The Grey NATO – 310 – The 2024 TGN Holiday Gift Guide
Published on Thu, 05 Dec 2024 06:00:00 -0500
Synopsis
In episode 310 of The Graynado podcast, hosts James Stacy and Jason Heaton discuss travel, watches, and their annual holiday gift guide. They begin by catching up on recent events, including James' promotion to editor-in-chief at Hodinkee and his purchase of a vintage Rolex Datejust, as well as Jason's experiences with his new dog Ruby during the short winter days.
The main segment features their holiday gift guide, structured in three tiers: stocking stuffers under $30, mid-range gifts under $200, and "break the bank" luxury items. Their suggestions range from temporary tattoos and lava lamps to high-end kitchen knives and custom-made totes. They emphasize thoughtful, practical gifts that offer genuine value and unique experiences.
The episode concludes with their "final notes" segment, where they recommend The War on Drugs' Tiny Desk Concert and an episode of The Adventure Podcast featuring Jason Fox discussing mental health. Throughout the episode, they maintain their characteristic casual conversation style while providing detailed insights into their gift recommendations.
Links
Transcript
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| James Stacy | Hello and welcome to another episode of the Graynado. It's a loose discussion of travel, adventure, diving, driving gear, and most certainly watches. This is episode 310 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 would like to support the show, please visit thegraynado.com for more details. My name is James Stacy and I'm joined as ever by my friend and co-host Jason Heaton. Jason, how are we doing on this Tuesday morning? Oh, I'm doing pretty well. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. We're recording a little early and that means that the, I think the sun only came up about 20 minutes ago here and you know, it's a winter at this latitude. The days are very short, but I'm up early anyway with the dog. So no, this is great. |
| James Stacy | Yeah, true enough. How is Ruby? |
| Jason Heaton | Give us a quick Ruby update. She's doing great. She's loving it. We had a bit of snow yesterday and kind of the first snow that is stuck, I guess. We've only got like an inch, but she loves it and she just has a blast sprinting around the yard and whatever. And you know what I'm finding, speaking of short days is I do two walks with her every day, one in the morning, one in the kind of late afternoon or evening. And I try to, I try to do them during daylight. I mean, I can, we can go in the dark, but it's not as pleasant. And, uh, I just realized how short the days are. I feel like I'm always out walking. Like I get back from one walk and I have a couple hours and then I got to get suited up to go back out for the second walk, you know, before the sun sets at four 30 or whatever it is. But, uh, Oh, absolutely. It's really made me hyper aware of, of how short the days are as opposed to back in October or, or I guess next summer will be quite different to be able to walk her at eight 30 at night, you know? |
| James Stacy | Yeah, I guess I used to have that when I used to walk to and from work in Vancouver. Yeah, yeah. Where you would wake up, walk there in the dark, and then by the time you leave the office at 4.30, it's basically dark again. You're there and back with the streetlights. Yeah, right. And it's an entirely different experience than what you'd get maybe otherwise. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, that's great. And you're in New York City. I'm in New York, yeah. We've got lots to chit-chat about. But yeah, I'm in New York again for some meetings and a video shoot this week. Obviously, last week, the week that we took off, which wasn't even planned. It's just how things worked out. We took the week off for Thanksgiving. And then it worked out that on Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Houdinki announced my promotion to editor-in-chief for the editorial product. And yeah, so it's been a pretty crazy, you know, it's been a week, I guess. And for everybody on the Slack and everybody on Instagram and everybody in the Hodinkee comments, just a huge thank you. The feedback for all of that was really kind. Obviously, I'm going to do my best to do what we love to do and continue doing that at Hodinkee. I'm sure I'll have more news on that kind of stuff in the future. But for now, we're just you know, putting together a strategy that would allow the team to have a nice Christmas break and then, you know, kind of hit the ground running in, uh, in January. So that's good. |
| Jason Heaton | And it was such great news when you told me about it. And, and I, I just think it's, it's such a positive move for, for you and for Houdinki. And, you know, I just can't wait to see what, uh, what this next chapter brings. I think it's, uh, I think it's amazing. So, yeah. |
| James Stacy | Yeah, me too. I'm excited and I definitely appreciate the kind words of support. I was moving very quickly through this announcement, so we didn't have to belabor any level of praise, but I do appreciate that, of course. I did find an excuse to, I did use this as an excuse to get another watch. Of course. Which I've talked about on the TGN Slack and I think elsewhere, definitely in the comments on Hodinkee, because I wore it for the portrait that Mark Hosler shot of me for the the story, but yeah, I had wanted one of these watches for quite some time. Largely, Sarah and I wanted one of these watches for some time. And to be clear, it's a 70s, 1601 linen dial Datejust. So it's my first vintage Rolex, like true vintage Rolex. I mean, let's be clear, like you got to play to the hits there. Sometimes if you become the EIC at Hodinkee, it should probably be a vintage Rolex, right? I think that like in terms of the canon of Hodinkee makes sense. And to be honest, everything else just kind of worked out from there. Like I just got lucky. I had really liked these watches for a long time. They're kind of my favorite, certainly my favorite steel Datejust. And Sarah and I liked them and, you know, being 36 millimeters, they're really great to hand down to daughters or really anybody. So they're really nice heirloom watch, but they're just too expensive for a while. And then really right alongside this announcement, I mentioned it to James Lambden, our buddy at Analog Shift, who's now, I guess, technically a co-worker, watches Switzerland also owns Analog Shift. |
| Unknown | Yeah, right. |
| James Stacy | As they do Hodinkee now. And he mentioned that he had a nice example, and I should take a look at it. And I did and we bought it. And I'm super happy with it. It's awesome. I love it. Yeah, it's amazing. |
| Jason Heaton | I mean, and that size and that look and it's just so like, from a distance, you kind of know what it is, but it's not ostentatious and Yeah, I think it's the perfect move, especially to celebrate what just happened. |
| James Stacy | It's awesome. Totally, yeah. And then other than that, we had Thanksgiving. So Sarah, myself, and the girls jumped in the car, drove all the way down to PA. Some really less than ideal conditions in kind of the middle of New York. |
| Jason Heaton | Oh, were you stuck in that big snowstorm that blew through the Great Lakes region? |
| James Stacy | I didn't get stuck. We drove through it, but it was like, you know, you're driving along and there's a Lexus facing the wrong direction on the highway. And it's that weird thing where it was only just below zero. or like right at zero, like right at freezing. And I think it was a combination of like the wet snow was hitting the pavement and lifting like the oil that sits in the pavement up. You get this when just the first few minutes that it rains. Especially on highways that have a lot of debris and it just got, it got so slick. Like, I dropped my speed about probably 20 kph, went into four-wheel drive to get up some of the hills, just because the Jeep wasn't going in a straight line. It was so kind of slick out, which is, I mean, I've been driving the Jeep in the winter for the last five winters. This is the slipperiest I've been on that wasn't just like, I'm driving on ice. There was like little bits of grip, and then I had to shut the traction control off because it was getting so confused as to why some wheels were going and some weren't. And once it was in four, it was fine, but it was a little dicey for, you know, a couple hours of the drive. But made it down, had an amazing weekend at Sarah's family's place outside of Philadelphia. And then, you know, that was 4 a.m. on Thursday, and we were back by 7 p.m. on Sunday. It was a quick trip, but thankfully the Jeep didn't break a sweat. You know, you never know, we crossed 250,000 kilometers. And that was kind of fun to finally see that tick over. I guess when I bought it, I was at about 177. I've put a good chunk into this car so far. And then we had a really awesome hangout at New Hope. Oh, nice. I think this is the fourth time that we've done this. Third or fourth. But yeah, one of the slack guys, Jan M., was able to facilitate everything. And we had, I don't know, maybe 20 folks through. Oh, amazing. Over the course of a few hours, which for like a holiday weekend at a random brewery in New Hope, PA, seems pretty good. Yeah. But yeah, we've done this a few times. They're really, really accommodating and easy to deal with and the beer's good and we get a nice little space to ourself where you can, there's like a bar that you can put your watches on that can't really be seen from the rest of the restaurant. It's just a nice setup and we had a really good time. So a big shout out to Jan for that and got to see, you know, a bunch of the crew. Tom was there and yeah, we had a really nice time. So that was, That was my weekend. And then I came home Sunday night and then took the kids to school Monday morning and then went to the airport. So I'm here for another couple of days, like I said, for some video shoot and some other stuff. But that's basically what I've been up to is just kind of running around trying to get this cough sorted out. I apologize if there's some coughing. I'm recording from a hotel room early morning in New York. So there's also going to be honking and garbage trucks and sirens. Just, you know, we'll do our best. Oh, that's great. So how about you? What's what's new in your neck of the woods? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. It was a nice Thanksgiving, you know, quiet, uh, the weather cooperated for, uh, you know, driving the half hour out to my folks place and, uh, had a nice, a nice visit. They're pretty, pretty quiet. And as I mentioned, I mean, winter kind of has set in here and I'm, you know, I, I pulled out the ice bug running shoes with the cleats on the bottom and they, they work great. Oh, I saw that on your Instagram. Yeah. Um, you know, it's such a seasonal niche product, but I, they have these built-in, uh, metal studs in the, in the, in the soul and, And man, they work. I mean, they've really worked. Like if you're ever in doubt, and if you've been on the fence about getting winter running shoes or going with the yak tracks route, I tried yak tracks, you know, stretching those over like regular running shoes. And they just, you kind of slide all over. They get grip, but it's a weird sensation when you run in them. And so. A couple of years ago, I just broke down and I just ordered some ice bugs, you know, this Swedish company that specializes in winter footwear and they're worth every penny. I mean, they're, they're really fantastic. But aside from that, I pulled down the water rower and I've been, been using that a little bit. And, you know, it's good to be back. It's nice to have that. How's that feel? Well, you know, I mean, you know, rowing, I never, it always felt like a slightly less demanding form of exercise than I'd always kind of prefer to run or ride a bike or whatever, but sure. It kind of kicked my butt when I was on there the first time. And I remembered how much I enjoyed a good solid workout and going back to, you know, Austin's row 20 stuff that, you know, we, we talked about quite a bit on the show. And so that's been, it's been good. And it's nice to have an option indoors, you know, when it's like bitterly cold or icy or something like that. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. |
| James Stacy | I could definitely see myself wheeling mine out, although I am, one, I have not been working out nearly as much as I should, and two, I'll probably go back to the treadmill with the weighted vest, but it's nice to have the option of something that doesn't require, like the seated position can be nice if it, you know, maybe foot's a little sore or something like that, and so there's always a plus, and yeah, you can get a really nice workout in in like 25 minutes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, so it's great. yeah oh the uh the other update that i've got is i gotta tell you it was a final pick of yours i think in the last two episodes uh day of the jackal oh yeah yeah it's real good man it's really good i like that a lot yeah that's a fun show are you caught up red main so uh i believe i'm fully i'm through seven episodes so i think unless the eighth one came out like in the last couple days i'm caught up oh sure it's kind of like born meets um night manager yeah it's good um it doesn't to be clear i still think night manager is the gold standard there's there is some goofiness to day of the jackal but it's quite minimal i would really applaud them for like largely nailing the technical elements that they're trying to talk about and that kind of stuff Yeah. But the show is very entertaining. It adds a few contexts that I didn't predict, the element with his family and the complexity of that relationship is way more three-dimensional than I would have expected. Often in these spy movies or whatever, when there is a wife, she's there more as like a nag, never like a partner or somebody that knows anything. And it's just very one-dimensional. And I think they did, they went like a step further and man, I really like LaShonna Lynch. She nails her family dynamic. The show is a contrast of two people's lives. LaShonna Lynch who's trying to catch Eddie Redmayne and Eddie Redmayne who's trying not to be caught but each of them have a lifestyle that gives them what they want but comes at the cost of their families. And it really isn't a more complicated, interesting sort of dynamic show than I expected from a show about an assassin, right, which can be at times sea level at best. And I'll still enjoy those. This is a level sort of adventure cool paramilitary sort of television. It's great. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, I think I'm an episode or two behind. I'm glad you reminded me because I had kind of a few shows I was juggling for a while. In fact, Special Ops Lioness I was working through and Day of the Jackal and then The Diplomat on Netflix, which is a fantastic show. I kind of plowed through that latest series and So yeah, I mean it's that time of year and it's time for me to revisit Day of the Jackal and get caught up on that. And then I'll need some other input so I guess I'll have to hit the Slack channel or see what you're watching these days. Other good stuff. |
| James Stacy | Yeah. The next one I'm moving on to, I'm in the first half hour right now is called Silo with Rebecca Ferguson. It's on Apple TV. And it came highly recommended to me from someone who knows my tolerance for sci-fi. I love the premise of sci-fi. I don't always like all of the fanciful, almost like spiritual future worlds that sometimes they're cool. Sometimes they're kind of goofy. It's brand new to me, but it came highly recommended and I'm pumped to get into that probably sometime this weekend. Yeah, yeah. Well, cool. |
| Jason Heaton | Well, I'll have to get your download on that one after you've watched a couple of episodes and see if it's something I want to tackle because I've seen it and I've wondered about it. But all right. Big episode today. |
| James Stacy | Yeah, we're going to we're going to run the clock for sure. But this is people's one of people's favorites. So I hope people are pumped. We did. We are kind of changing the format up a bit, but I think it's it's a solution that adds more value than the previous. format. But let's do a little bit of wrist check because we've got something that you surprised me with yesterday. Yeah. I didn't know one bit about it. And when you sent me the first photo, I looked at it, I go, wait, what is that? So let people know this is a cool thing. And I guess we'll make it the hero photo. So if you're listening, maybe go to the show notes. Actually, no. |
| Jason Heaton | Zach said specifically, they're not launching till Friday. So no photos until Friday, but we get the exclusive on I'm like talking. |
| James Stacy | There you go. There's rules. This is we're bringing you something special here. You heard a name that you should know, which was our buddy Zach Pina. Yeah. All right. Fill people in. What is this? Because we can't show it, but they can they can find it on websites, you know, 24 hours after the show comes out. |
| Jason Heaton | Exactly. And we'll throw a link into to the site where this is going to be on Friday morning. But this is It's a Doxa Sub 300, a great white, and it's the Topper limited edition. So Topper Jewelers out of Burlingame, California are good friends. The Kaplan brothers that run that place and Zach Pina helps them out with PR and some marketing stuff and helps with their podcast. You know, he just wrote me like, I think it was like early last week before Thanksgiving and said, Hey, we've got something kind of cool coming out from Doxa with Topper. Can I send one over to you just to check out?"And he didn't tell me anything more about it, except in his email, he said, just so you know, the one I'm sending you is still a prototype, so it has the phantom date position on the crown, but the actual one won't. And I was like, a no-date Doxa? A no-date Doxa sub? And sure enough, it is a no-date configuration of a sub 300, the great white, so it's the white dial. And what's really cool is it has blue lacquer markers and hands. So it's this kind of subtle navy blue. That's really beautiful. And then the real kicker is it's a loom. It's a full loom dial. So full loom dial, no date, it looks really white dial, Dr. stocks, a sub 300 with, with blue markers and hands. And so you know, just to run through the specs real quick, it's the it's the The Sub 300 we know and love, the 42.5mm in diameter, 45mm lug-to-lug case, with the lovely domed sapphire crystal, the no deco marked bezel, which also has blue markings, in this case 300m water resistance. And the movement in this is the Sellita SW200, it's an automatic of course, COSC certified, and it is no date, and they went to the trouble of actually removing that phantom date position. for those that, you know, are concerned about that sort of thing. I've never really been overly concerned about phantom date positions, but it is cool. Like if you're not, if you're doing a no-date watch, not have that. It just shows that they've gone a little extra, a little extra step. The only quibble I have, and it's my quibble with most DOXs, is the the bracelet. I'm just, I like the way these these beads of rice bracelets look, but like when you roll them over on your wrist, I'm just, I'm never a real fan of the clasps. I wish they tapered a little more. I wish the clasps were a little bit different, but It's a small gripe and I'm actually wearing it on a gray NATO, which looks just great with that blue and white. And then just to quickly finish up the specs here, it's only 100 pieces. So if you want one, you're getting the heads up early. You can click the link in the show notes and refresh on Friday morning if that's something you're interested in purchasing, because 100 pieces I don't think will last very long and the price will be $2,995. So that's the wrap on that one. It's a really cool piece. |
| James Stacy | Yeah, I really like this. When you sent it, I did not quite understand what it was. Like I said, the no date is a real puzzler, but it looks so natural now that I've seen it to not have a date there. I always thought the way that the date sits on the dial of a Doxie is kind of fun. It's got a little border, a little frame. Like it suits the watch, but maybe I was wrong. Like I think Rob and the guys kind of came up with something fun with Doxie here. The loom dial is really cool. in the decision to go lume with the blue, really feels so much more Doxa than if it was lume with black, if that makes any sense. It's the slight warmth of the watch where it doesn't have to be quite as serious as the carbon white pearl, which is just full contrast. There's a warmth to this that I really like that almost feels Well, I mean, it's navy blue silver, so it feels Omega in some ways, like it's a color signature. I think this works really well. I'm with you on the bracelet. I actually found I really liked the bracelet for my 200. I don't know if that's just because there was less metal, less weight, a smaller clasp, that sort of thing. But on a 300, I would just put this on a NATO or yeah oh man there's just so many options you could do like you could actually wear a navy blue strap and it might work that's a tough match for most watches yeah yeah this is cool congrats to topper and you know obviously a big fan of what they've been up to for a really long time but like a limited edition doxa that i think people are actually really gonna want to buy and there's only a hundred yeah yeah if i was in the market and i'm not after that 1601 at all but were i i don't know this is this is actually genuinely appealing as far as limited editions go yeah it's a little on the spendy side but that's what 300s are into now and and i think i don't i don't like jason i don't know how do you feel like in general 300 feels like a $3,000 watch, like enough for me, or at least it's a $3,000 experience, if that makes more sense. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, and especially with this one, where they've gone that extra step of modifying the movement a little bit, and then with the lume dial. No date. A hundred pieces, I guess that carries some credence when it comes to pricing. Man, this is rad. Yeah, and I failed to mention the case back as well. It has this kind of cool engraving showing, so there's this set of islands west of San Francisco Bay out several miles called the Farallon Islands, and it's known to be a real kind of breeding ground or home for great white sharks and elephant seals, and more recently orcas that are probably after the great whites and elephant seals. Yeah. So part of the proceeds from this watch actually go to support the Greater Farallones Association. So that's a nonprofit that kind of, you know, works on coastal habitats and kind of protecting marine life around that area. And so the engraving on the back shows kind of the profile of those islands, which are very jagged. In fact, the nickname for them is the Devil's Teeth. And there was a great book, by the way, called The Devil's Teeth. So if you're ever interested in reading about the Farallones Islands and the shark research that's being done out there, check out that book. But It's got this cool engraving and then with the watch they actually sent a standard H brand blue ball cap with that same design from the case back engraving on a patch on the front. So I'm not sure if that's going to be included with the watch. I don't see that in the press release. Maybe it was just a little piece of swag for me for helping review this one for TGN. But yeah, I'm guessing they're making more than just the one. So pretty cool. |
| James Stacy | That's very cool, man. Yeah, this is great. Congrats to Topper and to Docs on that one. Assuming you have a link to some folder, to a folder of images, I'll probably see if I can't spin a story up for Friday. Yeah. When that comes out. So maybe swing by Hodinkee and check that out. It looks like it should be about noon EST or 9am on the West Coast for that launch on Friday, the 6th of December. Yeah, that's very cool, man. One, I love being able to like actually talk about watches we really like on the show it's been the last couple months it feels like a watch watches come out and they don't really have any impact and then some come and go and then we get fxd gmts and that kind of stuff and now i just think this this feels very core and to do a no date that alone feels like enough for 100 Docs and Nerds for sure. Yeah, yeah. And then the step further with the interesting colorway, the customized like great white text. Yeah, it's rad. So yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | So thanks to Zach and to Topper for shooting my one my way. And as a disclaimer, or sorry, not as a disclaimer, but in disclosure, I am not keeping this watch. They didn't gift it to me. I'll be sending it back just just here for review. So yeah, thanks again to Zach and Topper and congrats on a cool LE. What are you wearing today? |
| James Stacy | I went fairly basic this week, and I got back from my trip to PA, and I'd been wearing the 1601 for a while, and I wanted to wear something that felt a little bit more in line with a cold, chilly, sort of wet few days. Thankfully, the wet didn't come, but I'm wearing the Pelagos. I've been really working my way through this review of the FXD. It's nearly done as I'm speaking. It should be in the system and on the sites in the next couple of days, which I know I've been saying for a little while. the whole EIC thing and all the meetings and strategies and the rest of it have really pushed back my writing schedule. But I've got Tudor on the brain these days. So I just grabbed the Pelagos 39. It's just, man, it's just the easiest. I just love it. It's like the default. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. So that's what I threw on. No reason to necessarily stretch that out. I feel like it's a watch I talk an awful lot about. So why don't we get into what I believe is one of the most popular episodes of the year. It's certainly one of my favorites. There is a world in which Maybe we'll try this for next year depending on how busy we are, but I would love the idea of doing multiple of these based on certain themes. Like imagine if today's like, oh we do an adventure gift guide and then we bring in a friend to do a workout gift guide. We bring in somebody else to do a car one. It'd be fun to do this as a little bit more of a panel. but we've always done it just you and me. It's always been a handful of picks under a certain budget and then break the bank, no holds, spend whatever you want sort of budget. And sometimes that number got big. I'd have to go back and look, but I feel like a couple of times we really suggested some spendy stuff, which is fun. This year, we're tweaking it a little bit. It'll be six picks total each. We're going to do three stocking stuffers, all under $30. We understand that, you know, You definitely don't have to spend $100 to get a great gift for somebody or to suggest a gift to somebody who would like to get, like you can get stuff at that like office secret Santa price point. That's really fun. We're then going to have two under $200. Inflation has made things more expensive. So we've broadened that category a little bit to make some room. And then finally, we'll have one no budget pick. So I think this is gonna be super fun. Jason, I think you should probably just go first. And you do want to do the stocking stuffers first and then move on? That feels natural? Yeah, that does feel natural. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, yeah. Yeah, all right. Well, my first pick is, it's a fun one. I was really excited to actually include this one because, so 2024 was the year that I actually got my first tattoo. People have noticed, I don't think we've actually talked about it on the show, but I, you know, I kind of wanted a tattoo for years, but kind of was shy about it and wasn't sure I wanted to make the commitment. Yeah, sure. So the route I went was before I did the fan dance back in June I got a temporary tattoo to try out and I made my own design. It's the broad arrow mark that we know and love and I got it from a company called Inkbox and Inkbox that's what they do. Temporary tattoos, you stick them on, you know, there's like a little kit that you get with it and it lasts about two weeks. And then when I got back from the fan dance, I made it permanent. So I just went to the, you know, a tattoo place nearby that I know and trust and had them kind of do a permanent version of it. So anyway, my first stocking stuffer is ink box temporary tattoos and they're like $6 and up. I mean, they're, you know, super affordable. They're just fun. That's awesome. Great idea. Yeah. And as a stocking stuffer, you really can't go wrong. It's very low risk. If somebody doesn't like it or whatever, it only lasts a couple of weeks. It was a fun one. It's kind of more of almost a consumable in the fact that it goes away. Yeah. Anyway, that's number one. |
| James Stacy | I love that idea. I've never once considered that. And I think I've even listened to podcasts where they have the ads for Inkbox. Oh, okay. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacy | Uh, and I just, yeah, that's a, that's a fantastic gift idea, especially if you know somebody who's like even loosely interested in tattoos or, or, or that sort of thing. And you can pick something, they could give it a try. So that's cool. Good pick. |
| Unknown | Yeah. Yeah. |
| James Stacy | What do you got for your first one? All right, my first stalking stuffer actually just links back to an episode from just a few ago. Some of you could probably see this coming. It's a lava lamp. Man, they're just the best. You got to get one. They're like, it's a $25 little piece of joy. I obviously have like a thing for lamps. I think we've talked about the sunrise lamp on the show. You could sub that in if you don't want to deal with like a hot lamp of gelatinous whatever is in that little jar you know cooking around in your home yeah but one of those things whether it's it's a just like a cool atmospheric lamp is what I'm really saying but the lava lamp like my daughters love it I love it I had you know I was like I got weird the other day I was like I wonder if I could find one that was like blue and orange like oh yeah colors and it turns out you can for it'll be in the shop soon so that that's Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. So might just be in the background of like my future zoom videos. Oh, yeah, cooking away. But yeah, it's just to kick it off. I think it's one of the you know, like I really wanted to focus this year on like things that I would be thrilled to get especially as far as stocking stuffers. Yeah. And I think that I like we see it and it's not just like you and me, Jason, but I think like in our world in the TGN space in the slack, like We're basically experts on things like what you can get for $50 that's fun, whether it's like the right inexpensive knife from Walmart or a Maxpedition pouch. You could list for a while, and we obviously don't need to as we are forming a proper list here. Yeah, I think the lava lamp just brought me like a lot of joy and it's fun and they're not that expensive and they add something. So that's my first suggestion for this year's gift guide. |
| Jason Heaton | Nice. |
| James Stacy | Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | These stocking stuffers are supposed to be, you know, cheap and cheerful and fun. So that's a good place to start. My second one is something that I have that I haven't tackled yet. It's a bit of a project and it relates to our beloved Lego models. And this is a lighting kit. So it's, so, and there's several companies that sell these. And I picked one that had some various prices because we are shooting for $30 or less for these stocking stuffers. And some of them get above that, you know, a lot of them are like 40 something, 30 something. But like, for instance, if you happen to build the Lego 2022 Ford GT, you pay $29 and you can get that lighting kit. The one I have is actually for the Defender, the classic Defender that I just built. And it's a bit of an intimidating prospect. I thought, oh, lighting kit, you'll just string up a couple of lights. But you have to kind of disassemble your model partly to kind of hide the lights and the battery pack inside and things like that. So I think it's going to be a winter a winter build for me. But some of these things are quite affordable, inexpensive, depending on which model you have. Or you can just wait for a sale or go a little bit above the $30 if you want. But there's one for a Corvette that's $28. There's the Ford GT. There's a G-Wagon stuff. It's just fun. And if you're displaying your Lego models on a table or something in the evening, it'd be kind of fun to turn on and have them light up a bit. |
| James Stacy | That's hilarious. These are great. I have never come across this before. I feel like I've seen people have remote control cars and stuff with lights on Instagram, but I always assumed that was a hobby thing and they were adding LEDs. I didn't realize you could just buy a kit. Why am I surprised? It shouldn't even be remotely surprising. This is also something LEGO should just be offering, I think. Yeah, I agree. If you build one of these very kind of the Technic cars that should just have lighting for sure. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, it's funny too, because it feels like, you know, how there's sort of aftermarket, you know, car, like for real cars, you know, light kits and, you know, all these modifications. |
| James Stacy | This feels like this is the LEGO version. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, well, eventually what they need to do is now partner with like, you know, Baja or Lightforce or KC's. Exactly, KC's and have like, you could get your Jeep with the little smileys, you could get your Land Rover, your like Sahara Land Rover G-Wagon with Lightforces. That'd be kind of fun. Yeah, yeah. That's cool. Great pick. Super, really fun for sure. Yeah. So my second is another thing I spoke about recently. It's also lighting. So we're doing a lighting round and this is the O-Light O-Clip flashlight. And it's a little metal rectangle and part of its body is a clip that can clip onto a shirt or a hat or your bag or whatever. I've been carrying this around for about three weeks. And I just absolutely love it. I've bought two for stocking stuffers this year. It charges on USB-C. It's very easy to use. It's a single button. It's quite intuitive. It's very small. It does not get any attention from TSA, which I find other flashlights definitely do. As I've, you know, I've had that issue with bigger, heavier, more, you know, tactical looking, tough looking flashlights. Yeah, whereas this is like it's green and it's like anodized green. It's kind of cute. It clips right onto the franny pack or onto the strap of a backpack. Yeah, I really like them. And these are like, I think, 25 Canadian. I think I've seen them on Amazon.com for like 14. Yeah. So I don't think you have to spend a fortune to be clear. I don't even think you have to go with the O clip. It's just the one that I really like because you're not dealing with like a carabiner or split ring or some other way of mounting it to something. It's just like built in. Yeah. And it's not as goofy as having like, oh, my flashlight's also a carabiner. This doesn't have to hold any gear. It just has to clip onto something. Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | And it just works really well. It's a nice product. Yeah I remember this was a final note of yours a while back and I was like yeah I forgot about it so now we we get the link again so I think I'll uh yeah I'll definitely get one at least for myself if not for for others uh because I think that's uh that's really cool especially now that I'm walking the dog in the dark it's uh nice to have a good light so yeah. |
| James Stacy | And then your hands off, you can clip it to your jacket. It also has like a red, a red face and a red strobe. So if you're walking the dog and it's not about being able to see, but hoping that a car could see you, you can clip it to the back of your collar or the tail of your jacket and just leave it on flashing. You could clip it to a bike seat that doesn't have a brake light, all that kind of stuff. There's a bunch of uses for it. I mean, it's just a handy little thing, like I said. And I like that it's not that expensive. Yeah. Good one. Yeah, yeah. So what have you got for the third and your final stocking stuffer? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, I had a couple options. I'm going to go with this one. This is, for me, like, okay, it's maybe slightly boring, but to me, there's nothing, well, I shouldn't say there's nothing nicer, but there are a few nicer things in life than a brand new pair of socks. And some of the best are from Darn Tough. A lot of people know Darn Tough socks. I think there's one of those kind of funny memes from that guy on Instagram that makes fun of people that you know, wear camelbacks and rock climbers and, you know, fat bike riders and whatever, you know, whatever, because Darn Tough definitely has kind of a cult following. And I do love their socks and you can get a good pair of socks that should last forever. I think they actually even have a lifetime warranty for 24 bucks. I believe they do. So really good stuff. I've got several pairs myself. And I mean, what a perfect thing to throw in to a stocking than, you know, a temporary tattoo, a lava lamp, and a pair of socks. You know, it's kind of perfect. |
| James Stacy | Dude, and the thing with Darn Toughs is you're actually getting, that's like an actual gift. They will last. They perform. Made in the States. Because like socks, it is like a cliche, right? Like, oh, socks. for the holidays, that sort of thing. And you go like, yeah, I don't know about that. But these like you're doing, you're doing this person an actual favor. |
| Jason Heaton | Yep. So that's my, that's my third and final stocking stuffer. My stocking is stuffed indeed. |
| James Stacy | All right. So for my third and final, if you thought socks were kind of boring, I can take that up a level. These are something that I bought a little while ago after getting, going down kind of an EDC rabbit hole. And it is just a really, really impressive product for not a ton of money. and it is the serrated electrician's scissors with stripping. They're called the 100CS. They're from Klein Tools. And they're about $15. And I have these next to my desk. They are just really robust, heavy, but not very long or big. They kind of look like something almost a paramedic might use. Yeah. Very simple, straightforward, very sharp, very useful scissors. It's like for anyone who does stuff at their desk. Yeah. An absolute no brainer. Very useful. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, that's, I mean, that sounds great. I, I, I think, um, I feel like I'm always going through, like, I'm always hunting around in drawers for scissors and they're all usually a really dull pair and it don't use them for a lot of things, but like when you need to cut open a, you know, bag of something in the kitchen or, uh, you know, FedEx box or something like that, like a good pair of, uh, shears is a, is a good thing to have. That's really cool. |
| James Stacy | Oh, yeah, I think they're just really handy. They're nicely made. And I, you know, I like the idea that it's 15 bucks. And like, I swear, if you handed them to somebody, they just were so used to scissors being from the dollar store. Yeah. Or like, I feel like most homes that I've grew up in friends, my, my family, like, you know, at some point your family got like a set of wall trimmers. Yeah. Like the kit. Yeah. Somebody took the scissors out of those and they ended up in your kitchen drawer. Yeah. And they're about as sharp as if they were cutting pennies in half with that sort of thing. This is just like a nicer experience that actually doesn't cost that much money, which is good. Yeah. That's great. Alright, so we're moving up into the $200 limit. We're going to have two picks each. Yeah. So why don't you give us your first $200 maximum, $200 or less sort of pick? |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | This one is, it's actually a chef's knife from our This one's actually a chef's knife from our good buddies over at Giant Mouse. I, you know, we know them for their, you know, folding and fixed blade pocket knives and, you know, kind of EDC stuff and whatever. And, you know, Jim's been a friend of the show and we've encountered him at Windup a few times and he's, he's great. He's kind of runs the company on the US side of things. But I recently bought, I don't know, it was a couple months ago, I bought one of their kitchen knives for a friend of mine for her birthday, and she really loved it and it arrived here so I was able to actually look at it before I wrapped it up and gave it. They're really impressive and of course they're deadly sharp, which is what you want in the kitchen. And so, you know, a lot of their, their kitchen collection as I was looking through this are sold out so clearly they're They're popular, but I did find one. This is actually the chef's knife with a little over an eight inch blade. And it has, the steel is a nitro B, it's got a satin finish. And then the handle is there, kind of that green micarta, which is something I like that I've got on my ACE RIV, a couple of folders that I've got from them. just as a kind of a cool like subdued sort of tactical look and um and yet it's a big proper uh kitchen knife big good sharp chef's knife which is always handy to have and I think it kind of makes a nice Christmas gift I think for people especially you know people that you know that like to cook um you can never really have too many good knives and so I think uh totally it's fun and giant mouse isn't like the usual one of the usual suspects when you think of when you think of kitchen knife so it makes kind of a nice story um that there's a bit of a tgn connection with giant mouse and our yeah our good buddy jim so that's great yeah great pick for sure yeah those are solid uh and a good kitchen knife is also another thing where |
| James Stacy | if you're if you're used to a certain quality, and you finally you get to a different like the up, you go up. Yeah, it is a really nice experience, for sure. But even and you know, it doesn't have to be every knife, every kitchen knife in your home, but right one or two that are like sharp and nicely made and work really well. And that sort of thing is a bit of a treat. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. And just before I wrap this one, it's it's $140. It's on sale. So we're sticking with the sub 200 amount. And I think that's a pretty good price for a really high quality chef's knife. |
| James Stacy | So for my first under $200, this is actually a tool and then a kit that you can add on to the tool. So it's two things together. I think it comes out to about $180. Jason, I don't know if you've ever heard of this. I'm just dropping the links in here. I'm quite fascinated by these and have already bought one as a gift. for someone. And so these are essentially, they're made by a company called Metmo, and it's the Metmo pocket driver and pocket driver pack, which is like a little tool that holds the, or like a kit that holds the driver. But the driver itself is based on some sort of legacy design. You can read about it. It's very like, it's a very fancy, nice web page, but it's essentially a bit driver that uses a special mechanism and a special handle design so that it's quite small. So whether you're cycling, you want to keep it in the car, whatever, and then it runs like essentially any bit you want. So it's a ratcheting driver. You can get it in a few different materials, but you pay, it's over 200 if you want all stainless steel. But if you're okay with the barrel being aluminum, you can get it under 200 and then you have room for the $50 driver pocket pack. Yeah, which gives you like a belt loop option to hold a bunch of drivers and one of the tools and that kind of thing. So I think it's the two of them together. But I'm really impressed by this. I like a I like a go-to hand tool as a Canadian. I, of course, love pick quick screwdrivers. I have the full set and I really do like these, but then you end up getting into things like Allen keys or hex or Torx or other options. And then half the time you may have the bit, but the driver sucks. And half the time you may have a driver, but you don't have the bit. And I think like just this sort of very premium take on the ratcheting driver is kind of a cool thing. I'm really quite fascinated by this. I saw it on Josh Fenn's YouTube channel. He does a bunch of EDC stuff. I've talked about his stuff in the past, but I saw it on there and I was like, oh yeah, I know a couple of people in my life who would be pretty jazzed about this. |
| Jason Heaton | Beyond that gift, I'm looking at their website, this Metmo company, and this whole website is like gift central here. I mean, there's so much cool stuff here just to kind of go down that rabbit hole. It's amazing. Wow. Really neat, inventive stuff. Yeah, that's great. |
| James Stacy | Yeah, they make some really wild like fidget spinners, like ultra well-machined desk objects. And they make a cool little like wrench item as well called the grip. They make a pen that's quite popular. Yeah, they make a bunch of stuff. But for whatever reason, I just got fascinated by this pocket driver. Very cool design, not really like something I'd seen before. Yeah. So that's my pick. And I think this would push you pretty close to $200. Yeah. Or like $185, $190 if you go with the aluminum model with the pack. Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. All right. Well, my final second and final sub $200 gift is a true luxury one. And it's actually a cashmere shemagh in tiger stripe camo from Prometheus Design Works. Dude, this is sick. That's so cool. All of the words I just said above are, you know, just make me salivate. I mean, Prometheus Design Works does such amazing stuff. I've got several of their products, really considered design and high quality build. Tiger Stripe is like my favorite camo pattern. It's kind of that Vietnam era. It always makes me think of Apocalypse Now. Totally. And it's cashmere. And a shemag, it's great. You gave me a shemag, I've got another shemag from another company and like they're just great for kind of winter scarves and then like usually they're cotton or some other material and this one's cashmere. I mean, can you imagine? It's just such a great sort of mash-up of luxury materials with kind of a more functional traditional design. Yeah, man, I love this. This is super cool. What a great pick. Good work. Good gift, right? I mean, it's one of those things that you may not buy yourself, but it feels like a good cozy sort of winter gift to give somebody. |
| James Stacy | All right. That's a winner for sure. I like it. I like that one a lot. All right. So for my second sub $200 pick to close out the $200 rounds, I'm going with another thing that I mentioned not that long ago, like in the last, I guess, three or four months, and that's the Miu Mini Plus, which is that video game emulator. Oh yeah. This is going to, you know, with a memory card, even if you live in an area where you have to pay a bunch for shipping, you'll be under $200. I think I was maybe a hundred, maybe 110 Canadian in. So it could even be under a hundred if you're able to buy it locally or keep it easy or Amazon or whatever you choose. But I do think like Obviously it depends on who you're buying for, but if the person has any interest in video games or if they had an interest in video games when they were younger and don't anymore because of the complexity of everything, this is a nice option. It comes with games on it. I actually had a buddy take mine for a little while and entirely redo the operating system and all the games. Wow. So it's got an upgraded operating system and like, I don't know, 6,500 games or something on it. You know, I think like a Nintendo Switch is great, but they're kind of expensive. And once you're in, you're still buying games and all this sort of stuff. And if you just, if you are, let's say you're in your thirties, maybe you're in your forties, whatever, and you want to go back and play some games from when you were a teen, when you were a kid, I think it's the best option. It's nice and small. It fits in a bag, even when I'm like really packing light. It's an easy thing to bring with me. USB-C rechargeable, great screen. And the other thing, and it's a weird thing to state, but I think some of you would understand this is like, it's great for planes because I can play with one hand. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacy | Like if I'm just playing like an RPG, like not something that's like timing based. I'm just like I was playing Chrono Trigger on a flight recently. And you're just walking around and like if you're just doing that and reading a menu of like talking with people from the village or whatever. Yeah. you don't even use two hands. It's super comfortable. It doesn't weigh anything. I just, I'm very impressed by what they're able to make for a hundred dollars when I remember being five or six for Christmas and getting my first Game Boy. And it was, you know, felt like about four pounds, took every battery that was in my home. And then the screen sucked, of course. And then I remember Game Boy Colors and then SPs and Advanced and all this kind of stuff. So like, I don't know, it scratches an itch, like the childhood nostalgia thing as well. But also just like as a bit of a nerd for like interesting tech, especially in a world where like all our phones look identical. It just isn't that interesting anymore. This is something I could kind of attach to. It's fun. I think if you're buying for the right person, this is a pretty incredible gift to that. To that end, my buddy who helped me put the operating system of the games on, he bought multiple so his kids are getting one for Christmas and all that kind of stuff. Oh, nice. Oh, yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. It's a goodie. Yeah. Yeah. Another, I mean, again, you know, gifts this time of year should be just, you know, kind of pure fun or, or bit whimsical. And that's a, that's a good one. Yeah. Absolutely. Very cool. |
| James Stacy | All right. So we've made it to the break the bank, no budget, spend what you want to spend. Maybe this is a gift for, I mean, theoretically, I guess it could be for yourself if you saved up or whatever, or it's a gift for somebody who's very important in your life, I would think. Yeah. So what, what did you get for the break the bank? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. So, um, I have been a fan for years of, um, this little company out in Newport, Rhode Island called, uh, Zerner Oceanic. Uh, might've talked about it years ago on TGN. Um, run by a guy named, uh, John Zerner and he, uh, was, and maybe still is a sailboat racer and sail rigger. So he kind of worked in the boatyards out there helping people rig sailboats. And as a little side gig, he started taking a repurposed sale material, not just the sales, but the rigging material itself, the hardware and the ropes and things and making products out of them. And I've been a big fan of like his little bracelets and various things like that. And he does these really cool totes made out of repurposed kind of sale material and ropes and fittings and things like this. And he hand makes them, sews them himself in the shop. He opened a storefront in Newport. and you know we've talked about totes a lot I'm kind of on the fence about totes he does some kind of backpack versions of these. I'm a big fan of like his accessories like I said that the bracelets and things like that but I'm throwing this out there this is the J1 tote number 213 and it's not cheap it's $425 so again break the bank it has a The bottom is actually made from a vintage sail and then it has brass rivets and little things like an extra side pocket that's from a reclaimed sail bag with kind of a Velcro closure. You can add a zipper, you can add monograms if you want, you can kind of customize it however you want. Every one of them is going to be different because they're all from different kind of repurposed sail materials. Um, and I just think it's, it's like a fun like thing and I could see using this for groceries or for, you know, I actually begrudgingly use a tote quite a bit. I mean, as you know, we get a lot of totes for kind of giveaways at a lot of the watch shows. I mean, we've done it before. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, we did one. Right. And, um, and they're handy. Like I'm, I'm, I don't say that I'm a tote person, but I ended up using them a lot, um, for groceries or for, you know, filling with FedEx packages to take to the store and things like that. So, and this is kind of a high end one and it's handmade by again, um, someone with a sort of a connection to TGN or at least to one of us and fun to support him. And if you're ever around Newport, be sure to stop in at a Zurner Oceanic, but that's mine. 425 bucks. So it is a bit of a break the bank gift. |
| James Stacy | Absolutely. But very neat. And kind of well, I mean, the unique element is also very cool. I was like, why is it number 213? I was like, Oh, that's because there's a 214 and a 215. And here's one day. And here's 200. And yeah, they all look a little bit different. Some very different in terms of the strap color and the bottom plate. and that sort of thing. This is cool. I like it a lot. Kind of in the same, in my mind, it's sort of in the same vein as like an Observer collection. It's like a high-end good made by kind of a very specific perspective. So that's rad. Yeah. All right. For my break the bank, this is actually, I'm going to go with more of a category than one specific thing because I think it's a gift and you would have to tailor it. But I really, I've had this conversation with several people over the year, especially with my buddy Thomas Holland, who's been on the show. My recommendation, and I think it maybe has come up in Break the Banks in the past, and I'm fine with that. Go for an actual high-end piece of clothing. I'm talking Volbach, ThruDark, Arterix when it's not on sale, Outlier, Alps and Meters. Pick something to your style. But if you know that what you really want is a great sweater, buy the really great sweater or ask for it as a gift or that's what you're getting this person. Like the example that I would give is something like the Volbach Planet Earth shirt, egregiously expensive as far as a shirt goes, easily the best shirt I own. this is really nice yeah and then just recently and this isn't a shout out they didn't ask for this they did send me a jacket to try out but i got a chance to try out a light like rain jacket layer soft layer soft shell from uh through dark And it's so much better than the one I was previously relying on in terms of the comfort of the material, how packable it is, where the pockets are, what the fit is like. I was just kind of blown away where every now and then you kind of have to get reminded that there is a difference between a shirt or a jacket at $50 or $100 and a shirt or jacket at several hundred dollars. And these are not inexpensive things. If you go for a great jacket from a ThruDark or even an Arterix, you could spend up to $1,000, I'm sure. And I think with Volbok, you could do an outfit for $2,000, right? But to be clear, I don't know about ThruDark, but Volbok does do sales and it's worth watching. I believe they have one on now for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, that sort of thing. And I do know of people on the Slack that watch for their sales and are getting pretty good deals. Especially when you factor for like, it's that buy once, cry once thing. And look, I mean, I think in the past we've talked about great boots. We've talked about expensive headphones. We've talked about puffer jackets and vests from Patagonia and that sort of thing. And my suggestion is after six, seven years of doing the gift guide, just consider the level up. Yeah. I think it would make an incredible gift if you're buying for the right person. But yeah, just every time I get a chance to really mess with something like the stuff from Outlier, Alps, ThruDark, Volbok, these actually sort of high-end brands that really go about their own way of making something, I'm just floored by it and reminded like, Yeah, it is good, obviously, to stick to a budget and maybe, I like my t-shirts from Costco. I'm not against a nice Kirkland, a fresh, crispy Kirkland white. But there is something great about going on a trip and grabbing my Planet Earth shirt and just knowing that I know it'll be comfortable on the plane, I know it'll look good, get where I'm going, and that sort of thing. So that's my shout out. It's almost more of a philosophy, but I think, most of gift giving is philosophical. And I would say that if you have the opportunity, maybe you got a great gift card, maybe you got a little bonus from work for the end of the year. If you're going to treat yourself, consider this. I think you'll be impressed and you'll feel like your money actually went further than you thought. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. And, you know, a gift at this level is it should be something special. And I think if it's something that maybe somebody wasn't aware of that, then you're introducing them to a brand with an interesting backstory and kind of craftsmanship to it. Um, I think it makes sense. I think, you know, you give a Volabox shirt or through dark or whatever you can, you know, there's, there's a bit of a talking point and every time the person puts it on, it feels, it feels a little bit special. And I, I totally agree on, I have that same soft shell from Velez, I think it's called, from ThruDark. It's amazing. It's so nice. Yeah, yeah. It's all really good stuff. And to your earlier point, ThruDark does do sales. In fact, I don't know if it's still on, but they were having a really good sale, up to 40% off, kind of a Black Friday thing. So check that out. Maybe they're still running that, but yeah, good opportunity to get something. Yeah, that's good. Did you have any others that didn't make the list that you want to mention? |
| James Stacy | Yeah, so I think if you want to buy for kids, my suggestion this year is buy every kid that you know a digital microscope, one of these handheld ones. Interesting, yeah. you can get ones that link up to your phone so you can like take pictures. The one that I got is like a Bluetooth one that you or not Bluetooth is like wired into your phone. It's really goofy. You have to download an app that I'm sure steals all of your information. The other option is like You can get ones that have an actual viewfinder. Oh, yeah, lit. And I just think some of these these ones are are they're really quite cool what they've got now. And you see them for like fifteen dollars. Yeah. The other one. And to be fair, I bought two of these, but not for people who will listen to this episode for Christmas. I mean, the highest rated inflatable kayak on Amazon was $75 last week. Canadian, that's 50 bucks. That's 48 bucks, something like that. And that's an Intex inflatable kayak for a single seater. And at that point, man, I've spent more on those. You remember the early days of those packable. Actually, it's another great gift suggestion. The early days of those like packable hammocks. Oh, yeah. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacy | So like I remember like years and years and years ago, I bought a kamek, which was a Kickstarter brand at the time. And I think they're still around and they make the products. Great. It's really held up. But dude, that's not a $100 thing anymore. You can get a packable hammock and what I would call, they're like the ladder straps. I think the ones that I have were from an Amazon brand called Bear Butt that allow you to essentially almost infinitely adjust how the... Because there's like little sewn in loops all the way down the strap. Yeah. And that's another great gift, too. But it's crazy that for what I used is what you might have spent on a, you know, a hammock that packs down to the size of a Coke can of Coke. Yeah. You can now pick up like a whole kayak. And that's almost stocking stuff for budget. I mean, that is really inexpensive. Yeah, I'm pretty pumped for it. I think it's going to be really cool. Yeah, I'm not sure what else. The standard stuff still applies, right? Like a great battery pack for your phone. I've got one that magnets on. I use it all the time now. Like if you start your day at four in the morning to get to New York, your phone's dead by noon. You've been on it all day. So that kind of stuff. But did you have any other or did you have any honorable mentions? I did. I had a couple. |
| Jason Heaton | In fact, the break the bank, it was an absolute last minute decision. And as you were asking me what mine was going to be, I switched. So I'm going to throw this one out there because it is an exciting one and it's just above the $200 level, but it's, it's break the bank territory. It's the, the, the new Lego, um, endurance ship model. Oh yeah. So, you know, Shackleton ship, uh, people have been sending me links to this for the past couple of months since it came out because they know my interest in endurance and that sort of thing. It's $269. It looks like it's actually on back order, but their website, LEGO's website says will ship by December 19th. So there is still time and if you act fast, you can get one of these, but it's, it looks like a daunting build. I believe it says here there are 3000 pieces. But for those of us that have built a Saturn V rocket and the Defenders and that sort of thing, this shouldn't be too daunting. But again, for me now, it's just come down to a lack of horizontal space in the house to keep putting more of these models. So I don't think I'll be getting this, but I think it would make a really cool gift for somebody. There's even a little Royal Navy flag hanging off the back. And yeah, it looks really cool. |
| James Stacy | I like that with that boat, because it is a big boat, it still works as you could put it in your living room. Because there's lots of living rooms that have a model boat, right? And normally with the LEGO stuff, oh, this is a Defender, this is this. It's not always stuff that you would just otherwise see on somebody's mantle. But a ship does it. You put up a little map behind that thing, and you're done. All right, you've kind of sold me now. |
| Jason Heaton | I wish you hadn't said that. You can find some room, I'm sure. Come on. Yeah. That's a good one. And then, um, what was the other one? Oh yeah. This was also, um, okay. This is stocking stuff for territory. Um, and I believe you and I talked about this. It's the channel master flat Tenna. Um, so this is a TV antenna that for like, let's say you, I ditched cable. I didn't, I was tired of paying for cable just to get channels for, you know, watching a sport of sporting event or election coverage or whatever you might want to watch just on regular TV. And for $29 I picked up this Channel Master Flattener on Amazon and plugged it into the coaxial input on the back of the TV, did a channel scan and got over 100 channels. And the reception is HD quality and I cut the cord, so to speak, with cable. and save myself a good, you know, 50 bucks a month or whatever it was. And I'm happy with it. So very boring gift, but, you know, I think that's handy. And then I'll throw out one more here. Actually, I've got several here, but I'll cut to the chase here. All right. Yeah. So the other one was a magnetic block heater. So the Defender sits outside. I don't remember how much this one was. It's not quite stocking stuffer. I think it was 50 or 60 bucks. And it's just going to, I'm going to stick it right to the oil pan. I can't quite find a good spot on the block to put it, but it should heat up the oil enough to get me Better starts when it's really cold. What else did I have? A Dewalt 20 volt air compressor for filling tires. I've used that quite a bit. Oh, yeah. Uses the same battery as, you know, a Dewalt drill. That's handy. And then, yeah, the other one I had was a moonshade. So this is an awning that's made specifically for clamping on the side of a car. These are not cheap. I believe they're close to $400. But I have used it on the Defender for camping if you're overlanding or you know car camping or whatever they you can suction cup it to your car you can it's like an awning yeah you can clamp it to um a roof rack oh yeah Yeah, it's, it's really cool. It has, it kind of sets up like a, like a dome tent, you know, that's some sort of shock corded poles and then you guy line out the corners and then the other end of it attaches to the top of your vehicle. And, uh, it's just a, it's a nice little thing. Um, and, and it's held up really well and it's a clever design. It's, it's not inexpensive, but it's a small, small us company and, you know, happy to support them and a good product. So that would be a break the bank. So yeah, those were kind of my, that's good though. |
| James Stacy | And super useful. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, yeah, definitely. |
| James Stacy | It's funny, we must've been on some sort of similar wavelength because you have an awning here which is tent-like and the other thing that I was looking at were these, have you seen these like camping hammocks? Like Hennessy hammocks, that sort of thing? Like with a cover, like a bivy sack? Oh, like fully covered, they look like spaceships. Oh, really? Three feet off the ground, they're really cool. Oh, man. I may need to try one of those and then report back. They're very, very cool. |
| Jason Heaton | Good picks. I feel like this was a good gift guide. I think we had some really fun, like legitimately fun, creative stuff. Yeah, I hope people like it. |
| James Stacy | Yeah, absolutely. And I'm also excited because as with anything that has a format, in this case, three stocking stuffers, two under 200 and one break the bank, we get to pass this off to the slack. So we're going to get 4,000 more great options. And really, let's be clear, this is just helping me finish my shopping. So get your answers in there if you want to give Jason and James a hand, you know, finishing the Santa list this year. But yeah, I love this episode. It's always fun. I think it's something we could almost do like once a quarter if there was a reason. But it's fun to close out the year and kind of chat about some of the stuff that we liked and some of the stuff we've used and stuff that we just think would be like very exciting to get as a gift or give as a gift, for sure. But please, if you have any feedback on the show, you can of course email us at thegreatnadoatgmail.com. And if you're in the Slack, which you can get into for as little as $5 a month, but if you're in the Slack, we'll start up a whole thread, I'm sure. We won't even have to do it. It'll just, the guys will be on it, I'm sure. And I'm really excited when you see all the stocking stuffers and the other picks. So this will be great. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. All right. And with that, we've got to go to final notes. I mean, we're full of suggestions today. So what do you have? |
| James Stacy | Mine's actually a music video that you reminded me of. Yesterday, I was sitting in the lounge waiting for my flight, and we were trading a few text messages. And you mentioned that you had been kind of getting either into or back into the band, The War on Drugs. Yeah. I just recently discovered them. Yeah. Oh, great. Okay. Well, that's awesome. I would say that I'm like a minor fan. Not that I don't like them. I just don't know all of their songs. Yeah. But my introduction to them, or my more recent introduction or reintroduction, if you will, was this tiny desk home concert they did. And it's just really, really great. But quite specifically, They kick off the whole set with I Don't Live Here Anymore, which is a song I've really come to love in the last couple of years. It's on most of my playlists. And you'll find if you go on, like I'm a Tidal user, but I'm sure whatever you go on, there's a lot of different versions of this song. I would make the plea that this is my favorite version, the version that's in this NPR tiny desk home. They just do a great job, and it's a great song, and we already recommended, you know, 12 things you can buy. This is something you can just go listen to, and I think you'll feel pretty good about it. Yeah. |
| Unknown | I'm beating like a heart. I'm gonna walk through every doorway. I can't stop. I need some time. I need control. I need your love. I wanna find out everything I need to know. I'm gonna say everything that I need to say. Although you've taken everything I need away I'm gonna make it to the place I need to go Where I'll just walk into this darkness on my own |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, that's a good one. When you mentioned it to me, I was like, yeah, I've seen that one. It's really good. I mean, they're a good band. I'd love to see them live. I think they... I told you, man, in May, they're in Cabo. |
| James Stacy | We should go. Fly to Mexico for a concert. Yeah, right. Yeah. I'm sure they'll be closer at some point. For people who love the war on drugs and weren't aware, after Mexico, they're going to the UK for some time. So if you get a chance, be sure to see them. I'm sure it'd be a great show. But yeah, that's my final pick for 310. What have you got? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, so this is from a podcast that I've listened to for years. It's the Adventure Podcast, hosted by Matt Pycroft, who's a UK-based writer and explorer, mountaineer, photographer, et cetera. And he recently interviewed, actually on his latest episode, he interviewed Jason Fox. And Jason Fox is a bit in danger of being overexposed, I would say. He's on a lot of podcasts, a lot of magazine covers, through dark ads. The guy's just a force of nature. And I enjoy listening to him. I recently listened to his most recent book. Um, he's a, he's a real tough guy. I mean, the guy was in the SBS, um, Royal Marine Commando. Um, he's on, you know, the TV series, uh, uh, who dares wins, you know, the, the kind of the SAS, a reality show, et cetera. So, um, but I'm, I'm kind of fascinated by him cause he's, he has this real tough guy look, but then his, he's very much an advocate for, you know, men's mental health concerns. And he's been very open about, you know, his own vulnerability and struggles. And I really admire that about him. And, um, so he was on the adventure podcast and. I really like the take of this episode because it's not so much about, tell us about your past. How was your military training? You know, what did you do, et cetera. It was really focused on, on mental health concerns. And you know, November was, I guess, men's mental health month. Um, and I think that the timing was good and I think, you know, he has a lot of good things to say and I think is, as a role model for, you know, guys that are kind of really into, you know, the type of stuff that we are, um, there can be struggles with kind of admitting your, your failings and your, your struggles and things. And I think he does a good job of, of breaking that down and just talking about it. So it's a, it's a really good episode. And I think I've always enjoyed the adventure podcast. I think he asks really great questions and has a good style. And, uh, and this one's good with, uh, with Jason Fox. So I just listened to it yesterday. So check that out. |
| James Stacy | Oh, that's great. I saw that one show up in the feed because you recommended adventure podcast. I feel like a couple of years ago. I think so. Um, and, and I, I kind of pick and choose the ones, but they've definitely never let me down. I'll definitely give this a try. Uh, that sounds great for sure. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacy | There you go. I love, I love being able to finish a pod with another pod recommendation. If you're at the end of your playlist, it's towards the end of the year. These things start to people wind down. We'll I'm sure take some time off towards the end of December, early January. We'll let you know the schedule for that on the next episode. But it's fun to be able to say like, all right, well, you're done with this hour with us and check out Mr. Fox on the podcast. That's fun. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | Good stuff. All right. Well, there we go. Good luck with your holiday shopping, everybody. And as James mentioned, please put your own suggestions into Slack. And as always, thanks so much for listening. If you want to subscribe to The Show Notes, get into the comments for each episode, or consider supporting the show directly, and maybe even grab a new TGN signed NATO, please visit TheGreyNATO.com. Music throughout is Siesta by JazzArr via the Free Music Archive. |
| James Stacy | And we leave you with this quote from Winston Churchill who said, We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give. |