By Jay Cassell

I get to test a lot of different backpacks in my job, and one of my favorite pack-making companies has always been Gregory.  They’ve been in business for 30 years, and always seem to be at the head of the pack (pun intended) with innovative new models. Check them out at gregorypacks.com – they have packs you can use in just about any situation.

The last couple of weeks I’ve been checking out their Z35 – it is very comfortable, with what they call an “Auto-Fit” harness system, which is padded and has a mesh surface to wick away moisture. The suspension system, also with mesh to wick away moisture, does a good distributing the load. The pack has a huge main compartment, with a divider; it’s accessible from the top or the front, via a handy zipper; a large front pocket; some mesh pockets on the waist belt; compression pockets on each side; plus it’s got a waterproof cover.  The pack I’m using has a capacity of 2320 cubic inches, though there is a smaller one in the line that holds 2074 cubic inches.
 
This thing is... [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal

Here is a quartet of cutlery from Spyderco that got completely by me when it came out about a year and a half ago.  Designed by Georgia smith Jerry Hossom (You can see his own work at hossom.com.), they are unusual in several respects. First, the shape. Mr. Hossum believes in function following form; i.e., you come up with a good design and let people figure out how to use it, rather than the other way around. All four knives have the same basic silhouette; they differ only in length and proportion. They range from the Dayhiker which has a 4.5-inch blade and is 10.5 inches overall, to the Forester which has a 9-inch blade and is 15.5 inches overall.

The Hossoms are made in Italy of an Austrian steel called N690Co. I had not heard of it before, but it’s an intriguing alloy, very high in carbon (1.07 percent), chromium (17 percent; 440C, our most popular stainless, is 14 percent) and cobalt (1.50 percent), which imparts great strength.

Their grind is unusual as well. The Hossums are given what is known as a rolled edge which, if you look at it in cross section, is convex,... [ Read Full Post ]

By Chad Love

As well-read, worldly and sophisticated as I obviously am, I've never been a big fan of Esquire magazine. Mostly because - like most of the genre -  it's little more than a monthly instruction manual on how to be a well-coiffed nice-smelling, perfectly-accessorized, smartly-dressed narcissistic tool.

And the writing isn't doing the magazine any favors, either. This example  (a big hat tip to Steve Bodio for the find) is simply the most gawdawful piece of magazine journalism I've ever attempted to read. So imagine my surprise when a friend sent me a link to a new Esquire blog called the Daily Endorsement. I wasn't surprised by the blog's title, which is supremely fitting for a demographic that doesn't do too well thinking for itself, but rather the blog's inaugural "endorsement" which reads:
 
As for this, the first Daily Endorsement, I was going to suggest "keeping it brief." But no one likes a cop-out. So try this: Esquire endorses carrying a pocketknife.

You've probably got one — and it's probably been languishing in a drawer for years. Tonight, pull it out. Give it some work. A little steel wool to brighten up the brass. A few... [ Read Full Post ]