The Grey NATO - 132 - Holiday Gift Guide 2020

Published on Thu, 03 Dec 2020 06:00:15 -0500

Synopsis

This episode of The Grey Nado podcast features a discussion about holiday gift ideas, with a focus on products from smaller, independent brands. Jason and James each share five gift recommendations, with four under $100 and one "break the bank" option. They talk about items like coasters, a camping lantern, underwear, a kerchief, and an instant photo printer. For the higher-end picks, Jason suggests a wall clock from Bremont, while James recommends a leather bag from Observer Collection. The episode also touches on the importance of supporting local restaurants and businesses during the holiday season.

Transcript

Speaker
James Hello and welcome to another episode of The Grey Nado. It's a loose discussion of travel, diving, driving, gear, and most certainly watches. This is episode 132 and it's proudly brought to you by Seiko. We thank you so much for listening.
Jason Heaton Jason, how are you doing? Doing pretty well. We just had a long weekend here and it was an enjoyable one.
James Yeah, things are looking up. Would you get up to Thanksgiving long weekend? What did you do for your Thanksgiving?
Jason Heaton Well, we did something we have never done before on Thanksgiving. I mean, well, I guess we used to. We used to get out of town a few years. We'd go to a cabin or something, but we went camping last week just for Thanksgiving night. Normally we spend it with my parents, but given current circumstances, that's not wise these days here. So we decided to kind of socially isolate and it was also a good chance to try out our new Defender camping scenario and it was a big success. The week before we had worked with a carpenter friend to build out the back into kind of a sleeping platform with storage underneath. strung some bungees or along the top for lanterns and clipping things up there. And, uh, and then we got an electric site at a state park nearby and just went and spent the night. And we, you know, grilled on the, on the fire and we read books inside the Defender, which stayed reasonably warm with a little space heater and, uh, went for a hike. And so all in all it was, it was pretty serene. It was, it was really a pleasant experience. It was, it was nice. And we're having this weird, fall, you know, we had all that snow back in October and early November, and then it's been kind of warm and dry and sunny here for a few weeks. And so, you know, we're just going to keep getting outside as long as we can until it gets sort of icy and dark. And so, yeah.
James That makes sense to me. That sounds really nice. I woke up to maybe three inches of snow.
Unknown Oh, wow.
James Uh, overnight. So it's a pretty snowy here, uh, at, at the moment. Uh, but yeah, that sounds, man, some, uh, some camping still sounds really, really, uh, like something I would, I would enjoy. That'd be, uh, that'd be great. And I'm glad to hear the defender, you know, on its first kind of shakedown, uh, seemed, seemed to be a good platform for the adventure.
Jason Heaton Yeah. We, we thought we might, you know, come away with some ideas of, of different setups or things we missed or would like to add. And we left kind of thinking this is a, This is about perfect because, you know, we intentionally wanted to start fairly minimally with the way we build it out and, you know, resist adding all sorts of interior cabinets and, you know, gadgets and buying very specific stuff. And so we thought we'd add on as we needed to. And I'm sure we still will, but it's pretty good the way it is. It's nice to be able to just sort of climb in the back and and sleep comfortably. We just, you know, put down a foam, foam folding mattress on top of that sleeping platform and bundled in with our sleeping bags and some pillows. And it was, it was super cozy. It was like a little, little hard sided tent or something in there. So very cool.
James Yeah. I think that's great. And the other thing I think that illustrates is, you know, we, we talk about the overlanding thing and jeeps and defenders and all that kind of stuff quite a bit. And some of it, we've even highlighted some pretty high dollar projects. I think the interesting thing is, in your case, what you did could also be done in a van. It doesn't need to be an expensive off-roader. It doesn't need to be expensive, period. I knew lots of guys that lived up around Whistler and Pemberton and Squamish who lived in Subaru Legacies and anything where they could stretch out at night, right? And these are guys that, you know, this was in the winter. It wasn't in the winter in BC. I mean, it's not Alaska, but it's not like a chill winter either. So I think it's an interesting thing to kind of highlight just how much you can do just with a little bit of intent. It doesn't have to be a new Defender. It doesn't have to be even an old Defender or a Jeep or anything. It could be the vehicle you've already got and a little bit of planning.
Jason Heaton Yeah, I think it was either on TGN or it was on one of the weekend Hodinkee posts you had put up a story about the There was a woman who had done a job with her Subaru, like a Forester, I think, and she built out the back. And there's a guy down the alley from us here in the city that has lived or not lived, but yeah, well, I guess he's lived out of his Subaru Outback wagon on many trips for the past 15 years, he said, and he, he did something similar. So, you know, I mean, I think we're all told we were in for about $180 in plywood, um, you know, good three quarter inch plywood and just, uh, works really well. So.
James No, it looks great. And I like that. It's a, it's something that again, it can grow with you as you get kind of maybe more audacious or, or confident, uh, then you can start to step into things that cost a little bit more money. Um, it, you know, I've, I've spent a lot of time now on, on YouTube sort of overlanding corner. Um, and, and a lot of it focuses on spending money on the gear. Yeah. And maybe not always, you know, that's one of the things I love about, you know, we've talked about Chris Johnson Venture four wheel drive, uh, in the past and I just got caught up. I'm now watching them once a week when they come out. Oh, nice. I've watched everything that he's published so far, but the thing I like about his is it's not that focus on the gear. He has some gear that he likes and it's expensive and it's important because he lives in that vehicle year round and has for several years.
Unknown Yeah.
James Um, but it's not this endless focus on just on the gear. There's, there's the focus is on where it takes you, how it takes you, you know, and, and, and, and, you know, obviously if your goal is to live in your vehicle and, and be supported by a YouTube channel and a Patreon, you're not going to spend a ton of money on gear likely. I mean, there's certainly, there's certainly channels that are so focused on, I just got a new vehicle. We're going to do, you know, $15,000 worth of upgrades to it. They drive it for a few months to a few great adventures, and then they seem to get another vehicle or they There's a couple of channels I follow where the people have six or seven Jeeps at one time. And a lot of that, I think like, I understand that at a certain point you become a slave to making content. I've definitely been down that road for years of my life now, where at some point, maybe you're buying a piece of gear or trying things out just so that you have something to talk about. And that serves a purpose to the community for sure. But it definitely is a community that at least from the content standpoint, is obsessed with gear rather than just action. Right. I know. And I think it's good. I think it's good that, you know, you were able to take a vehicle that really wasn't designed to be slept in necessarily. It has enough room, which I think is the main, obviously the main goal. Yeah. And for not a lot of money and a lot of gear you already own, you were able to go out and have an adventure in a time of year where, I mean, it's less and less likely. It's less and less comfortable. It's less and less enjoyable.
Unknown Yeah.
James Uh, so I, I think that's good. I think it's a decent lesson for folks who might have a second vehicle or, you know, maybe you go out and spend a thousand dollars on a van. Um, cause it doesn't have to be a big sprinter van that you plan on putting a bathroom and a kitchen and an Instagram photo studio. And it could just be a Dodge caravan that you cover the windows and sleep in. You'll be comfortable and warm. You'll be fine.
Unknown Yeah.
James Uh, same for a, I don't know, GMC Safari or something like that. Like there's a lot out there. Right. And, and, and I like that it doesn't, it doesn't always have to be this like, you know, Instagram crushing $100,000 bill to, you know, go make tacos in a field. That's not that far from your house or something like that.
Jason Heaton So I think it's a good lesson for, for those of us that are also into, you know, the other stuff we talk about on TGN, like watches for one thing, I think people get really hung up on things like, you know, uh, can I take this a hundred meter, you know, water resistant diver 65 sailing or diving or which watch is better for this. And I, I, I've just gotten to the point where I just tell people like, look, most of these watches are really well built. Stop sort of obsessing about the watch and obsess about the stuff you can do with it and the memories you make with it. And I think the same goes for, for a vehicle, if it kind of fits the bill and you know, you're, Your examples are good ones. I think that the advantage of the Defender, obviously I have an affinity for old British trucks and so there's a certain heartstrings that get tugged with owning it. But I think the thing that makes it good for this camping is that it's very vertical. It's very square and it has a high ceiling. And so even with a platform inside, we can sit up, whereas something like in our neighbor with his Outback, it's a little more cramped because it's curved around the top and things like that. But you're right. I mean, you can do this with You know, I had a friend that lived out of his Honda Civic when he was driving, you know, around the Great Lakes doing photography and, uh, worked just fine for him. So yeah, just go do stuff, make it up as you go.
James And especially if you're talking about, you start with one night, even if the weather's not great or it's snowy or it's colder than you might've expected, just do one, do one night. Yeah. Do one, see where you land, you know, go watch the channels, like learn what a couple other people have done, you know, follow along and then, and then just kind of adapt that to your scenario and, uh, and, and keep enjoying it. Certainly. I think that's a, that's a good one. And, and, you know, maybe I'm attaching to it because I really haven't done much of anything since we recorded our last episode. Uh, just a lot of work and, uh, and you know, with it, we're still spending time outside, but less and less as it, you know, you blink and it's pitch black and the rest of it. And you just, you know, by the time you actually close the lid on the laptop, it kind of feels like it's bedtime. Yeah. Whereas that, that used to be my sign for like, well, now I go for a run or now I'll, you know, I'll run some errands, I'll go outside, I'll try and go take some pictures, whatever it is. Right. And it's less so, you know, especially with my general distaste for snow and the cold. Yeah. Um, but I'll get over that over time as I do live in Toronto.
Jason Heaton Well, it's kind of, it's kind of the time of year. I think you have to change expectations and I think it's a good time of year for for catching up on the movies you don't watch in the summer because you're, you know, doing stuff till nine 30 or, you know, reading books and, and that sort of thing. So, yeah.
James Speaking of books, I didn't get up to much these, uh, the last, uh, you know, 10 days or whatever, but, uh, I did finish, I started and finished, uh, a collection of short stories by a guy named Ted Chiang. Oh. Um, and the, the book is called Exhalation.
Unknown Huh.
James And I would describe it as, um, did you ever watch any like, uh, Black Mirror?
Jason Heaton Yeah, okay. Yeah, right sort of a little bit absurd sort of that was a British Yeah, yeah, exactly.
James So black mirror is kind of like a Modern version of the Twilight Zone. Okay, right and and in exhalation That's the closest thing that I could probably pull on would be black mirror except a lot of black mirrors kind of dystopian Yeah in its scope. Yeah, and this isn't dystopian as much as it's um, I It's a way of, it's a lot of like perspective shifting and kind of, you know, imagine if you take something like social media now and just extrapolate its effect over the next hundred years. It's a letter from somebody a hundred years in the future. Sometimes it's a letter to you or me, the person reading the story, that's a warning or a tale of the problematic elements of time travel or trying to change your past or I don't really like sci-fi, and definitely this isn't the world of sci-fi. This is from the same guy that wrote Arrival. Oh, okay. Just a really incredible brain and a really fantastic writing. I enjoyed, I think all but one of the stories, a lot. A couple of them I finished. There's one, this is the best I can give you, the one that the titular story, Exhalation, is a story about a sentient being in the future, a robotic being of some, uh, a synthetic being of some sort that's trying to understand that's trying to divine its own creation. And it builds this series of prisms and other things that allow it to actually dismantle its own brain while it's alive. Wow. And, uh, and the things that learns then proposes the things that learns about its own internal structure defines all of its external environment. and some things that are changing that they can't control. So a lot of it is allegory, a lot of it is metaphor. I thought it was absolutely fantastic. My brother Tim recommended it to me and actually gave me the book and he was dead on. Huge fan of Arrival and if you enjoy that sort of, the conceit of the third act of Arrival, or really the conceit of the film itself, I think you'd love this book. I really, really enjoyed it and I also, I don't read any fiction. So this is my first dip into fiction in probably a decade or more. And to be able to do it in little pieces, you know, some of the stories are 10 pages, some are 50 or 60, really made it a little bit more approachable because it's almost like, you know, like playing a mission in a video game. I can read one story and put it down or I can kind of get into it and keep going. Um, so that's exhalation by Ted Chiang. And it was absolutely incredible, but it's a fantastic book. Oh, that's great. And I think really approachable. Like I don't, I don't love, I'm not like a, we've talked about this before. I don't really love sci-fi. I like some of it. I like the tone in sci-fi often. And his tone is so quiet and thoughtful. And if, yeah, like I said, if you enjoyed arrival, I think you'd dig these stories a lot.
Unknown Hmm.
James Oh, I'll have to check it out. Yeah, so that's pretty much my news. I should, maybe I should aspire to a more active lifestyle. As it would seem, I'm not really getting up to that much.
Jason Heaton Yeah, well, it's the time of year. I mean, books and movies get caught up.
James Working our way through Schitt's Creek, which is awfully funny if you haven't seen any of that. I didn't really get into it in the first few episodes and then Uh, it's just, it's eminently watchable and the, the character work, uh, you know, I'm a, I'm a forever fan, a lifetime fan of 30 rock, uh, Tina phase, uh, sitcom from a little while back. Uh, and, and this, I think their character work is very similar. Uh, so it's, it's a lot about just putting characters you already understand into various scenarios. Yeah. Um, and which is, uh, which is nice. It's been, it's been fun to watch that and a nice way to kind of unwind, you know, instead of something that's full of, uh, I don't know, special forces raiding bases and somewhere else in the world or whatever. So, you know, a little bit lower stakes than some of the movies we spoke about in the previous episode. Speaking of what we have been up to for the last little while, what have you got on risk? What's our risk check for today?
Jason Heaton I put on the unordained model one that I talked about probably in our last proper episode, not the Q&A, but when we were discussing the dress watch discomfort zone. Um, and I've kind of settled into a rotation with this watch. It's, uh, as I sort of expected, it's, it's not a daily wear piece that, you know, I put on, you know, for going camping or, um, you know, going for a hike or something, even though I could. Um, but, uh, I'm just, I'm just really enjoying it. It's got this, the beautiful cream dial. It's, it's a dressy watch, but it doesn't, when you look at it, it has this, that sort of instrument, aesthetic to it that I like about some of the like the Ricard Lange, Lange's or you know some IWC's it's just a sort of needle hands and the really beautiful long markers on the dial and and so I'm just just enjoying it you know it's the time of year when I'm wearing a lot of sweaters and turtlenecks and that sort of thing with long sleeves and it just seems like a good like a good fit and I think it's gonna be my sort of official TGN watch you know it kind of sort of puts me in a mood to kind of sit down and and kind of talk.
James I love it. That's great. I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it. I've taken delivery of my chronograph, which I've shared with you. I haven't spoken publicly about what it is. I think we'll do that for a whole episode. Sure. We'll come back and talk about our discomfort zones and maybe where we landed. I wanted to have some sort of resolution. before I share it, but I might also get bored and just put it on Instagram. I'm pretty excited about it, but at this moment, I'll talk about a different watch I've been wearing. With the bad weather, the watch I actually got in is very old, the oldest watch I've owned in, I think, ever, the Chronograph. And so I haven't been wearing it outside. I worry that the negative 4, negative 5 Celsius to come back inside to 20, 25 degree space, uh, you know, would just cause the encouraged condensation. It's the same way I kind of treat cameras. I'm only going to take them out if I really plan on using them in the cold and giving them a chance to acclimate and the rest of it. Right. But for a 10 minute trip outside or, or going to clean snow off the Jeep or whatever, I've been wearing my, the sea Rambler quite a bit. And, uh, it's just a lovely thing. Yeah. Um, You know, it's a, it's basically in my mind, like it's, it's borderline a perfect dress, a dive watch, a perfect dive watch. Yeah. It's just the right size. It feels really special. It doesn't look like a Rolex. It's got some color, but not too much or too little. And it's also the thing that really wins about these the 50th anniversary cases and conceivably then the new 300 it just works on any strap. Yeah. you wanna put on rubber, works on rubber. You wanna put on a mesh, works on a mesh. You wanna put on leather, I haven't found any leather, it doesn't work on either. I would say that in the world, there's that whole subset of people who hate the idea of a dive watch on a leather strap. I've never ever understood that at all, but I think in the world... This probably is one of the most difficult watches to understand on a leather strap, it just doesn't even look that right in photos. Yeah. Yeah. But on wrist, it's just perfect. It feels like you put a watch like that on a vintage or on a leather strap. It feels vintage. It feels kind of special, almost kind of off duty. Right. Because you wouldn't go in the water with some suede strap or something. Right. So, yeah, I've been just loving and enjoying. It's a great watch. I've talked about it before. Don't have to put a lot more time into it. But if you don't know the watch I'm talking about, we'll put it in the show notes along with Jason's lovely Ann or Dane model one.
Jason Heaton Yeah, well, I think, you know, you're dead on with that. I think these sub 300s, there's just so much steel to the case that, and then with that silver dial, especially the one you're wearing, it does definitely have a bit of a vintage appeal to it. You know, we can probably move into our main topic here shortly. Maybe we do an ad break first, but I'm pretty excited about this episode. It's one that we, it's become a bit of a tradition for us on TGN, our holiday gift guide.
James Yep. Yeah. I'm also excited about this. It's usually one of my favorite ones of the year. I like a gift guide that, you know, it's, it's something I like. I really, obviously I enjoy giving gifts quite a bit and it's a, it's a kind of a fun way to, to look at it. And we'll explain the format and we changed it up a little bit this year. But if you're listening to this and you want, if you get to the end and you want more gift options or different gift options, maybe ones from bigger name brands, we've made an attempt to go with smaller brands. of one of them in New York with you. Yeah, it was in my little Airbnb. It must have been at the end of 2018. Right, right. Something like that. So yeah, we've been doing this for a little while. I always really enjoy it. But yeah, I definitely think it's time for an ad break. And as we've said on the past few episodes, we are just thrilled to be able to say again that Seiko sponsored this episode of the show. And much like with episode 131, This episode is kind of brought to you by Seiko and their new prospect series of dive watches. In the past, we spoke about the kind of 62 mass reissues with the SPB 143 and so on. And this time we're going to be talking about their new SPB 151 and 153, which are the kind of reissues of the Captain Willard 6105.
Jason Heaton Yeah, and this is a watch that even though Seiko hasn't formally embraced the Captain Willard moniker, everybody seems to know it by that because it was nicknamed for the inspiration that they draw from, the Seiko dive watch worn by Martin Sheen when he played Captain Willard in 1979's Apocalypse Now. The SPB 151 and 153 are heavily based on the now vintage Seiko 6105 dive watch from the late 60s, which actually was the watch that replaced the 62 mass.
James Yeah. And, and oddly enough, not only did it replace the 62 mass, the 62 mass, like I mentioned, was the inspiration for the prospects models we chatted about on the previous episode. So this is kind of, there's, there's a flow to the plan here with the Seiko ad breaks. And you know, we've chatted about my much loved SPB 143, but for the 151 and the 153, we find a steel case with Seiko super hard coating. It measures 42.7 millimeters It measures 42.7 millimeters wide and offers 200 meters of water resistance, protecting Seiko's latest spec 6R35 movement with 70 hours of power reserve.
Jason Heaton And on the outside, the two models are separated by color and the available mount, with the SPB151 rocking a black dial and bezel, along with a full steel bracelet, and the SPB153 opting for a lovely shade of olive green matched with a black silicone strap.
James And pricing starts at $1,100 for that green with the rubber strap, the SPB 153 and the SPB 151, which has the full bracelet and the black on black coloring will retail for $1,300.
Jason Heaton For more information about these excellent vintage inspired divers, please visit bit.ly slash 151 153 TGN. That's bit.ly slash 151 153 TGN. And of course a huge TGN thank you to Seiko for supporting this episode and for making the Grenado possible. Sponsors like Seiko allow us to keep the show free for all who listen and we greatly appreciate their support. Let's get back to the show.
James So Holiday Gift Guide, this is actually really similar to Film Club, which we did with the previous episode. But basically, Jason and I each pick five or so gifts. The goal is that four of them would be under $100 and one is kind of the break the bank, go spend a little bit more money for something more special. And this year we tried to focus on non big box options. So it's not exclusive to to what we're talking about. Some of these kind of bleed into the the Amazons and the Best Buys and the rest of it. But we wanted to have some focus on on smaller brands that are operated by, you know, mom and pop entities that make products that we really enjoy. And this is like I said, just a couple of minutes ago, this is only a small cross section. You can go back and I think I can't think of anything in the previous gift guides that I wouldn't still recommend. And there are probably things I should put on this year's list as well, but we try and have a new list every year. So we can't just keep saying by, uh, Patagonia nano puffs or, or, uh, Blundstones or something like that. Yeah. And I feel like we say that kind of stuff a lot throughout the year. Uh, so this was kind of a, uh, an option to go not only with smaller brands, but maybe with a slightly left of center, uh, left or right of center sort of options that aren't the normal things we always talk about. And with that in mind, absolutely everything is in the show notes. So if you're driving or whatever, don't worry about making notes. It's a, it's in the feed. It's in the post on Hodinkee. Uh, you can click through the links. Uh, they're not affiliate links. We're not getting paid. If you buy or don't buy something, uh, people ask about that. Occasionally, these are just raw links that we put into Bitly. If you buy them, that's great. If you don't, that's okay too. Uh, but these are all things that we're pretty excited about and, uh, and that we think we'd make great gifts for people. Um, who kind of share the general TGN vibe. So, again, with that in mind, Jason, why don't you offer up your first one?
Jason Heaton Yeah, my first one, I think, is very TGN. It's very, you know, for the watch nerd in your life. Could be you, could be a friend. Great, quote unquote, stocking stuffer. This is from the strap brand out of the UK, Haviston. And I'm a big fan of Haviston straps in general and their kind of overall aesthetic. And they've got this set of rubber coasters called the Service Dial Coaster. And, you know, I mean, I've never been a huge coaster user, but I got a set of these. They're $22 for a set of four. And as the name describes, they look like, you know, the service dials that, you know, if you were to send in a vintage watch, let's say it's a Dirty Dozen watch or, you know, like a Mark 11 watch. And, you know, to the horror of collectors everywhere, you would request a service dial be used. because the loom is shot on the existing one. This looks like a set of replacement dials, except enlarged, obviously, to hold a whiskey tumbler, a coffee mug, or whatever it is. They're this nice pliable rubber. They've got a little bit of a three-dimensional quality to them. The markers are almost raised, but everything's made of rubber. And they're just cool. And $22 for a set of four, they come really nicely packaged. And I just think it's one of those kind of cool gifts for a watch lover in your life. They have sets that are applicable to a number of different types of watches. So if you're someone who likes Pilot's watches, they've got one that looks like a Flieger. You know, World War II Flieger, they've got a Mark 11 style one. They've got the dirty dozen ones. They've got a California dial. So, um, you can just, you can just order one of the two sets that they have and, um, you know, really affordable and, and just fun to have around. I've got them kind of kicking around on, on a few tables around the house. And I always use them when I'm sitting by the fire with, uh, with a cup of coffee or something.
James That's great. I think these are super fun. And I like that they're, you know, also offered by the wind-up watch shop. Oh, yeah. We love the worn and wound guys and the wind-up is kind of their shop entity, which is super fun. Yeah, I think these are a great gift. Yeah, they're kind of in stocking stuffer territory, which I really like, especially, you know, I don't know how often, people probably still do stocking stuffers. It couldn't just be me and my fam, but it's kind of a fun thing, an option for some socks and maybe some service-style coasters. Yeah, right. My first would absolutely be a great stocking stuffer, just a great thing in general. You know, this is a year where I haven't had a haircut in nine months, ten months, something like that, maybe longer than that even. So I've been wearing a hat way more than I used to, and I've gone through a few hats. You know, I tried one from Best Made that didn't fit super well, and then I lost that one. I kind of lose them pretty frequently, but the ones I've been using recently, I now have them in three colors, is this Pedro and Taylor hat. And I know I spoke about it back when, when it kind of first launched and I first got a chance with it. Um, but it's just a really simple, super wearable hat. I mean, there's not that much, it's a, it's baseball cap, right? It comes in a few different versions. Um, I really liked the green or the tan they've it's, I think it's called corded Velveteen desert is the tan color. Um, but Pedro and Taylor, we had one of their founders on Josh Perez. on the show. You should definitely go back and listen to that if you happen to have missed that interview. He's a fascinating photographer and creative and kind of art director that manages both a gallery or, sorry, that manages both a whole studio called Set and then also launched Pedro and Taylor with a business partner. And I really like it. They do some clothing, they do some sort of like things to kind of adorn an office with. And then they do these hats and the hats are great. They have a great, what I would call a toque, what most of you would probably call like a watch cap or, you know, like a knitted wool cap. They have that sort of thing as well. Both are really nice, but their standard hat is absolutely worth the 40 bucks. I highly recommend it. And if you don't wear hats, buy one for a friend as a gift.
Jason Heaton Yeah, that's a good one. You can never have too many hats. And I think this one's Especially this corded velveteen one. I like that color. Me too. It's a little dressier, a little different than kind of a trucker hat or something like that. It's pretty cool.
James Yeah. And I got like a weird big head and it still works in my case. And I think I now have at least two of my brothers wearing them as well. So yeah, you don't have to have a hat that a head that normally works for baseball caps for this one to work for you. And it fits me better than like your normal five panel hat. Right. Which I've seen before so yeah, I'm pretty happy with it. I really like their stuff I've had a chance to kind of experience the the range And I think this is a great starting point to to kind of see what Pedro and Taylor is about and the branding is minimal It's just kind of a white square on the face of the hat, which I like as well Cuz I don't typically wear anything that has a brand name on it. Yeah But yeah, so that's that's my first one Jason. What do you got for your second?
Jason Heaton Yeah, the second one is a product that I just got to try out for the first time and I highly endorse. This is the Apollo Lantern. It's from Black Diamond. So not a tiny brand and certainly one that's been around a long time in the climbing and outdoor community. But they're kind of known for making really thoughtful, well-designed outdoor products. And before our little Defender camping outing, we were looking for a good, long-lasting electric lantern and came across this one at REI and gave it a try. What I really like about it is, for one thing, it has a built-in rechargeable battery that's just, you know, you plug into a USB and it charges pretty quickly. But then you can put in, I want to say it's two AA's, two AA batteries. Oh, really? That provide a backup. And so they say that you can get... Oh yeah, three AA's.
James Okay.
Jason Heaton Sorry, three AA's. And we're using rechargeable AA's, which is even better. And, you know, you can get a lot of hours out of you know, one charge of the internal battery and then it switches over to the double A's as a backup. And you can get some crazy, you know, burn time on this, even on high, you get over 24 hours of burn time on high. And so, you know, kind of sleeping out in the cold and having used electric lanterns that start to dim after like two or three hours. Um, this turned out to be really, really cool. And it's got these clever kind of hinged fold up legs that fold down into kind of a standing tripod if you want to put it on a picnic table, or it's got a fold-down metal ring at the top that you can hang, which is how we used it on an overhead carabiner on a bungee cord. You know, $64 or about $65. It looks like on their website that they're out of stock of the three colors they have. Hopefully those come back in stock or you can find them like we did at REI or on Amazon or something like that, but Just a great design, lightweight, pretty rugged, and we just like that it's rechargeable and it's super bright and there's different brightness settings for it. So yeah, I like that one. So for anyone that's into, you know, camping or just sitting around outside, it'd be a good gift.
James Yeah, I've had owned, I guess maybe two of their headlamps. Oh yeah. And they're great headlamps, like arguably some of the best you can buy. I've had a spot I don't know. I've digressed. I can get into my second, but before we do, if I sound agitated, it's because we've taken a small break because there's somebody grinding something or sanding something just outside of my, and my brain can't think in a, in a linear fashion while that noise is happening. So my apologies for those of you who can hear this on the microphone. I don't know how you can't, because it feels like it's coming from inside my own head at this point. Uh, Back to the topic at hand, my second pick is the platform Substack. Jason, you have more direct experience with this than I do, but I think this makes an incredible gift or an incredible thing to maybe treat yourself for. And the Substack, for those of you who haven't caught it, is essentially an audience-supported blogging platform. So in Jason's case, Jason, you were able to create I'm Uh, you could have something like this. And I think this is a great way to reach out and support somebody directly. And that could obviously, I'm advocating for you to support Jason, but there's a lot of people on the platform. So find a name that, you know, and, uh, and put five bucks a month their way or 10 bucks a month, uh, their way and, uh, and, and get some great content that, uh, that really is, is a grassroots thing. It's from, from the creator and it's directly to you. I get Jason's, uh, sub stack delivered to my inbox. And that way I always know it's there when I have a few minutes to go over a post.
Jason Heaton Yeah, that's great. I mean, I appreciate the plug. I just stumbled upon Substack this summer and decided to kind of go into it myself. And it's grown modestly and I have a nice little audience. And, you know, I have had a few people that give a subscription to mine as a gift. And I think that's a nice idea. I mean, it's kind of an intangible thing, but if it's something that somebody gets, uh, you know, in my case, uh, deliver them weekly, uh, you know, that kind of as a gift that gives, uh, keeps giving all year long. So, yeah, I think that's a good one. And there's some really, really good, um, good people out there on, on Substack. So like, like James said, just look for, look for a name and, and, and type in, you know, so-and-so Substack and odds are they'll have a newsletter going.
James And the other thing, I guess I actually could have made this a slightly wider thing is pick a creator that you like somebody from Instagram, somebody from a podcast that you like, somebody just within the world that is adding value that maybe you're not paying for directly and either subscribe to their sub stack or give them two bucks a month on Patreon or something. Just put some money directly back into the hands of a creator. Um, I've done that many times as gifts. I really like giving something like a sub stack as a gift or one of these classes that like a photographer will offer. Those make fantastic gifts. Some of them have so many classes where you can get like gift cards to masterclass. I think those are all kind of great options where you're able to actively invest in content that you're already appreciating and make some sort of commitment to keeping it going, which I think is a plus. I have a monthly budget for things like Patreon and supporting of various creators that I really like, and it's something I believe in, and I think it's the way that a lot of media will move in the future, especially if you want media about niche topics. So yeah, I'm absolutely a fan. I think Substack's a great way to do it, and the ability is built into it to give it as a gift, which I think is great. Yeah, good one.
Jason Heaton All right, give us your third. My third one, so this may seem like an odd one, and I know I've talked to you about this. I hope I haven't talked about it on the show. Um, uh, so this is underwear and you know, in years past, I've often found that like socks are a good, like you mentioned, a good stocking stuffer or small gift. Oh, absolutely. I love a new pair of good socks. Um, but in this case, uh, I started buying underwear from Mack Weldon, which is a kind of a new brand in the past, you know, five years, they're kind of known for their underwear and t-shirts. They do stuff out of some really nice soft cotton.
James Yeah, I get Instagram ads for their like, they make what they, what they must, they at least claim, I'm not saying they're right or wrong, but they claim to make a really good pair of like casual pants. Oh, okay. Kind of like sweatpants that you could wear to your office. Right. They definitely don't look like sweatpants. I'll give them that. Yeah. Um, but I get Instagram, I get served Instagram ads for those pants and that's probably like Instagram knows me well enough to know I'll probably buy a pair at some point.
Jason Heaton Yeah. And I've got a couple of their polo shirts, which I, which I recommend as well. Um, but, uh, in this case the, the underwear, I, you can buy it in a three pack for 72 bucks, which seems like a lot for underwear, but it's really well made. It's, um, in my case, these are the boxer briefs, the three pack of boxer briefs that come in all sorts of colors and stripes and, um, whatever. And you can, you can choose whatever you want on their website. But, um, I just like the overall comfort and they're, they're great for, for travel and, uh, you know, they look nice and they fit really well. And, uh, you know, after, after years of trying with, you know, boxer shorts and tighty-whities. And, uh, you know, then I was, I was really into these ex officio sort of synthetic underwear for a long time that I would get at REI. Um, but then when I went back to these, this, uh, really nice cotton underwear is just, uh, um, I don't know, it'd be, it'd be a cool gift for maybe, you know, maybe for the right person. Maybe this is for a significant other or for, um, you know, someone you're close to maybe a family member. This isn't something you just gift on just anybody. Plus you also have to know their size, but, uh,
James Yeah, I don't think this is the one you would pick for the office as the Secret Santa.
Unknown The Secret Santa, right, right, yeah. Could be a little awkward, yeah.
Jason Heaton I mean, this already is slightly awkward that I'm talking about underwear as a gift on TGN, but I think we've all known each other for several years now, so I think we're okay.
James Yeah, I think it makes sense, too. It is something that you can invest in and enjoy, so I support that pick. It makes sense to me. All right, I will go on to my third. which is also linked back to a guest we had on the show this year, Kyle Snarr. And he's the co-founder of Cantonment. And they sell these kind of two packs of kerchiefs, these kind of bandana style things. And I think when they originally launched, I thought, oh, it's kind of cool. You can wrap it around your neck. You can have it in your pocket or whatever. What I found is I basically just always have one in my bag. And then it's just always there. I've had one of the two in the Jeep, and that way, if my kids make a little bit of a mess, you have that. If you wanna just wipe something off of your hands after you check the oil or whatever, you have that. They've washed really well. I've been really impressed with the product in general, but I also think it's one of those rare things that's a little bit niche and a little bit general. As long as you knew that you needed to buy a gift for someone who was like, Even loosely into EDC, maybe loosely into fashion or menswear, that sort of thing. And actually, I don't even think it would have to be menswear. It could be menswear, womenswear, either way. I find these to be both kind of handy and feel kind of special. The packaging is really kind of nice and simple. And they're just kind of nice to have around. And for $40, if you've got somebody that you don't really know what they would like, I have trouble imagining someone who couldn't find some use for this, whether it is more of a fashion accessory, something to wear, or more as something to have in a pocket or a bag or whatever to use.
Jason Heaton Yeah, that's a good point. I mean, I think this is one of those rare gifts that almost anybody would like. I agree. It's a perfect gift guide product, and I've really enjoyed the sets that I have and have been wearing them since summer. And one thing I like about them is, you know, I've been a long time user of kind of kerchiefs around the neck, but then kind of lapsed for a few years. But then when I got these, I just, they're kind of the perfect length and I like the color variety. They've got the green and the orange and the navy blue and not only being useful, but they, you know, you put them on with anything, you know, a polo shirt or a sweater or anything like that. And they just, they up your game just a little bit, which I think, you know, nowadays we all we all can kind of use. So, you know, you head off to the grocery store and tie one of these around your neck. And, you know, you just look a little bit less like a, like a bum who's been inside for, for almost a year.
James So, and I mean, there was, there was also, I had a couple of scenarios where I forgot my mask.
Unknown Yeah. Yeah.
James And, and instead of having to drive home or, you know, walk into the store without a mask and try and ask if they sell masks or something like that, like there's that weirdness. Right. around not having your mask. And I forget mine a lot, but these things have come in handy a couple of times where they were already in my bag and I was able to just, you know, tie it up. It's long enough to just make it around to the back of my neck. They're a little bit smaller than what I would call a classic bandana, which is, uh, which is something they did with intent. Um, because now if you fold it, the, the four fold will actually slide into the back pocket, like with your wallet. Yeah. Um, which is a pretty handy way of carrying around if, if you're not doing the bag and the rest. So, For $40, I think it's absolutely worth it. I like that it's a tiny, like a tiny company that's kind of going their own way and creating something that I never even considered a product category. But then in learning about them and then starting to use it, I realized I own almost every color of the, you know, a best made sort of same thing, a bandana. I've got one in red, I've got one in navy blue, and it turns out I've always had these around. I just didn't really think of them as a product that needed to be elevated. But I actually don't think the Cantonment stuff, despite being better in almost any measurable way over these kind of simple cotton ones from Best Made, I think these are about the same price. And they don't have the cool packaging or the little woggle thing that allows you to keep them kind of curled up and buttoned up in your bag. Yeah, I'm absolutely a fan. They've done a nice job and I would absolutely recommend people pick these up if they have a gift that they need kind of a more general play for.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Perfect gift guide pick. And it's one of those products you didn't think you needed and then you have it and then like you think, Oh, this is, this has really been handy for the past eight months. So yeah, good one. What do you got for your fourth? I'm sticking with clothing. More apparel. Yeah. More apparel. Yeah. Which is slightly unusual. I guess, you know, we usually go with, if we're doing apparel, we usually do like jackets and hiking pants and stuff. But, uh, so I've done underwear. Now I'm moving on to, Um, kind of one of my favorite genres of shirt. That's a Henley. So this is, you know, no collar button placket, you know, about a quarter of the way down the front. Um, it's from a small company called industry of all nations. And what's unique about this company is that they not only make some, some nice kind of basic products out of really, really soft cotton. Um, but they're very conscious of how they source their materials. Very upfront about where the products are made and about taking care of their workers and you know all of that I think you know should be important to to to all of us I guess that where our stuff comes from and They put that front and center and really make it a point of pride for the company But these shirts are like it's it's literally this the softest cotton I've ever felt and and a long-sleeved Henley is something you can wear year round. It makes for good wear under a button down shirt or under a sweater or just under a jacket. Absolutely. Just a great style of shirt. They just have a few colors. I think it's black, a really beautiful indigo blue, and then kind of a creamy white. So a real versatile shirt. These are $85. I think it's money well spent. So again, if there's someone whose size you know and would appreciate a really versatile, kind of stylish, but casual shirt, Uh, you can't go wrong with this. And I think, um, what, what elevates it in this case is, uh, is the, the softness of the cotton. I think it's just a, they're just really wonderful shirts. So that's my number four.
James I love a good Henley for sure. I have a, I have a couple from icebreaker that I've, you know, I just keep wearing, they've lasted. Um, and a huge fan of the format that's like casual, but a little bit more considered and a little bit more interesting than just a crew neck, which is certainly a plus. Yeah. All right, so my fourth is a little bit of a wild card. This is also where we kind of depart in some metric from the small brands, small home-owned brands. And originally what I really wanted to offer was just the normal Fujifilm Instax Mini. I think they're at the Mini 11 now or Mini 12. I have a Mini 9 and I've used the Mini 9 for years. It was a gift from a friend. You know, My kids really like it. This is one of these cameras. It's kind of this kind of weirdly bulbous, very simplistic camera that you load film into that also is the printing stock. It's all in one. Oh, yeah. So you take a picture and it prints directly out of the camera and then you can give it to somebody or keep it or do whatever you do with printed media. Right. Enjoy it. Save it. Yeah. In this case, as much as I adore the ability to print the photos, I actually don't care much at all for using that camera. It's a kind of a weird, weirdly non ergonomic chunk of plastic that I'm never quite sure the results I'm going to get. Um, but I do really like that, you know, it's about a dollar. It's probably even now a less than a dollar, um, an exposure, which is fine by me, especially for something you get immediately. Um, I used to, you know, way, way back when I first had my first one was the Polaroid version. which is not Instax, that's the Fujifilm, but I had an earlier Polaroid one, Jason, you'll remember it was the SIHH Press Gift from Richard Mill, maybe? Yeah, right. Yeah, so I had one of those and it was great. They were more like maybe $2 a print, but they had no border, it was a borderless print, which is really nice. But I quickly realized that all I wanted was the same thing, but it was just the printer. I don't want the whole camera, I own... I'm looking at two like Ikea shelves full of camera equipment. And I have a phone and most people have their photos on their phone and certainly even a phone that's a few years old is going to take a more accurate photo than what the Instax gives you. The Instax gives you that kind of rawness and it's like an effect. It's almost like having a filter. And I've definitely gotten to a point in my attention to photography where I don't want filters. I want to make my own. I want to make the photo look the way it's gonna look. So for those of you who want maybe a little bit more control over this, they make a version which I'm pretty sure I'll own by this Christmas, but it's one I've had my eye on for a little while. It seems very straightforward and it's basically the Instax Mini Link Printer. So it's about the size of a cell phone, maybe a bit thicker. It doesn't have a screen or anything. And basically you do all of the shooting or whatever via your phone or another camera, then put the photo on your phone and then you send it to the printer. But it's small enough that you could take it with you if you're going on a vacation or if you're visiting. Maybe when these options open up or for people in parts of the world where you can visit with people, you're at a holiday party, you take a couple of great portraits and you can just print them immediately. I love that it doesn't take up a bunch of desk space. It doesn't need any It doesn't really need that much care, right? It's a fairly straightforward thing. And then you just have to buy the printer, the paper, basically, which gives you that sort of instax. You know, it's a two to three sort of aspect ratio with a big white border and a big white chin at the bottom, very much a Polaroid sort of aesthetic. But I have these all over my house. I've framed some of them. I framed collections of them. And I really like the idea of being able to take the photo with my Leica Q or uh, or my cell phone and, and, and make a few tweaks to it and then click print and know that I'm going to get a pretty good rendering of what I'm seeing on my screen rather than, you know, it's one thing when I pull out my Olympus XA and you take a portrait and you go like, well, in two months when I get the roll of film developed, I'll get what I get.
Unknown Yeah.
James It's a different thing with this where the camera's instant, but I'm still essentially dealing with the image quality. I want, I want, I want, uh, like a pro level of this basically. And I think this gets you a step closer where you could make whatever changes you want to the file and then send it to this printer. And I'm excited about it. Maybe somebody listening has bought this and has tried it out. The reviews I found seem like everybody says, well, it's the printing function from the camera. That's all. It does what it does. So yeah, I'm excited about it. I really like these things. I like having some physical media. I don't like how crazy expensive it is if you just want to have a decent little printer and print four by sixes at home. You're just, you're constantly monitoring, uh, you know, ink supplies and, and sometimes the camera will connect to the printer and other times it won't. I have a printer right here at my feet under my desk that I would love to throw out a window or perhaps directly at the person who was sanding or grinding something above us a moment ago. Um, I, I don't like the, the fuss that comes with a printer. but I really like the ability, especially with little kids and grandparents and that kind of thing. I love the ability to just be able to fire off a few things that you can leave with people so they don't have to pull their phone out. It can go in the fridge, it can go in a frame. It just makes sense to me. I like it.
Jason Heaton Yeah. And I like, you said it has that sort of white border wider at the bottom that you could like scroll something, you know, you could print it out and scroll something, you know, sign it or write a note or whatever.
James The nice thing with this is you remove all of the, Especially if, let's say, you were listening to this and you wanted to buy this for a niece, a nephew, a grandkid, a son, a daughter who's getting into photography, the only thing that they have to keep up on is the cartridge. There's no ink, there's no printer head, there's none of that kind of stuff. You just have to buy the paper and the printing method is built into each exposure, which is kind of fun. I really love this.
Jason Heaton You've got some good ones here. I'm loving the Substack, Kirchhoff, the printer. This is great.
James Yeah, I could definitely see owning one of these or something similar. I already know the Instax world, so that'd be fine by me. And my kids love the camera as well. But just being able to even hand them my phone, if they wanted to print a picture, they know... The viewfinder is very difficult to use on the Instax Mini 9, I think is the one that I have. It's almost like that thing where if you've ever shot a really cheap riflescope, if your eye isn't exactly where it needs to be that you can't see anything. It's just black. Yeah. That's what the, um, the viewfinder is like on this, uh, this instax. So I would love to remove the camera element and just use a camera that I've already got.
Jason Heaton You know how, uh, you know, people who travel in remote areas with, uh, you know, encountering different cultures, whether it's in the jungle or, uh, you know, a tribe in Africa or something, and they're There's always this moment where, you know, you've got this big camera and you're taking pictures and then you're, you know, you show somebody their photo that you just took of them on the back of the camera, um, is, is kind of one of those bonding moments when you're traveling. I could see this being really cool for travel if we're ever able to do that. And I think we will be, uh, at some point, uh, next year, hopefully, um, you know, where you could take something like this along traveling the world and the people you meet, uh, anywhere, you know, you, you, even if you're taking a selfie with them or something, you could print it out and sign it and hand it off. and scroll your email address on the bottom or something. I think it'd be really cool.
James Yeah. I used to really like it for when I was using the Polaroid one years ago. If we had a guest over to the home, the place in Vancouver, you could snap a portrait, put it up on the fridge. Then my kids would get to know people's names, relatives that were from out of town, that sort of thing. And you could kind of keep like a little who's who of people who'd come by and that sort of thing. So there's lots of uses for stuff like this. nobody needs another camera in their life, but I think some of us could really find some value with the printer itself at a hundred bucks. It was a hundred bucks and it came with some prints. That doesn't seem like, it doesn't seem that crazy to me. Yeah. I love that one. Yeah, there it is. All right. All right. What do you got for, yeah, the last one. So this is the break the bank option. Some years we've gone pretty high on this. Some. This year we're both still sticking in three figures, so it's not crazy. We're not telling you to go buy a Defender or a Jeep or whatever. It's still stuff that we like, but it's stuff that we like enough to suggest spending some extra cash on it.
Jason Heaton Yeah, this would be for a special person or for yourself? So this is the Bremont Folly clock. So cool. Yeah. You know, whenever I go through, you know, airport lounges or, you know, whatever airports, hotels that have the, those kind of oversized watch dials that they're using. Oh, for sure. Clocks on the wall. I always, I've always wanted to get one of those of some brand and just hang it in my office here. Well, um, this is the Bremont version. They just came out with this a couple of months ago and it is basically a 40 centimeter oversized version of the orange barrel MB2 watch, which I would argue is their most iconic wristwatch. And it's battery powered, but it's got a sweep hand. It looks really well made. It has that knurled barrel around the side. And it just looks like an oversized Braymont. So if you're a fan of the brand and you just want a cool wall clock, it retails for $8.95, which you know, admittedly it's a bit steep, but I think it's one of those kind of special, you know, truly watch nerd kind of gifts that, you know, for the watch nerd who has everything kind of thing. And I think it's much more unique than getting one of the Audemars Piguet ones that you see everywhere or a Breitling or something like that. I think this is a neat option.
James So... Yeah. And I mean, people spend this kind of money on a case for their watches or a watch winder. Yeah. So I don't think it's that crazy. Like, yes, you can't put it on your wrist and wear it around. You're going to have to put it on your wall. But if you're, yeah, you're looking for maybe an upgrade for the home, the home office, or, or maybe, maybe you run a retail space or, or that sort of thing. And you want to incorporate things from the watch world. I think this would be a great way of doing it. It's definitely a conversation piece. Yeah. Um, which, which is cool. And, and it is like, it's a instantly recognizable watch for anyone who knows, uh, knows Bremont. Yeah. which is a, yeah, really neat. Um, and, and when you look at what Braymont's watches cost, the clock could have cost more, you know, like it's, it, who knows what something like this could cost. Cause it's not like making a watch, it's something different, but then you're still paying for the brand at some level. Like it's, so it's always hard to say where the branding or where the cost could kind of fall with something like this. So yeah, 900 bucks is a lot of money. Um, unless it's something that really speaks to you at which point, uh, like I said, people spend that kind of money on, you know, photography prints and watch cases and other things. So, yeah, it doesn't seem too crazy to me. And I definitely think it looks cool. It looks super fun in my office, I think. Yeah. All right. So let's wrap this up with my fifth pick, my break the bank pick. And it's something I spoke about earlier this year, something I bought for myself that I'm just absolutely thrilled with. I haven't had as much call to use it because I'm not traveling very much. But whenever I've needed a bag, I have made a point of using as much as possible my Observer Collection Tango bag. And this is an expensive thing. It's one of the more expensive things I bought for myself that isn't like a camera or a computer. So this is a leather bag made by a very small manufacturer called the Observer Collection. A friend of mine, Robert Spangle, started the company and they do everything from things like this bag to he broke into perfume this week, which comes in a customized titanium container. which is really fantastic. The guy is, I've never met anyone like Robert and his attention to detail is incredible. He's also making things that aren't like what other people are making. So it could be, I think previously we spoke about something called the peacemakers, which are kind of swayed stick on patches that go on either side of the track pad on your laptop so that your watch doesn't rub against the surface when you type. And those were quite popular. A lot of TGN listeners clicked that link after we talked about it. I'm a huge fan of the Peacekeepers. So you can get into Observer Collection for more like $20 or $30. A long time ago, Robert sent me one of his wallets. It's called a Papo wallet. And it's like, it's hard to even call it a wallet because you can put a little notebook in it. It can hold a pen. It's got some case for, you know, some space for cards and such. And that had been in my travel kit, you know, up until March when we stopped kind of traveling for a little while. And now I've added a Tango in tan, and I'm just absolutely blown away. If you wanna go buy a few grocery items, there's enough room for that. If you wanna put a laptop and a camera in it, there's just enough room for that. It's not so big that I feel like I have to take more than I need when I leave my house, but it is the right size for a lot of day-to-day sort of uses, and it feels so nice. And I think that's what you get when you spend more, you know, we've talked a lot about bags from Toppo and, um, and Filson and those might be two or $300 bags. And I think the difference here is one, you're supporting a one man business, right? But also like every single detail is like exhaustively taken to its final point. It's really beautifully made. It's super easy to use. There's a few different ways of carrying it. Um, it, and I like that it doesn't really look like, um, it doesn't look like I'm going to go mountain biking. It doesn't necessarily, it doesn't look like I'm going to, um, you know, have, have it be full of like, it doesn't look super fancy either. It's kind of in the middle ground, a little bit of a military aesthetic to it, a little bit of a functional aesthetic, and it just feels really good. It is, is it an expensive bag at $750? Yeah. Yeah. It's an expensive bag for sure. Um, but he almost, he routinely sells out and he does so with reason, he makes enough for his audience. And, um, and, and I'm really impressed by the quality. And if you're in the market for something like this and you want to break the bank, maybe you want to celebrate, uh, the end of a troublesome year or, or surviving the year or whatever it is. Um, but if you've got something to celebrate or, uh, or this is within the range of a, of a gift or, or something like that, I couldn't recommend it more. I'm just absolutely thrilled by it.
Jason Heaton I mean, that's great. And for that price and that quality and just the sheer uniqueness of it, I mean, no doubt you'll have that for the rest of your life. I mean, you'll probably be using that when you're 75, you know?
James Yeah. I see it a bit like my Red Wings. Yeah. You know, I remember it being a big thing that I spent 450 bucks on a pair of boots when I had owned other boots for $100 that lasted years. And now I can't imagine ever complaining about that price. Yeah. after I've had that. And now with this, part of this is, yeah, you get, you get the kind of buzz, that good, warm feeling of supporting a friend and their small business and all that kind of stuff. But also just sometimes there, you know, there is, there is a tangible side to luxury. That's not just marketing, right? It's execution and it's the way something feels in your hand or on your wrist or, or whatever. And yeah, I, I, I'll be the first one to say that it's expensive, but also that I'm, I'm really happy that I got it.
Jason Heaton Oh, that's great. I mean, I think, you know, we, we, we stayed close to our goals here of small brands and sub hundred dollars. And I think, you know, that gives people a lot of great options for, you know, a lot of small gifts. And then, uh, and then the break the bank ones are certainly not the ones you take lightly or just, uh, you know, buy absentmindedly or on an impulse.
James No, certainly not.
Jason Heaton They're well thought out and, um, for maybe someone special. So yeah, that's it.
James That's our gift guide. That's our 10 items for this year, for 2020. I think there's a good range here. There's certainly a good range in price. And I think the main thing that we wanted to suggest is that this is going to be a great year to buy people gifts because you might not be able to see them and spend time with them and spend money by, you know, taking them out to a meal or whatever it is that people would normally be doing under standard circumstances. We're into different circumstances now. And within that, guys, I think that we've got a nice list of ways that not only can you find an interesting gift that probably won't be bought by anyone else that you know for this person or even for yourself. But also, you know, keep in mind that like companies like Amazon and Best Buy and the rest of it, they've thrived. So even outside of whatever ethically you think of a huge company like Amazon, they don't need your help right now, but other people do. So the absolute last thing I was going to suggest is if you're and this doesn't work as an actual pick because it's so general, buy gift cards to restaurants that are going to go out of business if nobody eats there. Yeah. That's the last thing to keep in mind. You will need to eat a meal. You'll need to, all of your friends, everyone, you know, will need to eat meals and over the holidays people will be eating out. Um, so if you have a favorite restaurant and one that like you're you in your mind, you're like, well, I can't like it for me. I can't eat more ramen than I do now. Um, from, from my local spot from Kenton. Um, so if I was going to, Support that I would probably buy a gift card from Kenton or you can buy gift cards even you can go more general than that get an uber eats gift card or save the dishes or Skip the dishes or whatever it is like there's there's a bunch of those And that way someone could still pick and they're still gonna have to buy something that comes from a restaurant. That's close to them, right? I worry that you you give somebody 25 or 30 dollars or something. They spend it on McDonald's I'm sure McDonald's doesn't need the money at the moment either but you know, try and think of a great restaurant that you like. And this would be my final like super general is, uh, you know, try and try and put some of your holiday funds back into the people you pass on the street. Um, you know, because we're all wearing masks now, we're all kind of disconnected now. Uh, we're not, you don't get to go to a restaurant and meet the guy who owns it or the chat with the person who brings you your food, but those worlds still have to exist. Right. Yeah. So, yeah, I think, uh, that, that would be, that would be my last suggestion is, If none of these hit home and you need a general gift, um, for somebody, you know, you either, uh, something super general in terms of something they could use to get some food delivered or pick it, pick up from your favorite restaurant and go that way.
Jason Heaton Yeah, that's a good suggestion. It's going to be such a different sort of holiday season for all of us. And, uh, you know, it's not, uh, not necessarily about the stuff you buy, but, uh, more of the gestures and I think gestures go a long way this year. So, um, I agree.
James All right, let's swing into final notes. Jason, you want to drop us your pick for the week or for this episode?
Jason Heaton Sure. Yeah, this is a movie that Kishani and I just watched this past week. It's from 2016. It's called Following Seas. And it's a documentary that sort of looks at this family, the Griffith family, Robert and Nancy Griffith, who led this extraordinary life back in the 1960s. sailing on boats that they largely built themselves all over the world, um, even to Antarctica. I mean, this is, we're talking, uh, they were based out of Hawaii and they, they had a sailboat and they just loved to sail and they had kids and they brought their kids sailing. And, um, you know, they, they, they kept going further and further afield to the point where they were circumnavigating the world in this boat. And, and, you know, when, when Nancy got pregnant, They stayed over in New Zealand and she had the baby and they raised the child there for a couple of years. And then when the boy was old enough, they took him out on the boat and kept on sailing. And they went to Antarctica and they visited, you know, Russian research bases down there. This was at the height of the Cold War. And it was just a fascinating story that appealed to me because of the level of self-sufficiency and sort of can-do attitude, sort of the confidence that it takes to pull off stuff like this, a lifestyle like this. And I think your pick, which we'll get to shortly here, is similar. And it's kind of a concept we talk about time and again on TGN. The world is full of adventures and both you know, grand and small. And I think, you know, climbing Everest or K2 is one thing, but knocking off a 14er or Mount Baker or Mount Rainier is something a little more accessible. And I think there are people along the entire spectrum that do stuff like this, that all it takes is a little bit of confidence and the attitude that, that you're willing to learn and kind of overcome the adversities and put up with a little bit of hardship. And, um, you know, you watch this film and this family, it's largely narrated by Nancy Griffith, uh, the wife in the couple and you just get the sense that they lived this incredibly full life and it was very inspirational to me and I have long been a fan of sailing, more of an armchair fan than anything but it was inspiring in ways that make you want to you know, load up your car and drive to, you know, uh, Alaska on, on the Alcan highway or, or down to Tierra del Fuego or something and just learn, learn to fix your vehicle and, and get by and deal with the crises as you go. And, um, you know, hopefully if anyone watches this, they are similarly inspired. Cause I just found it, uh, just a really, really amazing film. And it was all, most of it was, was all 16 millimeter film footage that they shot along the way back in the sixties. So it's, uh, you know, that really great sort of rich, uh, rich old vintage film footage.
James That's great. I have, I've never heard of this. Uh, and now I'm, I'm, I was, I was quietly previewing the trailer while you were chatting there and it looks incredible. I'm going to watch this today. Yeah.
Jason Heaton What a great prime I think is like Amazon prime.
James It looks to be on, it's on Canadian prime anyways. Yeah. Yeah.
Jason Heaton Cool. And I think yours is a good followup to this cause I think it's a similar kind of vibe.
James And I kind of went back and forth. You sent this to me. And then so far, three other people have sent it to me. So people must figure that this is within the scope of things I like. And certainly, if there is an overarching goal for however many years we do TGN, it's the hope that people will take a little bit of this guy's intent and apply it to their normal life. And we've talked about Dick Preneke endlessly on probably almost every episode of the show. So I don't think I actually have to explain this a lot, but Filson, the bag and kind of a well-known West Coast apparel company, they do these profiles on their blog. And they did one recently of Richard Prenike called Going It Alone. And I absolutely recommend it. I'm sure that a lot of you have watched Alone in the Wilderness Parts 1 and 2 and have read a lot about Dick, but In the case that you're not ready to jump into the documentaries or anything else, I think this is a relatively good and not super long portrait of what made him so special. And some of it are things that I hadn't come across before in my own research of Preneke and his existence. So yeah, I think we remain huge stands for Alone in the Wilderness. And like I said, if this show is able to bring people a little bit closer to leading, not really, I don't think a lot of people want to lead his life specifically, but to find the piece that he was able to find in Alaska by embracing the outside, by embracing doing things your own way, by embracing handcraft and skill and technique in a way that was very much not consumerist, but did require some consumption. Yeah. I absolutely think that that would be, that would be a win for the show at a high level. Uh, and I'm just a huge fan. Some of the photos, some of the photos are incredible too.
Jason Heaton Yeah. And it was just, uh, it was just, I was so excited to even see anything about, uh, Dick Preneke anywhere. I mean, you know, you and I talk about him a lot, but he's this sort of underground cult hero, I think for, for some of us and, and to see him kind of larger than life, you know, front and center on, on Filson's website was, uh, was, was really exciting. And, uh, you know, I think my pick and your pick for final notes, I think the thing about TGN, I think that we. are continually emphasizing is just, you know, get out and try things and, and, uh, you know, take, take, take that step towards accessible adventure and build on it and, and let it build your confidence, whether it's learning to dive or climbing a mountain or building a cabin alone in the wilderness or sailing around the world. I mean, it's, it's all linked in some way.
James And with Praniky or, um, uh, they're the Griffiths. Um, I mean, what, what we're, what you're seeing in that is, is that, you know, the, the gold medal, work in just chasing what makes you happy. And I think there's something to be said for it. And I don't think, like I mentioned just a moment ago, I don't think Jason or I are saying you should give up everything in your life and build a cabin in a remote part of Alaska. I genuinely believe that that's what he needed to do or the Griffiths needed to be on a sailboat. But all of us need something. And I think a lot of that something requires movement. And I guess I like whether the movement's a sailboat or, uh, you know, a float plane or a canoe or whatever it is. I think that the movement is, is something that's important and it comes from an intent to, to, I guess it's a little bit stronger than say, following your dreams as much as it is, but like to discover your dreams. Yeah. Yeah. You know, cause these, both of them took risks that they could have committed to a trip that they didn't enjoy on their sailboat. Right. Or, or, you know, to, to a part of the world they didn't like, and he could have gotten up there and spent some time and realize like, no, I actually want to be like around family and friends and, and that sort of thing. And maybe this would be in, in for a normal person, maybe it's a weekend at the cabin every now and then. Yeah. Right. Uh, not giving up on society entirely. I think that there's not a metric for what's the right way to go about it, but I do like these kinds of highlights of people who did it. Yeah. to their own, within their own realm. Yeah.
Jason Heaton So, yeah. Well, good episode, good holiday gift episode. I think, you know, we're planning on one more episode for 2020. I would think so, yeah. It's been a significant year and that'll be in a couple of weeks, but... And we'll have the Q&A as well for November.
James Yes, correct. Which should come up next week.
Jason Heaton Oh, right, right. But in the meantime, as always, thanks so much for listening. You can hit the show notes via Hodinkee.com or the feed for more details. And a huge thank you to Seiko for supporting this episode. You can follow us on Instagram at Jason Heaton and at J.E. Stacey, and be sure to follow the show at The Graynado. If you have any questions for us, please write thegraynado at gmail.com and keep sending those voice memos. As James mentioned, we have a Q&A episode coming up and you can sneak in a last voice memo. Just hit record on your phone, send us the audio file, and we'll try to get to your questions.
James Yeah, if you guys send them in, we'll make it a long one. So go for it.
Jason Heaton And please subscribe and review wherever you find your podcast. It's very helpful to us. And music throughout a siesta by Jazzar via the free music archive.
James And we leave you with this quote from Nelson Mandela, who said, it always seems impossible until it's done.