Episode 110 - Christmas Lists!

Published on Wed, 02 Dec 2020 20:14:53 -0800

Synopsis

The podcast hosts Andrew and Everett discuss their Christmas gift ideas for watch enthusiasts and general recommendations. They recommend leather straps from companies like Cascadia Strap Co. and D-Lugs, rubber straps like those made with FKM material from B&R Bands, inexpensive paratrooper-style straps from Cheapest NATO Straps, Mora knives, wall clocks from Marathon, Bergeon spring bar tools, and art prints from Art of Urology. They also mention other non-watch-related items like batteries and podcasts such as "You're Wrong About" and "Disimagined Life".

At the end, Andrew announces they will be launching an OnlyFans account for the holidays as a joke, and reminds listeners to check out their website, social media, and Patreon for support.

Links

• episode page
• episode MP3
• episode webpage snapshot
• episode MP3 - local mirror

Transcript

Speaker
Everett	Hello, fellow watch lovers, nerds, enthusiasts, or however you identify. This is 1420 The Watch Clicker podcast with your host, Andrew. I'm a good friend, Everett. Here, we talk about watches, food, drinks, life, and other things we like. Take three. Hi, Andrew, how are you? That was a lot of attempts. That was an unusual amount of tries to get through our introduction piece.
Andrew	Yeah, it's like, uh, It's like one of those crazy days where just nothing, nothing has worked through the way it should. Correct. Yeah.
Everett	Fucking is it Tuesday?
Andrew	Kind of my whole week was like that.
Everett	Although today, today, it's only Tuesday. So for you to be talking about your whole week being fucked up, I am just, I could not feel worse for a person.
Andrew	Uh, that's fair. Uh, no, I mean, it has felt like a fucking week, dude. It's cause you just had a four day weekend. I'm sure that's got part of it. I mean, I came back to work yesterday. I had a trial today. So yesterday was all day trial prep, but also a week, a four day weekend's worth of emails. So yeah, there was, uh, it's been a week, man. It's been a week. And then I had trial today. Hooray. Hooray. Do you have more tomorrow? Are you done? I'm done. Yeah. We were done. We were done by lunch.
Everett	That's fortunate. Yeah. I kicked ass.
Andrew	Stretching a long commute trial multiple days would have been, but, and you know, it's, it's, uh, the type of law where the loser gets hurt. in a meaningful way with a hammer.
Everett	And it's a very, very old school.
Andrew	And so at at the end of arguments, the judge sort of encouraged and very, very neutrally, not not sort of revealing, not showing his cards per se, but definitely hinting that I had won by a lot and encouraging the defendant to try to work something out. Take a deal. Yes, exactly. Which is kind of a good feeling. And because of the type of law I do often, it allowed me to sort of do a good thing, like a good human thing. So I, A, won and B. Humanity won. Humanity won, that's right. So it was like, that was kind of nice. Nice.
Everett	You also did a fun thing this weekend.
Andrew	Oh, I did do a fun thing this weekend. I went and played Old MacDonald at Bandon Dunes, which is, you know, it always changes. But I think depending on what publication you're looking at, like the top 50 golf course in the country, top 100 in the world.
Everett	Fantastic. In one of the worst places on earth. It's it's beautiful there, but you don't want to be there.
Andrew	Yeah, no, it's kind of a weird place. The Oregon coast is there's no sort of we don't have a luxury coast.
Everett	No, not by a long shot.
Andrew	Well, and I think a lot of places you've got. You've got like a blend of sort of coasty and luxury, and I don't think I mean, there's certain places that certainly are a little hoity toity, but there's no sort of.
Everett	But they're surrounded by meth dens. Right.
Andrew	And I don't really think that there's any I mean, Seaside's got like a trend west, you know, like there's no resort anywhere on the Oregon coast that I can think of.
Everett	No, everyone gets beach houses because it's not a place you really go to like beach. Yeah, that's right. People really deliberately call it the Oregon coast. You don't say, I'm going to go to the beach today. And they say, we're going to go to the coast today because it's really just ocean crashing into the earth. Right. There's beach in the fact that there's sand and marine life. There's not really sun or warm water.
Andrew	Definitely never. There's never warm water, but there is.
Everett	I mean, it can get warm, but yeah, I mean, when they're when it's warm, like a 60 degree day down the coast, you're just like you're melting hot. You think you're going to die? It doesn't make sense.
Andrew	Yeah. Yeah. So that was really cool. I mean, but for sure, the nicest I've played some nice courses, but that was like just a totally different level of, you know, it's really stoic, but but also not not pretentious. It's really, you know, nobody's Nobody's wearing golf gear. Everybody's sort of casual. The people in the clubhouse are really chill.
Everett	You know. Well, they don't have to fake it anymore. They made it.
Andrew	Yeah, they're there. The one thing I will say. So I think that the Band and Dunes Resort is probably the best golf resort, you know, pure golf resort in the country. So they've got, you know, six courses now. Four of them are top 100 courses. I don't think that there's another place with that much good golf. I think it is. I don't know. I think it's almost inarguably the best golf resort in the country until you get to amenities, right? There's like the American Club and there's some other places that have a similar level of golf, maybe not quite there, but then also have, you know, a spa and. Five star restaurant.
Everett	Exactly. So you don't. No meth dens. That's right. You know, they a lot of them also have alligators, so it's tradeoffs, right?
Andrew	Like you don't get any of that stuff abandoned. They they've just in the last handful of years, it started installing some condos, which are I'm sure lovely. But yeah. It was fun, man, it was so cool. I mean, just, you know, it's it's a Scottish style links course. So, you know, you're in these really beautiful you're in this beautiful sort of sand dune complex and there's all these Crazy. I mean, the biggest bunkers you've ever seen in your life. They're all sort of built out with train ties. I mean, it's just it's bizarre and amazing and beautiful and something that I'll hold on to. It's what, two and a half hours away. I have to get out there again. Yeah, it's not. It's not miserable. Totally worth it. And it's not a crazy amount of money. I mean, I think it's like anything else. If you're if you're buying your first watch and someone tells you, you know, you should look at a $700 watch. You're going to be like, what the fuck? You know, so this was like 100 bucks for for 18 holes. And I think someone who's. That seems pretty reasonable. Yeah, I think someone who maybe doesn't golf or just plays muni courses or whatever might be like, God damn.
Everett	But I mean, really, 100 bucks for you're going to spend 50 bucks for your your local municipal course and a cat or not a caddy, but a cart.
Andrew	Yeah, that's right. So pretty, pretty cool, man. Just a great experience. And I know not everybody Not everybody at home is in love with golf, so I will, I'll stop it there. Yeah, shut up Everett.
Everett	How was your weekend? It's good. It's coming to a close. We, uh, we just kind of lay low. Like we did our thing. We putzed around the house. We got the Christmas decorations up. All my lights are up. Oh yeah. We did that too. So we've started a tradition since we bought our house. We buy a new inflatable Christmas, like yard decoration every year. So we added another, Christmas decoration this year. And it's this very ceremonious event where they get it all set up and plug it in while everyone's watching. And then it goes and it's really anticlimactic as it just kind of like slowly fills up while the fans whirring in there. And then it just is standing and we're like, oh, cool. But the kid loves it. So that's what matters. Yeah, that's right.
Andrew	Yeah, that's right. We had some good friends over for Thanksgiving. That was fun.
Everett	Oh, yeah. I mean, was it? It was you.
Andrew	Oh, yeah, no, it was me.
Everett	Yeah, we had Thanksgiving together. I guess that was just last Thursday. Yeah. A lot has happened in the last five days. Yeah, it was a long weekend, I guess.
Andrew	We got an 11 foot Christmas tree. You did.
Everett	It's lovely. It's 11 feet tall. Yeah, it should be. You have the ceilings for it. Yeah. You got to really you got to really capitalize on that while you got the big ass ceiling.
Andrew	Yeah. You know, and I think anything shorter looks is going to look weird in that space, too.
Everett	Yeah.
Andrew	Yeah.
Everett	So, yeah, you'd have to put it in like a closet, right?
Andrew	to keep the ceiling low in the kitchen. Yeah. So we got the biggest Christmas tree on earth. Mm hmm. And it's it's not the biggest Christmas tree.
Everett	Also, you have you space for more.
Andrew	Yeah. Oh, yeah. There you could easily go. So that's like an 18 foot. No. Yeah, I could do 13 in there, though. I mean, we're we're closer to the ceiling than you think.
Everett	Are you? Yeah.
Andrew	Yeah. So two more feet would be getting close to the ceiling. So and it's a noble for right. So I like a noble for I know a lot of people like Doug for. Doug first to like to fool. I like that kind of sparse Charlie Brown look, but still it's a noble for and it took it eight 1700 lights. Mm, which is crazy. That's a lot of lights. It's a lot.
Everett	And it doesn't look over lit.
Andrew	No, it's not. I mean, it's sparsely lit. Yeah, yeah.
Everett	Yeah, I love that tall tree. I want a tall ceiling like that, like just for Christmas time. That's right. Not for heating, not for cooling. I want to just get like an expandable ceiling, like a pop up for Christmas. Yeah. And then and it just closes back down during the rest of the year.
Andrew	That's right. You could like retrofit some like Volkswagen travel camper roof onto your house.
Everett	We're onto something here.
Andrew	So we're going to do we're going to do we are going to talk about watches. Sort of. Kind of. We're going to do our Christmas lists. And I know that this is going to be the kind of year where you're going to see a lot of this. Uh, please, please, please, please feel free to ignore all the rests. We have the one you need. It's right here.
Everett	Yeah.
Andrew	Just stop. Just stop. Listen to this and then stop. Yeah. You don't need to listen. I mean, whatever.
Everett	You can listen to other people, but our list is the most comprehensive and best. We're not going to tell you what to do. We will. We are. We're doing it. Yeah. That's how we spend an hour and some change every week telling people what to do.
Andrew	Should we get started? I think we should. So This list is kind of all over the place. It's nothing specific. There's no watches on this list.
Everett	No, because what we wanted to do was create a list of things that we would like, but also good ideas for the watch people in your life.
Andrew	Yes, exactly. The watch and other stuff, people.
Everett	Yeah. Watch people are other stuff, people. I think those I think those two things go hand in hand.
Andrew	Other things, people. So our first our first choice, and this one should be no surprise, is the most sort of easy I think the most easy thing on our list, but, uh, a new leather strap. And we've got two companies that we're going to what spotlight. Yeah. Two companies that we're going to spotlight. One of those is an Oregon company.
Everett	So obligated. And even though, I mean, they're, they're putting out some pretty good products, so we can also stand by it.
Andrew	And not just an organ company, but even more than that, a friend of mine.
Everett	They don't pay us. They don't like me, so don't worry about that. That's right. Well, you've never met them, right?
Andrew	He wouldn't like me, though. He would. Everybody likes you. Cascadia Strap Company. So I actually own one of their charcoal pebbled calfskin straps. I'm mouthful. So these are $50 straps. They're extremely well made. They're really, really attractive. And they've got some other stuff, too. They've got quite a bit of stuff on their website, stuff that I probably wouldn't wear. They've got a lot of stingray. They've got a lot of croc. Everything's made overseas, I'm sure. But they're just really well done. They feel good. They look good. I've got that pebble grain. I've got that pebble grain on that Victorinox. Oh, yeah. 7750 chronograph, and it just looks it looks killer. I can wear it with a suit. The 7750 is a little a little chunky, but I do wear it with suit frequently. So and it and it just plays really well. It's it's a casual strap, but because of the leather, it looks really good. Another brand. And you and I don't have any personal experience. Will and Mike do, though, but will will the editor, the editor in chief will and Mike Razak, Daddy, Daddy and Mike Razak. I'll take your pick on, yeah. They both really recommend and have had good experience with D-Lugs. And I am not familiar with this company and I actually had to kind of grow Mike on it.
Everett	They've been rampaging on D-Lugs the last like two weeks. They have. Rampaging in a good way. Exactly. I wake up and look through the 200 text messages and I see D-Lugs several times.
Andrew	And so I, you know, I was kind of pushing Mike on it and he says, gosh, the quality of these is, going to be probably slightly better than Cascadia. They're handmade, hand stamped, you know, hand cut, hand sewn, and just really sort of next level quality. And in a package for, you know, anywhere from 80 to 140, so a little bit nicer strap. So it's kind of a budget thing, right? A good variety too. Yeah, that's right. And a great variety. And they've got some customization options. So I played around with that a little bit. And you've got the ability to really to kind of make the strap you want in the leather you want in the colors you want. So an alternative to something like EAA, you know, Eric makes really killer straps, makes them by all by hand in his home in St. Louis and just puts out a killer product. This is going to be probably more of a commercial product. It's going to look more commercial, perhaps a little bit, a little bit neater finishing because it's not hand cut. Mm hmm. You're going to pay a heck of a lot more than you will with Eric, too. So some you're going to lose that charm.
Everett	You're going to miss on that. That's right. Just just slight imperfection of totally handmade charm.
Andrew	And you get what you get, right? They're not hand dyeing anything. They've got the leather that's on the website. They've got the stitch and color on the website. So a little bit different experience. But yeah, so a new leather strap. I think that that's maybe the most obvious Christmas gift you could get someone in your life.
Everett	Yeah. Probably in 20 millimeters.
Andrew	Just just guessing. Yeah. Unless they're like a only Seiko dive watch lover or something, right?
Everett	Then it's 22 all day. Yeah. Or you could really fuck with them and get a 19. What do you got? What's your first one? Oh, first up for me. Uh, I don't know. You have the list.
Andrew	Yeah, it's, it's right there. I put it in front of you before I asked you what you're, do you want me to say it?
Everett	Oh, now I know what it is. A Mora knife.
Andrew	We're really professional.
Everett	Uh, so Mora knives, M O R A K N I V. Mora knife. Yeah. I think it's Morkniv. Morkniv.
Andrew	Yeah.
Everett	Uh, so we've talked about these a couple times on the show. Yes, they are super inexpensive. 15 bucks for for what I have. So right here, the I have the four 4.1 inch black handle black hard plastic sheath. $15.63. Yeah, I mean, they're basically free. Yeah, they're basically free. It makes no sense how how inexpensive they are. And I worked on my on my roadkill sausage using the Mora. It worked great. Held the edge really well. It's got a unusually large grip for a blade of that length, so you get the full purchase like you're working with a chef's knife or or a larger blade, but you're only you're working with a four inch utility knife with a full gripped handle. Super comfortable like you can really get some leverage on it. This is the kind of knife that I feel comfortable prying on things with.
Andrew	Yeah, it's it's like a true utility product. I think that they would be. I think at two times as much money they would be every bit as popular as they are now. I mean, the margins on these things are are. Tight, I assume, but they just they sell it, you know, and all the EDC years love them. All of the all of the outdoor guys love them. They I I think that most of these knives are coming with a Scandi grind.
Everett	Yep, all Scandi grind. I'm sure there's some in their catalog that are not, but their go-to, like their Coke is Scandi grind. And they use a different steel than high carbon. What's the steel they use?
Andrew	They're stainless, right? I mean, I don't think they have a high carbon
Everett	They use 12C27 stainless steel. Yeah. Which is just different, right? Like most everyone uses slightly different steel, but you're seeing high carbon as a really, really popular material.
Andrew	You know, the thing about a Scandi, a Scandi grind, especially in a hard steel like that is you're going to it's going to hold an edge really good. I assume they're going to be a little bit harder to sharpen because you're having to sharpen on that Scandi grind, but It's the angle set for you. You don't have to futz around with angles. Yeah, just you just grind straight on that Scandi. Yeah. No, I think they're super cool. And they're I mean, it's almost like. You don't don't sharpen it, like use it until it doesn't cut you anymore and then get rid of it and then just throw it away.
Everett	Or you can learn to sharpen on something that's already thrashed. Yeah, that's right. Because there's a there's there's a technique in sharpening a blade, but and it's it's going to be really different with this candy grind versus a beveled edge. But if you're if you're one who wants to learn that, get a 15 dollar knife, fuck it up for fun and then put it to a stone.
Andrew	Yeah, guys, I actually want to get some stones. I want to get some some serious Japanese stones, but the investment's kind of high.
Everett	Yeah, I have a I have a a handful of not really serious ones, and that's kind of on my list of. Soon to gets.
Andrew	Yeah, I think the same. Just get a set of like, you know, you're you're investing, what, 400 bucks probably for a set, but which seems like a lot, but then you'll have them forever.
Everett	I mean, yeah, but you're going to invest that much in the way of kitchen knives over your lifetime, probably to.
Andrew	I mean, I buy cheap kitchen knives.
Everett	Yeah, but you also you go through them pretty quickly as a result.
Andrew	I mean, not true. How often do you buy them? Not true. I've had the same Sani safe Dexter Russell Sani safe that green handled one for 10 years.
Everett	Wow.
Andrew	And it cuts it cuts fantastic still. Yeah, I keep I keep it sharp. I just have a cheap whetstone right now, but that's what I use.
Everett	It's a cheap whetstone.
Andrew	Yeah. I've got a fun one. Oh, and this is kind of different. And actually, this is something I might buy. Will mentioned that Warden Wound has some wall clocks on their website, and I went and looked. And they've got a they've got a handful of wall clocks made by Marathon made by Marathon. And these clocks are kind of silly, right? It's it's just a simple, clean wall clock, but by a legit company, they're 80 bucks. Gosh, man, that's cool. 12 inches. It's a smooth sweep. quartz movement, but still a smooth sweep quartz movement. It's got like an auto night light. So when it's dark, it's kind of cool.
Everett	Yeah, that's it. Seems like it's very bright.
Andrew	It takes C batteries and AA batteries because it powers the light and the the movement.
Everett	You know that that tracks from a product made by Marathon. Yeah. And Canadians. That makes perfect sense to me.
Andrew	I thought, gosh, this would be cool. I mean, if you're if you're buying someone for a watch person in your life, they're going to love it. They're going to find somewhere to put it.
Everett	Mm hmm.
Andrew	And they're going to love it.
Everett	I have a Gavox wall clock hanging in my kitchen, which is really cool. Yeah, it's super cool. Also, it's smooth, sweet corpse courts, but just a single AA battery. No backlight. But I think those are like sixty five bucks right in the neighborhood. But a wall clock for when you don't need to be wearing a watch. That's for your office. Everyone like, well, not everyone has an office anymore. Most people had an office, right? But now there's some place in your house. There's a room in your house that you can do with a wall clock.
Andrew	Yeah, the bathroom, for fuck's sake.
Everett	Yeah, I have a dead wall clock in my bathroom.
Andrew	Not a marathon or a Gavox, I assume. No, no.
Everett	It's just like a Target special.
Andrew	So this next one, this made both of our lists, made both of our identical thing, made both of our lists. And that is the. Uh, well, it's a spring bar tool is what it is.
Everett	Bergeon.
Andrew	And we've talked about this on the show before. Bergeon is, uh, one of these companies, sorry, go ahead.
Everett	Bergeon.
Andrew	Is one of these companies that makes just really high end shit. They make everything that you get in an eBay kit, but better, right?
Everett	Yeah. But you're also paying for one tool at the price of said eBay kit.
Andrew	That's right. And so I think for a lot of the stuff that comes in that eBay kit, you probably don't need the, the version from.
Everett	Bergeon.
Andrew	Bergeon. Uh, you, you just need.
Everett	You do need the 19 millimeter spring bars though.
Andrew	You do, you, you do need a nice spring bar tool. We, we've talked about this, the cheap spring bar tools,
Everett	I went through probably four of them before I finally was like, God, I'll fucking do it and spent the fifteen dollars on the good tool.
Andrew	Yeah, it's worth it. Yeah. You know, I've got two two version spring bar tools. One of them is actually the version tool, the 6767F. That's the one you want. The 6767-F tip that's got the smaller, the more fine tips. The standard 6767 has the big flat blade tips. Um, I've got one of these where the body is that version body. I've got another one. That's a hand turned Buckeye burl stabilized Buckeye burl with, with inserts for the version 67, 67 tips. Um, it's, it's, it's nice. It's different. It was a luxury. I bought it from buying on time and I think he procures them from the dude who makes them. I can't remember how much it was too much money, but it was like one of these things I saw it and I was like, got to have that. And I use those things all the time and the tips hold up really well.
Everett	That's the thing is the tips hold up. Yeah. All the cheap ones, the first or second time you use them, you're starting to bend back the teeth on those tools. And number one, they're going to be less effective. Yeah. Number two, they're going to cause damage to your watch. Yeah. And because they're less effective, you're going to do more damage to your watch and then also the palm of your hand.
Andrew	It's a compounding thing. Yeah. Yeah. You know, the tips aren't hardened or if they are hardened, they're poorly hardened and so they break or whatever.
Everett	In fact, they seem softened. Yeah. I think Kaz referred to them as being made by made with the broken teeth of orphans. That like that comment just resonated. As I was using one with like just snaggle tooth, I was like, I'm never going to get this off. And I broke the spring bar and it was a whole thing and stabbed my hand like, all right, well, dude, I have less than one.
Andrew	I have put a spring bar tool like a solid three millimeters into my hand. Yeah, I've had multiple occasions.
Everett	I've penetrated true penetration.
Andrew	Yeah. So I mean, I think it's the kind of thing, even if even if the person you're buying for has one, it's the kind of thing. It's just a fun usable, practical tool. And if they don't have one, even better, because they're going to get their hands on it. And it's just the knurling, right? You put your fingers on the knurling and you're like, oh, yeah, I've now got a quality. I've now got a quality tool in my hands.
Everett	So if you are going to buy that, though, if you are going to buy a strap, also do buy that unless you're very familiar with your recipient's watch collection.
Andrew	And I will say, I think both Deluxe and Cascadia at this point are selling quick release straps.
Everett	I love quick release straps. You know, I got a pretty neat, I got a mesh, uh, just a cheap as shit. Uh, that's the brand name by the way. Uh, just a cheap as shit mesh bracelet because I found I wasn't wearing my recraft at all because I couldn't find a strap I liked on it. So I got mesh and it came with quick release lugs. Number one, really dug that. Number two, it's money on mesh. That watch is going to get worn. I'm going to get a nice mesh now.
Andrew	Go, go spend a little bit of money on a mesh. Yeah. Uncle Seiko or something. Yeah. Yeah, it looks good, too. I mean, the mesh just wears well on that watch. It's like the 70s.
Everett	It just it matches the whole feel.
Andrew	Yeah, that's right. That's right.
Everett	But my point was the quick release. And I've I've heard people voice concerns of, oh, what if it quick releases? What if your spring bark quick releases like it doesn't seem any less secure to me than a spring park?
Andrew	No, I don't think it's I don't think it's less secure. I have the concern. that the spring bar breaks, you know, the spring wears out and they wear out.
Everett	There's replacements available.
Andrew	Yeah, I think it would be hard to fit. I don't know. I've never tried, but that's my initial thought is, OK, I've got this hundred dollar leather strap on a quick release. If the spring bar breaks, how how much of a pain in the dick is it going to be to fit a new? I guess you could just pull it and put a regular spring bar in there at that point.
Everett	But problem solved.
Andrew	look at you okay so modern conveniences we talked about a couple rubber straps and you had said let's talk about the barton silicone and i said oh my gosh we've talked about we can't talk about it anymore so many times it's a fantastic strap move on andrew i won't i bought one recently bnr bands has an fkm rubber strap that uh several of us watch clicker folks have experience with Um, it's, it's an FKM rubber. So it's, you know, I think the thing about FKM rubber is it's not a quote unquote true rubber and NBR. Um, it's, it's got slightly different properties.
Everett	I think FKM's got, um, some industrial properties that make it, make it unique and preferable, frankly, to silicone and to most other rubbers in, in watch straps specifically.
Andrew	Yeah, I mean, I think there's still something to be said for NBR in terms of watch straps, but the FKM, the only complaint I've ever heard about FKM is that it's a little bit flimsy, perhaps, but it just the texture, it's not gushy, but it's it's supple. It's supple. I mean, in terms of rubber straps, I've had everything from like really terrible Casio straps that I've worn very happily. Rotted right off your wrist. To, you know, really, really very soft, comfortable silicone straps. I think FKM strikes the perfect balance for me because it's not silicone, so you're not gonna get the dust attraction. It's gonna stay clean, but it also is soft and supple and really comfortable, easy to wear.
Everett	I'm a big fan. It has all the benefits of silicone and none of the downsides. It's just, it is a material upgrade to me.
Andrew	Yeah, I would say it's not quite as soft as silicone.
Everett	That's my estimate, but... It's really damn close. And what you lose in softness, you make up for, and it's not getting that same gunk buildup. Sure.
Andrew	Constantly. Yeah, that's right. That's right. I think that FKM, for me, is the ideal material. Although MBR, I go back and forth. But yeah, the B&R bands.
Everett	And, Rami, what are they ringing in at?
Andrew	50 bucks.
Everett	That's it, yeah.
Andrew	45, something like that? Neighborhood, sub 60, sub 60. Indeed, indeed. So that's not cheap. I also know that on Ali, if you're into that sort of thing, Ali Express, you can pick up FKM legit FKM rubber straps for like. 12 bucks or eight bucks or something like that. So if you're into that game. You can get probably this strap. Just not with the logo on it yet without the logo. on AliExpress, I tend not to do that. I've never purchased from there. I've got some philosophical reasons, right or wrong, for not doing that, for not purchasing from Ali. I think that what AliExpress does a lot of times, and it's not Ali, it's the folks that sell through AliExpress, is we see a lot of companies sort of doing R&D, design, and even worse in some cases, you know, companies like Blue Shark that are actually doing R&D and developing, putting in money to develop nylons. And then the companies who make those, which are almost almost inevitably in Asia, are then taking these developed proprietary products and selling them on Aliexpress, for quite a bit less than the company that did the R&D.
Everett	That just sounds like good capitalism right there.
Andrew	Yeah. I mean, I think that there is an argument, a sort of buyer beware argument that, well, yeah, if you're going to go to northern China and develop a product and then have somebody make it in northern China, you're sort of asking for that kind of treatment unless you have a really good relationship. But I think as consumers, we have to decide what we're going to buy and who we're going to buy from. So it's been my decision to not do that.
Everett	But I commend you. I don't judge other people. I, on the other hand, will be buying a dozen in every color.
Andrew	So, yeah, I think a good rubber strap and I think if you're going to buy if you're buying a gift, you buy someone a good rubber strap. I think that's a good one.
Everett	I think I think so, too. Yeah. So the rubber strap looks good on every watch you own.
Andrew	It really does. You know, I don't have anything really dressy. Um, and I think that there might be.
Everett	The Cigna 1963 wouldn't look good with a rubber strap on it because of those long lugs. It also looks really, really lame without a crystal.
Andrew	I did drop my 1963 and break the crystal. Yeah.
Everett	That's so impressive.
Andrew	Yeah. Yeah.
Everett	I mean, what did you drop it on?
Andrew	Concrete floor, garage floor.
Everett	Does not seem like it would have done that amount of damage.
Andrew	It still takes two. I mean, it still runs.
Everett	You'd think that the movement goes before the dome sapphire or the dome acrylic.
Andrew	You would. Those ST-19 movements are not the most robust. But yeah, it's still it still runs just fine. How about that? But the crystal, it must have just hit right on, you know, it's like a box sapphire or box acrylic in that thing. And so it must have just hit it a perfectly bad angle.
Everett	It looked like you dropped it on some kind of like
Andrew	molten like conglomeration of gravel well you know the nice thing about the nice it didn't i mean there's no scratches it was just a clean hit and it just straight crack across one of the edges and the crystal popped out the retainer ring and everything just sort of popped out um but the nice thing about acrylic is there's no shards yeah it's two pieces of plastic it's not shattered you tried super glue on it Well, no, I actually probably could. But no, I just ordered a new one. I just got a new one, which should be here. I don't know when. Someday. Someday. Straight from Hong Kong.
Everett	So next up.
Andrew	Next up. This is an interesting one. You fought for this one. I kind of rejected it.
Everett	I did have to fight for this, and I'm going to continue to fight for this. I think cheapest NATO straps is It serves a very real purpose in the watch strap buying world for me. I like to buy straps from cheap as NATO when I'm experimenting with a new style of strap, especially when they run their sales where you can get straps for $3. So I got from them a couple of elastic straps, uh, just a single pass through elastics. I got, what else did I get? I got a tropic strap and I got two paratrooper straps. And they, so, so they're different than, than the paratrooper straps that, that you're going to see with, um, what you're missing in theirs is typically your paratrooper strap is a single, single piece pass through, right? But it doubles back on itself to adjust the length. This you double back through it. It doubles back through itself on the single clasp. So you've got kind of a free running end of elastic. Yeah. And then that clasp also serves as the buckle. But because number one, it was $3. And number two, I wanted to try some paratrooper straps and I wanted to do a little bit of experimentation. And I learned a couple of things. Number one, next paratrooper strap I'm going to get, I want it to double back on itself and secure, not just have a free running end of elastic. Sure. But I also learned that I don't hate this strap, even with that one little oddity. It's acceptably comfortable. It's elastic, so you can only, elastic can only get so comfortable. But I also really dig the paratrooper strap look. And that being just kind of cheaply made, I feel like adds a little bit of charm to that style of strap. So, and I'll pull them up right now. They are normally, without that sale.
Andrew	It's like 16 bucks or something.
Everett	$7.95 right now on the cheapest native straps website. And they've got, you know, 30 colors? No, more than that. 81 colors to choose from.
Andrew	Jesus. You know, our friend Pete, uh, chilling with watches, uh, did a rundown of the various paratrooper style straps on his YouTube channel. And if you're in the market, it's worth a look. He talks about the cheapest NATO straps and there's a functional difference the way they attach, which you, which you just referenced.
Everett	Not well, his video will do a much better job than my, my word description.
Andrew	And it's a video too. So you get to see them, but. Yeah, you know I've sort of picked my pony with the elastic straps with the makey style. Oh, yeah, those are money. I really like Nick and As a as a as a person Nick makey and and I think his straps are great There's one functional difference about the Mankey straps that I really like, which is that they don't travel underneath the watch at all. So the watch sits against your skin. But I will say this, when I haven't had one of those on my watch for a month or two months and I go to put it back on, I have to go to the website and look at how to do it every time.
Everett	Oh, I'm that way with the Zulu Alpha. Yes, that's right. Oh my god, how did this work again?
Andrew	It's not the most intuitive. The Mankey straps are not the most intuitive straps. It's... Once I figure it out, I'm like, oh yeah, that's right, I've got to put it through the thing and then back through the thing and okay, yeah, I know, I got it now, but... You got to shake and twist. That's right. You know, once you're there, it's fine, right? You know, you push the thing through... Push the loop through the thing, push the hook through the loop and you're fine. Do the hokey pokey. Do the hokey pokey, exactly. But yeah, and the nice thing about those straps are once you have them on, I don't know if this is true for the Erica's original or the cheapest NATO or any of these other options. I don't know if it's true, but with the Mankey strap, I do not have to unhook it.
Everett	I think that probably all that does is decrease its lifespan.
Andrew	Not unhooking it?
Everett	Yeah. I think that's the only reason people would unhook it.
Andrew	It's preserving the life of the elastic. So you're not stretching it? Yeah. Uh, and I get that my take, my feel is that that fabric is, is totally fine for, for stretching as often as I'm wearing these watches for probably a very long time. But I would think so. Um, yeah, no, that's, I don't even unhook it. I just sort of slip it on and off. I mean, literally like you would pajamas or slippers.
Everett	I mean, it's like wearing jammies. Pajama strap. And I stand by it. That's the first, the first strap that I've ever put on a Speedmaster with. Where the Speedmaster felt right. Yeah, that's right. I wonder how I'd feel on the Lunar Pilot. I bet perfect.
Andrew	You should get a Lunar Pilot.
Everett	Get like a black PVD.
Andrew	Yeah, with a black.
Everett	And a black PVD. Mankey. A black mankey, yeah. Yeah.
Andrew	You should do that. I should. All right, so you got another one here.
Everett	I just struggle because they're so big. The, yeah, well. First time I put it on, I was just so, I was heartbroken. It was just, it was just, it was too big.
Andrew	I think you just have to commit to it. I think with a big watch, especially for guys like us that have sort of dainty, really gravitated towards smaller watches. I think when you wear your bigger, you know, I've talked about this a number of times, but I have that Casio AMW, um, and it's a big watch. It's 45, 45 millimeters. And I put it on these days and I doesn't even occur to me that it's big. It's just, I've committed to that watch. I love that watch. I think you just have to do that. You just have to commit to it being a big fucking watch.
Everett	Something I learned owning that. And I, I hate is that they have different cases for their sold on a bracelet and sold on not a bracelet. Yes. That's so fucking dumb. That's right.
Andrew	I wouldn't, I would lug holes are in a different position.
Everett	I would not buy a watch that comes on a bracelet without a bracelet, right? Like I wouldn't go buy the bracelet second, but I also don't want to buy one second hand and have the person have been like, Oh yeah, no, I just, I don't have the bracelet for it. And then get it and get a bracelet and be like, Oh, This is that's why you don't have a bracelet for us because a bracelet doesn't come with this.
Andrew	Yeah, dickhead. Yeah, no, that's a weird. That's a weird thing. So we learned recently. I don't know if we've talked. We haven't talked about this on the show, right?
Everett	I don't think so. Mike and Will and I were talking about it because Mike has one.
Andrew	He has the non bracelet version, the lug holes on the lunar pilot, the lunar lander. The lug holes are in a different location. If you have sold with bracelet or sold off, you know, on strap version. So Something to note if you're buying one.
Everett	I never would have made that connection looking at the different model numbers. I just would have assumed, oh, it's a slightly different model. Yeah, that's right. No, it's a very different model and it's important. Next up, not watch related, though it's a battery. I would argue, I would assume that everyone listening to this show has at least one thing. that most of the folks listening to this show have one or more things. And if you have one thing, you have multiple that use CR123 batteries. And for those of you who are unfamiliar with the CR123, they are little stubbies. They're about the diameter of a double A, a little bit thicker and half again, as tall, you think about half of double A.
Andrew	Yeah, maybe, yeah, not half. I would say they're two thirds, two thirds the height.
Everett	They're scaled down D cell batteries. Yes, that's right, that's right.
Andrew	They look like cans of soup. Like a half of a C cell.
Everett	Yeah, and it's, they're stupid. They're super powerful. They go in things like flashlights and flashlights. Primarily flashlights. And other varietals of flashlights. Yes, primarily flashlights. In my line of work, I go through bags Like I go through, I probably go through six a month. They don't, I don't fully exhaust them, but when they start to lose their edge, I just swap them out.
Andrew	Yeah. I go through, I go through a handful a month, month in the winter when I'm running in the dark often.
Everett	And you run your light on low power the whole, like the duration of your run, right?
Andrew	It depends. It depends on where I am. If I'm on the street, if I'm trying to be seen, I just have it on low power. If I'm trying to see, I would run it on higher power. Yeah.
Everett	So. Flashlights almost exclusively use CR123s. I can't think of a single thing that I've come across that uses that's not a flashlight or something of that ilk. That's right. They're great batteries, but they're hard to find. Mm hmm. You can get a 24 pack, did I say? No, 12 pack. 12 pack. So you can get either a Surefire brand or a Streamlight brand. for between 20 and 25 bucks. So if you or your watch person, or if you just need CR123s, I never thought to go to the Amazon for them. I, cause I, I've just always been in a place in my life where they were. I meant Cabela's or whatever. No, they were free to me. Oh yeah. They were, I always have used them in a professional capacity. Sure. Uh, but for those of you who don't have just access to bins of them and still use these batteries, 20 bucks, 25 bucks on the Amazon. You get 12 of them delivered to your door and you're good for six months.
Andrew	Yeah, that's right. And that's a great deal. Uh, because I think I'm paying like, I'll buy a four pack for 10 or 15. So I like Costco. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. So that's a great deal.
Everett	Yeah. Check them out. And for those of you who don't maybe upgrade your flashlight game.
Andrew	Yeah. You know, I think that having a really nice flashlight is something that everybody should have. We've talked about a handful of flashlights here. We have. I'm still a huge proponent of the Streamlight Polytech.
Everett	That's what I carry at work now. I just I adjusted the way I carry my lights. And so that's what I use at work. But I still use the shit out of that Surefire.
Andrew	Yeah. So so last item on our list, last item on our list that you brought this up and I thought, gosh, that's a great idea. So this is we've gone from. The seventh item on our list being the most practical thing. to the eighth item on our list being the least practical thing.
Everett	Perhaps.
Andrew	Perhaps.
Everett	An Art of Urology print. Yeah. They're 18 euros. So that comes out to, I wanted to say like 21 bucks.
Andrew	25, 30 bucks. Something like that.
Everett	You're going to pay for shipping.
Andrew	Yeah. But you're going to pay for shipping and the package is going to be lovingly packed by Claire, our good friend, our good friends Liam and Claire. I understand Claire is still doing all of the packaging.
Everett	Just hand jamming them all out Um, but these are terrific. They've got a great lineup on the website right now, but if you're willing to pay more than the 20 money, uh, they do custom prints. That's something that, uh, I I've kicked around several times of, of a, of a custom print from them. I just have never pulled the trigger on it, but they're not custom prints. They're just stock inventory right now consists of, um,
Andrew	Really like that ghosty SKX they do.
Everett	Yeah. So they've got they've got a Rolex GMT with a faded Pepsi bezel. They've got a Speedmaster Pro black on black. They've got a Cosmograph Daytona. They've got a cool Speedmaster Apollo 13 kind of. Kind of dark side of the moon, like Pink Floyd, the color scheme Speedmaster front and back. Paul Newman, Daytona, a GMT Master, an Explorer, Seamaster 300, Speedmaster Pro, 007, and then a Nautilus. Oh, and they just released a. It just says watch, and then beneath it is a sub 114 060.
Andrew	I really like they've got a F91. They've got an F91W.
Everett	And it's like semi-colored. Yeah, they've also got a really.
Andrew	It costs like eight dollars more than an actual F91W. Yeah.
Everett	Yeah. They've also got a Grand Seiko SBGH267. That is really good. It looks like a rendering of it.
Andrew	Yeah. Some of their art's really good.
Everett	They do all their art's really good, but some of it's like, yeah. Yeah. Some of it looks like renderings of the actual thing, like they stole it somehow. They've got a big block. I've got some good shit on here right now. So, yeah. Check them out. And they're not all 18 money. Some of them are 15 euros.
Andrew	They've got an Etsy shop too, where you can pay in US dollars and I think probably get better shipping prices too.
Everett	Oh, that's good to know. Yeah. I just went right to their website. They've also got t-shirts, hats, you know, the typical lineup of stuff.
Andrew	Oh, so it's a ship. Yeah. If you want watch swag.
Andrew	If you want watch swag. Um, well that's all we got for the Christmas list. It is in fact. I did, in fact, bring another thing. I know that our whole entire episode this week was other things.
Everett	It's just it's all other things.
Andrew	But I brought another thing that you don't have to purchase and you probably can't practically give anyone for Christmas. It's a podcast and it's called You're Wrong About. Have you heard about this? No, but I like the idea. So this is. A couple of journalists that make this, guy and a gal. I think he writes for HuffPost and she's written for a number of different publications. I've listened to a number of these episodes and she says I write for, and that has changed over the time. So is she getting fired a lot or? I think probably freelancing. But they're writers primarily, investigative journalist type writers. And the whole premise of the show is to sort of deep dive into things that have happened, primarily United States history events. So I've listened to their Challenger episode. I've listened to their Exxon Valdez episode. I've listened to their Jim Jones episode. I've listened to, I think, 10 of these things now. And you know, it's sort of got a stuff you should know vibe to it where it's just a couple of folks kind of like us, right? A couple of folks that are, are not audio professionals. The editing on it is very limited. Uh, they're really just talking and they're joking and you can hear their personalities and, uh, they occasionally do interviews. They'll bring experts on and do interviews. Um, but, but all with the same theme to sort of unpack a story. And they've done a couple of longer series as well. They've done, I think they did a two part on Tanya Harding. They've done like a four or five part on the O.J. Simpson trials. And the premise of the show is this thing that you think you know about that you actually don't know that much about or that the story is a lot different than the popular
Everett	narrative. Because the story came out for years after the incident when the initial headlines broke and everyone remembers the headlines they don't remember the years and years of analysis that goes into it on the after side.
Andrew	Yeah well I will say that's maybe part of it is that sort of we're able to Monday morning quarterback this stuff a little bit. I think the other part and this is the part of the show that I thought was interesting both of these both these guys are pretty verbal about it's always capitalism. Capitalism is always the bad guy. And I think that's fine. Capitalism is an easy target, right? Oh, yeah. But I don't think that they're not advocating for socialism or communism or some other thing. So there's this element of capitalism is in and of itself problematic, but they're not advocating for something more nefarious or even different, perhaps. But it's this really, I think the biggest takeaway for me was every time you look at how the sausage is made, it's really sort of depressing. You know, this show, it's not depressing. It's very lighthearted. And the presentation is fun and funny and comedic even at times. But You sort of get into this and there's this element of like, oh my gosh, we're totally screwed because every time they unpack it, unpack an event like the Challenger, the Challenger space shuttle explosion, right? It's like, gosh, there was maybe just no way to avoid this, right? It's this comedy of errors and everybody knows about the O-rings and, you know, middle managers, but really, That's not what happened. That wasn't the problem, you know, or, or Exxon Valdez, everybody knows about the drunk pilot. Well, the, the, the pilot or the captain wasn't even, wasn't even piloting the boat. There was somebody else piloting the boat and probably he wasn't drunk until after the crash, you know? Uh, so there's always this story. There's always a Patsy. There's always a real story. That's actually got to do with cost cutting measures or, you know, bottom line.
Everett	Because the first story's always wrong. Management. That's right. Knee-jerk reaction. No knee-jerk reaction in the history of humanity has ever been right.
Andrew	And I'm always surprised. I've been surprised every episode at A, how interesting it was. You know, it's one of those shows where you look at the subject matter and you're like, this isn't going to be interesting. This is going to be boring. We'll turn it off if it's boring. And it hasn't been. Not once yet has it been boring. Exile Valdez. Do I really want to listen to that? Yes, you do. It's fantastic. Uh, Jim Jones, I didn't think that one wasn't, I was sure that one was going to be interesting and it was even better than I thought. You know, like I had no clue that Jim Jones was this like truly, genuinely, honestly, altruistic social justice warrior. Like he really actually was. He was also a power hungry tweaker, megalomaniac, but Underneath that. Underneath all of that. Underneath the tweaker megalomaniac murderer, he was this like dude who gained a following by genuinely altruistically fighting for underprivileged, you know, the rights of underprivileged people. And, you know, it's like, gosh, I had no clue. You know, it's really interesting. It's a little bit different take on the stuff you should know model. And it's been great. I've just enjoyed every minute of it.
Everett	Sounds a little more condescending than stuff you should know.
Andrew	I don't think it's... Well, I was gonna say... The title is You're Wrong About. Yeah, I mean, I think that the idea is perhaps more condescending. I don't find them to be condescending at all, actually.
Everett	No, I wouldn't imagine they are, and I don't think they could sustain themselves if they were. But... I mean, maybe, actually, that's not true. It's challenging, right? I said that. It's not like, hey, this is interesting, you should learn about it, versus like, you think you know what's happening, but sweetie, let me tell you.
Andrew	Well, I think there maybe is an element of that as well, which might rub some people wrong. It hasn't rubbed me wrong. Nothing rubs you wrong, though. Well, that's maybe true. I think that they're both actually really intelligent and trying really hard, so I didn't get that feeling, but maybe that might be true for some people. That's all I got.
Everett	What do you got, buddy? So there's a podcast that I don't recall if we've talked about on here or not. And I haven't listened to a ton of episodes, but the episodes I have listened to, I really enjoyed. It's called Disimagined Life. And they're all untitled episodes. The whole premise of this podcast is that they just begin telling you a story, just a biography of a person. And the whole time you're listening to this biography, And you're like, who the fuck is it going to be? Who's it going to be? And it's very much in that same vein of like these huge public figures who you think you know a shitload about because they've been in the spotlight for their whole life. And these really key things have happened in their lives. And you know that part. You're like, oh, I know he went to this school. I know he accomplished this. But it's all these little details. They put in really good research to have a really well thought out. consumable and you know less than an hour long biography on this person at the end it's always this big reveal and it's and I am so-and-so and then there's an achievement list and all kinds of other things but a really another really good super consumable informative eye-opening who makes it this imagine life I think it's from Radiolab I'll have to check it out it sounds interesting
Andrew	It sounds like a trivia game we play where you've got to name a person and you start with like really obscure clues for ten points, and then if you guess it, you get ten. But if you don't know it, you know, eight, six, five and four.
Everett	I don't know.
Andrew	Well, it's fine. Wondry. Are the hosts anyone we would know?
Everett	I don't remember who they are. I haven't listened to one in a while, but I was I was thinking about things today and I was like, Oh, this is a this is a podcast that I've listened to. Not a bucket load, but... Any episodes you want to recommend? No, I don't want to give any away. Okay. I'm not going to give away a single name of people I talked about.
Andrew	Yeah, I mean, can you identify the episodes?
Everett	You said they're unnamed, but can you... So the names are... There's obviously a number associated with it. So the most recent episode, 45 minutes long, five days ago, The Reporter. 12 days ago, The Soldier. The shark, the underdog, the pilgrim, the dishwasher, the phoenix, the soloist, the striver. So I'm like. You're not going to get it out of it from just the title.
Andrew	OK, the misfit. And of those, none of those you want to recommend? No.
Everett	OK, no.
Andrew	Go on your own journey. Go on your own journey. You can go your own way. Yeah. Andrew, anything else you want to add? We are at 57 minutes and 33 seconds.
Everett	Perhaps our shortest episode.
Andrew	In a very long time, in any event. Anything you want to add before we do hang them up today?
Everett	We are going to be launching an OnlyFans this holiday season. So do check us out.
Andrew	Our Christmas list will be on there. Yeah. On the OnlyFans. Our Amazon wish lists. Yeah. There may even be scrotums on the OnlyFans. You'll never know. You just you really don't. Hey, thank you for joining us for this episode of Forty in Twenty, the Watch Clicker podcast. Check us out on Instagram at Forty in Twenty or at Watch Clicker. Check us out on the website WatchClicker.com. That's where we have all the reviews. all the good stuff. If you want to support Watch Clicker or 40 and 20, you can do so at patreon.com slash 40 and 20. That's where we get all the money for microphones and hosting and all that good stuff.
Everett	Outfits for OnlyFans.
Andrew	Don't forget to check us out back. I was so close. Don't forget to check us out next Thursday for another hour of watches, food, drinks, life and other things we like.
Everett	Bye bye.