. And I know this has been a very long standing battle for them. And it basically means they get to continue as a company. So a huge, a huge congrats to RT and the team at Vortic. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, that was big news. We got some legal documents along with kind of a press kit from, from their PR person. Because it became kind of a PR story for them. And big news, certainly. A bit of a David and Goliath story. But to read through the legal documentation was oddly interesting because the case that Hamilton was bringing was that there was some brand confusion because the old pocket watches in the new cases still had Hamilton on the dial and potentially an unsuspecting buyer might confuse a Vortec watch with a Hamilton, which seems a little silly to me. Um, to look back at the precedents that, that, you know, were used as comparisons in the case were, were quite interesting. There was something from champion spark plugs and something from, uh, I don't remember what else, but, um, uh, you know, I, I don't know, a good, a good legal story is, is always interesting. And this one coming from the watch world was particularly so. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. And I know the other thing that I've learned in, especially when it comes to, and I don't want to be unfair here. So I'll say that, that within the perspective that I'm aware of, um, within, you know, within my own knowledge, uh, the way that, um, copyright and trademark and things like that works in the States really means that you have to be very proactive in protecting yourself, uh, which is where Hamilton would have been coming from with this. And so you see some of this, like in the car world as well with Porsche, where the modifying vintage Porsches and making them new in some ways, restomod sort of stuff, or even well beyond that is very popular. But I know that those companies, have to be very careful what they call the car after they're done with it. So if you look at something like Singer can't call their car a 911 or a Porsche, it's a Porsche reimagined by Singer, that's the legal loophole is my understanding. And I'm sure that there's... I actually know for a fact that there's a handful of very smart legal minds that we count among our own audience. So I'm not sure it's necessarily a conversation for this show, but I always find it kind of interesting whether it be a singer thing or if you follow Gunther works, they have a specific naming structure for their product that basically allows them to not infringe upon calling their car a Porsche. Despite the fact that it is in many ways a Porsche, certainly philosophically, you could make that case. So I think that's super interesting and I understand if you look back at if there's precedent and things like that, then Hamilton had to uh, act in some way, but the court seemed to have sided with, uh, what I think it seems like a re a very reasonable decision in, uh, in supporting, um, what, what Vortec is up to and, and with in doing so, I don't think in a way that really endangers anything, uh, from Hamilton's world, at least in my mind. Right. So yeah. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. Then kind of You know, following on that story, a friend of the show, fellow podcaster in the watch world, Alan Farmello, who runs Beyond the Dial, recently completed a project up in Lake George, which is in upstate New York. The cat is coughing next to me. I could just barely hear that. Like a hairball. |
| Jason Heaton | I can leave that in. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, and in other news, kind of a friend of the show and fellow watch podcaster Alan Farmello, who runs Beyond the Dial, recently completed a project that was sponsored by Oris, kind of a cool project where he was diving with his partner Shelly up in Lake George, which is in upstate New York, to document invasive species, particularly Eurasian milfoil that has been taking over a lot of lakes, freshwater lakes all over the country, usually comes in on boat motors and that sort of thing. He was doing some underwater charting and photography to document where the milfoil was in the lake and give that information to scientists that are working to mitigate that process up there. And he called it Mission Lake George. And I presume he'll be talking about that on an upcoming show. So you can visit his website, which we'll put a link to, and certainly check out his Instagram at beyondthedial. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, cool project and a great guy all around. So a neat way to kind of not quite end, but, you know, mark kind of a transitionary point in diving lakes in upstate New York. I'm sure it's something that people do later in the year as well, but it would be a different sort of dive as it gets a lot colder up that way. So well done, Alan, on that one. And of course, Oris for being involved. That's very true to form for that brand and something we always like about them. Lastly, a heads up, I got an email, and I'm sure a bunch of you have already seen this, because it's not exactly a brand new model, but I got an email from the guys at Ferrer, from Giano, who runs Ferrer, and he was saying that this new model, which is a GMT with a GMT bezel, a matching 24-hour bezel, with the goals of having a bi-directional bezel that allows you to do two time zones very quickly, has been one of their most popular watches to date. Wow. So this is one worth checking out. I think they always do a great job. I mean, I've had a handful of their watches in for review. This is a nice, you know, kind of sporty. They even do a nice white dial version, 40 and a half millimeters, not quite 12 millimeters thick, 44 millimeters lug to lug. They always do case sizing and shape really well and very much in a manner that kind of only they're up to. And yeah, they make a great looking piece and definitely worth checking that one out as well. And there might be a chance in the future to get one of those in hand and take a closer look. Oh, very cool. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, they're definitely spot on with their designs, you know, almost 100% of the time. I really like what they do. And the GMT, I mean, GMTs are hot. People like GMTs. I mean, we're in a year when nobody's traveling, but boy, everybody likes a good GMT. |
| Jason Heaton | For sure. And hey, you know me, I like a white dial. as much as anyone, and this has kind of a nice black silver scheme to the bezel and a bright orangey sort of red accent on the GMT hand. Yeah, I mean, they always do a great job with the little fits and finish and the use of color. I dig it as much as any of them. I was a huge fan of their World Timer that came out last year and I think remains a huge steal if you'd like to have a modern, made today with a warranty and the rest of it, world timer that doesn't cost a fortune as most of them do. Yeah. So yeah, you know, just a heads up that fair is still cranking out some pretty cool stuff. You know, we haven't necessarily seen all of it in person, but I thought these watches look great and you know, we're huge GMT watch nerds. So any new one to the market, especially one that's just the right size is definitely worth a mention. So good, good on that one fair. And And yeah, what else? Anything else new? |
| James Stacey | Yeah, I've got one more thing to talk about here. You know, back in late high school days, I got a vest. It was a kind of a cotton khaki vest from Banana Republic of all places. So back then, Banana Republic had a little bit different vibe than they do now. It was more of a Abercrombie and Fitch, kind of what they used to be as well. A bit of an adventure outfitter. Kind of, you know, heavy on the khaki and lots of pockets. And they had this product called the Photojournalist Vest back then. And both my best friend and I both got one. Slightly different versions. And we wore them all the time. And I just loved that vest. You know, loaded with pockets and mesh and, you know, just kind of had the look. And I regret ever getting rid of that. I don't know whatever became of it. But they recently re-released a version of that that they called the Heritage Photojournalist Vest. It popped up in some Instagram ad or something and I immediately was like, you know, a bee to honey. Um, and I went and ordered it straight away and it came. I love it. It's, it's not quite khaki, it's more of a drab olive mixed with khaki sort of color. And it's a little bit different configuration than it used to be, but it's got the pockets in the right place. It's a nice fit that you can adjust with some side tabs to make it a little slimmer. And, uh, you know, a thin cotton vest is just something that, You know, you can wear over a t-shirt, a sweater, um, and, and you don't realize how handy all those pockets are until you start wearing one of these things, especially nowadays when you've got a mask in one pocket and a phone in the other pocket and your car keys in another pocket. And, uh, and then you said you, you know, you, it looked, looked good to you and you ended up ordering one. And then my wife, Kashani, uh, she was jealous and she's like, do they make it for women? And I said, no, but I bet, you know, small would probably work. And so they were having the sale. And so we ordered a small one. So now all three of us, uh, have, have these vests. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Due to the, due to the, what do they always say on, um, on Top Gear when they're making fun of how much money the BBC would give them, uh, due to the unique way in which Banana Republic, ops to sell everything. A brand new product was on sale, like almost, I think I got 55% off with two promo codes. Yeah. So it was like, I feel bad for Banana Republic because they basically just trained people to only, they definitely only trained me to only ever buy when things are on sale. Yeah. Right. Um, and, and I, that can't be a lasting methodology, but the vest is great for the 85 bucks I spent on it. Yeah. It's really nice. Like the pockets are super handy. It's not so expensive that I feel precious about it. So I don't mind going out and maybe using it in a scenario where it might get muddy or get my kids junk on it or something like that. And I love the pockets. It's super handy. I think it looks pretty good too. And it's not bulky enough, even with the pockets, it's not bulky enough that you couldn't put another jacket over it. Yeah, right. Which I think is pretty clever because sometimes with these vests, and it is a light cotton vest, that's the right description of it. But sometimes you see these vests and then you go and try and put them on under your normal outer layer and there's just not enough room for all of that. And I think these ones are nice, certainly well-priced. It's been in a Republic, so it's not like it's going to last forever. But it certainly seems nice enough to buy and care for and use. And the pockets are big enough for whole cameras, at least something like a Q or an M10 or my Olympus XA just disappears in the two big pockets. Yeah, it's got some handy clip points and a nice sunglass pocket on the chest. They're good. I dig it. And a great catch on your part. It's the kind of thing I would have seen well down the road. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, so we put a link in the show notes. I checked today and they weren't having the sale that they were a while back, but I'm sure something will pop up again soon. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, I mean, if you're keen on this and it's something that you're not using frequently, try the plug-in called Honey. for your browser. It allows you to, not only does it do promo codes automatically for you when you go to the checkout page, so it'll do a scan and just start dropping in. When you go to like a Gap or a Banana Republic or Old Navy, it's the same network of stores. The Honey app will try like 20 various codes. That's a top tip. Yeah. And then you can, there's other ways of using honey or there's another plugin, which I don't have on my computer currently, which I believe is called camel and I might forget, but I think it's called camel. And that allows you to essentially mark pages for things that you're interested in. And then if the price on that page changed, you get a notification. Yeah. And so, yeah, I, I definitely would, would recommend just, just keep an eye on their, on their sales. 40% off is pretty standard for banner public. That's kind of normal price. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | for a lot of their stuff, and it doesn't always apply, which is probably what you're seeing now to their heritage stuff. Right. But sometimes it does, and for me it did when I swung by to take a look at that after you sent me the link, the pricing was good. I snapped it up and I'll be wearing it all fall and probably make a pretty solid layer under a winter jacket for cooler days when you still need to have your mask and your gloves and your... Yeah, right. Your everything else, right? Yeah. And you could EDC vest, I guess. Yeah, so true. Speaking of, uh, of EDC, what have you got on wrist, uh, today? |
| James Stacey | Yeah. So I don't know, for some reason, the change of seasons inspires me to pull out new watches. And I, um, I didn't wear my Bremonts much this summer, but I, I, I wore my supermarine on that road trip, uh, a couple of weeks ago. And lately I've been wearing my MB2 with the white dial on a, on a Navy blue leather bone strap. And I think it just looks great. And, um, Uh, just a fantastic watch. It feels fresh. It feels, uh, that orange is sort of a nice autumnal color. Oh, for sure. The bright white dial sort of pops against the bone strap. So, uh, yeah, it's, it's, we're into leather season now. So, and that's a good watch on leather. So that's what I've been. Absolutely. |
| Jason Heaton | How about you? Well, you know... Rinse and repeat. Yeah, pretty much. People aren't gonna be impressed by this one. I'm still wearing the SPB 143 on the Zulu Diver 328 rubber NATO. I kind of don't take it off at this point. I'll take it off to rinse it off if I get kind of sweaty or whatever, but it's such a hassle-free sort of watch. The watch is keeping decent time from what I can tell now that I've been wearing it straight for weeks, basically. And Yeah, I'm super impressed with it. I don't have more to say. You can check out my week on the wrist or a whole episode we already devoted to this watch if you just go back a few. Yeah, great watch. I will endeavor to find something else to wear for the next episode, I guess. |
| James Stacey | How's it aging? Are you getting some good scratches on it? |
| Jason Heaton | I was checking the bezel today when I wiped it off. I cleaned it off. I'm working on a post about cleaning your watches, and I was giving this one a little bit closer attention. It's got like one little nick on the on the bezel, but it's kind of like in the brushing, so you can't really see it unless you turn it against the light. Yeah. So, so far, not so bad. And I mean, I built... I've done all of the Renos at that project property with this on my wrist. So digging post holes, tamping, like all the stuff that you would kind of say like, oh, you shouldn't do that to a watch, swinging a... I mean, I swing a hammer with my other wrist, but operating all sorts of power tools and that sort of thing. It's held up really well so far, and I'm not... I refuse to baby it. I would like to see just how tough a watch like this is. And so far, I'm impressed, because there's definitely some stuff I got into breaking rocks and running big hammer drills to kind of carve away at some rocks that were impeding a new floor, the choice for a new floor. And yeah, you could feel this thing just... Wow. wildly shaking on my wrist, and it has had no effect on its function at all. So yeah, no, holding up okay. Definitely the watch of the year for me so far. I think it's a great piece, but I've also said an awful lot about it, and I'm wearing it a lot. So like I said, I'll try and find something for the next episode. And with that in mind, with the general progression of time, the sort of overarching theme of this episode is kind of how we approach fall. Originally, I wasn't really sure where we would go with this, but now looking at the show notes, I'm actually pretty excited. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | It's nice to kind of acknowledge the fact, especially the summer to fall transition for me is a special one because they're two just so very different. It feels like, you know, if you, it's almost like going winter to summer. Right. In some ways. Um, but it gives you this, um, this great, you know, it's going to depend on where you live, how long fall exists. Um, but it gives you a nice window to do slightly different activities and, and really get the most of, of, uh, of being able to spend evenings outside still and that kind of thing. So we thought it would be kind of fun to look over some of the gear and the activities and that sort of thing that we kind of do to, to make the most out of fall. And then especially with this being kind of a weird fall, right? It's been, it's been a super strange year for absolutely everyone. Uh, whether you're in North America or not, it has not been a normal summer and it's not going to be a normal fall. And yeah, we figured it might be nice to try and highlight a few of the things that we plan to do to make the most out of it all. So Jason, for you, what's the first kind of onset of fall? Is it the morning you get up and you're actually kind of cold and you didn't put the heat on? Or is it the first time you get to throw on last fall's favorite sweater or something like that? |
| James Stacey | Yeah. Hands down fall is my favorite season. And I think it, uh, I'm built for cooler weather. Um, but as we discussed, winter is, is fun when it's a good snowy winter, but for sure, um, it's just a little long and dark. And I think fall just hits all the high points for me. I love the smell of fall. Uh, you know, even on a, on a hot day, like, you know, we're still in kind of summery weather here, but you go out and, and the light is different. You know, the angle of the sun is different. Of course, now we're having these forest fires on the West coast and, And the sunsets are very strange, but, um, you know, just the smell of kind of decaying leaves and, uh, you get a little bit of wood smoke on the air from, from people building fires. And, um, you know, it brings out all kind of the favorite activities that I like. I like to, I like to build fires. I like to, to wear boots and sweaters and, and I, for some reason, fall and winter or whiskey season for me, uh, you know, summers for, you know, beer and gin and tonics and that sort of stuff. And sure. I don't know. It's, There's something about, maybe it's some deeply embedded, um, you know, thing in, in my psyche or in my ancestry or something for that notion of prepping for the winter to come. And I think it inspires you to kind of do those remaining chores or some of the new things like, you know, wash your car last time or stock up on firewood. And I don't know, you're busy, but it feels like this is very wholesome productivity and, And you don't get too sweaty while you're doing it all, which I like. |
| Jason Heaton | So yeah, it's great. There's something, something will fall for me too, is it's, it's like the, it's like you're, it's kind of like the world is saying, and again, we're saying fall from a very, you know, North American perspective, obviously fall is different, different places in the world, but from the North American perspective, it is kind of a suggestion that you need to change your pace. You know, it's not, it's not the, the 13, 14 hours of go, go, go that you could have in the summer. Uh, you know, it, it is a little bit more, you were back to negotiating the start of the day, the end of the day with light typically. And, uh, there's something I really like about that. And I always have, I like the cooler weather until it's freezing, uh, certainly. And then I, you know, I, I vastly from, uh, from, uh, uh, I'm not even sure what the, how you would name it from a sartorial perspective, I vastly prefer a fall wardrobe to a winter one. Yeah. Yeah. Um, even now, like, uh, it, like you said, it's, it's not quite pure fall. It's actually pretty, has been a pretty fall like in Vancouver or in, in Toronto this week. And, uh, and getting, getting to throw a sweater on over well, you know, shorts and t-shirt, um, is, is just, it's, it's just kind of a nice sort of start to that, to that season. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. Isn't that fun? It's like running a, it's like running the heater in the convertible, like with the top down, like wearing shorts and a sweater for sure. Yeah. Shorts with a sweater is like that perfect, you know, like hiking boots, chunky socks, a sweater and shorts. |
| Jason Heaton | It's like perfect. Yeah. I was, uh, I was, uh, you know, my, my Jeep has an oil consumption problem. Um, that, that Jeep would like to assert is not a problem, but rather well within spec. And I've been doing kind of constant every time I get the, another tank of fuel, I'll check the oil and kind of make little notes about, where it starts to lose it. So I've been working on it and I've replaced a few parts in the engine, and it seems to be a more reasonable... I think as of yesterday, I've done... I used... I burned or consumed three quarts... Three quarts, goodness sakes. Three quarters of a quart in about 1800 miles, which is within spec. Apparently, if you're at It becomes a problem of likely needing a rebuild when you're routinely going through, say, a court in a thousand miles. Okay. So, I mean, these are kind of fast and loose engines, and I don't mean fast or loose in the fun way. They're just not that... They're fairly simple engines, so there's just some things you wanna keep your eye on, like where the oil is going if it's gone. Obviously, leaking is terrible. burning is not preferable, but is also super common in these engines. And then you just want to make sure it's not fouling spark plugs, PCV valves, things like that. So I've been keeping an eye on that. And so yesterday I was outside and every car is a little different, but if you follow to the letter, the service for the Jeep to check the oil is have it up to temperature and then park it for five minutes somewhere level and then check it. And I found if I don't follow that, I really can get some wild results in terms of how much oil is in there. So I've been following it to the letter, using my dive time, using my dive bezel, make sure it's five minutes. And so yesterday I was outside working on the Jeep in shorts and blundstones and hiking socks and in a big hoodie and it was great. I was at a perfect temperature and there was a bit of a breeze and it wasn't too hot, it wasn't too cold. It really is a nice time of year, especially to take care of some projects that can sometimes seem like way worse in, you know, 90 degree heat. Yeah. There's something, you know, especially like I mentioned, I mentioned the difference of like, say, chopping a bunch of wood, which I don't have to do. I don't have a fireplace, but, you know, that's, that's something where, like, I know I wouldn't want to do it on a July afternoon. Right. And I think I would actually, like, relish the opportunity to chop a bit of wood now. Yeah. So there is that kind of fun. And yeah, the boots and the kind of, yeah, like you said, like kind of planning and caring for things because you know once it's negative 10 or 15 or negative 20, it's going to be harder to do all that stuff. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, and I think this is the season when you're transitioning from really an outdoor life. You know, summer we're outside until the sun goes down at 930, 945 sometimes. And this is the time of year when you move indoors earlier. And the weather starts to dictate that as well as you get later into the season. it's also that time of preparing. And, you know, in the old days, you know, that meant a lot more, but you know, there's still a few kind of rituals or tasks that I like to do in the fall. Um, like you mentioned, you know, splitting wood, we have a fireplace that we use all winter long. And, um, while I buy a lot of split wood, I also, you know, like to chop up some of the split wood into smaller pieces. So I do a bit of that, but you know, you, you mentioned the Jeep and, and one of the things I've always done for many years since I've owned vehicles is, I like to give the car or cars, uh, one last kind of good wash and wax. I feel, um, you know, I'm sure car paint is a lot better than it used to be. And, um, I used to always feel like if you put a coat of new finish or, or some sort of good wax on it, it'll help protect the finish during those winter months of salt and snow and that sort of thing. So that's, that's always one thing I try to do as late as possible before, you know, I got to turn off the outdoor, uh, spigot for the, for the hose. And, and, and then the other thing is just, you know, especially with the Land Rover, which sits out year round and has lots of, you know, different fluids and gearboxes and, and, and engine and that sort of thing. I just like to go front to back and, you know, change and check and top up all the fluids and clean the insides of windows. Cause you know, when it gets cold in the winter and like you haven't cleaned the inside of your windscreen, you know, you breathe and your breath like shows every smear and every bit of whatever. So I, I'd like to do that, uh, this time of year as well. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, I always like to like I don't I'm not I'll take the Jeep to a normal car wash like a coin spray wash. Yeah. I'm not going to wax it. I'm just, I'm not there at all. You know, every panel on that Jeep has a scratch or some wear on it. It's in nice condition overall, but it's a, it's a 2020 car, which is, you know, from 20 feet away or 20 miles an hour. It looks perfect. Yeah. This is not a, this is not a, you know, a five foot car or a two foot car or anything like that. It's a well, well, well used thing, but, but I do have a thing about alternately. I have a thing about, interior cleanliness. Oh, okay. Yeah. I like to make sure I hate the dust on stuff like, you know, we're doing all these rentals, so I'm going to the dump and you end up with sand and dust and everything. So I really love a good vacuum and some of those wipes to kind of clean down and protect some of that. And yeah, clean glass is great. Clean glass makes it feel like a whole different vehicle, especially when the And I'm sure it's the same in your Land Rover. The windshield is vertical and it's right in front of you, so you can reach out and touch it. There's a lot of cars where you could clean your windshield once and then no one can reach the windshield from where they sit, and that's not the case in these kind of silly older SUVs. Yeah, no, I like that kind of stuff. It's a great time of year if your vehicle falls into the realm of vehicles that need to be oil sprayed. Uh, that's obviously a great word. We're, we're, we're really sticking hard to maintenance here. Uh, but if you live somewhere that salts on the road, you need to consider the longevity of your vehicle because every, every winter will take, uh, take a toll, uh, for sure. And, and, you know, this week I, I put the hard top back on the Jeep, which, you know, uh, I remember speaking on previous episodes about, you know, not really being sure how long or how hard it would be to put the soft top on and putting the hard top back on was maybe 20 minutes. Oh, wow. really simple once you've got an idea for how few pieces there really are. And yeah, I'm not sure if the soft top will go back on. It's a little bit easier, but I found that there's only one or two times really where I put the top all the way down. Usually, I was just using the half fold where the two front seats are kind of open, and I can do that with the hard top by just removing the two panels and putting them in the back. So we'll see. I think if I want to do any more extensive sort of a roof tent or something like that, then I need to put a rack on and the rack would go over a hard top. Yeah. So we'll see. But I think that's that'll be a fun thing to kind of research through the fall and the winter and maybe come up with a plan for for next year. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. And, you know, moving on with with kind of maintenance and away from vehicles. The other thing I tend to do this time of year is, you know, you start to wear boots more often. Oh, yeah. Although, you know, spending so much time at home, I'm not sure how much I'll be even lacing up my red wings this year because I'm just not going many places. I, I'm, I always default to my blundstones now just because they're so easy. Um, but regardless, you know, leather shoes need some care and with, you know, salt and kind of the grime of winter, uh, it's always a good time to kind of oil them. I, I've been doing a lot of gardening with the blundstones and I just get filthy and scuffed up. And so, uh, once a year I pull out this ancient tub, I actually had to Google it and I'll throw a link in the show notes here, um, the stuff that was called Finland's bear grease. Uh, it's kind of like if you've used like mink oil, they called mink oil, but like it's that sort of, it's got lanolin in it and some other oils. Um, and I always just rub that in with my, with my hands and the warmth from your, from your body, your fingers sort of helps to work it into the, for sure, into the leather. And I like to do that. It makes the boots look good for a couple of days and protects them a little bit. So, um, and I've never been one to do much waxing of, of kind of those waxed cotton jackets. I have a couple. I've got a Barber and another one from Triple Lot. And you know, you're supposed to wax those. I've never really paid much attention to that, but I think this year I should take that on. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, the wax thing is, I think I've always had the best intentions. I've bought wax and never opened it. But I have a couple of things from Fjallraven. I have a Penfield rain jacket that is, you know, about as water resistant as a standard t-shirt now. So that could definitely use a wax and maybe that would be a fun project to take care of. As far as boots go, I like the blends a lot and my Red Wings, the Iron Rangers are perfect, but I wouldn't subject them to a Toronto winter. That's insane. And the other problem with those, and it's a me problem, not a problem with the boots themselves, but they need to be resold. Oh, sure. And I actually had planned on bringing them to New York for the same week as our hangout. So that would be on March 18th. Yeah. Because there's a Red Wing store right by Penn Station that will do the whole thing in-house. It doesn't get shipped away. Wow. And so that was the plan was to get them resold and have them sold for the fall because I would wear them all over the city and they're great. They're great for driving because they're very stiff across the bottom of your foot. Mine are very broken in now, so they're very comfortable. But yeah, I think I'm probably just going to keep on in my, in my, you know, tennis shoes until it's too late. And then, you know, I like, for anyone listening who has the, does the Blundstone thing and ever has to deal with colder weather, you can buy their shearling lining, which I absolutely swear by. It made a huge difference for the four, maybe 40 Canadian. I paid for them and they're in my, they're in my closet. They're going back in as soon as, because I live in, I basically live in camp socks from about September till April, like heavy wool red stripe socks. Yeah, right. And a pair of those plus the blends with the shearling lining is very warm. |
| James Stacey | Do they take up much more space? I think I might have asked you this before, but I might get those this year. |
| Jason Heaton | They take up a little bit more vertical space than the standard insole that comes with the shoe. Yeah. And then, of course, if you're already that, I believe, at least it did when I bought mine, they come with two insoles, so you get a thicker pair and a thinner pair. If you're on the thinner pair, I think going from the thinner pair to the shearling will seem like a lot. Okay. But my guess is as long as it doesn't as long as it's not so tight that it hurts the top of your foot, which is, I guess, possible, you're probably okay. But also, if you've been wearing them in Minnesota winters and didn't feel the need to buy the shearlings, maybe don't bother. Yeah, that's true. It's awfully cold there. Make up for it with another pair of socks, maybe. I don't know. I really like it because if you if you just want to run out to the car, I don't even have to put socks on if I didn't like, if I didn't have socks, you just throw them, throw them on, run out in the snow to the car, get, get what you need and come back inside. But, uh, yeah, I'm a, I'm a definitely fan of those. I mean, we've certainly talked about that kind of stuff a lot. The other goal I've got for the fall this year is, uh, I'm going to gonna, you know, I took a break on getting a lot of the film photography in simply because I didn't really, I thought that this would be the sort of quarantine and non-travel thing wouldn't, wouldn't last this long. Yeah. And I kind of just let it go. I figured, you know, because I was getting all of my photos developed in New York, I would just save a roll or two until I was there again. But I think I'm going to work through that and just take them or send them to downtown camera in Toronto. So, yeah, I put a roll in. We went on a little family hike the other day to the Alora Gorge area. which is a great spot if you've got some hiking to do and you can kind of be away from people despite its popularity. So we went there and I brought my Olympus. I'm sure I talked to you about this, but I thought I had lost my Olympus, the XA. I thought I had left it in New York and it turns out the thing is just so small that it was in the bottom of a pocket in my camera bag for months. So I put a new roll in the XA and I've shot a few frames and I think that can be kind of a nice way to mark because I don't know. I'm sure you're like me. You've got some photos that are on a proper camera. You've got some photos that are on your phone. And once they're either used, whether it's like for a project or put on Instagram, then they just kind of become part of an ether of digital-ness. So yeah, I've been kind of interested in doing something that allows you to have more of a physical end product. I think |
| James Stacey | you know, for probably for you more than for me. But, uh, you know, a lot of times digital photography feels like what you do for work. Um, cause we do so much of that sort of thing. Um, and I think shooting film is entirely different. It feels more thoughtful and you just don't bang out so many shots. It almost feels like making your own loaf of bread instead of buying it or something. I don't know. It's just a different feel to it. I think that's a good idea. |
| Jason Heaton | Uh, and we've got a handful more suggestions, more stuff to talk about. If you've ever heard of a Scottle grill, uh, stay tuned. But before we get to any of that, we've got our ad break. And episode 125 is proudly brought to you by G-Shock and their Master of G series watches. And specifically, this episode is brought to you for their Gravity Master, which is the GRB200, which is a watch I've been kind of playing around with and trying to learn and experience and take on runs and that sort of thing. It's this kind of big, burly, a carbon fiber sports watch, very G-Shock. And really the Gravity Master is an unapologetically modern take on a hardcore sports tool watch. Its wide case is set with a collection of glove-friendly buttons, G-Shock's quad sensor technology, connected app ability, and a legible analog slash digital display covering everything from multiple time zones to chronographs, timers, alarms, step counting, altimeter, barometer, compass, thermometer, et cetera. |
| James Stacey | So they've got a couple different color versions of this one. Which one did you get? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, they were kind enough to send kind of the full black version, which is the 1A of the iteration. There's, I believe, a blue one and a red one as well. And the black one has kind of a white accent for the time display, the hands and the markers, and then otherwise kind of a red and gray colorway that looks really good with the carbon fiber. You look at this thing and the buttons on, especially the buttons on the right side of the case, kind of feel like something you'd see on the, on the control yoke for a plane or a carbon fiber helicopter or something like that is really a different level of kind of case design than I'm used to with a, with a G-Shock. You know, I've had 5600s in the past. I had a Rangeman that I adored and a really great watches at a more entry level, but these are a little bit more refined. It has a beautiful crystal and they, really seem like a really tough, super capable, very tech forward sort of things. And, uh, the interface is simple enough to be used quickly and the gravity master GRB 200 offers shortcut buttons for two of the quad sensor abilities. That's your compass and altimeter. The other two for those wondering are the barometer and temperature, and they also kind of package in, uh, activity tracking as well. And then there's a quick button right on the side of the watch, which seems common to a lot of the Master of G line that allows you to quickly connect the watch to the companion smartphone app. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, and I think the app is something kind of new to G-Shock and to this line. What exactly does it do? Have you had a chance to play with it? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, for sure. So basically you can connect any Bluetooth capable G-Shock and there'll be like little icons on the boxes or on the website to tell you if it has this ability. But you can connect them to your iPhone or your Android device. And for this GravityMaster, the app allows you to set the time, manage world time settings, access the GPS enabled mission log function, view your steps, set alarms, and more. All of this functionality is wrapped up in a tough shock and vibration resistant carbon core guard case that offers 200 meters water resistance for just 350 bucks. So pre-orders are open now and for a closer look and more details, you can visit bit.ly slash GravityMasterTGN. Again, that's bit.ly. slash Gravity Master TGN. And let's not forget a huge thank you from Jason and I to G-Shock for supporting the Grenado and for making episodes just like this one possible. |
| James Stacey | All right. Thanks for that. Let's jump back into our discussion of fall. |
| Jason Heaton | All right. So now let's get back to the show. And we're chatting kind of about fall stuff. Jason, we recently got kind of a delivery each of some clothing. Any of that you think you're going to get some use of in the fall? I certainly will. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. And, um, you know, before we get started that we had, we heard from, did I forget something? No, no, no, no, no. Yeah. Yeah. You're right. Um, so we got, um, really generous care packages from a Norwegian clothing brand and we've both been, I think, mispronouncing this. And I heard, or we heard from, uh, a Norwegian listener who, who tried to correct us and I'm going to try to do this. It's Neruna, Neruna. It's there's this slash through the O, the second O and the word, but, um, We got some really cool kind of fall oriented clothing from Neruna and I've had a chance to wear everything I got finally. It was a little too warm a few weeks back when we first got it but I've been wearing the what they call the ski boat and shorts which I just was looking up today and I realized that they kind of made them for enduro mountain biking. They're kind of knicker length In a really tough sort of for lack of a better word kind of a soft shell slippery material Very substantial And instead of a belt it has adjustable sort of velcro straps on the side that you can cinch up or let out Two big pockets on the thighs two pockets on the back, and I've been wearing them those I've been wearing ever since I got them and they're They're just they're great. You can actually kneel in them because they're they're knicker length So like with shorts a lot of times if you're kneeling on the dirt or on a rock or something Yeah, for sure up your knee and They're a little warm for really warm weather But I was thinking the other day like with a pair of you know thermal tights underneath it or something You could almost wear them in the winter, you know with some boots. I mean, they're really substantial kind of chunky shorts. Yeah and then you know, I They also send some pants that are kind of these lightweight sort of soft shell pants, really thin with kind of clever zipper locations and reinforcements on the knees and the seat. And those are called the Bitterhorn pants, which I really like. You know, they're a bit Fjallraven like, but a little bit thinner and I would say a little more comfortable. And I really like the ankle closures on these. Instead of snaps and straps, it's just a fold over Velcro that you can kind of cinch up to tuck into a boot or into a pair of socks. For sure. I'm really impressed with this stuff. The base layer stuff and the merino wool tops have been really excellent as well. What have you been wearing? You've been wearing that chore coat, right? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, like you, they sent a handful of stuff. And the two that I've kind of spent the most time in are the Oslo Insulated Shacket, which is their term from their site. So it's kind of a shirt slash jacket. If you imagine just kind of like a work shirt, but it's in a nylon and it has a little bit of insulation to it. and snaps down the front in a kind of shirt collar and some pockets. I love a really light jacket, not unlike... If you imagine this would be less insulated and less warm than your Patagonia Nano Puff or something like that, but it's a little bit more stylish. It doesn't have quite the same overall aesthetic of a Nano Puff or a Puffy jacket or something like that. It's a little bit more sleek, a little bit more kind of of a city look versus a ski hill look or something like that. And it's really light. I found it really easy to wear when I was working up on the on the cabin. It was great because as weather changed, it was really easy to just kind of unbutton it and cool down or, you know, button it back up and warm up. It was definitely not too warm for movement. And then to its credit, it's something I wore while building a big floor. So carrying around pieces of wood and tools and and all sorts of like kind of like genuine labor and wear and tear and it's held up really well, better than I kind of expected. You know, sometimes these things, especially when they're just a simple kind of nylon outer layer that doesn't have any specific reinforcements, you're never quite sure how well they'll take, you know, a sharp piece of wood or, you know, carrying things like plywood, which of course has like little, you know, flex and stuff in it. And all of that's been great. And then just, just in the last couple of days, when it started to get legitimately cooler around here, you know, we've had a couple of nights in the, in the low or mid single digits. Uh, I've, I tried out this, uh, Tamek insulated jacket, and this is just an absolutely gorgeous looking thing. It's kind of has the aesthetic of like a jean jacket or a bomber. Um, uh, but it's built up a little bit. It has a nice sort of at the, at the collar and then at the cuffs it has a sort of like a corduroy, a matched corduroy finish. Oh, nice. And I'm really impressed by this. It's a little bit warmer, which is perfect, and it's a little bit heavier duty. It's got nice pockets. It's a nice shade of blue. So, so far, everything they've sent I've been kind of blown away with. They sent a pair of trail running shorts that I've been using that are really, really, really nicely made. None of it's cheap or anything like that, and it certainly doesn't feel cheap, but it was certainly kind of a Neruna. Did I hit it? |
| James Stacey | Yeah, I think so. |
| Jason Heaton | To my untrained ear, yeah. Yeah, my just distinct apologies when I try and attempt other nations beautiful languages. I am not so good with my own. So hopefully it's Neruna, it's spelled like Nerona, N-O-R-R-O-N-A and absolutely worth a look. If you're kind of in the realm of, yeah, liking the style of a Fjallraven or You know, it is a little bit less of that like, like, I'm not even sure the term I'm looking for. Like Patagonia has its own look, right? Yeah. Which I think a lot of the outerwear community has encircled recently. Right. And then, but if you think of a brand like Fjallraven, it's an entirely different look. It's maybe a little bit more classic, a little bit more apparel versus outerwear. And then this kind of enters into a zone that maybe blends something like like a Fjallraven with more like an Arterix. And certainly you look on their site and you see a lot of similarities to a brand like Arterix, very high-end shells and things like that. So yeah, a big thanks to them for sending it. Perfect fall gear. As we get the chance to experience more, I'm sure it'll come up, but this felt like the right setting to chat about that. And then, you know, we always like to be clear, not an ad. They didn't pay for this coverage or anything. They sent us some product and these are our our kind of experiences with it. So it was kind of them to send it and looking forward to have some of that stuff keep us warm in the coming months. Yeah. Speaking of keeping warm, what are you drinking these days? This is a good time of year to enjoy a drink, even on maybe a cold porch or a dock or yeah, just maybe a socially distanced front yard or backyard event. |
| James Stacey | Right. I mean, To me, it's it's turning into whiskey season. You know, you build a fire and you get that smoke in the air and it's just, it's the perfect time to pull out a flask. I'm a big fan of flasks and I've got, I feel like I've got them all over the house now. Not all full, but you know, I take them camping and sit in the backyard and whatever. But I'm kind of working through a collection, you know, if you remember Maybe earlier this year, I had, uh, I'd given up drinking for a while and I've kind of weaned myself back onto it by going with maybe one or two drinks a week. Um, and, and if there's ever a time that, that you want to be weaned back onto drinking, to me, this is, this is when it's worth it. Um, cause I just love a good whiskey. And, and I'm, like I said, I'm working through a few bottles that I've got left in the basement. And one was a, uh, a whiskey from Wales that, that I picked up when we were over there last summer. Uh, we actually visited the distillery place called Pandaren. It's just near the Brecon Beacons in South Wales. We passed through on our way back to London and did some tastings and checked out the distillery and I picked up a few bottles there and I'm now working my way through the last one. This is called Myth and it's a single malt Welsh whiskey that they age in bourbon casks and amazingly good. For years I was just kind of so set on Scotch whiskey and then branched out a little bit into Japanese whiskeys and some bourbons and if you ever get a chance, I've surprisingly found Pandaren for sale at a liquor store here in Minneapolis. So I presume you can buy it in a few places elsewhere and worth picking up, worth trying. It's not a peaty whiskey. It's kind of more of a lighter, a little bit sweeter, kind of more along the lines of a highland scotch. Yeah, that's kind of what I'm working through. I've definitely got the peatier ones that come out as the As the weather gets colder, you want a little more of that smoke taste. But for now, it's this one. How about you? You're a bourbon guy. |
| Jason Heaton | I am, yeah. And in the recent weeks, especially, but over the summer, I started to kind of dial back how much I was drinking. It just was, you know, I'm getting older, so it's starting to affect the way I sleep and workouts and things like that. So I was starting to limit that. And I'm still enjoying it, you know, just certainly not as much. The other thing that I'm slowly kind of learning what the bourbon scene is, if you know anything about bourbon, supply and demand is weird with the good stuff. If you want Bullet or you want Buffalo Trace or Wild Turkey or something, that's pretty much around and easy to find. But if you want something at a one or two or three levels up, you've got to be kind of crafty or ready. So typically when I see something, I'll buy a bunch of it. But the stuff that you can find easily in Toronto currently is Elijah Craig, which is pretty good, about 50 bucks a bottle. And then the other safe play, and anytime I see it, I try and get it, is anything non-basic from Four Roses is usually pretty fantastic. So there's single barrel, there's small batch. I like a higher proof, kind of pretty strong bourbon. But maybe the move would be to check out some scotch or some other whiskey over the fall and winter. I'm not sure. I would say the one thing that always comes to mind when you mention a flask, do you have a go-to? I have a flask. I have maybe two flasks. I never use them because I don't have a decent funnel. |
| James Stacey | Oh, yeah. I always use the same funnel that came with the very first flask I bought. Ah, okay. And it's this tiny little plastic thing. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, that's what I would make. I swear I'm gonna lose. |
| James Stacey | I'm gonna lose it at some point, but it's impossible to fill without something like this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what? I bet if you go on Amazon and type in like flask funnel. |
| Jason Heaton | Oh, you're definitely right for sure. You know. Yeah, I can't tell you the number of times where I was like, oh, well. Wasting all this whiskey. I'm going somewhere and I'll bring a flask and then I go like, well, how am I gonna fill this? And you've got to like, find an old strawberry container and cut the plastic off the top and curl it and then hold it with one hand. And you're like, I don't know, man, I'd just rather maybe have not bothered. But yeah, they could definitely be handy for sure. And it's a nice time of year as well, especially if you get out on a hike or relaxing somewhere and |
| James Stacey | Hey, so tell me about this weird grill that you mentioned before the break there. |
| Jason Heaton | Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So this is my current kind of dream item for the fall and even into the winter. And I found it through what will be my final note, a YouTube channel called Venture Four Wheel Drive or Venture Forward, I think is how you're supposed to say it. And it's an Overland account. I will talk about it at length in probably just a few minutes, so I won't go too much into it now. the guy in this that runs the account, he cooks a lot of his food on this scottle grill. And if you imagine a scottle like it's a long or a wide flat metal dish that four legs connect into or three legs connecting to the bottom, they just screw in. Yeah. And then you hang a sort of conventional, a roughly conventional burner under it. Yeah. And you can cook kind of anything because the heat radiates around it. So The number of things that they've cooked on it I find to be absolutely fascinating. It can be breakfast, it can be dinner, it could be like you could basically name it. You can get the center gets real hot and the outside is great for warming things and keeping things kind of warm. They're not super expensive and they pack down into a relatively, you know, because the grill itself is kind of the size of like a symbol for a drum, like a set of drums, a symbol, and then the rest of it all kind of fits in a bag. I think they look super clever. It's new to me. You know, I've been around the block with a few different, you know, the other one that I love is Snow Peak has several of these various versions of like contained bonfires. Yeah. So there's these kind of metal systems that open up and you do your whole bonfire inside a lifted platform. And then there's cooking systems that go on top of that, whether it be like hibachi style things or uh, grills and the rest. And then I saw this and I've been watching a lot of, of Chris's videos of venture forwards videos. And, uh, and he uses it so frequently and for such a wide variety, like maybe he's heating up pizza or maybe he's making like a, like a big meal. And a lot of it is on, is on this. |
| James Stacey | It looks like you're actually kind of suspending a standard backpacking stove, like my Primus. |
| Jason Heaton | I think it's fairly similar to that. |
| James Stacey | Can you use any stove or do you have to use theirs? I can't figure out. |
| Jason Heaton | I think you use theirs. Okay. Because I think it has, from the very quick rundown I saw on the channel of the grill, it has sort of a mounting bracket that allows you to balance it. Sure. Yeah. with two kind of rotating screws. Oh, sure. So I'm not sure you could put just anything there. Conceivably, you could put any heat source below it and it would function in a similar manner. Yeah, right. But I think by design, you probably use the stove it comes with or the camp stove it comes with. So that's from a company called Tembo Tusk. So yeah, it's the Tembo Tusk Scotto Grill, S-K-O-T-T-L-E. And the full kit with the adjustable legs and the rest is $375. So, you know, certainly not cheap, but it looks like nicely made. And then you see it pop up in these sort of overlanding things. And few people are more dialed in on the quality of build quality of their kit than people who live out of their kit. So if it's popular in that community, my guess is it's quite nicely made. Yeah, about 375 bucks. And that's your little bag for the grill and the stove and then the one for the legs as well. And it looks like the model they have here has adjustable leg height. which isn't an option on the previous model I had seen. And I could see the leg adjustability to be handy for sure. Yeah, yeah. Kind of a cool thing. I know you've posted, I assume from your backyard, a sort of taller fire thing that has an edge that you can cook on. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, it's called Artiflame. I don't know if that's how it's pronounced, but Artflame or Artiflame. And it's something that Ghoshani found last year and was pretty keen on getting, and so we ordered one. It wasn't cheap, and they have different sizes, but the bottom is kind of this big, almost barrel that sort of gets wider at the top, and it's made of this, what they call weathering steel, so it just sits out year-round. It looks like it's rusting, and I suppose it's oxidizing on the outside, but it doesn't matter. And then you build a fire inside, and then it has what, you know, maybe the Spanish word would be plancha, you know, this sort of cooking surface that is like a wide ring that you lay over the top once you get your wood fire going. And boy, did that get hot. It gets really, really hot because of course you've got this fire that you've built up for an hour or so. And then when you lay the plancha on and get it really piping hot, you can just put, you know, you can sear meat on, we roast red peppers and vegetables and Uh, we just did salmon on it the other night, but it cooked in about 30 seconds. Um, and then you can put a, an actual sort of round grill over the middle part. And then if you want to grill, you know, meat where you get the grill marks and you want something directly over the flames, you can put it there too. So that's been, that's going to get some use this winter. I think, I think if I can shovel the snow adequately around it, uh, you know, to stand around a kind of a, what's basically a fire pit that you can cook on, um, could be kind of fun with it, with a flask of whiskey. So, |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, yeah. And that's where I kind of thought the Scotto looked interesting because I like these things where you could use them when you're camping or up at another property, but also if you're just home and wanna change a pace and don't wanna cook in the kitchen, something like this could easily be run on a fairly open porch, certainly your backyard, your patio. Yeah. So, you know, I mean, a decent barbecue is expensive, so I don't think that the pricing for something like this Tembo Tusk Scottle is out of line in any way. Right. I'd be very keen to give one a try. You know, I've been cooking a lot this summer on, like, your standard, like, Coleman two burner. Right. And then what's the... And, like, a Weber, a simple Weber propane grill. Yeah. And those all work great, but they don't offer what I think seems to be roughly the same level of like, uh, flexibility that you get from something like this scottle. Right. Which is a cool thing. And we'll put links to, uh, to both, uh, of these devices in the, in the show notes for sure. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. And I guess, you know, one more kind of thing I like to do in the fall, uh, you know, I'd like to revisit kind of, I have books that I read certain times of the year and oftentimes I'll just pick up a book. Uh, you know, I've read Blue Meridian several times or parts of the right stuff. And I think this time of year, I always pick up this old book that I think I probably got from my parents called The Long Shadowed Forest. And, you know, the name itself is so evocative and it's a great fall read. It's a great read any time of the year, but it's, it was written by a woman, I think her name is Helen Henderson, and she lived in a cabin with her husband, uh, up in Northern Minnesota near the Canadian border. And, um, this was back in the sixties. I think the book originally came out in 63 and you know, the, the book just charts the wildlife and the, and the foliage and kind of the seasons, um, throughout a given year. Um, and it has a very sort of pleasant, pensive, meditative quality to it. You know, you, you can read any section of it at any time and it'll be, you know, this morning I woke up and it was raining and the, um, you know, the, The chickadees were outside the window and a fox came in the night and I could see the tracks in the snow kind of thing. I just really enjoyed reading that book. It's very much a naturalist's kind of book. It's a bit of a literary version of what we like about the Dick Preniky Alone in the Wilderness movies. So I recommend that. We'll put a link in the notes. I'm not sure if it's still in publication, but I'm sure you can pick up a copy of it. |
| Jason Heaton | Now is also a fantastic time to go back and watch Alone in the Wilderness. I did so about two days ago. Oh, yeah. I introduced my kids to that and they had a blast. They had about a thousand questions. Why would somebody do this was the common one. But they're very young and then now they just keep talking about cabins and they were watching this YouTube channel with me as well, which I'll talk about in a moment. And they like the idea of living in your car as well. So we're off to a good start there. As far as, and you know, the last one for me would just be a heads up because I remember dealing with some comments in, um, in the summer, uh, after we spoke about some workout equipment, uh, earlier in the year that then wasn't available due to just supply and demand. you know, everybody decided they needed to work out from home, which they do. Uh, so, you know, keep in mind it's mid September now. And if you're, if you're keen on maintaining some sort of fitness, uh, that you're, that you haven't been doing at home or that you haven't been doing inside, if you need equipment, maybe just consider getting it now. You know, if, if all of, uh, we'll, we'll talk about North America here, but if all of North America decides in the same week that it's too cold to be outside running, and they all go for their inside bikes or their kettlebells or their TRX bands or whatever, whatever the hot item will be. We spoke earlier this year about... I picked up a set of those Bowflex adjustable dumbbells and I've been using them and trying to keep on that process, not using them as much as I should, but I have been using them. And I got a lot of messages saying like, hey, you can't buy those, why are you talking about them? They don't exist, they're going for three times their market price on Craigslist or whatever. Uh, so this is your heads up. If you, if you know, maybe you've got the fall to get a good kind of. Indoor workout pace going that you can then just maintain through the winter and you don't have to start off spring, you know, way slower or weaker or less flexible or whatever your goals are than you did previously. So. It's definitely something that I've been thinking about more and more. It's just making sure because, you know, I'm not going to run when it's snowy, so I need to find other things to kind of eat up that energy and to keep me somewhat sharp. Uh, so now might be a good time to start planning your indoor fitness regime. And, uh, I'm not recommending any specific product in case they're already sold out. So good advice. But yeah, I think, uh, I think that's, that's the way we're looking at fall. Uh, we would love to hear what you're thinking. Uh, what's on your mind, what your favorite kind of thing you get to pull out of the closet or out of the camping equipment or adventures or, or whatever, whatever, whatever kind of signals fall for you. Let us know, uh, drop us a line, thegreatnadoatgmail.com. And of course, we'll be planning and executing a Q&A for the start of next month, for this month. So that'll come out early October. So if you have a question for us, fall or otherwise, put it in a voice memo to thegraynadoatgmail.com and try and keep it under a minute. And we're looking forward to all those questions. We've already got a bunch that I'm pretty excited about, so that'll be great. Jason, how about you? We wrap up the show with some final notes. We've each got a solid one. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, I think ours are really complimentary and I think kind of apt for the season for some reason. For sure. So mine came through one of our listeners and a friend, I guess, Andrew Revit, who runs Super Alpine, a really talented designer and photographer. Very. And he emailed us to recommend this video and this guy that he's been subscribing to on YouTube and watching his videos. And the guy's name is Craig Adams, Craig with a K. And the video that he sent us, that Andrew sent us, is called Hiking 45 Miles Alone on the Grand Teton Loop. So Craig is a bit of a, you know, YouTube personality who focuses on minimalist hiking and travel to a certain degree. And he does this kind of ultra-light, long hikes in various places. He's been all over. But this particular one, as the name suggests, it was on the Grand Teton Loop, which is a uh, pretty grueling loop. I think he said it's gotten, you know, 9,000 feet of elevation gain, um, over these 45 miles. And it took him two days. So he camped, um, in a, in a very minimalist style, uh, about halfway. Um, and, uh, um, the video is, is really well done. And, you know, he does all of his own filming, he's doing the solo. Um, and so much of it is just him out there and you can see him you know, he'll set up the camera on a tripod and hike on ahead or hike towards the camera and then pick it up. And I, every time I watch these, I'm like, this has a very strange sort of self-conscious feel to it when you're deliberately moving ahead and setting up the camera and then running or walking past and then you have to go back and pick up the camera. But Oh yeah, I guess it's the same with, with what you're going to talk about as well. Um, yeah, sort of solo, solo adventures, um, which can be, It seems strangely lonely to do it by yourself, but then you're doing it for this audience that then engages with it later. So it's, it's this weird delayed companionship vibe that I'm getting, but, uh, but this has done really well. And he has some just sort of ambient music playing in the background. There really isn't any voiceover until about the last 10 minutes when he's done. And he then actually goes through and explains all of his gear. And tips for doing this route, and where he ate, and what he packed. Lovely. And I thought it was really nice. And I'd like to watch some more of his stuff, because he does some other great hikes. And he talks a lot about just minimizing his lifestyle in general. So yeah, really good. Especially if you're into hiking, whether it's solo backpacking like he did, or just day hikes. It was inspiring to get out there. And boy, I was in the Tetons years ago. And it's such a beautiful place. It really is out there but Anyway, yeah, Craig Adams check them out. Maybe subscribe and thanks Andrew for sending that over. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, that's great It's definitely something I added to my my being of soon to watch list It's another another, you know sign of fall is your you kind of I plan more things that I'm gonna have to do in the evening Yeah, like as far as entertainment because I'm not gonna be outside until the Sun goes down and the rest So these sorts of things especially if you start to feel a bit cooped up Right. These outdoor adventures I find to be... And just something like Alone in the Wilderness is great. Mine falls right in line, and I'll try not to ramble too much. I'm really pretty jazzed about this guy and his work. So there's a lot of overland vlogging on YouTube, and a lot of it I find to be pretty polished, pretty super professional, kind of... Some of it's too bro-y, some of it's too kind of intense. to be relaxing and enjoyable to watch. Some of it's great from like education, but then doesn't really nail there being a story or personality or a vibe that I can kind of connect with. And man, Venture Forward, which is venture, the word venture, and then four, the number four, and then WD, Venture Forward on YouTube is, it threads the needle for me as far as nailing that sort of really sort of chill, methodical simplicity of like a alone in the wilderness, but with a, with a sort of modern take, you know, this is a guy, his name is Chris shots. Uh, he's venture four wheel drive venture forward, whichever you prefer on Instagram and on YouTube, you should definitely be following and subscribing. He's totally great. And I really liked the, the way that he goes about doing what he does. He is a very, uh, nicely kitted, but not overly intense Jeep, which he now lives in and produces these videos out of. And it's a little bit hard to explain why, but it's probably just because I find it very peaceful. I've been watching these every night when I go to bed. My kids are kind of into it. They think it's cool that someone's living in their car. That's a very novel idea. And they like that he goes places and meets people. They know a few of the other reoccurring characters on the show. Chris, from what I can tell, has been doing this since 2018. And I went back as far as an episode. I didn't go all the way to the start of the episode. He eventually hits a sort of vlog format where he's doing an episode every week. And that starts from what I can tell, and I will eventually go back and watch all of them, but I wanted to start where a story seemed to start. Uh, so there was an episode of V2 episode one, which sees conceivably is like vlog season two, episode one going all in is where I started. I didn't find a V1, so I started at the start of V2. Uh, and that's, he's literally starting this kind of weekly vlog as he's not going to have a house anymore. He's giving up his house, putting some stuff in storage and just driving. And a lot of it, you know, a lot of these, if you've watched a lot of these online, In general, it's a lot of these guys going, or guys, people, women, everybody going on big adventures. There's something so much more insular. Like he's just going to a little town in Pennsylvania for a couple of days. Then he goes 80 miles in another direction. He goes to West Virginia for a while. He kind of, he's not going on these massive trips. He gets to them and I'm now well into the third season, if we'll call it. And he gets to much larger, much more ambitious trips. But it is more about the act of living in the Jeep than it is these huge objectives. Yeah. And man, I really like it. I find it really calming and it puts me in a nice headspace to kind of end my day. And I like that he's on his grind. He's always like... Every time that you see a shot of the Jeep driving down some snowy road and it drives past the camera, he drove up, dropped the camera off, set up the whole shot. yeah back to the camera or ran back or whatever he did but back the jeep up and then and then do the drive past and there's so many of these shots where you're like well but he's like for because at least as far as i've watched so far he's usually alone not always but usually yeah um and uh yeah i really respect the guy's grind i really respect just the kind of tone and his level of taste and that sort of thing is very uh accessible and understandable and relatable uh i like it a lot i'm I'm really hooked on this stuff. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. So, so we watched about a dozen of these last night and uh, you know, we, we've kind of been skipping around and I enjoy his kind of walkarounds and his explanations of the gear and how he's got this Jeep kitted out, which is really a smart minimalist way to do it. It's not, it's not overly built up. He hasn't built a lot of stuff into the vehicle or changed the vehicle much. It's more about his smart way of packing and organizing gear along with some clever and very smart upgrades to the vehicle. And um, But, and he's a very capable off-road driver. I mean, as evidenced in some of his, um, you know, sort of tougher outings that he goes on, but he does it in such a non swaggering macho kind of way that I really appreciate that. And his, his Jeep is a very friendly looking, um, very cool looking bright orange, uh, four door Wrangler. And, um, it really makes what he's doing look very accessible and very appealing. And, uh, And he's someone who admits when he's made a mistake. And I always appreciate that about these guys, especially when they're editing their own stuff where they wouldn't have to, uh, either show that stuff or talk about it. So yeah, I recommend it also. I think it's a good pick. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. There's, there is a nice thing, especially, uh, for me, like a lot of my quote unquote TV viewing has moved to YouTube. Yeah. Um, I'm not watching traditional television that somebody's uploaded to YouTube as much as like that space in my entertainment world. Yeah. YouTube's kind of slipped into and I'm used to really highly polished, fast paced music intensive, you know, building cars and, and testing a new camera and all these, all these various things that I would follow and subscribe to. And there's, this is an entirely different perspective. It doesn't lack in any way in quality, but it's so much less in your face. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I like it a lot and I can't recommend it enough and I think I'll probably feel very similar about Craig Adams. So a couple of picks to keep you outside even if you're inside on our newer sort of colder nights as they come in in this part of the world. And yeah, as always, you know, thank you so much for listening. You can hit the show notes via hoodinkee.com or the feed for more details and a huge thank you to G-Shock and Master of G for supporting this episode. You can follow us on Instagram at Jason Heaton and at J E Stacey. And of course you can follow the show at The Graynado. If you have any questions for us, please write thegraynado at gmail.com and please keep sending in those voice memos. You can subscribe and review wherever you find your podcasts and music throughout is Siesta by JazzArt via the free music archive. |
| James Stacey | And we leave you with this quote from Albert Camus who said, autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. |