The Grey NATO – 193 – Great Summer Gear (Watches, Clothes, EDC, And More)
Published on Thu, 19 May 2022 07:00:09 -0400
Synopsis
The episode is a long discussion about Jason and the host's favorite summer gear and activities. They cover everything from hats, sunglasses, t-shirts, shorts, and footwear to bags, pocket essentials like wallets and knives, and favorite summer drinks. They also discuss their plans for which watch they'll likely wear the most over the summer months.
Links
Transcript
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| Host | Hello and welcome to another episode of the Graynado. It's a loose discussion of travel, diving, driving gear, and most certainly watches. This is episode 193 and it's proudly brought to you by the always growing TGN supporter crew. We thank you all so much for your continued support. And if you're listening and you're interested in supporting the show, please visit thegraynado.com for more details. Jason, how are we doing? You finally get some good weather down there or what? I was watching on my app. It looked like you had some some nice days. |
| Jason Heaton | Oh, man, this is like this is the best of the weather because it's we've been sleeping with the windows open and, you know, working out in the garden. There's no bugs so far. Sun's out. Well, today it's supposed to rain a little later, but it's been yeah, it's been spectacular. This is this is like the best of the best of the best weather that we get. |
| Unknown | Nice. Nice. Yeah, I'm glad to hear it. How about how about up there? |
| Jason Heaton | You were at the cottage. I saw a few photos and That must've been nice. |
| Host | Yeah. I kind of got like a weird, like best of best of every scenario. I was in New York for a few days last week for, uh, like literally like 12 or 12 hours plus per day of meetings. Oh, wow. Sort of planning out stuff with Hodinkee looking forward and, and, you know, revolving or refining processes and all that kind of stuff. It's something we do a couple of times a year and it, you know, they graciously include me on that as I remain, you know, a piece of what they put together. uh, for the world. And, uh, and, and it was fantastic weather in the city and, and which is really nice, uh, to, to, you know, feel like summer's legitimately right on the edge. And then I came back and the weather wasn't necessarily looking great for the weekend. And I got home and the custom scenarios gotten really bad and had a YYZ at Toronto's airport. Uh, so I originally had planned to go directly from like the airport, come home, grab the Jeep and go directly to the cottage that evening would have been made it to the cottage around 10. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Host | And this way I actually made it home from the airport around 1130. Oh my gosh. Um, just weird delays in the flight and then getting a gate when we landed. And then, uh, you know, it seems like they just don't care at customs these days. There's just not enough people at the stalls. It doesn't really seem like anyone's in charge. Uh, so that that's been super fun, especially after being spoiled for years at Vancouver's airport, where they were just set up to take a lot of people through customs very quickly. And I'm sure that that COVID has been hard on, the CVSA and their ranks. And for all I know, this is another thing that connects with some of the problems they've been having at a like a union level for years. All of that's on the table. This isn't a judgment statement. I just like, I'd love if it got back to like 20 or 30 minutes. I feel like that's acceptable. So yeah, but I made it back. It was a little too late to drive all the way to the cottage. It would have been kind of just on the edge of being irresponsible for tiredness, right? That's something I'm like very cautious about driving when I'm tired. And so we ended up just going up the next morning And the weather was like perfect. It was fantastic. It was like nearly 30 Celsius. Yeah. To put you into the nineties. Yeah. Wow. Uh, the bugs are already starting to be a thing, but they weren't too bad. The water was nice and warm for a May jump off the dock. So we did a bunch of swimming and, and, uh, got a bunch of kind of small jobs done around the cottage property in, in preparation for this coming weekend. A couple of days after this comes out is a May long weekend in Canada, uh, similar to your Memorial weekend, the weekend later. So we have Monday off and, girls are out of school and that kind of stuff. So yeah, we're just, just kind of ramping up for that kind of stuff. I'm just kind of thrilled that, like I said, that's like summer's here proper. I'm starting to see like other colleagues take time off work and slow down a little bit, which I think feels pretty good and, and, and healthy and all that kind of stuff. So yeah, that's, that's kind of where I am at. Uh, happy to be back home. I don't have any like locked in travel on the horizon, you know, not, not until mid summer. So I don't know when my next trip will kind of pop up. But, uh, you know, hopefully just between now and then it's just a lot, a lot of trips up to the cottage and jumping in the lake and that kind of stuff. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. I'm still, I'm still kind of relishing just being, being home in good weather, you know, after our long trip abroad, it's nice to just have some unstructured time kind of putzing in the garden. I did a little work on the, on the defender this weekend. I put one of these folding sidesteps on the, on the passenger side so that Ghoshani doesn't have to like do it Olympic vault just to get in the truck. Uh, for sure. I'm tall enough that I can sort of step up and in without much trouble, but you know, a lot of these defenders you see have, have these folding sidesteps. And so I put one of those on, on Saturday and then, um, and then Sunday it was, uh, some gardening. We went for a long bike ride and we're just kind of hanging out on the patio and it's like, that's, that's all I need. I mean, I love it. I think, you know, yeah, eventually we'll get the kayaks out and do some local hikes and stuff. But you know, between now and, I'd say early July, you know, before it gets muggy and too buggy. Um, this is, this is like my favorite, favorite time. This and early fall are kind of the sweet spots for weather. |
| Host | There's little shouldery seasons are great, aren't they? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We have a trip coming up in mid June. I'm kind of excited about where we're going to fly down to, uh, the Asheville, North Carolina area in the blue Ridge mountains there. Fantastic. Do some hiking and, and, just sort of exploring around there and I'm looking forward to that. But in the meantime, I'm just happy to be, to be home and, and, and just knock off a few little chores around here and just enjoy the weather. So it's been great. |
| Host | Yeah. Same, same here for sure. Oh, and the other thing, you know, kind of a little precursor to our, our kind of summer EDC topic that that's the main part of the show today is, you know, I have that Tango bag from the observer collections, like that leather folio with the big handles. Oh yeah, right. And I've used it a fair bit, but of course that using any bag kind of slowed down over the pandemic. And then a lot of times I try and have, you know, multiple cameras or, or cameras and flashes and computers and chargers and batteries and all that kind of stuff. And it's easy to fill that bag really quickly. It's like, it's not huge. It really is kind of a day or even a little bit smaller than a day size bag. You know, I I've seen various other people, including Robert who designed the bag, like attach things to the bag using the Molly system that's on it, which is kind of subtle. And so I just out of kind of a boredom, a late night boredom, you know, uh, I ended up on Amazon and found, um, found like a little pouch, like a Molly pouch, uh, and, uh, like a sling for a water bottle. And I added both of those because, you know, going down to, uh, to New York for meetings, I, I brought a camera, but I didn't need a camera and otherwise just my laptop and some odds and ends like stuff I could fit in the bag. So that was kind of my, handbag and the rest was the clothes in a roller bag. And yeah, it works really well. I picked up one of these, I'll talk about it more a little later, but I picked up one of these Snow Peak sake bottles. It's a titanium liquid container. Like stupid expensive, but I ended up with a like a birthday gift that was a gift card from my brother for Snow Peak stuff. Nice. And I'm fortunate to have a little bit of their stuff already, and I kind of always eyed this, and this gave me just enough of an excuse to go for it. And it's single walled, so it's not going to keep your water cool, but it is super lightweight. It's really easy to put in and out for security, right? Because one, it doesn't weigh anything. Yeah. And two, it's not something you're going to forget, like a plastic water bottle that has some water left in it and you get you in trouble or anything like that. Yeah, that was kind of the only thing that I changed for this trip versus any of the other ones. I'm still kind of working on how big the pouch could be or needs to be to actually be useful. But for now, I like it. And I'll try and get a shot of that in in the show notes if I can. |
| Jason Heaton | So the Mali is the Mali kind of attachment points are already on the bag. |
| Host | Yeah. So along the bottom of the bag, there's two bands of nylon. Maybe an inch to two inches off the bottom of the bag. There's two bands. I see. It's worked out really well. And the MOLLE thing is kind of endless. Like you can find anything to suit whatever need you might have. |
| Jason Heaton | For those that aren't familiar with the acronym MOLLE, M-O-L-L-E, it stands for Modular Lightweight Load Carrying Equipment. And it's, you might see it on a lot of kind of more tactical backpacks and things. It's these strips of stitched webbing that allows you to kind of thread through attachments like little, like you mentioned, little pouches and bottle holders and things like that. And it's, it came out of the military world, but your tango bag is decidedly on tactical military looking. Um, other than that, it's more of like a leather tote, right? |
| Host | Yup. Yeah. Basically it's a little bit of almost, even for me, like a little bit on the fancy side, it's one of my like nice things, if that makes any sense, right? Like I like it a lot. I have the matching wallet. more Molly on them. Yeah. But I do worry like the nice thing about the tango is it's pretty sleek to begin with. So when you add stuff to it, you don't kind of get that like a decorator crab vibe. Right. Right. You know, just let's stick more stuff on it. And, and I, you also, the other thing I always worry about is looking to kind of mall ninja. Yeah. Like, you know, going too heavy on the tactical. Yeah. Right. Otherwise I'm like a guy in a jeans and t-shirt. He's just trying to carry a camera from one part of town to another. |
| Jason Heaton | Right. Right. Yeah, people start thinking of your service and you're like, No, I didn't serve. But yeah, exactly. |
| Host | I had that I had that like in I remember in Hawaii on a dive boat, I had my rush 24, which I basically lived out of that bag. I'll include it in the show notes because it suits this episode pretty well an amazing backpack for the money. Really useful, nice design, the rest of it, but it was jet black covered in Velcro and Molle webbing. Oh yeah. And I would have liked a quote unquote civilian version if had they made it. Yeah. With like maybe maybe just chill out a little bit on all the all the stuff. But I remember I got on a dive boat in Hawaii and like immediately I think it was probably a mix of whatever haircut I had at the time in this bag. And really somebody's like oh did you serve? And I'm like no it's just a really intense backpack. But they work really well. I mean it is one of those things where yeah you yeah you do kind of worry that you know, maybe it looks too tactical, but they also do a really good job as the, maybe that's why the go rec stuff was so popular is that they, they really toned down the exterior of the bag. Yeah. So yeah, you can go just about any way, huge, huge fan of what five 11 makes and in a nice kind of, that's kind of an intro, a good intro for where we'll go in the show. But before we get there, how about how about a wrist check? What are you, what are you wearing this week? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, I pulled out my old T graph, the doxa. Oh, nice. Yeah. We, we had talked, uh, I guess last episode, which by the way, it turned out to be such a popular episode. We got, I think, 48 comments as of this morning. Yeah. |
| Host | People went nuts for that one. Good episode. I thought. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. And, and one of my kind of three watch picks was a vintage Doxa, um, of which I own a single example. And that's this, uh, this 1969 T graph, a dive chronograph, which is probably, I mean, you know, whichever watch you happen to have on, on a given day is like the coolest watch in your collection. And, but I I'd almost say that this is possibly it's maybe not my favorite watch in my collection although it's close but it's definitely the coolest watch I own and um it's got a great story behind it and I haven't worn it for for quite some time for various reasons and I pulled it out it was about four days ago because it was the 13th and the date uh was on 13. I was waiting for the 13th to put it on because No quick set. It has a sort of pseudo quick set where you have to flip between midnight and 530 p.m. or something like that. But that takes a while. And, you know, when it's the 17th of a month, you know, you don't want to be doing that. But when it's the 13th, I just picked it up, wound it up and put it on. So it's perfect. It's great. I've got it on like an olive NATO strap. I had it on kind of a big hole tropic style the other day. I mean, it's it's it's just such a cool watch. I'm so happy to be wearing it. |
| Host | Yeah. I mean, I love those. I got a chance to see your Sea Rambler. several years ago. Yeah. Um, I just, that watch, it's one of the few watches where, um, it, in my mind, it really captures the same sort of like specific appeal as a vintage car. Yeah. Like everything about it. You go like, they don't just do it like this anymore. Yeah. For some of those reasons or some of those changes had good reasons behind them. And some of them didn't like, some of them were just the progression of time. That, that watch is such a time capsule. Oh man. a certain era of diving, a certain era of watch design, a certain era of like consideration of what it was to be a man and have a watch. You know what I mean? Yeah. And it's so different now. The context is so recursive and a little bit of a snake eating its own tail. And we're now, of course, obviously that watch came from a time that was postmodern, but I feel like postmodernism kind of like reached a special era now where merit is less of a concern than just creation. |
| Jason Heaton | I agree. And I think it's, it's also, um, it's one of those, designs that if somebody did it from a blank sheet of paper today, you might think, wow, that's really funky, cool use of color and blah, blah, blah. But like this was designed at a time when Doxa had this kind of formula with the no deco bezel and the odd hand shapes and that sort of thing. But like to do it with this chronograph with these interesting little sub dial hands and colors and you're right, it was, it was done for specific function and purpose, but I'm sure there was also somebody with a real eye for for design that thought this just looks cool, you know? And I, you know, I had bought it from the original owner who bought it at a dive shop in Chicago when he was 17. And so we had this connection. I'd written an article about it years ago on Hodinkee and pulling it out and putting it on actually made me, uh, just jot off quick email to this guy, Bill, uh, from whom I bought it. Uh, he's based, he's a carpenter out in, uh, in Oregon and just thought I'd write to him. I hadn't written to him since I, you know, the year that I bought the watch from him, we sort of struck up a friendship and, So we chatted a bit back and forth and it was kind of fun to reconnect. So there's that element of it too. So anyway, it's, you know, given the weather and everything else, I don't know, it just feels like the right watch and I'm real happy to be having to, uh, be wearing it today. |
| Host | So what have you got on? Yeah, that's a, that's a good one. Oh, I'm, uh, I, in, in planning for this episode and filling in our notes and everything, I, I, I pulled out the, uh, the S three or two, you know, it's been a couple of weeks since I had it on. That's the, uh, Braymont GMT in the smaller size, the dive watch. Oh yeah. For those of you who don't know it, that's probably going to be my watch of the summer. We can talk more about that in a few minutes, but that's what I put on. It's on a kind of a green two piece canvas, which I think is a strap from Hallios, but I moved the buckle from the Braymont over. So it looks very much like a Braymont. Very cool. And yeah, it's just kind of perfect. I absolutely adore this watch. I can't wait to put a ton of time in it this summer, underwater, above water, you know, whatever. Yeah. I think this one might have to go with with maybe a bent spring bar and the rubber NATO, the ZD328. Oh, sure. I think it could be the good combo for the sweatier season. Yeah. And yeah, that's what I've gone on. I'm still just so in love with this watch. I just recently got in the new Bamford X Bremont S500 and just reminded me of how much I like this size. Bamford is such a statement piece, both in that it's jet black and bright blue, and it's just a big watch. It's a big watch for a purpose. The same way that you like your S2000, it's not like you're begging for the S2000 to be 40 millimeters. You'd almost be like not getting half of the vibe from it. And I think an S500 or the 2000 on the right strap is a very wearable watch, but it's a very wearable watch for someone who wants a larger watch. That's the point of having these different sizes. And for me, this watch is sort of scratches the itch of what I might put a like a 2254 or, uh, one of the GMT versions of, of the Omega, the previous Omegas. Yeah. Cause it's, it's nice and slim on my wrist. It's got a lot of functionality. It's a real dive watch. And I just really liked the way it works. And, and that the fact that it works on literally any strap, like you could dress this up pretty nicely and you could go the exact opposite direction and go pretty chill with like a Perlon. Like it just works. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Yeah. I feel that about with the exception, I guess, of the S 2000 with, with Braymont dive watches there. Um, they're dive watches, but they don't feel so overly aquatic. They feel more versatile. They feel like, you know, you know, a lot of people get their hackles up over like a dive watch on leather, but for some reason, uh, Braymont dive watches look good on leather, especially the smaller ones like the S302. I think the, the canvas strap, I mean, it just kind of makes it the sort of, you know, hiker, Jeep driver, cottage work. you know, whatever, and then throw it on a, on a rubber NATO and you can jump in the water with it. That's absolutely cool. |
| Host | Yeah. Yeah. Great. So, I mean, with, with that, with that kind of out of the way you want to jump into, you know, it's loosely summer EDC, what we're calling it is closer to like great summer gear. That's going to be watches, clothes, and other things that we'd like to have or carry with us throughout the summer. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. We've, we've done versions of this, I think in the past, I think, I think seasonal topics. I, I enjoy doing them. I think with the weather changing, I get excited about getting outside and doing stuff and, and, inevitably you accumulate new stuff or you pull out old favorites every time the season changes. And you know, our apologies to, to those listeners in the Southern hemisphere who are just coming out of summer, but, uh, Oh, true. |
| Host | Yeah. Yeah. Um, but I mean, I think the big thing is also like a lot of the stuff that we're going to list here is just kind of, it's not summer specific, but it is stuff that we start to lean on as we do more things. And with Jason and I both being, you know, in a part of the world that gets a pretty gnarly winter, Mm hmm. You can definitely move around and it takes specialized gear. And we've talked about a bunch of that on past episodes. But really, once it starts to warm up, you start spending a lot more time outside, at least I do. You want to be up earlier in the day, you want to stay up later, and you want to have some flexibility in terms of where you can go and that kind of thing. So I think this applies to more than just summer, but it's where summer I find the highest value for a lot of this stuff. Yeah. And while I would agree, you know, we've done stuff like this in the past, You know, it's been quite a number of episodes since we talked about this stuff. We have a lot of new listeners. And on top of that, a lot of it's kind of changed. Like we've got new stuff to talk about. So I still see there being some value in this. And the other plus is I don't believe the last time we kind of did this topic that we had substack. So now anything we miss or anything where someone has an alt, like we're going to go through hats and sunglasses and shirts, shorts, all sorts of stuff. And I'm really keen to see what shows up in the comments to fill in some blanks where maybe I'm not caring enough or I'm not really following the buy once, cry once principle, which I think we're going to try and carry as much as we can this year, not to be wasteful or buy things that don't last. And yeah, this is a product heavy episode. But I would say that the top one is only spend what you need to be able to go do stuff. A lot of this stuff is just what allows us to go and really enjoy being outside or be with other people or new experiences or, or kind of specialized experiences. And I think that's sort of the zone in which we see this stuff rather than just checking boxes in terms of ownership or, or consuming things, you know? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, definitely. Yeah. I've got a lot of kind of old stuff on here that I might've talked about before, but I think, you know, in, in compiling this list, it's given me an appreciation. And also when the season changes and I pull out that old pair of boots or something, it's like, Yeah, you know, I still love these and it's been, you know, five years since I bought them. So, um, for sure. But I did, I did manage to, to, to find some pretty cool stuff, uh, within the past year that, you know, especially coming off a trip to the tropics. Um, I kind of got a little bit of a jumpstart on, on summer as well. So I've, I've been able to kind of field test some of the new stuff I got too. So that's, that's been fun. |
| Host | Yeah. So I'm thinking we, we kind of addressed this from a head to toe, if you will. Yeah. So why don't, you know, it's, it's a summer again, we're, we're saying that it's summer because of where we live in the world. It's definitely, it's definitely becoming summer. Uh, but let's say it's starting to get hot or the, or the sun's pressures kind of heating up for you. What do you like as far as a hat? So for many years I was not a hat guy. And then the last couple of years I've really, I've really kind of taken to it. It just turned out I needed to find one that I felt looked okay. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Host | What, what do you like to wear as far as hats go? And maybe does it change from one, one sort of scenario to another? |
| Jason Heaton | I definitely think it does. I, I, I kind of have two modes of hat. I do, um, more of a wide brimmed style hat for stuff like, you know, gardening or hiking, and then kind of just throw on my head to go to the store or just sort of hang out. It's more of something like a ball cap, you know, baseball style cap. And, um, for, for the brimmed hats, I, I, I have like this Patagonia, like almost looks like a farmer hat that I used to wear for, for gardening and whatever, but then A couple of friends, a couple of listeners of TGN gave me very generously boonie hats. Uh, one friend, uh, is in the air force. Uh, I think he's, uh, he's actually currently over in Kuwait, I believe Riley. Um, he gave me, uh, his, uh, an air force issue boonie hat, which I really love. I've worn that for gosh, it's been a little over a year now and, and love that. And then, uh, another friend who's in the Marine Corps, um, sent me two Marine Corps boonie hats, uh, in kind of a sort of a fun competition to let me kind of compare and contrast. And, and I took the Marine Corps one to Sri Lanka and I wore it a lot, but you know, I think you and I have a history with boonie hats. I, we went to an army surplus shop in, in Vancouver on a quest because a good boonie hat. |
| Host | That's what it takes to find one for my head. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. I mean, a good, a good boonie hat is, Is elusive. I mean, I always kind of wanted one. I always liked the look that the brim has to be certain width and certain stiffness that kind of stays put when you sort of crease it or curl it up or whatever. And a lot of them just don't do that. So I've really found a couple that I like in these, um, these military issue ones. Um, they're both camouflage. So again, going back to our earlier conversation, um, have to be careful where I wear this and kind of the look that I project, um, maybe don't wear it with my camouflage pants as well. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | Uh, but then when it comes to ball caps, I, you know, I've got a ton of like. Cotton ones. I've got the sub mechanophilia ones that I made. I've got like a couple of these Mount Gay rum caps, um, you know, just dive shop versions, et cetera, that I just sort of cycle through and throw on the wash when I need to. But then I also like like a good, I guess what you'd call like more technical fiber, like one that dries quickly, maybe has a little bit of rain resistance, um, breathes a little better. Um, I used to wear a, a go rock. I think they called it the tack hat and it was, it was like a full on like trucker style hat, but pretty subtle and didn't have the little button on top that, you know, so you can wear it under a helmet. Not that I do that, but it wouldn't hurt the top of your head. Right. But lately I've been, I've also got this a triple lot design field cap, which similarly kind of low key. I've got it in like olive drab. It doesn't have overly huge branding on it. So, so I like that one and I've been wearing that one quite a bit. So that's kind of the two modes I go. I go boonie hat and more of a brimmed ball cap style. Yep. What about, what about you? |
| Host | I don't know what brand that boonie hat is that we bought, that we bought for $14 or whatever in Vancouver, but I still have it. It's my cottage hat. I look flat out ridiculous in a boonie. You know, like I've been, I've been entertaining the option that I might look okay in a bucket hat for about 30 years. Yeah. Yeah. And it's just not true. There's a, there's a brief time. And when I was in like grade six or seven, where I had a Reebok bucket hat and I thought I was pretty fly, but, uh, that just flat out wasn't the case. And, uh, and so the boonies are both close. I get to a bucket these days. I love it for the cottage. I can have a, you know, it's got an extra app. If I'm driving a Jeep around without the top on, I don't lose the hat. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. What do you do with that next strap? When it's not, do you always keep it around your neck? I find those neck straps handy when you need it, but when you don't, they're annoying. |
| Host | Yeah. I usually just have it behind my head. Yeah. Yeah. Or if I'm, if I'm like resetting the hat, I'll probably tip it forward, roll it into the hat and then put it back on. Yeah. Again, giant head. So every hat's tight enough to stay in place typically. Yeah. And then otherwise, you know, the, the, the hat that I found and really love is when I've talked about before, it's the Pedro and Taylor corded Velveteen hat. I have one in every color. I actually just lost my, my tan one in New York. It was all broken in and the brim was all oiled up and it looked great and it's gone sadly, but I still have a green and a blue one. I'll probably replace the tan one. A good friend of mine, Josh Perez started that company and sent me a hat and I just kind of fell in love with it. And like I said, I wasn't a huge hat guy, but this one just kind of, it worked out. I'm not going to say like, Oh, it looks great. Like the hat is a great looking hat on me. It is what it is, but I do like wearing them and they're nice and comfy and they can be sized really quickly. Cause occasionally I take it off and try and give it to one of my kids to keep them from getting burned. Yeah. In that sort of scenario, or if you see them like running around squinting in the sun, cause I can't convince them to wear sunglasses. sometimes I can convince them to wear a hat. So that's all pretty nice. And I like the hat. It's about 50 bucks. I think it's worth it. Nicely made. I've certainly beat up all the ones I had. But yeah, that's pretty much where I land for hats. I like those ones. You're not going to see me wearing much on my body that has an outward logo. But I like the Pedro and Taylor stuff. It's pretty light touch. I'm a huge fan of Josh and what he built with the company. I believe they sold the company but I still really like what they work on. So that's one I don't mind too much. Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | Nice. How about moving down the head to the eyes? What, what do you do for sunglasses? |
| Host | Yeah, I see this in kind of two modes. Like I have sunglasses I wear most of the time, and then I have sunglasses I wear in scenarios where the glasses could get destroyed protecting me in some level or where I might drop them off the edge of something. Yeah. And I don't really want to worry about the price that much. And so my favorite, as far as nice, nicer, quote unquote, nicer sunglasses, I've had a pair of personal calligraphers for years and I adore them. I love the color of the lens. They have these, you know, they kind of bet better than life, uh, coloring a nice warm lens. And then the other one I really like, and I broke mine and I can't find them, but I have them somewhere and they have a nice split through the lens, um, is, uh, the Ray-Bans just called the round metal. Uh, so that they're just circular. Uh, and I got mine in a gun metal gray with a matching, you know, black lens. And the big thing is the personals I have are polarized. And so I, when I bought the Ray-Bans, I bought them non polarized. So polarized ones, I can't see the screen on my camera because the screen is directional. So you actually have to like take the picture and then turn the camera or your head 90 degrees sideways to even see what it is. And that can be a real pain. And then when you start getting into trying to use an electric viewfinder that isn't prepared for polarizing, then of course you can't, you can't use it. Yeah, as much as I adore polarizing, especially for trying to look at fish around the cottage or or driving, I really like them. I like having both the other one. I'm a huge fan of and I've owned two pairs from them. They're not that expensive and now they have tons of versions. I talked about these guys like a long, long time ago on TGN. They're called knock arounds and they're just like inexpensive plastic lenses or plastic frames. I think Wayfarer styles is what you would typically call them, but they have a bunch now keyholes and the rest. Yeah, I love them for running. You can get them polarized, not polarized. You can get them in like crazy mirror lenses or normal lenses. Like they've got a ton. I like wearing these and I know exactly what you're going to say. You don't have to tell me it actually links up with something in final notes. There's a big through line in today's episode for me. I will occasionally wear them as safety goggles and I flat out know you're not supposed to do that. It's a bad idea. They haven't passed any tests to be good for that kind of stuff. But if I'm not using like a spinning power tool, a saw or something like that. I figure these work pretty well for small stuff, and I figure it is a step better than the classic, which is just squinting a little bit when you're using it. So yeah, knock arounds are what I like to run in there. What I like is like the backup pair in case you break something, lose something, have it stolen, whatever. So I've typically had a pair of those around and have for a long time. These aren't like gas station quality sunglasses. They're definitely a step up from that, but like I mean, a pair of pursals is like two, $300. And like, you kind of got to know it's the exact one you want to spend, in my opinion, to spend that kind of money on something that like could just break from being in your pocket. Yeah. Yeah. Right. So there is that there's like a law of diminishing returns when it comes to some of these things. And I think that the knockarounds are high enough that you're not buying them knowing they're disposable. But if you put them in a scenario where you lean over a boat to get a fish off a line, and they fall out of your pocket and sink in the lake. Yeah. You don't immediately feel like, well, how deep is it? And look at your fish finder to see if you think you could go down and rescue them. Right. Right. Right. So yeah, that, that, that, those are kind of the, the spread for me. I know that Jason, you, you one have a corrective eyewear. So that's one consideration and you have kind of a longstanding love of specific sunglasses, which we've talked about before, I think on, on the, like a very early perfect product episode. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, I think you're right. Yeah. Yeah, you are right. Actually, we talked about these a long time ago, and I've had them for many years. These are the Randolph engineering aviators. They're kind of a classic style. They've been around forever. Originally, the military spec upon which these were based kind of came around the time of of the 60s space program. And there was a company called American Optical that, that actually is still in business. And I have a pair of theirs as well. Um, uh, the Randolph's are designed to the exact same spec. So they look identical. In fact, parts are interchangeable. These are kind of, you know, when you think about aviators, you often think of kind of more of the teardrop shape, Ray-Ban aviators that, you know, Tom Cruise wore in Top Gun, the first Top Gun, et cetera. Um, that style never quite suited my, shape of my head. So, um, I really liked the Randolphs. They're more of a rectangular aviator style with kind of the straight, what are they called? Bows, um, to design to fit under a, like a modern fighter pilot helmet, um, which has nothing to do with me. Um, but I just liked the shape of them. So I've, I've had those for many years. I've got prescription lenses in, in both of my pairs. And in fact, I managed to crack one of the plastic kind of bows on, on one of them when I was in Sri Lanka. So when I got home, I just swapped over. bows from my American Opticals to these Randolphs and they work just fine. Those are kind of my everyday go-to. I wear them, you know, driving and, you know, pretty much anything I do. But then when I'm doing something a little more fast forward, like running or on a bike or kayaking or something, I want something lighter weight and also something less kind of, I don't want to say precious, but less expensive. And recently, I guess it was last year, If you're familiar with Warby Parker, they're kind of, they started that whole kind of affordable mail order, like a prescription glasses thing. Um, they have a shop here in town in Minneapolis and I was at their shop, uh, for some regular eyeglasses and I was looking at their sunglasses and they had one called the hatcher, which, um, they still, they still have on their website. It's kind of that, I guess you'd call it more of a seventies aviator style like that, that if you picture like Rob, Robert Redford in, downhill racer or, you know, like that Carrera style, like maybe, maybe something that, that, uh, Reinhold Messner wore in the eighties when he was climbing Everest, that sort of style. I got a pair of those in prescription lenses for, I think they're like 95 bucks or something. So super cheap for, for prescription glasses. And they're super comfortable, very lightweight. They're plastic of course. Um, and I like the general shape. Gashani isn't quite as keen on them, but, uh, you know, whatever. So those have been kind of my go-to for, for, for biking, uh, so far this year and, and I really liked them a lot. So I kind of alternate between those two, uh, different pairs of glasses. And that's, uh, that's my go-to. I wish I could go without prescription lenses. I've tried contacts, they just don't work for me, but I'd love to be that kind of guy that, you know, you can just have a random pair of wayfarers and in every vehicle and every drawer and every backpack, but I can't do that. So. |
| Host | Yeah, I think those are great ones. I like those Warby Parkers. I think they look pretty good in there. They're a little bit more chill than the, the per souls that like McQueen was known for wearing, but they're in a similar vibe. Yeah. Yeah. Whenever you bring up sunglasses, people always say like, Oh, you should try these on. When I try these on, I look like, uh, I look like, uh, you know, like I might try to sell you something you're not supposed to have in your country, a rare bird, perhaps some ivory, some ivory from, you know, without paperwork, that sort of thing. I just don't look trustworthy in, uh, in these McQueen, they're those ones that fold and they kind of like a large lens. Thomas crown of fairies wearing them. Right. I think they're the seven one fours, but they also have like another name that is just escaping me. Uh, but I do really like that look. Uh, but I think I like these ones, uh, better. Uh, and I, did you get ones like in a tortoise shell or like in a black, just black? |
| Unknown | Yeah. Yeah. |
| Host | Matt black. I'm a tortoise shell guy from way back. Oh yeah. Yeah. So now we've got hats, sunglasses. Those are two pretty fun ones. And I think that's, that's like, sunglasses you wear year round. So that's one thing, right? Yeah, right. Then we get to I think, t shirts. And I think the easy one for us to get out of the way is we're both like, huge fans and and have, you know, received free shirts from Standard H, the Avant T. And I have no problem with that, because I really like the t shirts. I love these shirts. Like a lot. I've bought some, I've been given others. if I need another T shirt, I'm really eyeballing getting a couple in white. Yeah, because my my go to T shirt for years, it's just been like the Kirkland white, but it doesn't have a chest pocket. Yeah. And if I'm going to buy and wear and carefully wash and try and try and maintain, I may just go with some of these. So the standard H ones are absolutely what I recommend. I would also say if you already have the kill hubris like washed pocket tea, which we've talked about on many past episodes. Uh, I don't believe they're still in production. So I unfortunately can't get more. Those are about my favorite ones. And they're a little bit more, um, relaxed a little bit, even more casual than the Yvonne, the two different vibes. I think they compliment each other well, but Jason, beyond those, uh, what, what do you kind of reach for on a, on sort of a sunny day, uh, during the summer? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. I mean, you know, I've got, uh, you know, tons of t-shirts of all shapes and colors and, and, levels of quality and I'm with you on the Avantia where that quite a bit. I also like polo shirts. I've, I've had a lot of polo shirts over the years and I think they work well. They can be as versatile as a, as a t-shirt. Like if you kind of get a less expensive one, maybe something a little more casual looking, I think you can kind of pull it off and then you can sort of go from, you know, you can wear it, whatever, you know, gardening, running errands, et cetera. You could go straight to going out for dinner for, you know, cocktails or a patio, you know, beer with a friend or something like that. And the kind of, They kind of work well in all those scenarios. I think, um, uh, some of my favorites I've gotten a few over the years from Mack Weldon. So I'm, I'm a big Mack Weldon fan. I like their underwear a lot. I know we don't have underwear on the list, but if you're in the market for good underwear, Mack Weldon's a place to go, but they make a Vesper polo that is based on a much more expensive style polo from, from a brand called Sunspell that actually made the the pocket polo shirt that Daniel Craig wears in Casino Royale, kind of a navy blue one. And I have one of those, I will admit. But it is it is more of a luxury product. But you can get the Mack Weldon Vesper polo for a lot less. And they're kind of this really cool, lightweight, slightly perforated cotton material with a pocket and just a basic polo shirt. And I wear those a lot. They're super cool, very drapey, very comfortable. And I like those a lot. And then a while back, you know, after we interviewed, um, Steve from Volobok on an episode this past winter, they, they kindly sent us each one of their planet earth shirts. And when I was in Sri Lanka, I wore this shirt quite a bit. Now this is a, it's a long sleeve button up kind of, I don't know what you'd call this sort of a Bush style shirt or adventure shirt. |
| Host | Like a Bush shirt. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Lots of pockets, lots of venting. Um, the sleeves roll up and button at the bicep. The collar can be, kind of cinched up and buttoned fully up to the neck. Like if you're in bug territory or trying to keep the sun off. Uh, I have the black version of this, um, the, the chest vents, um, you can zip open and then there's a big vent running down the middle of the back. And I found even in, in the heat of Sri Lanka, this, uh, the shirt worked out really well and it's a little bit, it's a little bit tactical looking, but I like the vibe. I like that sort of throwback. kind of jungle explorer look. Um, I've got several of the style shirt, but this one, this one's truly a cut above and it should be for, you know, $300 plus. But yeah, I think between like a whole slew of t-shirts, uh, these Mack Weldon polos, um, and the Vola Bach, that's kind of my, my general go-to all summer long. |
| Host | Yeah, no, I agree. It's like, I like to think of a day at my cottage. Yeah. Yeah. So like if I wake up, I'm going to put on all of one of these Avantis that's where I would go with. And then there'll be a point in the day where, I either need to do something outside and I know that no amount of sunscreen, especially early in the season, May and June, no amount of sunscreen is going to keep up between sweating and then just the fact that I burn easily. There gets to be a point in the day, and it's typically the hottest point of the day where I need to wear a long sleeve, preferably with a collar. And so the Volbeck is perfect, but I don't want to give people the... As much as I think the Volbeck is absolutely the cry once, buy once solution for a bus shirt, to the extent that I'm very much considering buying one that's not black. I almost never wear black. I would love a green one. And I could absolutely make that happen and probably will at some point. It's also the best travel shirt I've ever used or worn. If you have a long flight, every time I've been on a plane for more than an hour recently, this is what I wear. I pull it out of the closet, I stack it with what I'm going to put on at 4 a.m. to get to the airport. And you've got built-in kind of heat control. You've got a ton of pockets. Everything's laid out in a way where you're not doing like the tap to find what pocket something's in. Right. You know, you're sitting in your seat, just touching your legs and your chest and trying to, where's my AirPods, right? Yeah. And where's my passport? All this sort of stuff. But I do want to say that for those who maybe don't want to spend upwards of $400 on a shirt, which of course I totally understand, The kind of consumer grade version of this shirt in many ways is sold by Eddie Bauer. We've talked about it before. This is the men's guide. They've actually just updated it. It's now called the men's guide UPF 2.0. It comes in long sleeve and short sleeve, and I'm seeing them for like 50 Canadian. So that could be 35 bucks. In the US, it's not going to last like the Volbeck will. It just simply won't. It doesn't have the cool collar, which is one of my favorite things about the Volbeck. The other thing is all of the buttons on the Volbach are floating. Oh yeah. So if you sit down in a seat or you're riding a tractor or you're moving around a bunch in your weird position, the shirt never really bunches up because the placket, the buttons can actually float on a placket. These sorts of things make a huge difference. But if you want a more conventional shirt, I think this does 70% of the same thing for you know, a big discount. Yeah. Um, and I have one in green that I just leave at the cottage. Now it's the older version, but it has the back vent. It has a collar. It has some pockets if you need it. And if I know I'm going to go ride a riding lawnmower for two hours or, you know, dig a bunch of holes, uh, in the sun, that that's what I'm going to put on. If you want the buy once cry once option, the Volbach planet earth shirt is absolutely what I think Jason, I would recommend, uh, if you're operating in a world in which you don't want to spend that much on a single shirt, I think we would understand that as well, and I recommend the guide shirts from Eddie Bauer. They look nice, they come in a bunch of different colors, and I think they're worth what they charge, for sure. Yeah, definitely. All right, moving on. You wanna do shorts pants? That's always a popular one. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, why don't you take the lead on this one? |
| Host | Yeah, so with shorts, I'm pretty lazy. For several years, I've worn... I have four or five pairs of the same. I think they're from The Gap, and they're like a cotton, linen, casual short. Oh, sure. Uh, I think they're seven inch, uh, the older I get, the more I like shorter shorts, um, which may, maybe that's a natural progression. I'm not sure. Maybe it's just, you know, getting comfortable with my pasty legs unknown, but these ones work really well. Uh, they're super comfortable. You can wash them really easily. And, uh, and they're, they're not so nice that I like, I'm worried about getting motor oil on them or something like that, but, but they have lasted several seasons, several washes, all that kind of stuff. So I think it's a nice kind of middle ground between the premium option and something I'd still be comfortable, you know, doing cottagey stuff in, um, rentals and, and, you know, working on the Jeep and crawling around in the grass and that kind of stuff. So that's what I recommend. And as far as pants, I mean, like if, if we're talking like summertime or really year round, like adventurey sort of pants, like, I don't know, pair of Levi's are always going to work out, right? Like just pair of jeans, right? Otherwise, uh, we've talked about these a bunch. I've actually just had to retire my first pair. I'm going to order another pair this week. They are the Live Free Adventure Pant from Dewar. And Jason, how long do you think it was? Because a little while ago they sent us each a pair. Yeah. They were looking into possibly advertising with us. Right, right. Years ago. That didn't work out, but that would have been like six years ago, seven? Yeah. So that's how long they lasted. And if I tell you I wore these three days a week, I think that's probably maybe even undercutting it. And eventually the panel at the crotch just kind of wore out between bike rides and the rest of it. But I really like these. And also, you know, with ticks becoming a bigger issue, the ability to control your ankle, either by cinching it shut in a jogger style or by having it open, but being able to tuck that into, say, a boot or even your sock over the ankle is another thing that I'm now considering. I wouldn't just wear, you know, a normal pair of like loose fitting jeans because there's not really any way to help control the whole tick scenario, which is becoming, you know, a bigger problem. When I was a kid, it was something we never talked about. Yeah. Right. And now, and now you're, you're basically seeing them every weekend up in that area. So yeah, those, those are my suggestion. I like a nice, simple, inexpensive, uh, cotton or linen short, uh, pretty flexible, easy to wear, easy to wash, easy to dry. Right. All these things that, that help most of we'll get to this in the next one, but most of my technical needs from a short, I put that squarely in the world of high to higher end swim trunks, which I also just wear like shorts for a lot of the summer. Yeah. So, uh, before we get to swim trunks, what's your scene on shorts and pants? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Um, you know, I've always been a big Eddie Bauer guide pro short pant guy. I mean, I still do. I wear those quite a bit. Um, the pants are fantastic. They're, they're stretchy, comfortable, breathable, et cetera. I wore them a lot in Sri Lanka. I've worn them hiking for years. Um, I've got a pair of fleece lined ones for winter, but I recently came across, uh, this brand that I'd never heard of it probably through a social media ad, like so many, so many other things. happen these days, um, from a brand called six, eight, six, and I had never heard of it. Um, but I liked the look of them in the photos and I took a chance and I ordered a pair of their, um, they call them anything pants. And then they've got a shorts version, the anything shorts. And these, these have been an absolute revelation. I'm wearing the pants right now and you just cost me some money. These might be the best, uh, versatile pants I've ever owned. Uh, they're absolutely incredibly comfortable. I got the slim fit 13 pockets. And yeah, they say 13 pockets. I mean, and I got the kind of the weird colorful ones with like, they're like, like an asymmetric color pattern. Like the left leg is different color than the right leg, et cetera. And they're, I like it. It's funky. It's summary. The shorts, I got a little bit more muted. Um, the shorts are just a short version of the pants. So, so talking about one is basically talking about the other, but what I love about them is the material is like super stretchy. Uh, the, the pockets are well-placed. There's a, there's a kind of an open, five pocket on the right side that I just dropped my iPhone 11 in. Like it's just easy to grab and go. And then you've got these zipper shut pockets that'll keep like a kerchief in or, you know, pocket knife or whatever. And then, yeah, 13 pockets. I didn't even realize that until I looked at their website, but you know, they're, they're counting those like little coin pockets. They've got a little coin pocket in each of the kind of the main pockets, the hand pockets. Oh sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But what I love about them is, you know, they've got belt loops, but they've also got this, um, tie like button and regular zip fly. But then there's like a drawstring cord on the waist and I can just sort of dial in the fit, which, which makes them really nice for, you know, hiking, biking, gardening, whatever, because I don't have to like deal with a belt, which always kind of gets, feels kind of clumsy and heavy in the summer. Don't like wearing a belt a lot. I can't recommend these pants enough. That was definitely a really good kind of wing it sort of buy that I did. And yeah, and so far I'm loving them. |
| Host | I'm on their website now, and I promise this isn't an ad. I've never clicked into this web, like 666 is brand new to me, but, uh, so they're stretchy, they're water resistant and same. So they have a DWR coding. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Host | Um, RFID blocking, I guess one of the pockets has RFID, but I guess it's a passport pocket. Yeah. And then, uh, UPF 40. So if you're, if you're in a scenario where you have to deal with the sun and sun damage, that's worth considering as well. Yeah, man, I think you just cost me 120 bucks. Oh, you're going to love them. |
| Jason Heaton | They're, they're just fantastic. |
| Host | Yeah. I'll survive. Yeah. |
| Unknown | Very cool. |
| Host | Yeah. Beyond that, why don't you jump right into swim trunks? I mean, these, I would kind of wear like swim trunks, except with 13 pockets, I'd be checking to make sure I didn't drown anything that was important to me. Yeah, true. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. So you might remember that, that when I went to Sri Lanka, uh, triple lot sent me kind of a small little care package of, of clothes to bring along and try out. And one of them was their Paladin maritime trunks. And these are, they're kind of like a loosely based on, on kind of like a surfing board short, that sort of style with a drawstring waist and, um, kind of a longer cut. Um, really stretchy material. I really love these. I think they'd work just fine as just kind of regular shorts for the most part. Um, but I fell in love with them in Sri Lanka where, especially when we went down to the coast and did some snorkeling, they were just great in and out of the water. They dry super fast. They're stretchy and comfortable. They look good. They got like one big zipper pocket on, on one of the thighs that that's great for like stashing a little bit of money or your sunglasses or keys or whatever you might might have. Those are great. You know, in years past, I think we've talked about, I, uh, I've got a few pairs of those, those really expensive Orla bar Brown, like kind of classic short, um, swim trunks that, um, they're kind of based on like the old Connery era, you know, James Bond swim trunks, kind of like 50, 60 style trunks. And I really liked the look of them. Unfortunately, I've lost a fair amount of weight over the past year. And, um, and all of them are way too big for me, except for one pair. So I don't get to wear those as much, but the, The paladins, the triple lot stuff is my go-to, I think, for this summer. They're really great. |
| Host | Yeah, those paladins look really good. I'm super tempted. Like I said, when it comes to swim trunks, I like something that is just you can wear it all day because I'm in and out of the water all day, ideally, on a good Saturday or Sunday. I'm in and out of the water all day. I definitely don't want to be changing my clothes unless it's almost evening and I've got to go to pants until the bugs are gone again. Yeah. And I think these paladins are probably kind of the next level up from what I'm about to suggest. The weird thing is, is on a whim, I went traveling back to Vancouver last year and I thought we had plans to check out a spa in, in Whistler. I didn't bring a, I didn't bring swim trunks cause it was the fall. So we ended up going shopping and I ended up at Lululemon and bought a pair of essentially one of their like athletic pants. And I'm not an athleisure person. I don't really like the look of athleisure stuff. I really kind of, unless I'm running or like, like the, like the, the guys that, wear that all the time. It doesn't, that doesn't hit me very well at all. Yeah. Um, it's, it's just kind of like elevated sweat pants in many ways. Yeah. But I picked up, um, a pair of their pace breaker seven inch shorts. They're just Navy blue, basic looking shorts there. I would almost think of them like, um, they're not quite as weird as like the Patagonia baggies. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Host | Yeah. In terms of they don't billow as much, they're a little bit more trim. Right. They're liner lists, which is, which is, definitely to my preference and they're not super long and they have a nice seam at the end so you can roll them. So if you want them to be a little higher, just roll them like I would the sleeves on most of my t-shirts. And for the money, I want to say I paid 70 bucks for them. I think these are about as good as I've come across. I have running shorts from Lululemon as well, which I really like and are super wearable, but they're lined and they're kind of like crazy light. These are a nice middle ground between, you know, like a cargo pant that has a lot of bulk to it. and maybe even needs a belt, where these have some pockets, all pretty streamlined, and they're a nice lightweight material, so you can wear them in a dark color and not feel like they're heating you up. Yeah, yeah. I'm really impressed by them. So that's the only one I'm putting in. I'm gonna wear them all summer. I've had experiences with others from no-name brands, from other brands. I think the Paladins look great, and I think these might be... Maybe in this case, you could go to a store and try them on, decide if you like them that way. Yeah. But that's the Pace Breaker 7, a seven inch short from Lululemon. I like them and I've lived in them, so they're nice. Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | Nice. All right. How about, what are we down to? We've done pants and shorts. I guess we're down to footwear. Do you even wear socks in the summer? |
| Host | I live in camp socks. Oh, you do? So just, it depends on, like on a really hot day, no. But again, we have a tick issue. I prefer, especially if I'm sitting around the campfire or if I get up in the morning and it's all dewy, a nice thick pair of socks, and I would wear that under a set of those Birkenstock EVA sandals. I understand if people are upset about the sock and sandals things. One, I would say just speed up your clock a little bit. This has become a little bit more normal in the last few years. And two, I'm not out here watering my own driveway with black socks and brown sandals, right? Things come down to the general context and the ways in which we divide up the world. I'm fine with socks and sandals, especially Birkenstocks. Yeah. And I really like these EVA ones. They're vegan. They seem, I thought for sure I would destroy them in a season. Me too. And mine don't show that much where they've split a little bit right in front of the front strap. But every time I see another one, people in the wild, everyone's is like that. So I think it'll split to the point where it's broken in and then hopefully it holds. Yeah. My wife has had a pair for several years. and hers are still going, and she wears them a lot. I think for the money, these are the ideal footwear. I wasn't a sandal guy for a long time. I still wouldn't wear them in public. If I leave my house now to go make a run for some cold beer or for something we're missing for dinner or whatever, I would do it with the camp socks. I don't like bare feet in public, but for the cottage, for the beach, I think those sandals are great. I think the compliment to make them a more well-rounded, scenario when bugs come out in the evening or maybe the temperature drops. It's just a nice pair of camp socks. Yeah. Yeah. So that could be, you could spend big money and do the darn tufts or the, um, the, you know, some of the like higher end hiking socks. I just buy those big six packs of like, they're like a gray knit sock with red stripes at the ankle. Yeah. Right. And I own a ton of those, like so many, I love them. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Good call. Yeah. I'm not going to add anything else to the, The Birkenstocks, I got them on your recommendation and brought them to Sri Lanka and they worked great there and I'm wearing them right now and I love them. I've always been, you know, a Blundstone guy. We've talked about Blundstones probably on past EDC and perfect product stuff. And I've got a pair of their 550 boots that are great cause they're pull-ons. I use them in the garden, wrenching on the truck. Everyone needs a pair. Yeah. No, the Blundstones are awesome. But beyond that, I think, The other pair of kind of go to warm weather shoes that I have, if I'm not wearing Birkenstocks and what I, you know, first of all, one of the, my favorite things about this time of year is the ability to get up in the morning and not have to choose a pair of socks, like just around the house. Like I, it's one thing about winter that like by the end of winter, I'm like, Oh, like I don't have enough socks clean or I've got to like rummage through my drawer and find a pair of socks. You have to unlock 30 pairs. I love not having to pick socks out. I love going barefoot, but. When it comes to shoes and socks, it's either the Blundstones or I have a pair of these Palladium canvas. Uh, they're kind of based on like a French foreign Legion desert style boot. I've talked about these before. Um, super lightweight. They're almost like a, like a Chuck Taylor shoe with, with a lug soul. Um, is how I'd describe them. They're they're canvas. They're kind of a pebbled canvas. You can get them in a variety of colors. I've got two pairs. I've got like a kind of a slate blue. And then I've got my older pairs, like a drab olive, Um, they've got this big chunky rubber sole. So I've used them for, for hiking. I've used them for gardening. I've used them for, for everything in between. And, and you can wear them with like short socks and with shorts and they don't look goofy. Um, they've, they've kind of become my summer weight kind of hikers and kind of do anything shoes. And I, I just love those. So it's, it's the Berks of the Palladiums or kind of by the back door, sit my Blundstones that I wear kind of a daily basis. So that's when I, that's what I do when it comes to footwear. |
| Host | Oh yeah. And I mean, the only thing I would add for me is because it is something I wear a lot in the summer is like last season or even two seasons ago, sneakers with no laces. |
| Jason Heaton | Oh yeah. Yeah. You mentioned that. I'm trying to figure out how that would work for me. I feel like my shoes would always be falling off or I'd be tripping. |
| Host | Well, then what you do is if your shoes are, take a piece of shock cord, so it's like paracord that's elastic and go from the top eyelid on one side to the bottom eyelid on the other side. |
| Unknown | Hmm. Okay. |
| Host | Oh, like just a big horizontal or a diagonal cross. Yeah. Put an island, just leave it. So this isn't a stylish way to do it, but if you just want to be able to put shoes on very quickly or you can't find where you put your sandals or that sort of thing, this is my, my, my like always backup. Also, sometimes I want to sit and have my feet close to a fire and I don't want to, I don't want to melt my sandals or melt my bloodstones more than I have already. Yeah. Yeah. One way to repurpose a pair of shoes certainly. And then if you're in a scenario where you've got to get off like One of my kids falls into the water and I got to move quickly. You also don't mind if they get drenched or drown or whatever. So yeah, it's all good. Yeah. All right. We got a couple more things. This can be a nice long episode, which I'm happy about. Um, how about bags and carry any, uh, we can do this quick cause this is the kind of stuff we talk about a bunch, but it is something worth considering. I think. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, I think I, I'll briefly mentioned cause I'll let you go into more detail about this. I've got a Topo designs, I believe it's called the mountain briefcase that I kind of use for travel or just kind of general use. Um, I'll let you go into more detail about that. style bag. But then, you know, for years, um, I've used many years actually probably coming up on 20 years. I have an old Timbuk2 brand, uh, three panel messenger bag. They used to make this messenger bag where you could go on their website and pick the color of each of the panels. Of course. Yeah. Um, I don't know if they still do that. Their stuff lasts forever too. Um, mine is as good as it was. It's got a cross kind of a, a second strap that you can like put under your arm and clip to the cross, the main strap to kind of hold it in place when you're on a bike. Um, really clever design enough inner pockets to hold, you know, wallet or whatever else you've got. But I, it's just this cavernous, uh, kind of dispatch bag that, that I use when I'm doing my, my FedEx runs for the TGN supporter, uh, kit stuff. Uh, when I take my bike to FedEx and, um, it's about all I use that bag for nowadays, I used to use it every day to go to work and take my lunch and laptop, et cetera. So that's kind of one of my bags than the mountain briefcase from Topo. And then, and then a backpack, which, which, you know, I Use from everything from kind of neighborhood grocery runs to hiking and everything in between. And, you know, for a long time, I was a huge proponent and still am, I guess, of the Patagonia black hole. I've got the, I believe I've got the 25 liter. Um, it's kind of a dry bag style doesn't roll down at the top, but, but plenty water resistant, great bag. But then again, before my Sri Lanka trip, triple lot sent me this prototype Dyneema bag. Dyneema is this very tough kind of sailcloth material. And they made a version of their azimuth, uh, backpack out of this. And it's the lightest thing I've ever used. Uh, it's, it just crunches down into nothing and can be packed into the bottom of a bag. If you're taking it traveling, super comfy, you know, smart use of space. And so in terms of backpacks, that's, uh, that's what I've been carrying a lot lately. So I think between those three bag styles, that's, uh, that's where I land. How about you talk more about the topo? Cause I think you use one of those as well. |
| Host | I do. Yeah. For years, for years, I've been using, uh, the Topo three day briefcase, which I think is just like the size up from the mountain briefcase. Okay. Yeah. But I think the mountain briefcase uses like some duck cloth, like a heavier fabric, uh, material. |
| Jason Heaton | No, this is yours, correct? No, this is that, this is that nylon. So I'm never sure what, I think they've changed names of a few of these. |
| Unknown | What's that? |
| Host | Does it have the two, the matched two front pockets? It does. Yeah. So maybe I have the same thing. So maybe, maybe it's basically the same thing. Cause I remember seeing your mountain briefcase and I thought it was a little bit different. Had some leather accents on it. |
| Jason Heaton | That's the one I gave Jack, I think. |
| Host | Yeah. Ah, okay. Okay. |
| Jason Heaton | So the briefcases, this Navy blue, sorry. |
| Host | Anyway, I'm getting way off. Yeah. I think, I think we might have the same one. That may be a three day briefcase if I remember correctly. So yeah, it's the top of three day briefcase. It can be a little bit hard to find these days. I don't know if they're maybe not going to keep making it or they're changing colors. It's top. We just got to stay on top of their website. They make great stuff all around. I actually have two things from them in here that I really like, but the three day briefcase is my scenario where like I'm going to, I'm traveling or I'm going up to the cottage where I need a laptop, a few other things and the small bits. This is this bag's just the right size for it. Yeah. They call it a three day briefcase. If I wasn't carrying cameras, then I think I could live out of the bag for three days because it's got room for my laptop, a couple of pockets for chargers and other stuff. And then you'd have the main cell for clothing. In my world, I put this on top of my roller bag. So I have my clothes in my bag, in my roller case, and then the top. Oh, and I really like it. I think it's nicely made. It's the right price. You know, it comes in a ton of different colors and just kind of a sucker for the whole topo kind of vibe. I like what they do. I like the quality of what they make. And I don't baby any of this stuff and it's lasted for quite a while. The other option, and this is more for when I want to backpack around town. I also like that, and we'll get to this as well, because I realized we have one other topic that would be fun, which would be drinks, our favorite summer drinks. I like this bag. I don't know if it's still for sale. My apologies if it's not, but it's the Topo Backpack Tote, and it's specifically one that they made in collaboration with Gear Patrol. Oh, yeah. So my buddies at Gear Patrol sent me one, and it's a day bag. So it holds a laptop and a bunch of stuff. Um, it's, it's a nice size. It's not a big bag or a small bag. It's about the size of their normal day pack, but it has tote straps. So if you get on the subway and you don't want to be the guy that has his backpack on, you can put it under your arm or very easily between your feet while still holding the straps. I like a bag that gives me a few different ways to carry it just because it can be fatiguing to only have one option or to do the single strap. And if you're walking around a city for the whole day or biking, like, how that sits on your body is kind of important and it's kind of nice to have a few options for security as well for where you carry it and how. So I think this is a clever design and it's mostly space, but I do like that it's roughly the depth of a, you know, like a soda can, not like a tall boy, but like a normal size. So it's the one I'll use if I'm going to go buy a weekend's worth of beer and I don't want to take the car, I want to go for a walk or whatever. So it's pretty handy for that. The next one, which I use a ton more by the day, and I'm really liking, I talked about earlier in the show is the Observer Collection Tango with mods is how I would say is probably where you get the most value out of it. This on the other hand, where the top of options are a really nice mix of cost and quality. This is outright quality and cost goes through the roof. This is a very expensive handmade leather bag, but I absolutely adore it. And if I'm going to a city and I don't need a ton of stuff, I really like this being the bag I carry around. It has a little bit of an elevated look to it. It's not a backpack. I always worry if I'm wearing, um, any sort of a jacket, a blazer, anything plus a backpack always rubs me the wrong way. Always has. And I can't, I can't handle it. You just look like, you know, a tech reporter going to his first CES, which isn't really my speed. If you've ever met me, not really my, my general look. Um, and, and on top of this, I love that every time I, I, someone compliments it or I reach into it and I realized that it works. I go like, Oh, my buddy Robert created this. So there's, there's that kind of personal connection. And a small note to everyone who keeps sending me emails. We are working to have Robert on the show now that he's on his way back from Ukraine. Uh, could be a good time to talk about a whole bunch of different things. Uh, so, uh, I'm not saying don't send me the emails if it's important to you, but please know that it's something I've been working on for some time. I'm a huge fan of his, and I think we've got lots of stuff to talk about from, uh, yeah, his experience in Ukraine to designing product to photography, the rest of it. Yeah. Fascinating dude. And then, uh, finally the other one I would say is, uh, A few years ago, probably when I, you know, came to a new city in Toronto and started really carrying only a few things for my kids, I became kind of like, I like cross carry, you know, like wearing a fanny pack over one shoulder, but in front of me. Yeah. Um, and I have one from Uniqlo that doesn't have any writing on it. It can be quite small if you don't put that much stuff in it. Um, it doesn't have the, you know, it's just kind of green and a pouch. It doesn't look like a, like the Patagonia ones are cool. the brightly colored and the rest of it, but I kind of would rather not have it be the statement on my body of both brand and otherwise. So yeah, it doesn't have the Uniqlo one. Uniqlo stuff changes every few months, so you probably can't find the same thing. But a simple cross carry, it's big enough to put a small camera in it, but usually it might be sunscreen in my wallet and a a kerchief, which we'll get to in the next section. And, and maybe it's my phone, maybe it's a knife, maybe it's a bunch of other stuff that we'll talk about kind of in the next section. But I didn't want to let that one go. Cause I do use it quite a bit, especially in the summer when I maybe don't want a bag on my back or in my hands all the time. |
| Unknown | It's handy. Yeah. That's a good call. |
| Host | You ever do that? You ever get into the smaller bag options? |
| Jason Heaton | You know, I used to have, um, there was a brand, I don't know if they're still in business called mountain Smith, um, that, that used to make this really popular kind of They called it a lumbar pack. I think it was, they didn't want to call it a fanny pack, uh, at the time, but it had room for like two water bottles. You could, you could add like a, like a cross body strap and wear it around your waist for extra support came in different sizes. I used to have one of those. I haven't worn a smaller pack like this in a long time. And, and I've never found fanny packs very comfortable, but this cross carry style is intriguing to me. And I I've seen them kind of called different things, you know, sling pack or whatever. Yeah. I like that idea, especially like, Cause Johnny and I go for a walk in the evening and we might go out for an hour, hour and a half. And you want to take even like a bottle of water and your phone, you don't want it swinging around in your, you know, your heavy phone and your shorts pocket or something like that. I think one of these would be, would be kind of cool or some version of this, but no, I don't really have anything like this. |
| Host | Yeah. And I mean the other one to suggest, I think if you want the elevated option is you could check out like the, the peak design, everyday sling. Oh, I've never really been wild of the ones that are kind of, they look like a backpack, but that's been molded around a single strap. Yeah. Not my aesthetic again. Um, but I do like, uh, the sort of fanny pack look just across my chest. It also means that if you're in a scenario where pickpocketing is possible, everything's in front of you and very central to your eyeline and between your arms. which I like where I can kind of empty a cargo pants worth of stuff into one space and then one, not be doing the padding. Where is it? Where is it? Where is it? Oh, there it is. And two, not really being in a scenario where you're in a really tight crowd and you don't necessarily have control over things like your wallet or other things that you might want to be carrying with you in that scenario, which can be pretty handy when you consider that. So yeah. Um, all right. So that was bags and carry sorted out. Let us know what you think. If you've got a bag you love, obviously get it in there. Uh, I'm sure we'll get some Tom bin comments of, you know, has always been on my list, but I've never bothered to buy. They look like great stuff as well. Um, let's do what things I always have in my pocket. So that's like three to five fast things that like I tend to start my day with in my pocket and keep that until I empty those pockets onto my desk or whatever at night. |
| Jason Heaton | What have you got? Yeah, I can be quick with this. I mean, you know, wallet obviously. And if you remember years back I was on this quest for the perfect wallet. I think I found it. I've been carrying these for years now. I've got, I've got one of the Bellroy hide and seek bifold wallets. Okay. Low profile, plenty of slots. It's got like a little hidden kind of rear compartment where I've kept like foreign currency, like when I'm traveling, et cetera. So that's my go-to wallet. Then, you know, keys. I mean, keys are something I've struggled with. I have, I have two old Land Rovers and then our Volvo and the Volvo has like a big key, you know, fancy key fob. And then I've got multiple house keys for inner and outer doors and a garage door. And if you have a good key ring option, I'd love to hear it. Cause I have like multiple key rings and I always forget which one has the right keys on it, et cetera. But the one I go to most often is like a gear patrol sold it. And then it was a collaboration with eight, seven, seven workshop. I still see it on eight, seven, seven website. It's, it's kind of a cool. Like, uh, it looks like, uh, you know, length of climbing rope, kind of a loop of climbing rope with a little bit of leather. Um, it's just, you know, it's called the eight, seven, seven GP work, uh, key ring. And that's what I carry keys on. And then, you know, I haven't really been a pocket knife guy. I've got a lot of pocket knives, but I don't carry them regularly. And I always kick myself because I I'm always finding myself needing one. And so lately I've been using this, uh, A friend who's also an avid TGN listener works for a giant mouse. I think he might even be the CEO. Apologies. Uh, if you're listening, um, with getting your, uh, your job title wrong. Um, but he, he's a big fan of the show. He sent me a giant mouse ACE RIV folding knife. And I find that, um, it's got a little pocket clip. It's very lightweight. Um, I like the look of it and it's razor sharp and it's, it's just a little folding knife. that I use everything from, you know, uh, cutting off zip ties from something to opening FedEx packages to everything in between. So I've been carrying that a lot more. And then of course, uh, I've got an iPhone 11, which is probably the most important tool in my whole quiver, which is vastly underrated, but, uh, but I love it and I've got it in an Otterbox, uh, cover that needs replacement. But, um, yeah, that's, that's kind of what I have in my pockets. |
| Host | That's great, yeah. Mine's largely similar. Man, that knife looks really good. Yeah, it's a nice one. I can see why you'd wanna carry that. And that size, I think, conforms to a lot of local laws. It's under two and a half inches for the blade. But usually, we used to live in a time where a small knife... The smaller the knife got, the kind of cheaper it got. There wasn't a premium two and a half inch knife for a long time. And for me, my knife... I'm a huge fan of Finch knives. I just think they make a great mix of style and variety and blade steel and the rest of it. And a lot of them conform to the scenario here in Canada and Ontario. So I pretty much only carry a Finch Cimarron. I really like it. My other backup would be a Benchmade Mini Grip. I can't suggest them enough. One of my favorite brands in the whole world is Benchmade. Their customer service is fantastic. Their product is absolutely as good as it needs to be for the money. You could buy one and keep that knife forever. Just take care of it. I've lost one to TSA, which is what it is. I hope at least that guy took it home. Uh, it was a nice knife, a five, five, six S beyond that. I like I've started, uh, since we got to know, uh, Kyle snar and, and Cantonment, I've started carrying a kerchief a lot. Uh, I don't, you know, if it's really hot, I might put one around my neck. I I'm still working my way up, uh, to, to being that stylish. Uh, but it's great in the pocket for, you know, wiping sweat off your brow or, or getting sunscreen out of your eyes, your kid's eyes, that sort of thing. I actually really don't like it when I reach for one and I don't have it, whether it's in a bag or in my pocket. So I highly recommend those. I've got a handful of them. I think they make great gifts. They make something that's genuinely useful, even if you don't tie it around your neck in sort of the Boy Scout style. As far as wallets go, I pretty much just use the Observer Collection Whiskey Wallet. It matches the bag that I have. It's just the right thing in terms of size and flexibility, and then it has this Dyneema, or it might even be Tyvek, I'm not sure the material offhand, this sort of channel of fabric that holds coins and folds up. So it folds up small, but if you need to open it, you can kind of pull on this channel and it unfolds out of this shock cable and you can pour the coins into your hand. But I haven't found a scenario in which that wallet didn't work. I, like Jason, had been on essentially as long as I've been carrying a wallet, trying to find the one that I liked the most. And I think this is it. I like it quite a bit. It's nicely made. It doesn't look like other stuff. And like I said, it matches the bag if that matters. I also typically, especially when I'm around the cottage and if it's not in my pockets in my bag, I have a Machant Aeon in turned titanium. It's like one of the nice things in my life, not unlike the Volbach. It's actually my second one. So I've bought two. I lost one in a cab in New York once. I absolutely love it. It's a small compact flashlight. It's made out of turned titanium, has a great beam. It's easy to use. It's got a belt clip I've used as a money clip before. Like it's just, I really like it. I love what Enrique is up to with the company and what they make. And it is the, it is in my mind, the definition of a buy once cry once product product. Yeah. Um, yes, they're expensive, but it can also be the last light you buy. And unless you're, unless you're a flashlight person in the same way that a lot of us watch people don't want one, With a flashlight, I kind of just want one. One is great, and this is, I think, as good as they get. I really love using it. I love seeing it kind of clipped into the mole pouch on the Tango, and it sits in a pocket, and you barely notice it. It doesn't weigh that much. You can recharge the battery. All that stuff kind of checks all those boxes, and I like that it comes from someone who's kind of uncompromising in what they make, not unlike the Tango bag, not unlike some of the other things we've talked about. I do really like these. As far as a phone, I carry a 12 pro max. It's as good. I use Android forever and finally, finally made the jump to iPhone. And there's so many things I don't even think about now that it just does, especially because pretty much everyone in my life is on iPhone. Like all of Hodinkee is iPhone so that you, you get some benefits with the being able to use message and the rest of it. And sure. There's a few things I miss. I wish it had an led indicator for the, when you have a message. So just a little flashing light instead of the screen coming on or whatever. I miss that a lot. Um, I miss the always on display. You know, I had a Samsung phone that could also be my clock at night because this display would go down to its absolute minimal brightness and you could just see the time. I don't know why that's not a thing. I'm probably, well, probably display technology and battery life, that sort of thing. And then I would say, I don't, if anyone could explain to me why this is or why this isn't a feature. And if you're an Android guy, you'll be laughing that this still bugs me. I've been using an iPhone for two years now, maybe even more. When like with Android, if you have face unlock, all you do is look at your phone and it does the entire unlock. With Apple, if I look at my phone, the little padlock opens, but I still have to swipe. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Like what am I like? I want to see my wallpaper. I want to see my lock screen for fun. Like I want in my phone. Yeah. I'm making eye contact with the sensor. Just open the whole phone. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Host | Face unlock is fine. I still miss and I miss it on my Android phone as well. I miss the fingerprint. I just liked it better. I could do it at any angle. My phone could be sitting on a table and I could unlock it. I kind of miss that kind of stuff. I hope that, you know, now that underscreen fingerprint display technology is possible, I hope that eventually migrates. And then the last thing I would say is I will upgrade my iPhone when they stop using lightning. It's the only, like everything else in my life is USB-C. And there's a lot of benefits for being on the iPhone, especially because I'm on Apple for the computer. and there's a lot of integrations between the two. And I'm very happy with it overall. I just don't, it's like they've moved pretty much the rest of the, the existence of their products to USBC, uh, aside from, I guess, AirPods and iPhones. Uh, but I, I would love to see them, you know, maybe the 14, maybe it's the 15, maybe it'll never happen. Right. They make a ton of money off of their own connector and licensing it. So I understand that. Uh, but I would love to see a USBC version. I have so much hardware that's USBC. I could just, I'd One less thing to carry in terms of a charger, one less cable to try and remember if it's the right one, that sort of thing. So that's my brief iPhone rant. If you're an Apple guy, maybe that will or won't. I'm pretty deeply an Apple guy, but I've spent time in and out of the ecosystem and there's some stuff in the middle that I would like to have seen. And then finally, Jason, this is one that has become a big part of my general lifestyle, especially in the summer. A water bottle. Oh, sure. Do you have any, do you have any like, uh, like instead, like I'm a hydroflask guy from way back. I'll, I'll, I'll go to, I'll go to bat for them. They make an incredible product. We have them like all over the house in several different sizes. We've got like the Exxon Valdez, the big one. Yeah. And you can fill it mostly with ice and it just stays so cold for so long. I'm a big, almost too cold. Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | I mean, that's, that's, that's when it's like, it's almost like too hard to drink for hours. That's what I like. I like it to hurt a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. I like hydroflask too. And I use their, um, I've got a couple other kind of coffee flask as well. I mean, yeah, great product. I don't think I own anything that keeps water as cold or, or coffee as hot as hydro flask. I've yet to find anything that does that. |
| Host | Yeah. I've, I've been given a couple of promotional items that are Yeti and that's it. I would say of equal quality, the Yeti stuff is really nice. And then the other one that I came across is like I said, is that snow peak sake bottle, which like this is a flex in the world of water bottles, like completely unnecessary, fully titanium, single wall. It weighs nothing. Yeah. without any liquid in it. But whether you're doing it in water and then you can just kind of dunk it in some cold water to cool it down, or you put your favorite spirit in it, or wine, or I guess sake, or whatever, I like that as well too. So if you want the kind of elevated option that actually has less features, I really like carrying that around. And it sits in the same space as any like plastic water bottle. Like none of the Hydro Flask can sit in the center console of my Jeep. Right, right. So it's constantly like, between a thigh and the door, down in a passenger foot well, that sort of thing. So there's a plus for the size as well. Yeah. Yeah. If you're driving around. Yeah. Yeah. So I think that's what I pretty much always have in my pocket. And then, and then I think, you know, following off of water bottles, what, what, what's kind of your go-to aside from cold water, that sort of thing. Like what's your go-to moves for, for summer, summer drinks. If you're planning a weekend, what, what do you like to take with you? This is kind of a wild card. Cause I didn't put this in until we said, how are we started talking? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. I mean, You know, when we're on the patio in summer, I, you know, in the, in the winter, it's all about kind of scotch by the fire. And in the summer, if we're out on the patio, I'm a gin guy. I like gin and tonics. Um, if I'm doing like a cocktail thing, I think they're refreshing. You can put cucumber or a lime in it. It's, I don't know, to me it's very summery, but to me, summer's all about beer. Yeah. You certainly, you can get a lot of beer in a lot of places, but, but regional beers, just like kind of finding sourcing local coffees that are roasted freshly near you is, is a good thing. I think, um, Beer is similar. And we have a small brewery called Venn Brewing that's within walking distance of our house. We like to wander over there and we can either sit outside and drink a beer there or get cans to take home and then just sit on our patio. It's still cold by the time we get home. So we like to do that. But if you're not interested in kind of falling asleep after a couple of beers, there's there's some really good non-alcoholic beers these days. Oh, you're getting right on, right on my train here. Which may seem kind of counterintuitive, but, um, I don't know. Lately I've been kind of enjoying NA beers because you can drink a couple without kind of feeling groggy afterwards. And one that we found, gosh, just last week is from a brewery or a drinks company cause they do other stuff besides beer called Untitled Art. And now that I look, it looks like they're based in Wisconsin. Oh, cool. Um, and they make a chocolate milk stout that is like, it's, it's the best non-alcoholic beer I've tried. Um, it's nice. I like a stout stout. on its own, like regular stout is usually way too strong for kind of drinking more than one or two in the summer, especially, but this has that same kind of body and flavor, um, without the alcohol. So if you're looking for a non-alcoholic beer, that's really good. I highly recommend, uh, this untitled art chocolate milk stout. But, um, yeah, for me, it's, it's otherwise it's just cold, cold tap water in a hydro flask. That's, that's what I drink most of the time. I used to kind of drink LaCroix kind of a sparkling water. But you know, too much trouble sometimes to like buy and keep cold and take up space in the fridge. So yeah, pretty easy. How about you? |
| Host | Yeah. I mean, I go a few different ways, you know, I'm, you know, as far as the spirit goes, I'm a bourbon guy. So that, that works all year round for the most part. I do really enjoy gin, but like in very specific scenarios, if you're a gin drinker and you like gin and tonics, I recommend go with gin and tonic or I prefer gin and soda. So it's kind of up to you. but do a gin and tonic and then mold cucumber. So crush up the cucumber in the bottom of the mix and then cracked black pepper. Oh, okay. Yeah. It's fantastic. Um, I would say just be careful cause they're real easy to drink. Uh, the, the pepper, the pepper really suits, especially get like a flowery gin, like monkey paw or a botanist, something like that. Yeah. Uh, some, something nice like that. Um, and then as far as a bourbon goes, Hey, I mean the, the, the selection in Canada can be pretty difficult. So if I'm going for something nice, I can, sometimes find a like a mixture sour mash or for four roses, single barrel plantains if I get crazy lucky, but that's even become something I just try and find when I'm in New York and I can have one and really enjoy it because it's just hard to find here. There's a lot of guys that are waiting for that kind of stuff to show up. Yeah, let's see as far as beer. I'm the guy I went a huge portion of my life like not liking beer and then my wife kind of introduced me to craft beers and then into IPA and obviously I like bourbon straight. So a strong beer is probably more to my liking, uh, typically. Uh, and, and at that point, like anything I would recommend, you probably couldn't get outside of the area, you know, like collective arts, but I think there, you can find them in the state sometimes, you know, 33 acres, that's mostly Vancouver thing. I can't even get them in Ontario as far as I can tell. Uh, and also like a lot of IPAs are just kind of the same, but also different. Like it's kind of like saying you have a favorite playing card company, like they're all going to do the same thing and have the kind of a strong, earthy sort of flavor and the rest of it. So, uh, you know, that's always good, but it's, it's funny that you brought up the N a thing because, uh, I don't really like how I feel after more than maybe one strong beer, especially if it's really hot out and I know I have to walk home or something like that in the sun. Yeah. Uh, I really like there's a, there's a, a non-alcoholic IPA from a company called partake. And if you live in Ontario, you, you've seen, you've seen these cause they're sold at the grocery store, they're sold everywhere. And it's like 10 calories a can. It tastes a little bit like an IPA, is what I would say. But what it doesn't taste like is a light beer, which I like a lot. And I drink a lot of those. And in many days, I would prefer to drink that instead of actual beer. Oh, yeah. Yeah. But this is a question we get a lot, like, why don't you guys talk about whiskey? Why don't you talk more? And one, neither of us are really experts on these two sorts of things. We just sort of like what we like and don't take it too, too seriously. Like maybe Scotch and bourbon a little bit more seriously. But, um, I did want to make sure that we, we got to it cause it is kind of like a summer thing. You're sitting around, you're hanging out, you know, if, if the last time you tried an N a option was a decade ago, uh, go, go to your, go to your best spot and, and see what they sell now and buy a couple. Cause I think you might be surprised what, where it's gotten. Cause this is a lot better than the N a stuff. I remember when I was a much younger man. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, it's really exploded. I mean, athletic brewing and, uh, care of the dog and some of these brands that are just really good. |
| Host | Yeah. Yeah. Good to see. So yeah, that's, that's kind of our great summer gear, uh, list broken down. You'll, you might've noticed we missed one thing. So we'll end on a watch of the summer. Jason, do you have a plan to try and dedicate a lot of the summer to, uh, to one watch or, or one sort of watch scenario or not really? |
| Jason Heaton | Well, you know, I was thinking about this and, you know, I wore the Omega for so much since last fall, um, you know, to Sri Lanka and, and skiing and everything in between. And, and I, it just feels too, too nice for summer. I mean, too swanky for, for most of what I do in the summer. I mean, a lot of times I'm going from like weeding in the garden to wrenching on the truck to going for a hike or whatever. And it feels more suited. I used to be kind of more of a Seiko guy in the summer. Um, but I think, you know, I've been getting a lot of use out of the Tornek Rayville, the TR-660, and that feels to me like kind of an ideal summer watch. I mean, it's very unobtrusive. It's very rugged. It's got the kind of the matte case. It's made well. It's a Seiko movement. You know, it comes from Bill Yao, who, you know, doesn't take himself too seriously, but he takes his watches very seriously. And I kind of like that vibe. So I can see that getting a lot of use. And then this Vertex, the Aqualion, I think it's It's a fun watch. It's a, it's a big watch. It's rugged. It's a, it's sporty. It looks good on a NATO. So I think between those two, you know, maybe a docs are here and there. I think I'll kind of go with that, that vibe rather than something kind of top end, you know, big, big, big brand on a bracelet sort of thing. I think I'll kind of stick with, with those things. How about you? I, well, you were kind of already hinted at that at the beginning. |
| Host | Yeah, I mean, we don't have to belabor this point. I think it's gonna be the S302. You know, it's a watch I got over the winter. It's my watch. I bought it. It's not a loaner. It's not something I intend to sell. You know, I had my Solo for, man, seven, eight years, right? Yeah. A little longer, actually. December of 2012, I guess, so. Yeah. The better part of a decade. And I think I'm gonna do the same thing with this one. I'm gonna find the kind of ideal summery strap for it and then just wear it. Yeah. Like a lot of these, and certainly like a Braymont, it'll hold up to whatever the abuse is. Um, but otherwise it, you know, it allows me to make sure I know when, what time it is in Geneva. If I'm trying to hit a deadline, even in, you know, up at the cottage, uh, plan to do a lot of work at the cottage or work from the cottage this summer, decent loom, good timekeeping, nice and tough, nice size. Obviously you don't have to worry about jumping off a dock. So it checks all those boxes for me. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Yeah. Good pick. Yeah. And it's nice to like kind of settle in with like one watch for a while, especially summer. Like I always feel like every summer has a certain theme and I don't know if I'll end up with the watches I talked about or if it'll be something different that I just wear consistently. And then by the end of the summer, it's like, it's your watch, you know, you've, you've had a lot of kind of cool adventures with it. |
| Host | So, yeah, I think that's the right, right way to look at it. And, uh, Hey, whether it's, um, what watch you want to wear over the summer or your preferred drink or some gear that you think we missed that we might enjoy, or a scenario in which you think we spent too much money or suggested spending too much money, we missed a good value option, please just let us know in the comments. We had so much fun in the comments from last week's episode, people suggesting what they would spend 10 grand on, people suggesting that 10 grand is too much for three watches, which I also agree. It's all fine. It's just hypothetical. Let us know in the comments. Let's get in there and chit-chat a little bit. But otherwise, I think it's time for some final notes. This is a nice long episode, which is what I wanted for this topic. And, uh, and Jason, what, what have you got to share this week? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, I think I might've mentioned this before. This is, this was a highly anticipated, um, uh, movie that just was released on Netflix last week. Um, and I had read the book by Ben McIntyre, um, operation mincemeat. So, um, this is about the, the kind of bit of espionage deception that took place during world war II. It's a, it's a fairly well-known story by now. There was an earlier movie called, um, the man who wasn't there that was made, I think back in the 1950s. But the McIntyre book was fantastic. In fact, I think if you can get your hands on that book, maybe read it before you see the movie. But Colin Firth, Matthew McFadden, you know, it's just a bunch of good actors in Jason Isaacs, some others in this film that really do a nice job. You know, I'm such a sucker for this kind of story, kind of World War Two British themes and settings. And it's just a wonderful piece about what used to be kind of a little known corner of World War II history, but it's gotten better known in the past few years and it's just a fantastic story. So they finally released it on Netflix and so it's available to check out. So I recommend that. We watched it a couple of days ago. |
| Host | Yeah, that's great. It's definitely on my watch list as well. But if you're recommending the book, maybe I'll find an excuse. I've got a few books on the go. just starting Tony Fidel's new book called Build, which I'm pretty excited about. Oh, yeah. You know, he's an insanely talented brain to have a book out from him. So I just put that on the Kindle and I think that'll be this weekend. Yeah. I'll start to dig into that, hopefully by the fire, maybe the hammock, who knows? Big dreams and such. So my final note is actually, you know, I've talked about Donut Media several times on the show and they're one of my favorite YouTube channels. And just recently they started a new series And it's called Tool Party. And basically, it's them testing and then torture testing a variety of tools. Should you buy the cheap one? Should you buy the one in the middle? Or should you buy the premium option? And I thought it kind of fit today's show with us talking about the buy once, cry once scenario. Because with tools, it's so easy to get lost in how much do I really need for me? Am I a pro? I'm not, right? But do you want to buy one and then have to replace it after a short period of time? So they have this great new series and they've done everything from Dremel tools, which is a favorite of mine to socket wrenches. Some of these like as seen on TV sort of tools like that one, that bit that sizes to any bit that kind of stuff. And then they did safety glasses, which I was of course teasing myself earlier saying that I occasionally do use cheap sunglasses as safety goggles, which you shouldn't do. I'm being very clear on that and they're very clear and in their testing they have, you know, from the $1 one that you buy in a pack of 12 up to like a $250 option from Oakley. Yeah. And they included just some gas station shades. Uh, I highly recommend it. It's silly. Uh, it's a little bit in the vein of like, um, uh, myth busters. Oh, sure. You know, like a lot of these kinds of practical tools. If you occasionally get by into tools or, uh, or sometimes you wonder like, do I need a $900 impact wrench? Yes or no. I'm going to say no, probably, but you know, go ahead and give that a watch. They're pretty entertaining. And these guys just do a great job while keeping things pretty light, kind of light and easy to watch. So That's the new series, which is, they don't really stick to a naming format, but the series is sponsored by eBay Motors and it's called Tool Party. And there's six or seven of them out already. Oh, nice. Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Super fun. Cool. All right. Wow. We're, we're pushing a gosh, an hour and 40 minutes here. I think it was, this was great. I mean, we, we had other stuff we were going to talk about. I think we can even save that for one later in the summer, more specific topics, but I think, I think we should probably leave it there and, and wait for the comments and see what people suggest. Absolutely. As always, thanks so much for listening. If you want to subscribe to The Show Notes, get into the comments, and please do, by the way, for each episode, or consider supporting the show directly, and maybe grab one of our TGN-signed NATOs, do visit TheGreyNATO.com. Music throughout is Siesta by Jazzar via the Free Music Archive. |
| Host | And we leave you with this quote from Seneca, who said, luck is where opportunity meets preparation. |