ALL THE GOOD GEAR
THE NEW VICTORINOX JOURNEY 1884 IS NOT JUST A WATCH. It’s the first leg of a new journey for Victorinox watches and a statement infusing the feeling of freedom and the energy of the Swiss mountains into everyday adventures. Let this journey begin! Imagine hiking on a spectacular ridge in the Swiss alps, following the path, lost in thoughts, enjoying the calmness and the breathtaking views whilst deeply inhaling the fresh mountain air. This is the inspiration behind the Victorinox Journey 1884, the new companion that can be relied upon for hiking adventures and much more. The watch pays tribute to its inspiration with a hand design replicating the Swiss hiking signs, a dial featuring the rough texture of a natural hiking path and a practical and sporty rubber strap. The case features strong shapes and curves and the notch at 6 o’clock on the bezel looks as if it has been carved out by a sharp pocketknife. The industrial roots of the brand are reflected in the finish of the case, in the engraved material code, and the founding year 1884 is proudly presented on the bezel.
ISO-certified for shock and water resistance, each watch gives the owner maximum freedom during any activity, whether they are wearing the more sporty quartz or the more sophisticated automatic version. The latter takes its inspiration from urban adventures and city travel. It offers a prominent highly tri-dimensional architectural dial paired with an elegant ceramic bezel echoing modern city skylines. And because even urban explorers long for the real outdoors, the automatic version features the colour yellow as seen on Swiss hiking signs and the rough-textured centre part of the dial as a nod to the collection’s hiking roots. The Journey 1884 is Swiss made and features 43mm recycled stainless steel case (black PVD on selected model), manufactured in Delémont, Switzerland. It’s scratch-resistant and has antireflective sapphire crystal, is water-resistant to 200m and has a uni-directional rotating bezel with inlay in aluminium on quartz models and ceramic on automatic models.
The watch also features a screw-in case back with exhibition crystal on automatic models. Victorinox watches are designed, developed, tested and manufactured by Victorinox in its own factory, making the brand unique and soon will pursuing the integration further with upcoming lines. A 5-year warranty is further testimony to the highquality approach of the brand. VITALS RRP $1,995-$2,295 AUD VICTORINOX.COM.AU
STEP ONE UNDERWEAR BY KATE DZIENIS FINDING A SOLUTION TO THE EVER-OCCURING CHAFE PROBLEM IS TRICKY. As trail runners, we are forever trialling and testing the right products to see how far they will go without breaking skin, and sometimes – for many – we’ve already spent a decent amount of money before finding ‘the one’ item that is essentially perfect. Step One is an Australian ethical underwear brand that has ‘fixed’ underwear’s chafing issues by creating what it calls ‘UltraGlyde’ technology, placed where the legs rub to stop irritation. The idea was born from Sydney-based Greg Taylor, who was hiking in New Zealand and experienced a particularly uncomfortable chafing incident. But that’s not all that’s impressive, let me assure you. After some research, it was discovered that 22% of men wear their underwear twice before washing them, so it was decided that certified organic viscose bamboo would be used because of its antibacterial, breathable and sweat wicking properties.
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Step One is also known for its ethical standards, with Greg having checked over 30 factories to ensure fair labour, wages and conditions were adhered to. Now, because of the company’s 100% organically grown and FSC certified bamboo, the production of bamboo doesn’t contribute to natural habitat loss or destruction, and packaging is 100% certified home compostable. Now that we know about Step One’s sustainability practices, just how comfortable and productive are the undies, really? I’m going by the women’s range, obviously, and let me tell you that I felt like I was gliding. Yes, I said it. Gliding. The waistband is soft and provided me with maximum support around my lower tum-tum. There’s also about 15cm in fabric from crotch to the bottom seam, meaning they’re nothing like boyshorts, and in fact more like pantaloons or quite simply, shorts. I mean, you wouldn’t wear them as shorts, but you could certainly get away with one of the funky fabrics sitting underneath any running shorts.
Now there’s an idea for a new fashion trend. Anyway, comfort is the first thing you look for when it comes to underwear, and since it’s something you wear on the daily, I would safely say that Step One has designed some of the highest quality and most comfortable underwear I’ve ever worn. There’s no picking, no ride-ups, and no chafing. Top it off with a whole selection of funky colours and patterns (or normal, whatever floats your boat), and you’ll be gliding along the trails knowing what you’ve got in your pants. I had pineapples and flamingos. VITALS RRP $33-34 AUD stepone.life
