I’ve been looking around on ebay for a pair of Italian made Vasque’s for a little while now- they’re currently being made in China and I’ve heard enough negative feedback to even consider buying a new pair, especially since the msrp is at $180. Sure these are a little bit beat up but they’re miles from retirement, I just reconditioned the leather and threw on some laces I had around.. who wants to wear pristine boots anyways?
Suggested reading: Danner
Filed under gear, private collection, wear
This pack first peaked my interest when I saw a prototype pop up on the Topo blog back in March. After talking about the pack with Jedd and Mark for a little while they sent me a near-final iteration of the prototype that’s very similar to the sling pack they’re now offering- the only difference was the addition of a stabilizing strap in the final design.
I’ve been using the pack at least a few days a week since August, filling the gap between my tiny laptop bag and larger git-r-done packs. The size is perfect for carrying a 15″ laptop, an extra layer of clothing, and some small odds and ends. The padded back and wide strap make for a really comfortable wear; note the D-rings on both lower corners for switching the strap to your preferred shoulder. 1000 denier cordura strong with a coated lining, made in Colorado. Check out the Sling Pack and Topo’s other packs on their site: Topo Designs
Filed under field test, gear
Shoichi Watanabe is a craftsman of leather and canvas bags whose workshop and retail store are situated in the Kichijoji neighborhood of Tokyo. Watanabe specializes in touring style bike luggage for panniers and racks but also does a good deal of shoulder and hand bags. His flickr is filled with photos, pushing 3,000 of them, of bags along with both his own and customer travel/in use photos.
Hoggan’s is a little company based out of Rupert, Idaho that has been making bags, packs, pouches, tents, and pretty much everything else under the sun for over 100 years. I was mostly drawn to these little illustratons of their packs on their web catalog; since almost everything they make is custom not every product has an example in photographic form. Perhaps this is what the Campmor catalog would look like if they hired David Shrigley? (found via CarryWare)
Covers from Volkswagen’s quarterly magazine Small World which ran from 1962 to 1984, see the rest at The Samba. I’ve always loved Volkswagens, the last car I owned was a turbo gti but I’d love to own an older (mk II) model one day. Speaking of adventuring by volkswagen, if you aren’t already following Foster’s adventures in his Syncro I highly recommend it!
Suggested reading: the fridolin
Filed under motor, photography
Images from Journal Standard’s Autumn & Winter 2011 catalog highlighting pieces from their standard line as well as their sub-brands TRISECT, J.S. Homestead, and Vulture (pictured above). View the catalog in its entirety here.
I’ve been wearing these pants nearly every day for the past couple weeks while commuting rain or shine and they’ve being living up to every expectation that I’ve had for them. Lucky for this test the past week was filled with showers that I gladly rode through- the pants were not stuck under a faucet in order to report water repellency as you may have seen in other gear reviews. Photos by Chris Leaman.
Filed under bike, field test, wear
Manual For Speed is a project by photographers Emiliano Granado and Daniel Wakefield Pasley documenting the world of competitive cycling from training to race day. You may have seen Emiliano’s work before in the form of Outlier lookbooks and Daniel’s square format photographs of Rapha Continental rides. Some of my favorite photos on the site are of the of fans that flock to races, standing by for the riders to pass by their staked out spot on the course. The tailgating fans are a big part of the sport (dare I say culture?) that you only get to see so much of on tv, they look pretty excited when the peloton is passing by but for a better part of the race they’re just hanging around waiting and imbibing.
Suggested reading: Cross Fan
Filed under bike, photography
cork grips 