Gear Patrol Magazine, Issue Twenty by Gear Patrol

Into the Blue: Meet the Brand Behind Your Next Pair of Denim 108

Ceramic and Smoke: An Oral History of the Big Green Egg 118

Drop the Needle How to Build Your Dream Vinyl Setup 142

DANNER.COM

ONE BOOT. MANY SOLES. MOUNTAIN 600 LEAF GTX A fresh take on our best-selling hiking boot, designed with the future in mind. The Mountain 600 Leaf GTX is recraftable, meaning it can be resoled and reconditioned to stay on the trail for decades. It’s equipped with 100% waterproof GORE-TEX liners made with recycled materials and resoleable Vibram® outsoles with Megagrip technology to keep you exploring beyond the familiar.

POR SCHE EXCLUSIVE MA N U FA K T UR

Presenting the 000 Package for the Porsche 718 Spyder, a thoughtful pairing of four historic Porsche paint colors with hand-tailored Ascot Brown full leather upholstery and other special touches — all inspired by the legendary Carrera GT. Available through Porsche dealers worldwide.

GLEN CORDLE

w w w. 0 0 0 m a g a z i n e . c o m / 0 0 0 p a c k a g e

F O L LO W U S @ G E A R PAT R O L S T U D I O S

THE “BLESS UP”

Not Your Average Button Up A few years back we found ourselves drenched in the hot, humid climate of Jamaica. What became of that sweltering summer trip was our favorite shirt: The Bless Up. A micro perforated, moisture-wicking button up that is anything but average. It’s technical, but doesn’t look the part. BLUE GREEN PRINT / JUNGLE P E R F/ODARK R A T E DPINK

P E R F O R AT E D CONSTRUCTION

4 - W AY STRETCH

QUICK DRY

DURABLE NYLON

TA C T E L ® FA B R I C

RUBBER BUTTONS

CONSTRUCTION

4 - W AY STRETCH

QUICK DRY

DURABLE NYLON

TA C T E L ® FA B R I C

RUBBER BUTTONS

REVIVALIST NATE ZOLLER IN OUR BLESS UP BREATHABLE STRETCH SHIRT

GBDH2000 MULTI-SPORT GPS + HEART RATE MONITOR 6 Sensors + GPS functionality tracks physical activity in real time. – Optical Heart Rate Sensor – Compass – Altimeter/Barometer – Accelerometer – Gyroscope – Thermometer

Multi-Sport Functionality The watch supports eight different activities, including running, biking, and swimming. Select an activity with the touch of a button to track and display a variety of measurements in real time. Running, walking, trail running – Distance, speed, time, pace – Heart rate, calories burned, etc. Biking – Distance, speed, time – Altitude, road gradient – Heart rate, calories burned, etc. Open water swimming, pool swimming – Distance, time – Calories burned, etc. Gym workouts, interval training – Time – Heart rate, calories burned, etc.

Key training metrics include

Bio-Based Resin

Solar Assisted Charging

– Running Index – Energy Used – Nightly Recharge™ – Cardio Load – Cardio Load Status

Eco-friendly material, bio-based resin, is used to make the bezel and band. Using renewable organic resources such as corn helps reduce the ecological footprint.

Use USB charging for training functions such as GPS tracking and heart rate monitor, as well as smart functions such as notifications and step tracker. Time display is powered solely by solar charging, even when battery runs low.

*Nightly RechargeTM is a trademark owned by POLAR Electro Oy.

Visit G-SHOCK MOVE for more info.

H O E E D H T O W N I JO THE NATION’S LEADING N

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Meet the right customers. Discover New Brands.

Listen to the thought leaders in todays retail world on our podcast.

A FRESH TAKE ON THE RETAIL EXPERIENCE AF discovers, vets, and curates a community of passionate brands providing them with a platform to build relationships with consumers and tell their stories.

Contents The Guide

ISSUE TWENTY

TECH 28 T he Resurgence of Digital Point-andShoot Cameras 32 H ow to Build a Smart Home...the Hard Way

OUTDOORS

FITNESS

40 H ow to Upgrade Your Bike

52 Y our Guide to Ice Bath Recovery

42 L earning to Skateboard as an Adult

54 B rooklyn’s Community-Driven Running Brand

44 T he Superior Way to Pack a Cooler 36 L enovo Yoga Book 9i 48 M ilo Action Communicator 56 O nnit HydroCore Bag 66 T inymight 2 76 F ellow Opus Grinder 86 P hillips Norelco OneBlade 360 96 Z enith Pilot Automatic 106 E xped Megamat Auto Sleep Mat

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

HOME 58 T he Anatomy of a Perfect Beach Chair 60 T he Next Generation of Shower Heads 62 W hy Your Appliances Sing Nowadays

PLUG IN AND MAKE PIZZA. The new electric, indoor & outdoor Ooni Volt.

Make pizza

ooni.com

CONTENTS

The Guide

FOOD & DRINK 68 D emerara Rum Shakes Up Your Bar Cart 72 V itamix and Blendtec Go Head to Head 74 D itching the Gas Stove STYLE 78 T he Dings and Dents of Rimowa’s Famous Suitcases 82 S kincare Plays Defense against Air Toxins 84 H ow the Salomon XT-6 Became a Street Shoe

WATCHES 88 G uillaume Laidet, Modern Master of Vintage Watches 92 1 953: The Year of the Sports Watch 94 T itanium Watches Finally Receive Some Recognition

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

MOTORING 98 G etting Started with a Camper Van 100 D on’t Buy the High-End EV 102 T he Dawn of the Off-Road Sports Car

RADO.COM

MASTER OF MATERIALS

CAPTAIN COOK HIGH-TECH CERAMIC SKELETON

CONTENTS

Features

108

118

Behind the scenes with Stony Creek Colors, which is reviving natural indigo to make your clothes — and the world — healthier and happier.

On the eve of the Big Green Egg’s 50th birthday, the brand’s founder, CEO and a few fervent fans tell the story of the funky grill’s unlikely rise to outdoor cooking wonder.

Into the Blue

A Legacy of Ceramic and Smoke

128

142

Meet six indie watchmakers who are doing things their own way — and producing beautiful, unique timepieces in the process.

There’s more than one way to build a turntable setup — and it can be as simple or sophisticated as your ears desire.

Micro Movement

Drop the Needle

160

On the Cover:

A full-service bike shop with high-performance apparel, chic home goods and free coffee. Who’s in?

Longtime Gear Patrol contributor Cam Oden shot our back-of-book hi-fi feature, “Drop the Needle,” in LA. The authentic mid-century furniture was sourced from Silver Lake’s storied Gil & Roy Props, which has supplied the props for thousands of movies and TV shows.

Detour: Luft Los Angeles

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founder , chief executive officer

ERIC YANG cofounder , chief content officer

BEN BOWERS

executive editor

associate editors

vp , commerce

creative director

JACK SEEMER

TUCKER BOWE

BRIAN LOUIE

JOE TORNATZKY

senior commerce editor

art directors

RYAN BROWER

PAUL NAUGHTON

JOHNNY BRAYSON

managing editor

TYLER DUFFY

J.D. DIGIOVANNI

BEN EMMINGER

senior editors

HAYLEY HELMS

associate commerce editor

creative project manager

WILL SABEL COURTNEY

ZEN LOVE

WILL PORTER

AMANDA BERNAL

ERIC LIMER

EVAN MALACHOSKY

STEVE MAZZUCCHI JOHN ZIENTEK seo manager

MITCH KWITEK

commerce writers

production designers

associate editor , social platforms

GRACE COOPER

LEILA BARBER

SCOTT ULRICH

SEAN TIRMAN

EMILY CHANG

editorial production assistant

graphic designer

MARY SINGLER

EVAN RICHARDS contributing graphic designer

ALEXA EDGERTON

chief commercial officer

pacific northwest advertising director

associate content producer, gear patrol studios

ZACH MADER

SCOT BONDLOW

NANCY 0’CONNOR

director of partnerships

manager , client services

associate editor , gear patrol studios

MIKE BAILEY

DOMINIQUE GAGEANT

EMMA CRANSTON

account directors

advertising sales planners

branded content strategist

JENI ARBUCKLE

ABIGAIL CARDENAS

ERICA GIVANS

JOSH PARKER

ANGELA HAY

JUSTIN PARKHURST account executive

MATTHEW PASTORIUS

marketing manager

MEGAN PRETTYMAN sales marketing coordinator

Where Product Meets Culture Gear Patrol Studios is the award-winning branded content agency of Gear Patrol. We leverage 15 years of storytelling to create compelling campaigns at the intersection of products and culture. We are enthusiasts of design, utility and adventure, connecting brands with audiences through creativity, content marketing, branded events and more. Select advertising in this magazine has been crafted by Gear Patrol Studios on behalf of brands to help tailor their message specifically for Gear Patrol readers. To learn more visit: https://studios.gearpatrol.com

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or reach out to us at advertising@gearpatrol.com

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issue 20 contributors

MATT CHASE @doble_entendre

GROWL @growlbros

CAM ODEN @cam_oden_photo

J. TRAVIS SMITH @jtravsmith

ANDY COCHRANE @andrewfitts

OREN HARTOV @ohartov

KAILAH OGAWA @kailahogawa

MATTHEW STACEY @matthewstaceystudio

ADAM CRUFT @adamcruft

ISABELA EVE HUMPHREY @isabela.humphrey

HENRY PHILLIPS @henrysp

TIMOTHY BECK WERTH @timothybeckwerth

WILL DELEON @willdeleon

BRITT MATTIE @_bmattie_

JUDEAN SAKIMOTO @stylebyjudean

RAE WITTE @raewitte

MICHAEL FRANK @mfwords

MATVEI MURPHY @thecrashcoursekitchen

MADISON SCHULTZ

CHRIS WRIGHT @wrightswriting

INDEPENDENTLY PUBLISHED IN NEW YORK 276 5th Avenue, Suite 704 - 3126 NEW YORK, NY 10001 © 2023 GEAR PATROL, LLC ISSN 2381-4241 PUBLISHED BIANNUALLY PRINTED in USA by TANNER PRINT CO. on SUSTAINABLE PAPER

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

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WE HAD THE ENTIRE WORLD TO OURSELVES

From long summer trips to short weekend getaways, the moments and memories we share together are the moments that shape us, and make us who we are. Memories that become part fact. Part feeling. But 100% real to you. It’s time to plan a summer to remember in Minnesota. Scan to receive your Travel Planning Kit GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Calling All Enthusiasts Earlier this year, something unusual happened. I fell in love with a watch. The truth is, I’ve never been a “watch guy.” Unlike coffee makers, craft beer and denim, horology as a hobby has never come naturally to me. I can’t name half a dozen Rolex references off the top of my head and words like guilloché, tourbillon and rattrapante might as well describe different types of French cuisine. However, writing for Gear Patrol for nearly a decade has afforded me unique access to some of the world’s finest timepieces, such as the latest object of my affection: the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Self-Winding (reference 4600V/200A-B980), one of the unsung releases from Watches & Wonders Geneva, where I was stationed for a week in March to check out new novelties from Rolex, Cartier and about 40 other manufacturers. Odder still was the size of the Vacheron — just 34.5mm wide. Of course, any self-respecting watch guy will tell you slim is in, but this? It’s borderline offensive for someone 6 feet 2 inches tall. Nevertheless, something happened when I put the watch around my wrist and closed the clasp, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. The best products are the ones that surprise you, that make you stop and reconsider not just your preferences as a consumer but your place as an enthusiast. For the few minutes I had the Vacheron around my wrist, I couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe I was a watch guy, after all. At Gear Patrol, we spend a great deal of time trying to capture these kinds of moments through content. And as I think about the stories our team tells in this issue, there’s plenty to pause and get excited about. Issue Twenty kicks off with a quick snapshot of a peculiar product trend: digital point-and-shoots from the early 2000s (p. 28). If you’re ready to graduate from the smartphone or just want to take your photography in a new direction, it’s one to check out.

Elsewhere, we cover foolproof bike upgrades (p. 40), high-performance blenders (p. 72), vintage watch reissues (p. 88) and camper vans (p. 98) — all topics chosen to take you deeper into your personal pursuit of choice, whether it be cooking, camping or obsessing over the width of a watch case. Our features are similarly minded. Levi’s launched its iconic blue jean, the 501, exactly 150 years ago. But instead of resting on its laurels, the company continues to explore ways to improve its iconic silhouette — namely, by partnering with manufacturers like Stony Creek Colors that grow, harvest and process the natural indigo that puts the blue in Levi’s blue jeans. Contributor Rae Witte travels to Florida for a look behind the scenes (p. 108). Nearby, we take advantage of a long layover in Atlanta, where Big Green Egg prepares for its own anniversary. Nearly 50 years after the brand launched, J. Travis Smith sits down with its founder, CEO and a few fervent fans, who help us tell the story of the funky grill’s unlikely rise to outdoor cooking wonder (p. 118). We conclude the issue with an 18-page adventure in vinyl (p. 142). Gear Patrol tech editor Tucker Bowe covers everything from basic bookshelf speakers to vintage stereos, carving out myriad ways to build the vinyl rig of your dreams, regardless of your budget or history with the hobby. Like with all our magazines, Issue Twenty has been months in the making. It’s carefully curated with info, insights and, of course, the best damn gear on the planet. Perusing its pages, I hope you find something that surprises you — or, better yet, makes you stop and see products not as a consumer but as an enthusiast.

Jack Seemer EXECUTIVE EDITOR @jackseemer | jseemer@gearpatrol.com

Twelve South HoverBar Tower, $130 Luxury watches aren’t the only things on my radar. I’ve also spent the past few months refining my home gym. My favorite addition: this minimal iPad stand from Twelve South, which I use to run Zwift in front of my bike trainer. Unlike dedicated cycling desks, which are bulky and only useful during workouts, the HoverBar Tower easily stows away. However, I much prefer to store it next to my work desk as a secondary display arm when I’m not chasing segment PRs in the metaverse.

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

c o u r t e s y t w e lv e s o u t h

Kind of Obsessed

The Guide 26

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

It’s hard to deny the appeal of newness. An excitement comes with being in a different place or getting your hands on a just-released gadget. And while readers will find plenty of that in this edition of The Guide — skip ahead to see first impressions of the Fellow Opus Grinder (p.76) and which DTC shower heads are making a market splash (p.60) — freshness for its own sake is not the headlining act. Here there is more time spent on the things that have been under our noses for decades. Whether it’s a love letter to luggage patina (p.78), reissues of watches from the ’60s and ’70s (p.88) or a wellness trend with roots in ancient Egyptian text (p.52), there’s just as much joy and curiosity in the things that have kept us company for years.

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

Ricoh Caplio GX100 A Semi-Pro Throwback If you’re less into the flippant, fun “digicam lifestyle” and go on about the beauty and irreplaceability of CCD sensors, the Caplio GX100 is for you. It packs a 10.1 megapixel CCD, an uncommonly wide 2470 equivalent lens, raw image capture, lots of physical controls and really really goodlooking photos. ~$150

the guide

Technology

text by

Henry Phillips

photos by

Henry Phillips

Photography’s Y2K Moment

Take the dive into digital photography’s salad days. Low-rise jeans, flip phones, wired earbuds. Gen Z is careening us all over the cliff of Y2K revivalism, and as it turns out, they’re coming for the cameras, too. A certain breed of 2000s-era point-and-shoots are trending, but unlike the denim, this might be a welcome return. Early aughts point-and-shoots have an aesthetic that balances film-like feel and charmingly crappy detail. They’ve got soft, blooming highlights, minimal resolution and distinct color casts and tonality that come from that era’s charge-coupled device (CCD) sensors. To be sure, they also have 2000s-era foibles. They’re slow, the autofocus is hit-or-miss, they use memory formats that will have

you diving into Wikipedia — but isn’t that part of the fun? The best thing that Y2K pointand-shoots have going for them? They’re cheap. At least for now. Good ones can be had for less than $50. Great ones can be had for less than $150. But be careful: they don’t have quite the same value proposition as some of the legendary film cameras. They’re nearly impossible to repair and early-2000s CCD sensors have a tendency to corrode over time, so try to avoid convincing yourself to shell out $800 for that mint Panasonic Lumix and instead treat these as a wonderful, low-cost way to have a little bit more fun with photography.

Canon Powershot G2 It’s a Brick, It’s a GOAT

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W300 The Quintessential Y2K Compact

Sigma DP2 Masochistic Excellence

Four megapixels, Compact Flash cards, a battery the size of a small house. The Canon G2 is chock-full of reminders that it debuted in the summer of 2001. Look past all those, though, and you’re confronted with gorgeous (and plenty big for Instagram) images coming off the CCD sensor, a fast lens and a proper optical viewfinder.

The Sony W300 is probably what you think of when you think mid’00s digicam. It’s small, completely automated, and churns out delightfully retro images. The W300 is a later model so it boasts a (relatively) massive 13.6 megapixel CCD sensor and an intuitive user interface that just gets out of the way.

The Sigma DP2 is a bit younger and a bit more expensive than the rest of this list, but it’s an absolute charmer if you’ve caught the retro-compact bug. It’s got a ton of knocks against it (a paltry 4.6 megapixels, battery life measured in minutes rather than hours) but produces stunningly gorgeous, film-like images thanks to its unique Foveon sensor tech.

$100

$40

$250

WHAT THE HELL IS A CCD? CCD (or charge-coupled device) sensors predated modern, CMOS image sensors. CMOS sensors are better at battery life, dynamic range, and low-light performance. However, good CCD sensors (all the cameras on this list except the Sigma) at low ISOs tend to produce more “filmic” images with more pleasing colors, highlight transitions and tonality.

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

i n pa r t n e r s h i p w i t h

G-SHOCK

produced by

Gear Patrol Studios

Move More with Less G-SHOCK’s latest multi-sport watch offers everything you could want in a training companion. The G-SHOCK GBDH2000-1A is a trainingfocused supercomputer for your wrist. Whether you’re cycling, running, swimming or hitting the gym (or packing in all four for your next triathlon), the GBDH2000-1A and companion CASIO Watches app provide greater fitness insights than you could possibly hope for. Simply put, it’s the most advanced sport-focused watch G-SHOCK has ever made. But there’s more to it than that. The GBDH2000-1A, G-SHOCK’s latest offering in the Move line, offers some serious upgrades over its predecessor. Now combining Heart Rate, GPS and six sensors, the watch can track data across running, cycling, swimming, weight training and intervals. Plus, the GBDH2000-1A is almost 40 percent lighter than the previous version; weighing in at a scant 63g. This featherweight design is paired with a remarkably flexible bio-based resin band to boost comfort— so yeah, you’ll never want to take it off. And if you don’t, you

can take full advantage of the watch’s built-in sleep-tracking mode. Perhaps the most exciting GBDH2000-1A feature is the upgraded optical sensor used to track your heart rate. G-SHOCK is the first brand to partner with POLAR, who has pioneered consumer heart rate monitor technology since 1977. The partnership allows G-SHOCK to analyze and leverage POLAR’s vast algorithm library, to provide fans with actionable tips to improve their training. The GBDH2000-1A can even suggest a breathing exercise to enhance your holistic health. With all that tech packed into such a slim package, you’d be forgiven for thinking the battery would drain quickly. Nevertheless, G-SHOCK outfitted the GBDH2000-1A with solar-assisted charging. When using the activity functions on the highest setting, you’ll get approximately 13 hours of battery life. So go ahead and pack in a second workout, this G-SHOCK will be there for you the whole way home.

G-SHOCK GBDH2000-1A GPS, GLONASS, QZSS, Galileo and BeiDou Weight: 63g Eco-friendly Bio-based resin, carbon case back and dual-layer frame Water Resistance: 200M Price: $399

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

the guide

Technology

text by

Eric Limer

How to Build a Smart Home … the Hard Way Yes! The smart home of your dreams is possible — as long as you can scale the learning curve.

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

Any aspiring smart-home junkie eventually hits what I call the Smart Wall. You’ll ask yourself a question like “How do I set my Nest thermostat to have a two-degree temperature window?” You do a little research and uncover the horribly simple answer: you can’t! Two roads lead away from this discovery. You could move on with your life. Or you could dig in, convincing yourself that surely there must be some way. With trepidation, I reveal to you the forbidden truth: There is. It’s just mind-numbingly complicated. And it starts with something called Home Assistant.

photos courtesy of respective brands

“I’m sorry, honey, I’d love to watch a movie tonight but we both know I need to debug the bathroom lights.”

Most smart-home gadgets prefer (or require) that you use their parent company’s app and cloud infrastructure. Home Assistant, a free, open-source home automation application, provides a path out of walled gardens by acting as a kind of translator between devices that otherwise cannot communicate. What does that mean for you? With Home Assistant, you can control almost any device with almost any other, using any conditions you want, and do so from one single app. If it sounds too good to be true, that’s because it nearly is. Smart devices are a means to an end, but home automation on this level is a hobby in and of itself. Allow me to prepare you for what it entails. Start by asking yourself a few simple questions: Am I excited by the prospect of running a “server” in my home? Can I imagine myself “flashing custom firmware” or “generating an API key”? Can I bear telling my significant other, “I’m sorry, honey, I’d love to watch a movie tonight but we both know I need to debug the bathroom lights”? If you answered yes, it might be time to see what lies beyond the Smart Wall. Let’s get going.

your home to run it. Solutions vary. If you have a network attached storage (NAS) device, odds are it can operate as a Home Assistant server. Looking for an excuse to buy something new? A Home Assistant server runs great on a Raspberry Pi. Got an old laptop lying around? Even fairly ancient hardware is up to the task. I use an old Surface Pro, which lives, never sleeping, in the cabinet of my TV stand. It works fine! Except for when it glitches and my lights turn on at 2 a.m. I’m working on a fix. Apple’s HomeKit notably provides similar, simpler functionality, with a HomePod or Apple TV as the server. It’s a decent but more limited alternative, perfect for normies and cowards.

h al f way wit h h omekit

Apple’s HomeKit is another way to control your smart devices from a local hub like a HomePod, with half the features and half the headaches.

1. Set Up a Server In contrast to the cloud, Home Assistant runs on a device you own. This means you have control over your data, and many devices can operate smartly even without any internet. The cost is that you have to have some sort of server — a dedicated, always-on device — in

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

the guide

Technology

2. Integrate Your Proprietary Products Most smart home devices can be controlled by means other than their official app. Gadget makers create software called “APIs” (short for “application programming interface”), which let “developers” access devices through complicated interfaces for the purpose, ostensibly, of developing apps. When you mess around with Home Assistant, you become such a developer, and the app is your house. Home Assistant has “integrations” that streamline the process of linking various devices to your server, as well as a community-run app store of sorts, with add-ons that support even more. The ease of use is … uneven at best. Some devices will work automagically when Home Assistant sees them on your Wi-Fi. Others (like, Google’s Nest) require you to pay a one-time fee for access to an API that is difficult to set up, even for the technically astute. Still others (like Wyze devices)

only work with Home Assistant via unsupported loopholes in their parent companies’ infrastructure that could be closed, breaking compatibility, at any time. 3. Make Smart Choices If you want to dabble in Home Assistant, do it before you invest in any more new gadgets. Home Assistant will work with the bulk of smart home devices you already own, but it will change your priorities. I used to opt for devices that connect over Wi-Fi because they don’t require a specialized “hub.” Now, I much prefer devices that use the hub-based Zigbee networking because Home Assistant allows me to run my own hub and control these devices internet-free with a high degree of fidelity. You may have heard a lot of hubbub about upcoming smart home standards Matter and Thread, but honestly, there’s no need to wait. At this point, there’s little they offer that Home Assistant does not already provide.

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

More Smart Home Stories Instead of using Wi-Fi, Zigbee-based sensors like Aqara’s communicate on their own local network. The internet never has to get involved.

THE SMART HOME STARTER KIT EVERYONE’S PLACE IS DIFFERENT, BUT HERE ARE SOME AFFORDABLE WAYS TO BEGIN YOUR QUEST.

REOLINK E1 PRO CAMERA Fairly affordable, the E1’s crucial feature is that it supports a video protocol called RTSP. This lets you get your footage into Home Assistant without ever leaving your local network. Connection: Wi-Fi $55

AQARA SENSORS Aqara makes a wide range of affordable sensors: temperature, vibration, door and window, motion, and more. They use Zigbee networking, so you’ll need a hub, but Aqara’s own will serve you well until you want or need to dabble in Home Assistant’s more advanced features. Connection: Zigbee $15+

SENGLED SMART PLUGS WITH ENERGY MONITORING These plugs can monitor the power running through them. Great for saving energy, or detecting when dumb appliances are running, based on their wattage. They also use Zigbee, and so require a hub, but they work as “repeaters,” which makes your Zigbee “mesh” more robust. Connection: Zigbee $50 per pair

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

the guide

Technology

text by

Tucker Bowe

photos by

Cam Oden

Lenovo Yoga Book 9i You’ve never seen anything like the Yoga Book 9i. A dual-screen folding computer with a detachable keyboard, stylus and kickstand, you can use it like a laptop or tablet — or in a couple ways you haven’t even considered. $2,100

It’s honestly a bit mind-blowing how many ways you can use this device. It can be a dual-screen laptop with a fully virtual keyboard. You can magnetically attach the physical keyboard on top of the lower display, so that part of the bottom display becomes your touchpad. You can use the stand and stack both displays on top of each other (or side by side) and take advantage of a dual monitor setup. Or you can just fold the displays on top of each other and use it as a tablet.

The Lenovo Yoga Book 9i isn’t something most people will be able to pick and immediately know how to use — there’s a learning curve. In addition to the different screen orientations and various form factors, there are a variety of gesture controls (consisting of tapping and flicking the screen) that you’ll need to know to really get the most out of this machine. And because there are several detachable pieces, it’s not quite as easy to grab it and go as with other laptops.

FIELD NOTES

“The Lenovo Yoga Book 9i is one of the most exciting and innovative laptops we’ve seen in years. Honestly, calling it a ‘laptop’ would be a disservice.”

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

i n pa r t n e r s h i p w i t h

Visit North Carolina

produced by

Gear Patrol Studios

It’s time to forget the road trip. The best way to discover North Carolina is by boat, bike or on foot. Looking to experience all the state has to offer? Here are some of our favorite ways to explore the terrain – by anything but car. GREENSBORO + WINSTON-SALEM Explore Greensboro and Winston-Salem’s most stunning hikes, biking trails, picturesque waterfalls, and the historic Shell Station. PISGAH NATIONAL FOREST Epic outdoor experiences await you just a day trip from Asheville. NANTAHALA NATIONAL FOREST/GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS Take in the best views in western North Carolina by boat, train or on foot.

CHARLOTTE Discover a whole new side of the “Queen City” on foot, bike – or by golf cart. BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY Experience the rugged beauty of the Blue Ridge Parkway without wasting time behind the wheel. WILMINGTON + BEACHES Spend a weekend enjoying Wilmington’s fascinating history, lively food scene and easy access to the outdoors.

OUTER BANKS Step off dry land and embark on your next great water adventure.

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

the guide

Outdoors

text by

Andy Cochrane

Easy Rider Nine bike components that pros recommend to make your bike more fun, reliable and fast.

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

At 4:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 4, 2022, two hours before the gun at Unbound 200, I sat at a small Airbnb dining table across from two of the world’s best gravel riders, Russell Finsterwald and Sofía Gómez Villafañe. Instead of talking about their race-day strategies, however, we were stuck on bike accessories. In that short hour, I learned quite a few ways to improve the performance, durability and speed of a bike. The Flint Hills around Emporia, Kansas, are notoriously rugged — mud, river crossings and sharp, tire-shredding roads — which makes the iconic event a de facto testing ground for new components, from durable tires to smoother

drivetrains, comfortable saddles and futuristic forks. Finsterwald and Villafañe are at the forefront of this movement, always trying to get an edge in a highly competitive sport, where even 200-mile races are decided by mere seconds. Increasing your tires helps reduce fatigue, so you have a little extra juice at the finish. Tire inserts can mitigate the risk of a flat, which could cost you a race — or ruin a long day out. Some of the upgrades collected here help reduce the odds of mechanical failure while others lessen the wear and tear on your body. A few simply increase the speed and efficiency of your bike in new and clever ways.

Roval Terra CLX Evo Wheelset

Cush Core Inserts

Rene Herse Oracle Ridge TC Tires

The fastest way to improve traction and create a smoother ride is more tire surface area. To allow that, you’ll likely need wider wheels. Professional adventure cyclist Sarah Swallow, who rides remote routes across the globe, recommended these wheels while on a bikepacking trip in Colorado.

The minimal weight of tire inserts is easily offset by the benefits: absorbing shock and reducing fatigue, increasing both traction and cornering, and mitigating flats. Sofía Gómez Villafañe used these inserts to help win Unbound 200 last year.

If you’re looking to improve your handling on gravel and dirt without sacrificing a ton of speed on roads, you’ll want a knobby tire with a smooth top edge. Lael Wilcox, perhaps the best ultraendurance rider ever, has used these wheels to win races and set FKTs all over the world.

$150

$78+

$2,500

SRAM 1x Red eTap AXS Drivetrain

Ice Friction Chain

Specialized S-Works Romin Evo

Two trends have dominated the evolution of drivetrains: electronic shifting and one-by groupsets. In this year’s historic Paris-Roubaix Femmes, Lizzie Deignan used this drivetrain to break away for the win, eliminating the possibility of her front derailleur breaking down in torrid conditions.

A replacement for chain lube, this technology helps improve your efficiency by reducing friction, leading to power and speed gains. Lab tests show 80 seconds per hour improvement. Russell Finsterwald proved it works in the real world, winning Big Sugar Gravel last fall.

Whether you’re preparing for the biggest race of the year or a big bikepacking adventure, comfort matters. Replacing foam with this 3D-printed saddle reduces sit bone pressure by a reported 26 percent. Ian Boswell, the only person to podium in both of the last two Unbound races, uses it.

photos courtesy of rugile kaladyte and respective brands

$1,453+

$125+

$450

SRAM Reverb AXS XPLR

Hammerhead Karoo 2

Specialized/Fjällräven Snack Bag

Milan-San Remo, the start of the road classics season, historically isn’t a hot spot for new technology. In a stacked field, Matej Mohorič took a surprise win and credited his dropper post for breaking away on the final descent. While Mohorič’s dropper was custom, the XPLR is my go-to option.

Whether you’re trying to win races or just avoid getting lost on your next adventure ride, a reliable computer is a handy tool. The Karoo 2 has an intuitive UI, route building tool, beeper notifications and much more. Justin Williams and the entire L39ION team use it daily.

Of all the changes I made to my bike this year, the best bang for the buck is a simple and burly handlebar holder. Easy access for a spare bottle on long rides, or any small item like snacks, sunnies or gloves. Intuitive to attach and easy to remove, and it cinches tight on rough roads.

$399

$45

$633

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

the guide

Outdoors

text by

Hayley Helms

Dropping In How I learned to skate in my 30s, and other life lessons.

After decades of daydreaming and trepidation, I decided it was finally time to learn to skate. I was born and raised in Southern California, so not learning how to carve down streets or drop into bowls was a bit like growing up in Vermont and never skiing. I’d always meant to pick up skating sooner or later. I just never did. As I’ve gotten older, learning new hobbies or skills has become exponentially more intimidating. What if I hurt myself, or look like an idiot while hurting myself or, worst of all, waste a bunch of my valuable time looking like an idiot and hurting myself? Nevertheless, I bit the bullet, and a week before my 30th birthday, I drove up to LA to have a lesson with the experts of GrlSwirl and came away with advice on how to do way more than just ollie. If you haven’t heard of GrlSwirl yet, maybe a woman in your life has. Founded in 2018 in the notoriously intimidating skateboarding hub of Venice, California, the nine founders of the skate collective host weekly skates where women and members of the LGBTQ+ community come together and bond over their love of skateboarding, no matter their age or skill level. After five years, the crew has been on CNN, 60 Minutes and Oprah, and they’ve collaborated with brands like Carver and Roxy. They’ve also founded chapters in San Diego, Paris and New York City.

Over the course of a few hours, I was able to grasp the basics of how to stand on the board, but that was the easy part. The real challenge, I soon discovered, was learning how to stomach the fine art of being bad at something around experts who are half your age. “I think the biggest thing was showing up each day,” says Val, who has been skating since her early 20s and has been affiliated with GrlSwirl since 2020. “It didn’t matter how good you were, how bad you were, who you were, but that you showed up each day. Slowly, I got to know people and I progressed.”

For Mariah, who arrived in 2017 to Venice living in her van and hitting the skate park every day, smashing self-doubt comes in the form of a simple mantra: Who cares? “We’re here on Earth, we’re living and all these people are a part of it. They’re maybe looking at you but they’re not going to be there at the end of it, so just thinking, ‘Who cares? This is fun.’” Crucially, especially as an aging enthusiast, it’s essential to avoid the existential horror of comparing yourself to skaters half your age, all coming into the sport with different backgrounds and levels of experience. “If you compare yourself to

THREE ESSENTIAL TIPS TO GETTING ON A BOARD TIP 1: REMEMBER “BEST FRIENDS”

photos courtesy of grlswirl

“I think the biggest thing was showing up each day.” other people’s progress, you won’t have enjoyment while you’re skating,” says Yaya, one of the group’s team riders. “The only way to have enjoyment is to only focus on your own progress.” Of course this is all easier said than done. “I spent six months before ever entering any space outside of my neighborhood, because I was too nervous to skate around other people,” says Lucy, one of the cofounders and perhaps the most well-known face of GrlSwirl. The trick, she stresses, is to find your people. “We can’t claim to do everything or make a space perfectly safe for everyone, but we can do our best to make people feel what we wished we had when we started: people who want to do the same thing as you, and enjoy skateboarding and their community. Wherever you are, utilize the people around you. It’s on you to ask for help,” Lucy says. Sometimes, you don’t even have to know that you’re interested to start. “Even if people didn’t skate, I

Keep your two feet parallel and together — as best friends — when getting on and off the board. Put one on either side of the screws that attach the truck to the deck.

TIP 2: NOSE TO NOSE

You have to fight the instinct to lean back too far. Keep your weight forward by keeping the nose on your face over the nose of the board.

TIP 3: ALIEN TRACTOR BEAM

would ask people to come like, ‘Yo, most of the time I sit down anyways,’” Mariah laughs. “Just come sit with me!” Because once you’ve come to sit, and the board rolls up to your feet, it’s almost sillier not to try.

Keep your shoulders over your hips and your hips over the wheels. Imagine trying to stay inside an UFO’s tractor beam as you ride.

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

the guide

Outdoors

text by

Hayley Helms

photos by

Cam Oden

Play It Cool

The best way to pack your cooler depends on how it’s made. Here’s how to avoid cooler-packing party fouls and keep your summer decidedly chill.

Rotomolded Coolers Rtic 45 Hard Cooler, $250 Rotomolded coolers are a special kind of insulation-injected plastic boxes. Made from one thick and continuous piece, this breed of ice box is completely leak-proof. Some are even certified bear-proof. Rotomolded coolers are heavier and clunkier than non-rotomolded counterparts, but they’re better at keeping stuff cold and designed to take a serious beating. Yeti is the king of the rotomolded cooler, the brand being a favorite with hunters as well as weekend warriors for its efficacy and cleanliness. But with a name synonymous with quality, it’s also the most expensive in the category. Look to brands like Rtic and OtterBox for more affordable options. How to pack: Pre-chill your rotomolded cooler for at least 24 hours before you intend to use it: grab a couple bags of ice and stick them in your cooler, close the lid tightly and keep it out of the sun if you can. When it’s time to pack your supplies, refill with fresh ice, along with your food and drink.

Soft Coolers Yeti Hopper Flip 18 Soft Cooler, $300 Soft coolers are made from a variety of materials, but the best ones use nylon, cotton-twill and heavy-duty vinyl or canvas. Soft coolers aren’t as durable or effective as hard-shell options; however, they are collapsible, easy to clean and can last for many years with proper care. When shopping for a soft-sided cooler, look for leak-resistant construction and stain-resistant material. The classic example is the soft cooler lunchbox, which has frequented work sites for decades. In recent years, brands like Yeti have taken the humble design and beefed it up with waterproof zippers, daisy chain attachments and more. How to pack: Don’t drain the meltwater. This liquid is its own insulator, and it helps prevent the remaining ice from melting as quickly. Use block ice if you can fit it, or ice packs if meltwater is going to be an issue. Avoid small cubed ice if possible, unless you’re willing to accept a watery mess in service of keeping your goodies cold.

Injection-Molded Coolers Igloo Maxcold 70, $89 Injection-molded coolers are the traditional choice for retaining ice and keeping stuff cold ancestors of rotomolded options. They’re made by injecting an insulating material into a hard plastic shell. Many use styrofoam insulation, though modern options use polyurethane, which forms a more protective and insulating layer with smaller air bubbles. Injection-molded coolers are lighter and cheaper than high-tech options, but buyer beware: their plastic outer shell can be brittle and susceptible to UV damage, and cheapie versions may even forgo an insulated lid. How to pack: Fill to the brim for maximum ice retention and use layers. Put block ice at the bottom, followed by a layer of frozen items and meat, and cubed ice on top. Then load drinks, fruits and veggies, and finally bread and eggs, with cubed ice between each layer of food. This creates an ultra-cold zone at the bottom and a chilled one at the top. It works for every cooler, but injection-molded coolers really need the help.

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

the guide

Outdoors

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

More Watch Stories

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

the guide

Watches

text by

Oren Hartov

The Class of ’53 1953 saw the birth of multiple tool watches that are now considered classics. But the question remains: Why that year? If necessity breeds invention, it follows that warfare should have an outsized impact on the research and development of new technologies. Indeed, this is the case: the confluence of needs that arise — and must be met — during combat are such that all manner of gizmos, gear, procedures and systems tend to spring up, some seemingly overnight. During World War II, when various navies around the world sought to attack each other clandestinely, they developed early SCUBA-esque systems for use by combat swimmers and special operations personnel. In order to fly faster and effectively attack Allied air forces, Germany devised the jet engine, which saw service in the Luftwaffe’s advanced Messerschmitt Me 262. To spot enemy aircraft before they could strike, the British physicist Sir Robert Watson-Watt invented the first modern radar system, which was installed along the English coastline.

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

In the post-war world of the late 1940s and early 1950s, many of the technological innovations developed for combat were put to use in the civilian world — especially by those countries such as the United States and Switzerland that were flush with capital and whose territories were never invaded, conquered or destroyed. SCUBA, for example, quickly became a recreational hobby popular in capitalist nations among folks with time and money on their hands, and these people required a device with which to measure elapsed time and decompression stops underwater. (Mistime your “deco” stops and you risk a buildup of gasses in the bloodstream, which can lead to “the bends” — or kill you.) During the war, the great majority of dedicated dive watches weren’t yet equipped with two crucial developments that would make measuring elapsed time easy: the rotating bezel with 60-minute scale and the automatic movement. Finally, in 1953 — poof! The world got the modern dive watch. That year, Rolex released the iconic Submariner — perhaps the most recognizable timepiece in the world. Meanwhile, Blancpain introduced its own version of the modern diver, the Fifty Fathoms (which was developed at the request of a French naval officer and Special Operations Executive veteran of WWII). Not to be outdone, Zodiac released its svelte Sea Wolf, also meant for underwater adventures. Each watch included a water-resistant case, a highly legible dial, a rotating bezel, and an automatic movement. Suddenly, recreational SCUBA divers had exactly the tool they needed to keep them safe underwater. But why 1953? Why not, say, 1948, or 1954? “Technology for making watches more water resistant and durable in the post-war

HONOR ROLL Blancpain Fifty Fathoms: This watch featured a unique innovation for the time — a unidirectional dive bezel, which prevents the wearer from underestimating bottom time/overestimating remaining air in a SCUBA tank. Diameter: 42mm Movement: Blancpain R.570 automatic Quoted Water Resistance: ~91.5m (50 fathoms)

t h is page

Blancpain CEO J. Fiechter (1950-1980) dives in the south of France.

Rolex Submariner: Though it lacks the famous “Mercedes” handset of later (and current) models, the original Submariner ref. 6204 was born with a shock-resistant, automatic movement; a rotating dive bezel; and a screwdown crown. Diameter: 37mm Movement: Rolex Cal. A.260/A.296 automatic Quoted Water Resistance: 100m

facing page

Current CEO of Blancpain, Marc A. Hayek, dives with Antonin Guilbert and JeanLouis Jacquelle.

Zodiac Sea Wolf: Upon its debut, the thin Sea Wolf actually had a quoted depth rating of 660 feet, which was deeper than that of both the Submariner and the Fifty Fathoms. Readily available in Post Exchanges (PX) around the world, it became a favorite of military personnel.

photos courtesy of respective brands

Diameter: 34mm Movement: A. Schild Cal.1624 automatic Quoted Water Resistance: ~200m

period was improving, and it’s no surprise that there were various companies pursuing similar tracks on making watches for diving and expeditioning,” says Eric Wind, celebrated watch expert and vintage watch dealer. “1953 was finally the year when watches were made in such a way that they could be used for more serious diving with the addition of a rotating bezel for use underwater.” Indeed, it was the addition of the rotating bezel that differentiated all three of these watches from more standard, simply water-resistant fare. It’s what makes them “dive” watches. Most impressive of all is these timepieces’ longevity — all three are still wildly popular in both new and vintage iterations. “The tech is not obsolete,” continues Wind. “The modern versions of these watches are not that different from the original models. They’ve been updated and upgraded, but they’re still great tool watches that are used for adventures even today.”

NOTABLE ALUMNI

The Submariner, Fifty Fathoms, and Sea Wolf aren’t alone in making 1953 a standout year. Here are some other horological classics.

Rolex Explorer: Named in honor of Sir Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay’s summiting of Everest, this souped up Oyster Perpetual is still in production. Diameter: 36mm (at release) Movement: Rolex Cal. 765 (A.296) automatic Quoted Water Resistance: 50m

Glycine Airman: A unique 24-hour, dual-time watch with a special stop-seconds mechanism, the Glycine Airman was a direct result of the proliferation of jet airline travel. Diameter: 36mm Movement: Felsa Cal. 690N/692N automatic Quoted Water Resistance: 10m

Breitling ref. 765 AVI: Early versions of this professional pilot’s chronograph featured a “digital” counter at 3 o’clock that moved in 15-minute intervals. Diameter: 41mm Movement: Venus Cal. 178 hand-wound Quoted Water Resistance: Splash resistant

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

the guide

Watches

text by

Zen Love

Time and Materials Titanium is an ideal metal for watchmaking, and it’s finally going mainstream.

Tudor Pelagos 39 As a serious, technical dive watch, the Tudor Pelagos always had a niche appeal. But it’s now available in a smaller diameter with less hardcore specs, geared toward a mainstream audience. Movement: Tudor MT5400 automatic Diameter: 39mm $4,600

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

photos by

Will Deleon

Titanium is significantly lighter than stainless steel. Stronger, too. And the material’s futuristic aesthetic, not to mention its anti-corrosive and hypoallergenic properties, make it a sensible choice for bezels and cases. Since its introduction in the 1970s with the Citizen X-8 Chronometer, however, titanium has been seen only sparingly in the watch world. While not a precious metal, it’s certainly a premium one: it’s relatively expensive and challenging to work with. Improvements in manufacturing and finishing have seen titanium become available in both affordable watches and luxury offerings. Even Rolex introduced its first-ever titanium watch in 2022. So is it a trend or is titanium finally here to stay? You decide.

Bertucci A-2tr Field Pro Bertucci specializes in pragmatic field watches. The brand has been using titanium for years — and keeping it affordable, to boot. Movement: Swiss quartz Diameter: 40mm $285

Hublot Classic Fusion Titanium Bracelet Hublot is known for experimenting with materials and used titanium even before it was cool. This iteration shows the material is even suitable for its complicated case structures and sophisticated finishing. Movement: Sellita SW300 automatic Diameter: 42mm

Baltic Aquascaphe Even smaller brands like French watchmaker Baltic are using titanium. Such enthusiast-oriented, mechanical watches in titanium and at micro-brand prices were much rarer a couple of years ago.

$8,800

Movement: Miyota 9039 automatic Diameter: 41mm ~$750

Rolex Sea-Dweller Deepsea Challenge Rolex’s first-ever titanium watch is a milestone in the industry and legitimizes the material even further. Its lightness will be appreciated, too, as this 11,000-meterwater-resistant dive watch is a whopping 50mm wide. Movement: Rolex 3230 automatic Diameter: 50mm $25,950

A Lange & Söhne Odysseus A. Lange & Söhne — known for its approach to working with precious metals — is getting in on titanium, too. Its sporty Odysseus shows that the material is even fit for high-end collectors. Movement: A. Lange & Söhne L155.1 automatic Diameter: 40.5mm

photos courtesy of respective brands

$56,500

Citizen Promaster Dive Auto Citizen made the first titanium watch back in 1970. Its modern watches employ surface-hardening technology to avoid titanium’s tendency to develop a layer of oxidation that easily shows scratches. Movement: Miyota 9051 automatic Diameter: 41mm $995

TAG Heuer Aquaracer 200 Solargraph Titanium TAG Heuer’s solar-charging dive watch feels forward-thinking thanks in part to the use of titanium. It’s particularly fitting for a dive watch due to the metal’s historical nautical uses. Movement: Swiss quartz Diameter: 40mm $3,050

the guide

Watches

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photos by

Zen Love

Cam Oden

Zenith Pilot Automatic With this new watch, Zenith goes out with the old — and in with the unabashedly modern.

$7,500

If you look closely at Zenith’s 2023 Pilot Automatic, you can make out nods to its history. But this is far from another vintage rerun: the new Zenith Pilot reinterprets the classic design as something fresh and emphatically modern. Its sporty features and refined details might’ve been superfluous to aviators of yore, but today’s wearers aren’t flying monoplanes — the new Pilot’s luxury sport watch vibe is what’s most relevant to them. Best of all, it’s powered by Zenith’s legendary, high-frequency El Primero movement, and its 40mm diameter makes it highly wearable.

Reinventing an icon like the Pilot always comes with risks. The outgoing collection’s distinctive Arabic numeral font, cathedral hands and oversized crown all have an early-20th-century look that stems from designs made for true aviation pioneers. On the other hand, the 2023 collection’s angular lines, sans-serif font, contemporary finishes and grooved dial pattern, while fresh, lack the same raison d’être. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but fans of the traditional style and the history it carries are left in the cold for now.

FIELD NOTES

“Not every new watch has to look like an old watch. With the new Pilot, Zenith did a great job combining a historic timepiece with a fresh face.”

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

the guide

Motoring

text by

Mary Singler

Ramblin’ Van

Luxuries, lessons and loopholes from the pros.

Max Bidstrup (and Occy the Australian Shepherd) @max.bidstrup Van Model: 2009 Iveco Daily 50C18 Time on the road: Five years

Easy access to trails. Virgin forest. Secret surf spots. A fresh view from the window every day. These are the well-curated promises of life on the road that have filled social feeds for what feels like close to a decade now. But behind that glass screen and just out of frame, life in a camper van isn’t all sunsets, hot springs and carefree afternoons. That constantly changing view? Sometimes it’s just different parking lots. That secret break you’ve been hunting down?

Pretty far away from the waste disposal. Van break down? You’ll need to figure out where to stay while it’s in the shop. Daydreams — both the ones in our heads and on our phones — don’t include the hard stuff. When it comes time to make real-life decisions, though, you want to have the full picture. That’s why we reached out to three veterans of life on the road to get a better sense of the good, the bad and everything in-between.

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

Favorite Parking Spot: Baja California in Mexico out in front of the surf breaks called the Seven Sisters

What was the biggest mistake you made while building your van? Overthinking all the minor details like how deep to make the overhead cupboards or how wide (to the millimeter) to make the walkway. This took a lot of joy out of the build process and caused stress that was inevitably completely unnecessary. Those insignificant details don’t matter in the long run and you will forget about them the day you hit the road.

Isabelle and Antoine @faroutride Van Model: 2016 Ford Transit Extended Length High Roof Time on the road: Five years Favorite Parking Spot: Mountain biking and skiing dictate what we do and where we go, so you’ll find us most often parked at the trailhead or near the slopes!

What advice do you have for people who want to live life on the road? Social media present[s] vanlife as an end, while we see it as a means. In other words, get a hobby that will complement your travels: hiking, mountain biking, skiing, surfing, photography, whatever. Sightseeing the popular tourist attractions gets old at some point, while your favorite hobby will take you off the beaten track and bring excitement to your journey. More OffRoading Stories

Summer Ginther p h o t o s c o u r t e s y o f m a x b i d s t r u p ; @ fa r o u t r i d e ; s u m m e r g i n t h e r

@summerginther Van Model: 2016 Ram ProMaster 2500 Extended High Roof Time on the road: Four years Favorite Parking Spot: We prefer to stay in more remote, scenic areas away from big cities and crowds. A lot of times we will stay on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land that is completely free to the public for camping!

What is something people often don’t expect while living out of a camper van? People often have too high of expectations and think every day will be filled with beautiful window views and lazing around in the sun. The reality is sometimes you’re parked in a Walmart parking lot, not mountainside. A majority of the people I’ve met who live in a van still work full time, so although there might be more free time, there is still a lot of regular daily life involved.

GEAR PATROL SUMMER PREVIEW 2023

the guide

Motoring

text by

i l l u s t r at i o n b y

Tyler Duffy

Matt Chase

Don’t Shell Out for That Sporty Dual-Motor EV

at speed. Blasting from 0-60 in a straight line may be a nice party trick. But it’s one you will seldom — if ever — use, even for fun. You probably don’t need allwheel drive All-wheel drive is overrated. It can help you start going in winter but won’t help you stop. Modern rearwheel drive cars handle snow much better than their forebears, what with anti-lock brakes, traction control, independent rear suspensions and other aids. Combustion or electric, a good set of winter tires will provide far more grip in the white stuff than an extra motor powering the front wheels.

Don’t get suckered by the specs. A singlemotor model is all you need, and more.

Electric vehicles come in two flavors, single-motor and dual-motor. The dual-motor versions feature all-wheel drive plus power, torque and straight-line speed numbers that are seriously spellbinding. On paper, the less potent single-motor variations will seem downright pedestrian by contrast. But don’t be fooled. The less sporty EV is almost always the better option. There’s only so much power you can use on public roads No matter how fast you might like to go, there’s only so much power you can deploy safely (and legally) on public roads. With their instant torque, EVs can accelerate alarmingly quickly off the line, surprising drivers, fellow motorists and pedestrians alike. Even big trucks like the F-150 are startlingly fast

THE BEST VALUE SINGLEMOTOR EVS

when electric. Will the extra 34 horsepower of a dual-motor Polestar 2 make a difference? You’ll probably never know! What you will notice is that on-demand electric torque makes even the single-motor Polestar 2 feel quicker than the numbers suggest.

You’re better off with more range Two motors require more battery power than one. Typically, the “long range” version of an EV is the one with a single motor. According to the EPA, the dual-motor EV6 GT can do a maximum of 206 miles on one charge. But if you charge to 80 percent to preserve long-term battery health, that drops to about 165 miles in practice. In optimal conditions. With the single-motor option, you get 310 miles on a full charge. That extra 100 miles is the difference between constant range anxiety and peace of mind.

Going all-out in an EV isn’t even that much fun There’s a reason we’re seeing car manufacturers explore adding artificial noise and unnecessary manual transmissions for sporty EVs: combustion sports cars are just way more fun for flooring it. The soundtrack and visceral feel of a combustion engine is part of what makes going fast fun. Meanwhile, the dual-motor Kia EV6 GT comes with a soundtrack of utter silence punctuated by awful tire squeal when you enter a corner

2024 POLESTAR 2 (RWD)

2023 HYUNDAI IONIQ 6 (RWD LONG RANGE)

The base model Polestar 2 switches from front-wheel drive to RWD in 2024 for better driving dynamics, gets 68 more horsepower and 118 lbft of torque and an extra 30 miles of range on a single charge.

Hyundai’s sequel to World Car of the Year Ioniq 5 is a swoopy and superaerodynamic sedan with 361 miles of range in EPA testing for the RWD model, 21 miles more than anticipated.

HORSEPOWER: 299 TORQUE: 366 lb-ft EPA RANGE: 300 miles

HORSEPOWER: 225 TORQUE: 258 lb-ft EPA RANGE: 361 miles

$55,000 (est.)

$45,500

2023 KIA EV6 RWD

The RWD trim of Kia’s EV6 is one of the best values on the electric market in 2023. And unlike some of its competitors, the EV6 is sold in all 50 states. HORSEPOWER: 225 TORQUE: 258 lb-ft EPA RANGE: 310 miles

$48,700

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the guide

Motoring

text by

Tyler Duffy

The Dawn of the Off-Road Sports Car Crossovers and other sport-utes have conquered nearly every car market segment. And the last bulwark against Big Ride Height may finally be submitting.

The lead story in the automotive world over the last 30 years has been the rise of the sport utility vehicle. SUVs have become America’s default choice in cars, and their success has, in turn, seen SUV-like traits spread like a fungus across the rest of the automotive market. Pickup trucks have become more popular in recent years by emulating SUVs, adding more off-road capability and spacious, luxurious four-door cabins. Economy cars are now positioning themselves as utility vehicles (see: Subaru Crosstrek, Chevy Trax). And even Rolls-Royce customers are clamoring in record numbers to be chauffeured in the Cullinan SUV. The lone exception to this trend has been high-end sports cars. McLarens and Ferraris and the like have been siloed off, chasing ever more ridiculous levels of on-track p e r fo r m a n c e a n d re m a i n i n g unabashedly pure tarmac specialists. Sporty SUVs have borrowed

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the powertrains, body control and styling of sports cars, sure, but we haven’t witnessed production sports cars adopting SUV-like traits — until now. You see, 2023 sees the dawn of a new market segment: the offroad sports car. This has been a trend in the aftermarket for some time; select Porsche modifiers specialize in building so-called “Safari” 911s, and you might spot the odd lifted Mazda Miata out and about on the trails. But now, we’re seeing manufacturers getting in on the act from the factory, with Lamborghini launching the Huracán Sterrato and Porsche launching the 911 Dakar.

grav el rea d y

The 2023 Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato receives a 1.7-inch suspension lift over the standard Huracán for additional ground clearance. Its track is also widened by more than an inch front and rear for increased stability over rough terrain.

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Motoring

The reason behind their popularity is not hard to decipher: they’re novel, fun and look seriously badass.

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These cars aren’t off-roaders per se. Lamborghini’s chief technical officer Rouven Mohr told Gear Patrol that slow driving and climbing obstacles in an off-road park was “not the mission.” Both cars can still tear it up on the track and rip sub-3.5-second 0-60 mph times. But they are borrowing some features of SUVs — specifically, all-terrain tires and raised, softened suspensions — to deliver an “offtrack experience” on gravel and dirt. The Huracán Sterrato and 911 Dakar are trial balloons; neither Lamborghini nor Porsche is committing to more off-road-themed models beyond. But there’s reason to believe manufacturers think both vehicles will be pretty popular. Porsche is budgeting to sell 2,500 911 Dakars globally, even at an aggressive $222,000 suggested

starting price. And Lamborghini revised its Huracán Sterrato allotment upward from 1,063 to 1,499 vehicles (about half the brand’s total yearly allotment of Huracán) to meet demand. The reason behind their popularity is not hard to decipher: they’re novel, fun and look seriously badass. But the reason we think the trend will stick is the same reason buyers have converted to SUVs in the first place: they’re far easier to live with in the real world. Lamborghini has already gotten positive feedback on the Huracán Sterrato from dealers, with buyers intrigued by the ride height, added visibility and ability to traverse potholes and driveway lips without cringing. “It’s the first time they don’t have to [be afraid] in their daily usage of the car,” Mohr said.

The only trade-off, in the case of the Sterrato, is being capped at 160 mph by the all-terrain tires, which would be a bummer … if you track your car at Monza regularly. But 160 mph likely exceeds what most Lambo owners have planned for their usual commutes. We suspect the trend will resonate most at the higher end of the market. Porsche and Lamborghini buyers have shown they’ll pay a premium to chase their enthusiasm; Ford would have more trouble justifying the steep R&D costs to build a niche Mustang Raptor. But we wouldn’t rule out the idea of attainable sports cars receiving off-road treatments. Machines like the Volkswagen Golf R and Subaru WRX already pack strong AWD systems, and in some cases even have legacies in the rally driving world. So modifying (and marketing) them would, in theory, be a relatively low lift — pun very much intended.

racing tra d ition

Porsche named the 911 Dakar to refer to the substantially modified Porsche 953 version of the 911 that won the car class at the 1984 Paris-Dakar rally, beating out the Range Rover V8.

All-terrain tires limit the top speed. But off-road sports cars should still be quite capable on track.

2023 LAMBORGHINI HURACÁN STERRATO Powertrain: 5.2-liter V10 Horsepower: 602 Torque: 413 lb-ft 0-60 mph time: 3.4 seconds Top Speed: 160 mph (limited) multi p le mo d es

The Porsche 911 Dakar features an Off-Road mode to obtain maximum traction on sand and rough terrain. Meanwhile, a Rallye mode biases power to the rear axle for sporty driving over loose surfaces.

photos courtesy of respective brands

TRACTION WITH PLENTY OF ACTION

$270,000

2023 PORSCHE 911 DAKAR Powertrain: Twin-turbo 3.0-liter boxer Horsepower: 473 Torque: 420 lb-ft 0-60 mph time: 3.2 seconds Top Speed: 150 mph (limited) Production Run: 2,500 units $222,000+

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the guide

Motoring

text by

Will Sabel Courtney

photos by

Cam Oden

Exped MegaMat Auto Sleep Mat Originally designed for Teslas, this inflatable mattress now aims to bring the comforts of your bed to a variety of SUVs and station wagons.

$400

The term “air mattress” doesn’t inspire visions of sweet dreams, but this is no traditional blow-up pad. It’s filled with four inches of memory foam, and it inflates in the length of a pop song. The end result is supportive, soft and much more comfortable than its thin profile would make you believe; it’s even pleasant to use on a hardwood floor. And once your back seats are down, the tapered design snugs nicely between the rear wheel wells to maximize space, providing ample room for one or cozy accommodations for two.

Comfort comes at a price. This sleep mat is not just pricier than other Expeds, it’s significantly more expensive than conventional air mattresses. And its size and dimensions don’t lend it equally to all SUVs or wagons; while it fits nicely in a BMW X7, those with smaller vehicles might find the mat too long for their cargo bay. Also, this stands for any inflatable mattress, but a good night’s sleep may depend on whether your back seats fold all the way flat.

FIELD NOTES

“The Auto Sleep Mat’s price and quality make it ideal for anyone committed to car camping over tents. Just make sure it fits before you commit.”

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INTO THE BLUE TEXT BY RAE WITTE

Behind the scenes with Stony Creek Colors, an upstart revolutionizing natural indigo to make your clothes — and the world — healthier and happier.

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Less than 30 miles south of Miami,

tropical farmlands grow strawberries, tomatoes, avocados, mangos, pineapples, coconuts and papayas around the suburban town of Homestead. Fresh fruit smoothies beckon at family-run farm stands every few hundred yards. But food isn’t top of mind as I venture out under the hot Florida sun. I’m thinking about blue jeans.

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t h is page

Orphaned by the agricultural industry, indigo was once a major export from American Southern colonies; Bellos (right) named Stony Creek Colors after the first small farm she bought after farming indigo on land given to her and in friends’ fields. facing page

This summer, as Levi’s continues to celebrate the 501’s 150th birthday, the brand will be rolling out natural indigo-dyed versions of its iconic jean; Stony Creek Colors IndiGold, the world’s first pre-reduced natural indigo, is safe for use at home.

previous spread: courtey stony creek colors

As perhaps the most iconic denim product in history, the Levi’s 501, turns 150, I’m here to get a glimpse at a small but significant approach to sustainable style. Because these same fields also produce a wonderful alternative to the synthetic indigo used to color the jeans probably hanging in your closet right now. Most cheap, mass-produced denim is full of formaldehyde. It’s the reason brand-new jeans carry that familiar funky scent and need to be washed before wearing. Although the Consumer Product Safety Commission says the levels used by big brands don’t pose a health risk, the chemical is easily absorbed by your lungs and a known carcinogen. Synthetic indigo is also held together by a substance called mordant, which is made of toxic metals like aluminum and chromium, and it may release phthalates that negatively impact reproductive hormones and can cause cancer. “Synthetic dyes are horrible for the environment,” says Josh Peskowitz, operating partner at Untitled Group, a New York-based strategic investor in next-gen style, beauty and wellness brands. That’s because creating them requires fossil fuels and harsh chemicals. The rivers around some denim mills run nearly black, shutting out sunlight, killing fish and affecting the ecosystems and the health of people in the immediate area. Respiratory problems, skin issues and some cancers in factory workers have been linked to exposure to these chemicals and the process. Ready for a drop of hope in this blue ocean of despair? There’s a 6,000-year-old solution known as natural dye, and one plucky company is not only embracing it but innovating to make it better than ever. Founded back in 2012 by Long Island, New York, native Sarah Bellos, Stony Creek Colors is on a mission to create commercially scalable natural dyes to replace synthetic petroleum-based dyes through advancements in sustainable agriculture, crop development, and chemical and process engineering. And they’re starting with, yes, natural indigo. “This is literally solving a problem the fashion industry has today — both water pollution from dyeing and use of

this spread: jeans image: courtesy levi’s; all others courtesy stony creek colors

hazardous chemistry — while potentially helping with an alternative crop for growers,” Bellos enthusiastically tells me when we meet up in Homestead. “The more I started learning about indigo, the more I felt like it was the perfect plant.” Stony Creek Colors supplies natural indigo dye to a number of notable brands, including Wrangler, Lucky Brand, J. Crew, Patagonia and Levi’s. Last December — thanks in part to the development of a revolutionary plant-derived, pre-reduced indigo product called IndiGold — the company netted a $4.8 million round of funding coled by Levi Strauss & Co. and the growth equity firm Lewis & Clark AgriFood. While it currently represents a small fraction of the dye used in clothing, natural indigo is on the rise. And I can’t wait to learn all about it.

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t h is page

Indigo is a rotation crop for SCC’s farming partners in Tennessee and now Florida. facing page

SCC’s Springfield, Tennessee factory was formerly an R.J. Reynolds tobacco plant.

e drive by papaya trees before arriving at a sprawling field of indigo. The first thing I notice is the plants are very, very green and about two-and-a-half feet tall, the biggest they will get because they are harvested before their salmon-colored flowers sprout. The blue color we recognize from indigo dye comes from the green leaves, but it only becomes visible once they’ve been damaged. Bellos grabs a dried-out twig fallen from an indigo plant, pulls a fresh sprig from a live plant and puts them both in my hand. The dried-out leaves are an ashy navy bluish, while the ones pulled from the live plant are green. As we chat with SCC’s director of plant breeding, Dr. Terence (Terry) Molnar, in the dirt service road between fields, Bellos rubs the live leaves into her palm. It’s a quick peek at the fermentation process, as her palm quickly takes on a blue tint. “Indigo serves as the base for every blue product on the market, no matter the hue or intensity of color,” Bellos says. That means food coloring for fruit snacks, blue Froot Loops, printer ink, cosmetics and so much more. Because blue is a primary color, indigo can figure into any color that isn’t red, yellow or orange. “There are not many blue sources in nature at all — whereas if you’re looking for a plant-based yellow or red, there are actually tons.”

“Synthetic dyes are horrible for the environment.”

courtesy stony creek colors

eadquartered in Springfield, Tennessee, just outside of Nashville, Stony Creek Colors has primarily partnered with tobacco farmers around the country music capital, even taking over the region’s biggest tobacco-producing plant. “It’s been a declining crop, so when RJ Reynolds closed down the facility, they just gave it to the city,” Bellos recalls. “We were able to work with the County Economic Development Board to fix up the building, get up to codes and then, we took it over.” Teaming up with tobacco farmers is surprisingly symbiotic. “Tobacco pulls a lot of nutrients out of the soil, and it needs a lot of herbicides and fungicides,” explains Bellos, who studied agriculture, engineering and business at Cornell. “So a lot of those properties of indigo as a rotation crop are good for tobacco. The plant itself has a beneficial relationship with bacteria that can live within the root system of indigo plants, and they are able to convert nitrogen into a form that is available to plants.” As a so-called nitrogen-fixing plant, indigo doesn’t require excess nitrogen fertilizer or pesticides that are used for other crops. Unfortunately, Tennessee’s climate limits the growing period. Florida promises an extended window, but it also comes down to how indigo fits into the farmers’ crop rotation. Stony Creek Colors doesn’t have its own land here, per se. “We were and are still growing indigo as a transplant crop,” Bellos says. They bring seedlings grown in Tennessee in a controlled environment and partner with local farmers to plant them in the fertile fields around Homestead. “A big reason we’re expanding [to Florida] was that we could be in these two seasons when they don’t have a crop,” Bellos says. “It’s prime agricultural land, but it’s also challenging to grow crops here in the summer because of all the insect pressure. It’s so hot and rainy. That is a situation in which our plants could do very well.”

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courtesy stony creek colors

Making use of natural indigo requires a chemical reaction. Harvested leaves need to soak in water to allow an organic compound known as indican to release glucose to ferment and oxidize. It then needs to be mixed with an alkaline solution to remove the oxygen and reduce it. This process enables it to bond with fabric. Historically, this is an arduous process no matter what methods people use to get from leaves to dye — and a consistent color is difficult to achieve. Once referred to as “blue gold,” indigo was a valuable trading commodity before the 17th century, yet it dates back much further. While India is the most well-known and earliest large-scale producer of indigo, Asian cultures used it as dye for centuries, particularly with silks, as did ancient civilizations in Mesopotamia, Mesoamerica, Egypt and West Africa. In 2016, archaeologists from George Washington University identified indigo in a piece of fabric found in the northern Peruvian prehistoric settlement site of Huaca Prieta. Dating back at least 6,000 years, it represents the oldest known use of indigo dye. Historically, Europeans used woad, a yellow-flowered plant that could also produce blue dye, because indigo couldn’t grow there and had to be imported from India. Once the English colonized North America, they tried and failed to grow indigo throughout the northeastern colonies. In the 1730s, a 16-year-old botanist and daughter of the lieutenant governor of Antigua, Eliza Lucas Pinckney, took charge of her father’s three South Carolina plantations. After years of experimentation, she successfully grew enough indigo to begin producing dye. Pinckney — along with the plantations’ enslaved peoples — is largely credited with indigo becoming as big a cash crop as rice in the southeastern United States. By the late 1870s, German chemist Adolf Baeyer had developed a way to make synthetic indigo, but it was insufficient for large-scale use. Then in 1890, a broken thermometer helped Swiss-German chemist Karl Heumann realize mercury could be the catalyst for scalable synthesis in Zurich. At the time, there was little to no awareness of the

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dangers of the synthetic indigo’s harsh chemical makeup, which included benzene, cyanide and formaldehyde — and, in the name of progress, its popularity quickly grew.

can’t remember the last time I personally bought a brand-new pair of denim. I’ve purchased ones that are new to me, but it’s been years since I’ve owned jeans that didn’t have a previous life. As a six-foottall woman, seeking new brands for my feminine figure and 35-plus inseam is a type of torture I have simply given up on. My current rotation includes a pair of men’s Wrangler dark-wash cowboy-cut denim, Gap men’s easy fit from the ’90s and a gray women’s slim-fit Levi’s 512. In my opinion, furniture, jackets and denim are typically better bought secondhand, anyway. But nothing I own traces back to the French town of Nimes in the 17th century — where the indigo-dyed textile denim first appeared — or even to the Bay Area in 1873, when jeans as we know them today were born. On May 20 of that year, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis secured their patent for what has become the modern-day blue jean. Davis, a tailor, and Strauss, a wholesale fabric supplier in San Francisco, created the pants as workwear, making natural indigo-dyed clothing for those outside of the upper classes. Before long, the 501 was sowing the seeds of a fashion revolution. Copper rivets were early functional additions designed to lessen the likelihood of ripped pockets for laborers toiling in the pants. Innovations like doubled-up orange stitching for better reinforcement and belt loops came later, and zippers replaced some button flies by the mid1950s. Around that time, people began wearing jeans for style rather than work. “Guys were coming back from World War II in motorcycle clubs, greasers — these were the guys that were wearing jeans,” notes Peskowitz, who formerly worked as a Bloomingdale’s fashion director and men’s magazine style editor. “That was very cool. That’s what James Dean wore. That’s what Marlon Brando wore. They’re the ones who really popularized [them], in my mind.” By 1922, all of Levi’s denim was produced by Cone Mills, which used synthetic indigo dye on its fabrics. It was the largest producer of selvedge denim in the U.S. for decades.

facing page

Indigo seedlings sprout in the Springfield greenhouse; once a valuable trading commodity, indigo was dubbed ‘blue gold.’ t h is page

A T-shirt emerges from a dye vat made using IndiGold; SCC’s indigo paste can be used to dye items pale sky blue, classic navy, deep ultramarine and even black.

“The more I learned about indigo, the more I felt like it was the perfect plant.”

(Cone Mills still has plants in other countries. But when it got too costly, Levi’s stopped sourcing American-made denim from the historic White Oak, North Carolina plant, and it shut down in 2017.) In 1999, Levi’s started to reincorporate natural indigo with its first Levi’s Red collection — and in smaller collections from then to now. But by 2010, owing in part to inconsistencies when used on a large scale, natural indigo accounted for less than one percent of dyes. Meanwhile, the global production of synthetic indigo hit 180 million pounds. Prior to starting Stony Creek Colors, Bellos and her sister had a four-acre farm and a small dye house, where she experienced the consistency issue firsthand. “I had an interior design customer that had chosen a certain swatch we dyed on maybe twenty yards of hemp silk,” Bellos remembers. “Then going into a production order — which is not huge volumes as it’s for high-end interiors — was one thousand yards. The color was completely different. [But] it wasn’t because of the scaleup. It wasn’t because of the equipment. When we sampled with the new supply from the next year’s crop, it was just completely different.” Most natural extracts are not standardized batch to batch, largely because no one has really tried. “The technology exists and the dyes can work within it, but the dyes are not at a consistent stage to work with,” says Bellos. “That’s the missing thing — an actual concerted investment in changing the way the plants are grown and processed.” Which is, of course, exactly what Stony Creek Colors is doing.

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NATURAL WONDERS Behold just a few eye-popping items dyed using Stony Creek Colors-produced indigo.

Patagonia Hemp Denim Chorecoat A functional classic gets the Stony Creek Colors treatment. Abrasion-resistant, unlined and designed as workwear, this staple is Fair Trade Certified sewn and just waiting to be broken in by you. $179

Levi’s WellThread Stay Loose Jeans Low environmental impact and high style, these jeans check all the boxes. Clean, relaxed cut. Organic cotton. And, most importantly, dyed with natural indigo so they’re ready to be worn for years to come. $96

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“Can we do industrially scaled indigo from nature instead of from synthetic chemistry?’ That’s the journey we’re on.”

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sidebar images, from top: courtesy patagonia, courtesy imogene + willie, courtesy levi’s

Imogene + Willie Sunfaded Indigo Pocket Tee Each Imogene + Willie top is hand distressed and dyed with natural indigo before being set out in the sun to create a oneof-a-kind perfectly faded 100 percent cotton tee. $78

decade ago, I lived in Miami, renting a house in a neighborhood called El Portal. The place is a bird sanctuary. Since then, as Miami’s midtown and Design District have expanded, friends tell me, housing prices have skyrocketed and the area has changed. But at the time, there was an overgrown mango tree in my neighbor’s front yard and peacocks roamed people’s driveways like pigeons along the curbs in Manhattan. I’d sometimes take the long Saturday drive down to Homestead, to Knaus Berry Farms for fresh fruit smoothies and their infamous cinnamon buns or to the Fruit & Spice Park, where Bellos hosted an offsite SCC meeting in 2020, part of a prelude to moving operations down South. On our drive to the Homestead HQ and post-harvest processing facility, nicknamed The Shed, Bellos pulls over, jumps out and grabs a big fruit that’s fallen from a tree (outside of someone’s fence, of course). In a sign of her endless curiosity, she asks Molnar what the native roadside fruit is. (For the record, it was a young coconut, which traveled home with her to Nashville so her sons could see it.) Upon arrival, Bellos and I set up a dye vat using an IndiGold dye kit, SCC’s direct-to-consumer product. Funded on Kickstarter, the world’s first pre-reduced indigo promises to make commercial-level natural indigo dying more feasible. Applying present-day genetic and agricultural tech to natural indigo has enabled SCC to rival not only the cost effectiveness of the synthetic approach but also the human effort and product consistency — while creating a substantially safer dye product and process. While we’re waiting for our pre-reduced indigo sediment to settle to the bottom of the vat, Molnar meets us with mango-and-strawberry smoothies, a delicious treat to sip while pondering the future of naturally dyed denim. “Hopefully Stony Creek will be able to turn [IndiGold] into a more mass-market product,” says Peskowitz

facing page

From the fields to facilities, SCC’s dedicated team is establishing the groundwork for commercially scalable natural indigo with no existing playbook. t h is page

Indigo leaves turn from green to a more familiar bluish color when harvested and dried; SCC is responsible for the world’s only 100% USDAcertified plant-based indigo.

optimistically. “And people don’t get lung cancer and fish don’t die because of it.” Levi’s, for one, shares that optimism. “A lot of people dabble in natural dyes and it’s a fun, crafty, cottage industry kind of feel,” says Paul Dillinger, Levi’s head of global product innovation. “What Sarah’s technology represents is a real opportunity to scale and reconsider the whole industrial indigo paradigm.” Dillinger positions Levi’s sustainability efforts as a series of adjustments to address challenges the brand faces as it seeks to become more earth-friendly. Toward that end, natural indigo is making its way into more of the Levi’s lineup — most notably as part of the WellThread line. It’s a long way from the late 1800s, when most if not all Levi’s jeans were dyed with natural indigo, but it’s a start. And an exciting one for the brand, which has begun to embrace SCC’s product because it stands up to the stringent standard set by synthetic dyes — colorfastnes, evenness, etc. — in the 501 jean. Just like a microbrewery where every batch of a beer might taste a little different — and it’s charming — the inconsistency of natural dye might work for a smaller brand. But Budweiser drinkers count on every single can tasting the same — and Levi’s fans want their 501 Dark Wash Rinse jeans to look just like they do on the website. “We recognize that anything can be done sustainably, but doing it a million times sustainably is a little bit harder,” he says. “So, you ask the question: ‘Seriously, can we do industrially scaled indigo from nature instead of from synthetic chemistry?’ That’s the journey we’re on with Sarah. It’s sort of really technical wonky, indigo nerd stuff, but the prereduced liquid form really does get us past some of the operational complexity. It gets into a place where it’s just a really easy plug-and-play alternative.” Bellos and I get our items ready to dip in the mixture of fructose sugar, pickling lime and pre-reduced indigo that is IndiGold. It’s incredible to consider the kit with which we’re making Pinterest-friendly T-shirts is what Levi’s is putting its money behind for a long-term, large-scale solution to higher-integrity products produced more ethically. Traditional indigo dyeing requires 24 hours until the dye vat is ready; without needing the reduction phase, Indigold takes just 15 minutes of prep and 15 minutes of dyeing. We let our tees marinate for three five-minute rounds, and they’re done. “Some brands are trying to remove hazardous chemicals,” Bellos says. “Some don’t care as much about that, but they might really care about the carbon and climate-change issues. These aren’t the only reasons to go for a plant-based chemical, but ultimately, it’s about how we support the brands that want to do that work or tell that story in a way that’s true.” That sensibility provides hope, but it also requires patience given the massive scope of the denim industry, which, led by brands like Levi’s, sells some 1.25 billion pairs of jeans per year. “There’s no fast track,” Dillinger says. “As excited as we are about the work we’re doing with Sarah, we were protective of being allowed to work at a small scale for a while. You have to try to plant a little seed to help them grow.”

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A Legacy of Ceramic and Sm ke

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On the eve of the Big Green Egg’s 50th birthday, the brand’s founder, CEO and a few fervent fans tell the story of the funky grill’s unlikely rise to outdoor cooking wonder. T E X T BY J . T R AV I S S M I T H

P H O T O S BY GROWL

omewhere along I-85 as it runs out of Atlanta, past the piano store and the car dealership, sits an unlikely church. Each fall, its members make the pilgrimage from near and far to gather for a celebration called Eggtoberfest, and the most devoted refer to themselves, proudly, as “Eggheads.” Even if you haven’t seen the grill in person, you’ve probably heard these three little words: “Big Green Egg.” The name sticks in your brain, and those who’ve sat at the altar, flipping burgers, smoking brisket and cooking whatever else floats their fancy, remain forever bonded. Because in those words is a prayer of transformation; the barbecue is no longer just a barbecue. It’s a sight to behold, an experience to be felt. The feng shui of a backyard shifts, almost literally, with the weight of thick ceramic in unmistakable, glossy green. For years, I’d heard Eggs spoken about with an awe usually reserved for luxury cars and watch brands, not a commodity like a grill. How did this low-tech, ancient device come to command a cult status that’s persisted for decades? The product itself is not exactly convenient. The most popular size, Large, clocks in at 162 pounds. Big Green Eggs aren’t available online but rather must be tracked down and purchased at an authorized dealer. And they arrive with no frills, just ceramic molded into a familiar shape, sealed airtight except for a vent on the bottom and another on top, with a hinge to open and close and a stainless steel grate on which to cook. But that’s all it needs. It’s the most versatile grill on the market: it can smoke, grill, roast and bake, holding its temperature unbelievably steady in any season, whether at 225 degrees for smoking a pork butt overnight or at 750 degrees for crispy pizza in seconds. There’s a bit of a learning curve, and it certainly demands effort, but after a few cooks you’ll have the air vents dialed in. And before long you’ll wonder, Heavens to Betsy, how did I ever get by without one?

“I remember throwing wings on the grill and someone came in and tasted it. It took 30 minutes to make my first sale. I figure, ‘well, maybe I got something here.’” —ED FISHER

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legen d ary status

Sitting on Fisher’s desk at BGE HQ is the trophy he received as one of just three 2015 inductees into the American Royal Barbecue Hall of Fame. Also on stage that day? Steven Raichlen, a fellow honoree who shared his thoughts for this story. h an d le wit h care

With the most popular size clocking in at 162 pounds, BGEs need trusted, authorized dealers to distribute them. Backrooms can resemble the one at the HQ in Atlanta – a wall of green.

Because the company distributes through trusted dealers, its headquarters in Atlanta is the only official Egg store in the country. It also operates as a showroom of sorts. A constellation of round ceramic orbs crowds the room, seven sizes in all, and an expanse of "EGGcessories," from fire starters to hats and shirts that say things like “Keep Calm and Egg On,” line the walls. All authorized dealers also carry the brand’s annual, complimentary publication: Big Green Egg Lifestyle Magazine. It wasn’t always this way. For decades, BGE grew slowly but steadily; as a private company unbothered by shareholders, it doesn’t share exact numbers, but according to CEO Ardy Arani, it’s grown “fivefold in terms of size and volume” in the decade since he came aboard in 2010. This growth caught competitors off guard. As recently as 2011, an executive vice president from Weber-Stephen Products told the New York Times that while ceramic outdoor cookers have an ardent following, “most outdoor grilling enthusiasts find them too expensive and too complicated to use.” Just five years later, Weber unveiled its Summit Charcoal Grill, a heavy, thick steel grill that looks an awful lot like an egg. With the company coming up on its 50th anniversary, I headed south, to Georgia’s biggest city. I wanted to meet the man who started it all — and begin compiling an oral history of the wonder that is the BGE.

BIG IN JAPAN

Big Green Egg founder Ed Fisher, a self-described “youthful octogenarian,” meets me at his company’s Atlanta headquarters. Clad in a suit for the conversation, he’s quick-witted and draped in Southern charm. Despite not coming into the office regularly anymore, he knows everyone’s name and gets caught up chatting with people as we stroll through the building. Philadelphia bred, Fisher studied psychology at Temple before enlisting in the navy, which took him overseas to Japan. Upon returning home, he set his sights on opening a small business, a path taken by his three older brothers, and in 1974, Atlanta’s Pachinko House opened its doors. Fisher imported two Japanese items he thought would sell well in America: the ultra-popular Japanese arcade game of the same name and clay kamado grills. He was only half right. Ed Fisher, founder of Big Green Egg: Well now, you’re having me reach way back. The only people that had access to kamado grills were military people. They found them in Japan and they flew them back at no charge. But by and large, it was not well known in America. It was not well known at all.

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“It's like you've been driving a Volkswagen all your life and someone hands you the keys to a Porsche.” — MEATHEAD

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When I started back in ’74, I had seen them in Japan and I had cooked on one in the States, because someone brought one back. The first couple times I tasted the food, I thought it was an accident, you know. “Hey, this is really good, but I must be super hungry. Nothing is this good.” When I opened the store on Claremont Road, the cookers started out as a byproduct — we were selling games from Japan called pachinko machines. We brought them in by the container load and sold lots of them. But it was a seasonal type thing. And I sort of felt that if we got something else that could offset the months when the pachinko was not selling well, then we’d have a real business. The first day I opened up at nine o’clock in the morning, I had a big overhead at the time: a 400-square-foot store and 20 or 30 of these kamados in the back. I wasn’t at all sure that anybody would go for this thing, because at that time, the metal grills were what everybody had. I remember throwing wings on the grill and someone came in and tasted them. It took 30 minutes to make my first sale. I figured, “Well, maybe I got something here.”

SPACE AGE UPGRADE Early versions of the grill, which sit in the Big Green Egg Museum, are different from today’s. Made of terracotta, those first models were fragile, especially at high searing temperatures. But even when they broke, “nobody ever asked for their money back,” Fisher says. “They just said, ‘Fix this, or give me a replacement. I love this thing.’” But Fisher wasn’t satisfied. He wanted to go beyond low-temperature smoking. “They didn’t know they had a barbecue grill,” Arani says of the original models. Fisher’s true innovation was “seeing what it really was.” But to hit higher temps the grill needed a better housing, and so, in the mid-’90s, Fisher headed to Mexico. EF: I’ve been very lucky throughout my career, and it was a stroke of luck that I came upon this factory in Mexico. They’re a very sophisticated company with a lot of brilliant people at the plant — PhDs walking around in white coats and devising different types of formulas for the clays. So they knew about this NASA product [devised as a heat-resistant ceramic for use on space shuttles] and they said, “Well, maybe we can incorporate it.” They came up with a product that was not only very strong but had the same cooking qualities as the clay that the Japanese had used.

THE EGG HATCHES The grill could now withstand any temperature a customer could throw at it, and it’d last long enough to be handed down to their children or grandchildren. Now Fisher just needed to get the word out.

blasts f rom t h e past

Walk beyond the cashier and you’ll stumble into the official Big Green Egg history museum, home to a collection of early prototypes. Some units date back to the time before the Eggs were made of high-quality ceramic — and before they were green.

Ardy Arani, CEO of Big Green Egg: And so now they start getting made out of ceramic and Ed is sitting here going, “Well, how's anybody gonna know that it’s better?” EF: This was around the time I found out that Sears gave a lifetime warranty on certain items, like the Craftsman tools, refrigerators, a bunch of things. AA: This was back in the day. Half your readers will go, “Sears? What’s a Sears?” EF: So that’s where I got the idea. I figured that the grills were becoming pretty durable, but they could be broken. And, we found out that it was to our advantage if we replaced a broken part for somebody and honored that lifetime warranty. So rather than being a cost to us, I think it was important marketing. AA: Don’t you think they called up a friend and said, “You know what, they gave me a brand new fire box, or they replaced such and such”? So that encouraged somebody else to feel like they wanted to have an Egg. That’s the art of our marketing. EF: In the beginning we called it a kamado, which is a Japanese word that means oven or furnace. But it didn’t make sense to try to sell a kamado in a pachinko store. People would skip right over the ad It bothered me for a couple of years. And one day I figured we’ve got to do something about this. So in the store is a salesman from the Atlanta Constitution [now the Atlanta Journal-Constitution], who’s on a time schedule. He’s

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“A few years ago we got lunch at Osteria Francescana [which has twice been named the world’s best restaurant] and there, amid their, you know, milliondollar state-ofthe-art kitchen was a Big Green Egg.” — STEVEN RAICHLEN

A LITTLE RESPECT While Eggs were spreading around Atlanta, neighborhood to neighborhood, in an early instance of viral marketing, they were also getting the attention of professionals.

Kevin Rathbun, owner of Kevin Rathbun Steak and KR Steakbar, there to pick up an ad. In those days we used to dictate the ad while where he grills on Eggs daily: They were still over on Claremont the salesman was there. So he says, “Well, are you ready?” And Road, you know, small little shop. One day I just rolled in there Did I said, “No, we’re gonna make some changes. We can’t go on and I had my shift pants and my shift gear on. And there was You Know There’s a Big Blue like this.” this older gentleman standing behind the counter. I was Egg? So I looked at what I had in the inventory. I said, “Well, asking him about the Eggs. I told him that I’d eaten some it’s big. Let’s start with that.” What does it look like? steak off one a couple of nights prior. And it’s almost impossible to get. That’s right — out in the world there “Well, it pretty much looks like an egg.” And there He said, “Oh, you’re a chef.” I said, “Yeah.” And he said, are a small number of mythical Big were various colors. I could have used any color at “Well, what are you driving?” I said, “I’m driving that Blue Eggs, which can sometimes be seen that time. Brown, green, red. I mean, it would’ve Jeep out there.” He said, “Well pull it up.” He hooked for sale online or in boutique showrooms, served the same purpose. But there was something me up with a Big Green Egg and said come back in with price tags of $10,000 or more. “Years ago, we had someone come in who was about green that registered in my mind. Maybe beabout 30 days and tell me what you think of it. a Georgia Tech fan, and he said, ‘wouldn't it be cause I wanted something outrageous. You know, So 30 days later I came back and I brought the great if we had an Egg that matched the colors there weren’t too many products being marketed Egg back with me. And Ed goes, “No, I didn’t want of Georgia Tech?’” recalls Fisher. “So we made a test run. I think we only made a hundred of in green. Green did not have a great association. it back. You can keep the Egg. I just wanted to know them, not expecting that it would attract a I thought it was outrageous enough. It’s going what you thought of it.” whole lot of interest.” According to Arani, to catch somebody’s attention if they saw this SR: It turns out that a surprising number of Micheeven big names like Martha Stewart and ad. I said, “Let’s just call it the Big Green Egg and lin three-star chefs in Europe have Big Green Eggs in Snoop Dogg haven’t been able to score a Big Blue Egg. They’re see what happens.” And that’s how it all started. their kitchen. A few years ago, we got lunch at a restautrue unicorns of the grillAA: That was another pivotal decision that today you’d rant called Osteria Francescana [twice named number ing world. make over six months with all kinds of consultants. It one in William Reed Business Media’s annual “World’s 50 might’ve taken Ed six minutes. When he did that, he didn’t say Best Restaurants”], and they knew who I was. At the end of the to himself, “There it is. I’ve created a brand name that’s going to grow meal they called me into the kitchen, and there amid their, you know, all over the world.” But that’s exactly what he did. million-dollar state-of-the-art kitchen, was a Big Green Egg. Steven Raichlen, author of The Barbecue Bible and host of SteIt’s very rare in life that somebody [like Ed] introduces something revoluven Raichlen’s Project Fire, among other programs: I don’t know tionary and new and never been seen before, and through a lot of creativwhether Ed really had Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham consciously in ity and mostly persistence and hard work, makes that invention become mind, but I think it speaks to us on a subconscious level. part of our culture, and in this case our culinary culture. I mean, virtually everybody alive in America kind of grew up on that There’s an endearing quality about the Egg. There’s an emotional conchildren’s book and there’s a certain silliness to it. The name is whimnection. If you say you’re going to grill, people will come to dinner and sical. You know “Primo” or “Kamado Joe,” they describe the functions. look forward to it. But if you say “I’m cooking on the Egg,” people will come Big Green Egg evokes as much a feeling and a memory as a piece of cookover before dinner and just hang around the Egg. The mention of the Egg ing equipment. promises an experience and not just a meal.

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h ome base

The company headquarters remain in the Atlanta area. All other "locations" are third-party authorized dealers, including thousands of barbecue professionals that distribute the Eggs in more than 50 countries. straig h t f ire

this photo: courtesy big green egg; all others: growl

Eschewing lighter fluid, Eggheads use only premium lump charcoal for smoke-filled flavors with no additives. Want more smoke? Add a few wood chips of oak, pecan or apple – also available from BGE.

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ne x t - le v el f esti val This fall, Eggheads will gather at the 26th annual Eggtoberfest in Atlanta. With 200-plus teams prepping and sharing food with 3,000 stoked attendees, tickets sell out fast. passing t h e torc h

Arani has overseen unprecedented growth since joining BGE as president in 2010. Now CEO, he appreciates the brand's quirky appeal — and knows not to mess with success.

“When somebody goes home and fires up a grill, they want to be in their happy place. Our job is to not mess that up.”

courtesy big green egg

— ARDY ARANI

DRAWING A CROWD

CULT FOLLOWING

It’ll be 25 years this fall since the first Eggtoberfest. What began as a semi-informal gathering of Eggheads who wanted to cook for one another and swap tips and techniques has grown into an annual tradition. Tickets for the official festival, where 3,000 fans sample food cooked by some 200 teams, sell out in minutes. Big Green Egg supplies the grills and charcoal, but cooks, who are competing for the People’s Choice award, purchase the food themselves and hand it out to other Eggheads. The official festival isn’t the only one; dozens more, put on independently, are also happening across the US and in over 50 countries. It all started when, during the early days of the internet, a small number of people began using a message board to chat about the Egg. AA: One day they’re talking on about their Eggs. And it turns out like 10 or 12 of them had one. And one of them says, let’s get together and meet up. We’re all in Atlanta. And so [in 1998] they met at an American Legion parking lot. I think it was about 20 of them. SR: You know, there’s that sort of fanaticism and if you just think about Eggtoberfest, I mean, people are actually paying to come to Atlanta and to stand out in the hot sun to grill with all the smoke and sweat and everything around them. Meathead, founder of AmazingRibs.com and author of Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling: People who own Eggs are like Hare Krishnas. This is not a derogatory statement. Please don’t make it sound that way. I mean, it’s incredible. They’re worse than University of Alabama fans, and I say that lovingly. This is not a normal group of people. They are fanatics, they are devoted, they love their device. Backyard cooks start out on cheap, crappy metal devices, which they get at a hardware store, and they don’t cook all that well. Then somehow or other they stumble onto the Egg or they hear about it from a friend, and when they get it, it’s like, “Oh my God, this is so much better.” It’s like you’ve been driving a Volkswagen all your life and someone hands you the keys to a Porsche. Paul Amisano, member of Eggtoberfest team Meet the Forkers: Eggtoberfest to me is just a gathering of Eggheads that all come together for the love of the Egg and the love of what they cook. When I go to an Eggtoberfest, it’s probably one of the greatest learning experiences I have annually. I mean, people are amazing on the Egg. What they can do, it’s just flat-out phenomenal. EF: One of the things, even from the early sessions, is that a lot of people would drive from various parts of the country. Some of these distances were really far, but they did it. The distance, paying for the transportation, paying for the hotel, then going out and buying the food, cooking it, and then giving it away free. It’s incredible. PA: Our favorite part, at least for our group, is just all of our team members getting together. You’re talking what, 25 to 35 people all together the night before. The sheer excitement of what you’re gonna do the next day, cooking all day and then serving it to people, that’s the best part for me. It’s going to sound corny, but you’re in a place where everybody is best friends and you don’t even know each other. You know what I mean?

In 2024, the Big Green Egg will turn 50. For any company, this is a milestone, but for the Egg, it signals something else. The Egg isn’t protected IP. There are very few parts. It’s a low-tech grill that taunts competitors to come and try to take a piece of the ceramic pie. And notably, the company hasn’t expanded the offerings. Sure, there are enough EGGcessories available to max out a credit card, including Bluetooth thermometers and new, high-tech options for controlling temperature remotely. But the Egg itself has stayed constant. Maybe you’ll notice an improved hinge or a new damper, rolled out quietly, but the Egg feels like a product stuck in time. Put simply, it feels unconcerned with the latest trend. And with a fanbase of Eggheads that do the marketing for you, why worry? PA: Actually [the key to its success is] because of the same words that you just said: low tech. They haven’t tried to go overboard and put a bunch of junk on it. They’ve kept it at what it is. AA: The process of developing an identity for a brand is such a difficult thing to do. If you look around at other brands, you know, why does Ferrari occupy that persona? A lot of people build cars that are fast. When you really want to make somebody feel great, why does everybody chip in and buy him a Rolex? You know, there are other watches that can tell time. Maybe it’s because we’re still a relatively small club. If you look at the number of metal pellet grills or charcoal briquette grills or gas grills, all these things are being cranked out by the millions with stamping machines. We’re still an artisanal product. EF: One thing that has been a constant for us in the first 50 years, and I think it will continue this way, is that this company has stayed close to the customer. We don’t have any engineers in an ivory tower — well, we have some of that, but that’s not where everything comes from. It’s not engineering minds deciding what we can do to make the Egg better. We use inputs from the customer. In our earliest models, you’d put the food in and look at the clock and say, well it should be done in such and such minutes. Well, sometimes it was too much. Sometimes too little. A customer told us, “You know, I drilled a hole in it and I stuck a candy thermometer in there, and now I know the exact temperature.” Well, we tried it and it worked, and now they all have thermometers. In fact, now they’re super thermometers compared to the candy thermometer we started with. This is just a small example. It’s still the case that we get our salespeople to ask questions, to find out from the customer what they like about it, what they use, what could be made better. AA: It’s a lot of different things taken together. When somebody goes home and fires up a grill, they want to be in their happy place — the process of using it, the sharing what comes out of it. Our job is to not mess that up.

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photos courtesy of respective brands

MEET SIX INDIE WATCHMAKERS DOING THINGS THEIR OWN WAY, AND PRODUCING BEAUTIFUL, UNIQUE TIMEPIECES IN THE PROCESS.

SO LABS WATCH CO.

EXUBERANT, FUNKY WATCHES AT WILDLY APPROACHABLE PRICES T EX T BY OR EN H A RT OV

or years, if you wanted a “fun” watch — something bright and playful that doesn’t take itself too seriously — you bought a Swatch. Not Rick Cosgrove. The president of an events and marketing company in Chicago, Cosgrove needed a watch to gift his clients — something inexpensive and colorful but also built to last and meticulous in its design. So he decided to make his own. Though not a watchmaker himself, Cosgrove did have a good friend, Andrew Perez — founder of independent watchmaker Astor & Banks and fellow Chicagoan — who was just the man for the job. Cosgrove admits that he wasn’t quite prepared for the realities of designing and manufactur-

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ing a watch from scratch. Still, he and Perez managed to put together a batch of watches for Cosgrove’s gift-giving endeavors in under a year, an impressive feat for any watch designer. The pair were instantly hooked, and they embarked on their next project: creating a company to develop and sell an actual commercial product. The two named their new company Sō Labs, combining the Japanese word for “beginning,” “creativity,” or “layer” and “Labs,” and debuted its first watch, the Layer 1, at Worn & Wound’s Windup Watch Fair in 2019. Featuring a transparent acrylic 38mm case, a quartz movement and lumed, colorful dial variants, the Layer 1 is both fun and affordable, retailing for just $175. Its most prominent feature, a set of rotating plastic discs that perform the time-telling task usually accomplished by more traditional “hands,” marries the playfulness and affordability of Swatch with a design sense that is arguably more considered. It’s not for everyone, but that isn’t really the point. “I think designing for the masses should never be the goal,” explains Cosgrove. “You want critique.” With production on the Layer 1 starting in 2020, Sō Labs hit a series of snags due to COVID-19, but the Layer 1 was available by the end of that year. Much to Cosgrove and Perez’s delight, the three colorways sold out quickly, and the pair began to focus on a second act. Cosgrove imagined an evolution of their plastic-disc handset concept to something more

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robust, possibly involving brass components. Perez was concerned about serviceability and production feasibility, but eventually, the two settled on a design that retained the rotating disc hands but added a mechanical movement, a steel case and 100 meters of water resistance. In fact, they went one step further, repurposing the spinning day and date wheels from a Swiss Sellita SW220-1 movement and turning the complication into a functionless, purely artistic element, displaying 217 unique color combinations as the days go by. The Layer 2, with its customized complication, case, bracelet and automatic winding rotor, retails for $1,295 — a good deal more than its predecessor but still a bargain for such a unique timepiece. As Sō Labs expands its offerings, and both Cosgrove and Perez continue working their “day jobs” in addition to being fathers and husbands to their families, one invariably wonders: how do they find the time to run yet another successful business? Perez, for one, just seems happy to be working in fields that he enjoys. “It’s a labor of love, a passion,” he says. “And as long as we can keep doing it, we’re going to keep doing it.” Cosgrove has his own take on time management. “I think it’s natural for people to seek creative outlets,” he says, “whether they act on it or not. But you make time for the things that you want to be doing. In many cases people choose to relax. For us, this is relaxing.”

i l l u s t r at i o n b y a d a m c r u f t ; p h o t o s c o u r t e s y o f s o l a b s wat c h c o .

CHICAGO ILLINOIS

“IN MANY CASES PEOPLE CHOOSE TO RELAX, BUT FOR US, THIS IS RELAXING.”

Sō Labs cofounders Perez and Cosgrove meld backgrounds in watchmaking and design to offer colorful, enticing timepieces — such as Layer Two’s Obsidian Frost (upper left of facing page) and Iron Flamingo (above).

“PEOPLE DON’T REALIZE HOW HARD IT IS TO SOURCE USED FIREHOSE. WE GET THEM FROM FIRE STATIONS AROUND THE WORLD.”

Featuring a strap sourced from reclaimed firehose and a brass inset made from a century-old British brass firefighter’s helmet, the Valiant watch in Bronze Ruby exemplifies founder Garrett’s bold, firehouse-forward style.

LONDON ENGLAND

WILLIAM WOOD

CROWD-FUNDED, FIREFIGHTING-INSPIRED AND LIGHTING UP THE UK WATCHMAKING SCENE T EX T BY C H R I S W R IGH T

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here are watches and there are “themed” watches. The latter, gimmick brands that spring up on Kickstarter, have generally not gone over well with watch enthusiasts, in part because they’re a dime a dozen, but also because they’ve created a large community of burned micro-investors. Only a tiny sliver of these brands succeeds. So one might be initially skeptical of William Wood watches, which feature crowns made from melted 100-year-old British brass firefighter helmets and straps of upcycled firefighting hose. And yet, these ebullient, eye-catching watches — a love letter from founder Jonny Garrett to his grandfather, a veteran of the British Firefighting Services — have been embraced by watch lovers. The enthusiastic response to the sevenyear-old brand has freed Garrett from the Kickstarter platform and launched him into the conversation of great British indie watchmakers like Paul Sweetenham of Farer, Lewis

Heath of AnOrdain and Mike France of Christopher Ward. William Wood watches are a study in texture and color. Their domed crystals, big colors (majestic purple, for the Queen’s Jubilee) and checkerboard chapter rings are all flash and glam. Their cases are chunky and classical. Then there are the straps, hand-stitched out of used firehose. The stuff just happens to make for a great silicone-esque material, with the scratches, marks and patina watch nerds love. “It’s like being in a candy store,” says Garrett with an infectious smile. “People don’t realize how hard it is to source used firehose. We get them from fire stations around the world.” He then lists a bevy of different colors and their sources: purple from the Japanese Fire Service, desert tan from the British Fire Service, red from the U.S. Fire Administration. “Every color has a different meaning to its fire service.” Garrett’s pride in his family’s firefighting history — in 1966, he tells me, his grandfather Billy Wood saved five children trapped in a burning building — has clearly bled into the watches he’s created. His design language is personal and confident. “If I like it,” he theorizes, “surely someone else in the world is going to like it.” That energy is a far cry from the kind he had working at a bank in his 20s. An aspiring entrepreneur his whole life, Garrett began to feel something was off in 2014. “The job I was doing was quite square,” he says. “You really tie yourself into knots, you know, when something like that isn’t right in your life. It’s actually painful. And I had a wacky, crazy, blue-sky idea at the bank. And the day I had that thought and realized I was going to go make William Wood, that burning itch suddenly felt almost comforting.” Two years later, he successfully funded the Chivalrous series of Swiss quartz dress watch-

es. His next launch was the Valiant series of higher-end Swiss mechanical dive watches. They’ve since been joined by three other watches, all of which can be bought online and at select retailers. But that’s not all. The brand contributes a portion of proceeds to firefighting charities, and has already donated more than £100,000 ($118,000-plus). Garrett is “90 percent sure” William Wood watches will someday soon be assembled in Great Britain. He also aspires to refurbish an old fire station and turn it into a William Wood boutique. Ambitious, yes, but we wouldn’t bet against him. “I do this in honor of something that touched my life the most — that was my grandfather,” he says. “Pride. I feel a lot of pride, knowing my grandfather’s name is on the dial.”

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KUALA LUMPUR MALAYSIA

HOROLOGER MING DARING DESIGNS FROM A MALAYSIAN MASTERMIND

he luxury watch industry has a reputation for being a bit parochial and old-fashioned. That’s none too shocking considering its most prestigious brands hail from Europe’s glamorous watchmaking capital of Switzerland and have literally centuries of history to their names.

So it’s stunning that one of today’s most in-demand watch brands isn’t a 200-year-old Swiss institution but rather a Malaysian company that’s less than a decade old. Horologer MING burst onto the scene in 2017 with the time-only 17.01. With its flared lugs, layered dial and luminous ring etched into the underside of the sapphire crystal — all features that would become MING hallmarks — the 17.01 looked like nothing that had ever come before, and quickly charmed a corner of the enthusiast market. Since then, the brand has only strengthened, taken greater risks and added horological heft, winning over many entrenched traditionalists. That doesn’t mean it was easy. “It’s definitely been a challenge for us coming from outside the industry and the ‘wrong’ part of the world — even the name has been a sticking point for a surprising number of people,” explains Ming Thein, the brand’s founder, namesake and chief creative driving force. “But we believe it’s more honest than hiding behind the ‘history’ of a defunct and subsequently revived brand.” A Kuala Lumpur native and avid watch collector, Ming toted an absurdly impressive bio even before teaming up with five other enthusiasts to found MING in 2016. He graduated with a master’s degree in theoretical physics from Balliol College, Oxford, when he was just 16, held several high-level executive positions — including a stint as McDonald’s Malaysia’s senior director of operations — and spent years as a professional photographer and ambassador for both Leica and Hasselblad. With such a resume, Ming could easily rest on his laurels, but the man seems to possess a preternatural desire to create.

“We’ve launched 50-plus references in fiveplus years, and there are far more ideas on the board than we have immediate capacity to develop,” he says. “It’s probably the one thing we aren’t in short supply of.” One thing MING is short of, somewhat notoriously, is watches to sell. The brand competes in the luxury tier, with retail prices ranging from around $3,500 for a three-hander to $40,000plus for haute-horological “Special Projects Cave” releases. But MING doesn’t keep a roster of core models in its catalog, instead retiring references after their production runs. This practice effectively makes every MING release a limited edition and has led to some frustration among collectors who have to deal with inflated prices on the secondary market, but that wasn’t the brand’s intention. “A strong secondary market is definitely a good thing, as it preserves value for everybody, but the extent to which we’ve seen this happen is unprecedented,” Ming concedes. “We’re trying hard to rectify the supply situation … We would love to do continuous production, but this simply isn’t possible if you don’t own your entire supply chain — something far beyond the reach of a small brand like us.” While MING can’t control the market, it can control its designs, which are constantly evolving. The laser-etched sapphire mosaic dials on the MING 20.01 Mosaic are just one example of how the brand pushes the boundaries of what’s possible in watchmaking, keeping it at the top of collectors’ wishlists. “Our position is probably because we have been asking the questions other brands either didn’t think of or don’t want to take the risk on,” Ming concludes. “Whether this makes us innovative or foolish, only history will tell.”

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T EX T BY JOH N N Y BR AY S ON

Ming and his eponymous brand’s team of enthusiasts partner with illustrious veterans of the global watch industry to craft impressive, innovative pieces like the 37.04 Monopusher (left) and 20.01 Series 2 (below).

“OUR POSITION IS PROBABLY BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN ASKING THE QUESTIONS OTHER BRANDS EITHER DIDN’T THINK OF OR DON’T WANT TO TAKE THE RISK ON.”

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Vortic cofounders Wolfe and Custer honor the history of American pocket watches by turning vintage timepieces like the AN5740-1 made for the Army Air Corps during WWII into something you can wear on your wrist.

i l l u s t r at i o n b y a d a m c r u f t ; p h o t o s c o u r t e s y o f v o r t i c wat c h c o .

“IT TAKES A CERTAIN TYPE OF PERSON TO LOVE THIS KIND OF WATCH. YOU HAVE TO LOVE AMERICAN HISTORY”

VORTIC WATCH CO. FORT COLLINS COLORADO

he features, designs and clockwork of modern mechanical timepieces are part of a lineage that stretches back hundreds of years. But most wristwatches of today are only an echo of what came before. For the Vortic Watch Company, the heritage is a bit more direct. Based in Colorado, Vortic aims to put historical artifacts directly on your wrist. They deal not in vintage watches a few decades old, but rather in pocket watches that date back on the order of a century. The ornate dials and equally ornate mechanical move-

ments are remnants of a mentality and craftsmanship that’s all but lost today. “[Most people] have absolutely no clue that we were the Switzerland of the world 100 years ago,” says R.T. Custer, cofounder of Vortic. In his words, the company furnishes “antique American pocket watches turned into wristwatches.” Classmates at Penn State University, Custer and his business partner Tyler Wolfe launched the brand in 2014 with Kickstarter funding. Today, they have over 8,000 square feet of office and production space in downtown Fort Collins. Vortic isn’t the first company to restore vintage movements for use in modern wristwatches, but they’re unusual in their commitment to the exercise. That’s because, in addition to preserving historical items, Vortic aspires to create American-made watches from start to finish. But the challenge and expense of producing the many tiny, specialized components found in mechanical watches impeded the attempts of young and historic American watch companies alike. Vortic’s solution? Using components made by American companies over a century ago. By combining restored movements, dials and hands with cases and other components produced in its own facilities, Vortic’s American-made package is complete. “We do everything under one roof here,” Custer explains. Storied American watch companies like Hamilton, Waltham, Elgin, Ball and others made some of the highest quality watches of their time, but watch movement manufacturing mostly disappeared from the United States around the middle of the 20th century. Even if these beautiful and impressive pocket watches

ORIGINAL POCKET WATCH ARTISTRY PRESERVED AND ADAPTED FOR YOUR WRIST T EX T BY Z EN L OV E

survive today in functioning order, they simply haven’t reached the same heights of popular enthusiasm as wristwatches. More often than not, they end up unrepaired and in scrap bins. Custer acknowledges that there’s a delicate balance to strike between preserving authenticity and offering something new — not to mention wearable. “We’re not altering the movement,” he says. “We’re not modernizing what’s inside. That’s art, you know. We call our wristwatch cases ‘preservation systems.’ It’s an engineering system designed to preserve [and display] that movement [and dial].” The result is about as distinct from a typical modern watch you can get, both aesthetically and conceptually. “A lot of our customers don’t fit the collector mold,” Custer says. “Most have a Vortic instead of a Rolex, for example. They don’t have a bunch of really expensive watches.” Vortic watch prices start around $2,500. “It takes a certain type of person to love this kind of watch,” he happily acknowledges. “You have to love American history.” And you have to love big watches. Pocket watches were traditionally much larger than the modern wristwatch, and Vortic’s mostly 46mm-wide watch cases reflect those large dials and movements. “When we did a survey in 2019, over 60 percent of our customers were American small business owners or entrepreneurs, and so I feel like they’re investing in the American spirit and industrialization and, you know, all the stories from the old pocket watches,” Custer explains with pride. “Even a lot of people who love watches have no idea about these old watch companies. The coolest part is that it’s kind of like, if you know, you know.”

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THE ABINGDON COMPANY LAS VEGAS NEVADA

STYLISH TOOL WATCHES FOR ADVENTUROUS WOMEN (AND MEN), WITH A LARGER MISSION IN MIND

hen it doesn’t exist, sometimes you just have to make it. That’s what a young pilot named Abingdon Mullin concluded after trying in vain to find a fully functional aviator’s watch for women. “I’m 5 foot 6, a hundred pounds drippin’ wet — it looked like a grandfather clock hanging off my wrist when I’d try on these other brands,” she recalls. “So I got the idea that there needs

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to be something for a smaller frame in nicer colors, but still functional — something I could wear with a dress or with a flight suit, something I could beat up and wear someplace where I needed to impress. I was 22 years old, and I decided, ‘Oh, let’s start a watch company.’ I never anticipated it blowing up the way it did.” With what can only be considered an insane amount of research and hustle, Mullin got the operation off the ground within a year — while gaining various flying certifications — launching two watches in 2007 that are still bestsellers, the Amelia and the Jackie. The secret to her success? Listening. “A 40mm case size, automatic movements, sapphire crystals: these are things women do want, it’s just nobody ever asked them,” she explains. “You’ve gotta realize when you sell to women, it’s a different conversation. For men, it’s a primary piece of jewelry. For women, it’s a secondary one.” All along, the Las Vegas-based brand’s focus has been on function first, whether that’s GMT, a stopwatch, a compass, diving capability, etc., and the brand relies heavily on its devoted customer base, a.k.a. the Crew, for feedback during development. “It takes about a year and a half when I come out with a new style,” Mullin reveals. “We include whatever functions women want and then, we can make it beautiful. I don’t release anything until it’s beautiful. But that’s the easier part, right?” The brand has a big military following — it’s sold at all the exchanges, in addition to Macy’s

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and direct — so for a recent launch, the Jane, Mullin sent prototypes to a small focus group of women from tactical and outdoors fields. The result? A gorgeous $629 timepiece featuring an American quartz movement, day/date function, compass, luminescent index and hands and water resistance up to 660 feet. Given that these watches are simply kickass, it’s hardly a surprise they’ve also gained a following among men. “Our whole thing is that a watch doesn’t have a gender,” says Mullin, who as we chat is rocking two timepieces popular with men, the diving-focused Marina in Belize Black and the motoring-oriented Jordan in Boulevard Black. “You can’t really call something a woman’s watch or a man’s watch. It’s all about the wrist that it’s on.” But there’s no question that a larger goal of the brand is inspiring women to explore careers in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) industries. Along with Crew members speaking at schools, the Abingdon Foundation publishes Brilliant activity books that expose kids to these fields — and awards full-ride scholarships that send curious young women to events like Women in Aviation, CES, DEMA and SEMA. “Not every time do they say ‘I want to be a race car driver,’ or a pilot,” Mullin says. “They want to be an engineer or a designer, or they want to do something in that space that just speaks to them and don’t really know where to start. So those opportunities are invaluable.” Not a bad little ripple effect for a company that started because one woman just wanted a watch with which she could fly.

i l l u s t r at i o n b y a d a m c r u f t ; p h o t o s c o u r t e s y o f t h e a b i n g d o n c o m pa n y

T EX T BY ST E V E M A Z Z UCC H I

INDIE

“YOU CAN’T REALLY CALL SOMETHING A WOMAN’S WATCH OR A MAN’S WATCH. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE WRIST THAT IT’S ON.”

WATCH

Founder and CEO Mullin makes sure Abingdon’s mission-ready Jane, aviation-focused Amelia and motoring-oriented Jordan watches deliver high functionality without sacrificing style.

From the minds of Nunziato and Moro, Unimatic’s U1 Classic looks like a cross between a Blancpain Fifty Fathoms and Rolex Submariner. The standard version features the ever-dependable Seiko NH-35 movement.

“WHEN I THINK OF THE ICONIC TOOL WATCHES THAT PEOPLE WANT, THEY’RE NOT PRACTICAL. WE TRY TO MAKE WATCHES YOU REALLY WANT TO WEAR.”

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MILAN ITALY

UNIMATIC SLEEK, MINIMALISTIC TOOL WATCHES FOR REAL LIFE T EX T BY JAC K S EEM ER

i l l u s t r at i o n b y a d a m c r u f t ; p h o t o s c o u r t e s y o f u n i m at i c

here are two ways to assess a product’s overall design. Instinct says to focus on what’s new and novel, like a sports car’s unique geometry or aerodynamic flourishes. In the case of Unimatic, a small Italian watch company founded in 2015, it may be more helpful to take the less obvious approach — looking not for features its timepieces have brought to the table but which ones they’ve removed. “We try to condensate in our product,” says Unimatic cofounder Simone Nunziato. “Everything that might get in the way of you pursuing your day, we take it away.” Nowhere is the brand’s streamlined design philosophy more apparent than with its flagship timepiece, the U1 Classic. Measuring 41.5mm in diameter, the watch riffs on famous dive watches of yesteryear, a pared-back mashup of a Blancpain Fifty Fathoms and Rolex Submariner with most of the markings removed. What little is left — pale-green indices and a minimal amount of text — pops off the matteblack dial. A blank rotating bezel creates a simple yet elegant border.

The watch’s character comes from its lack thereof, resulting in a harmonic timepiece that fetishizes utility and approachability above all else. It costs $650. “When I think of the iconic tool watches that people want, they’re not practical,” Nunziato says. “People are paying crazy secondhand prices. It kind of loses its original identity as a tool watch. We try to make watches you really want to wear. Your daily driver.” That may explain why Nunziato and Unimatic cofounder Giovanni Moro have priced their watches closer to that of an entry-level Seiko than, say, a Tudor or Omega. “I don’t want to sound too full of myself,” Moro asserts, “but it’s very hard to find a better value proposition. I’m ready to accept any challenger.” The U1 Classic and its price are made possible by the ubiquitous Seiko NH-35, an automatic movement that isn’t just known for its reliability or precision but the ease with which it can be serviced. “In some way, it’s a kind of insurance,” Moro says. “It’s a product that can survive dozens of years after Unimatic is gone and live on for future generations.” The U1 Classic is one of four watches that make up Unimatic’s evergreen collection — each one a distinctive expression of a different kind of tool watch. In recent years, the company has also become known for limited-edition collaborations and colorways produced in batches as small as 100 pieces. While Unimatic’s design language is all about pruning back, it would be reckless to say that Nunziato, Moro and the growing team at Uni-

matic haven’t contributed something unique to the greater conversation about watchmaking, especially in Italy. Unlike other notable brands from the region, such as Bulgari and Panerai, which manufacture watches in Switzerland, Unimatic displays the words “Made in Italy” on every dial. “We are proud of that,” Nunziato says. All Unimatic watches are assembled, tested and packaged a mere 30-minute drive from Milan. The dial and strap manufacturers are also close by. “For us, Italy is a seal of quality.” Beyond the artisanal aspect, being a small Italian watch brand has afforded Unimatic a kind of freedom too seldom seen in the watch world. “The Swiss are good for a number of things but they have a very traditional approach to products,” Moro says. “For better or worse, what we do is different to what some Swiss guy would’ve done.”

A CHOOSE YOUR OWN VINYL ADVENTURE

Despite it being a 19th-century invention, vinyl has played a pivotal role in the preservation of hi-fi. The format now outsells CDs, with more than 41 million vinyl LPs sold in 2022 alone. Vinyl is the king of analog audio — the central nervous system of any respectable at-home rig. TEXT BY TUCKER BOWE

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Of course, there are quite a few ways to build a modern turntable system. And it can be as easy or complicated, affordable or wildly expensive, as you want. High fidelity is a bottomless rabbit hole of wisdom, know-how and equipment. The only consistent throughline is that everybody’s welcome.

photo by cam oden

There’s more than one way to build a turntable setup — and it can be as simple or sophisticated as your ears desire.

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BEGINNER

One of the simplest ways to create an excellent vinyl system is to pair an integrated turntable with a set of active or powered bookshelf speakers. The integrated turntable has a built-in preamp and the speakers have their own built-in amplification. Just connect the two components (typically via an RCA or line-in connection) and you’re good to go. Active speakers typically support wireless streaming over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth as well, so you can stream songs from Apple Music or Spotify if you’re still building out your record collection.

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Q Acoustics M20 HD $499

top: photo by cam oden; bottom: courtesy q acoustics

U-Turn Audio Orbit Plus $399

What Are Active Speakers Again?

Q Acoustics Q Active 200 $2,000

Active speakers combine certain components of a traditional stereo system — specifically a pair of bookshelf speakers, a power amplifier and built-in wired and wireless connectivity — into one easy-to-use package. You can hook them up to a turntable, CD player, laptop or even sometimes a TV. You can even stream music to them over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

,39

this image: cam oden; all others courtesy of respective brands

KEF LS50 Wireless II $2,799

Active speakers take up less overall space since the amplifier and components are hidden inside the speakers. And they typically sound big and dynamic with very little distortion because the amplification has been perfectly matched to drive the speakers. The catch? They’re not cheap, even at the entry level. The difference between beginner models and their highend equivalents comes down to the size, power and acoustic technologies of the speakers themselves, as well as their versatility (the number of wired and wireless sources they support).

How to Turn Your Bookshelf Speakers into Computer Speakers If you have an unused pair of passive bookshelf speakers lying around, you can turn them into a pretty excellent sound system for your laptop or computer. All you need is a desktop amplifier like the Audioengine N22 that’s perfectly powered to drive bookshelf-sized speakers. It has a built-in headphone amp for more private listening sessions, as well as a second audio input that can connect a turntable (with a builtin preamp).

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Audioengine N22 $199

VINYL CARE

You have to take care of your vinyl records for them to sound their best. It’s not difficult but it does require constant effort. Fortunately, there are products out there to help.

Brush Your Records Before Playing Them A carbon-fiber brush removes dust, dirt and static from the record’s grooves so that the turntable’s stylus can read the record more accurately. Pro-Ject Brush It Carbon Fiber Record Brush $15

Store Your Records Upright Vinyl should always be stored upright instead of flat, and preferably in a cool, dark place, to prevent it from warping.

left: photo by cam oden; all others: courtesy

Symbol Audio Dovetail Record Crate $250

Clean Your Stylus After Each Listening Session

Use a Plastic Record Sleeve

Wet Clean Your Records Fairly Often

A plastic record sleeve is softer and does a better job at preventing static (which then attracts dust) than the paper ones that come inside most albums.

Wet cleaning your records can help remove dust, dirt, static and natural oils from the surface of your record so that they sound better and last longer.

Each time you play a record, your turntable’s stylus picks up the dirt and dust from the record’s grooves. If not cleaned, a dirty stylus can wear down your record and even damage it.

Mobile Fidelity Original Master Sleeves $20

Groovewasher Vinyl Record Cleaning Kit $35

Onzow Zerodust Stylus Cleaner $29

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PSB Alpha P5 $499

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g rid

X A3

5 $39 9

left: photo by cam oden; all others: courtesy

Pro-Ject Debut Carbon EVO $599

Another way to build a great vinyl hi-fi system is with a turntable, an integrated amplifier and a set of passive loudspeakers. The advantage with this setup is that it’s still relatively simple — there are only three components — but it offers the flexibility to change or upgrade it down the road. For example, you can swap in a different turntable or different pair of speakers without having to get a new integrated amplifier.

The key component in this setup is the integrated amplifier. It’s a power amplifier and a phono preamplifier all in one, meaning you can connect your turntable and power your speakers. Different integrated amplifiers have different abilities but most high-end options also support a range of wired and wireless connections. This means you can potentially connect another audio source or stream music over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

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INTERMEDIATE Schiit Audio Ragnarok 2 $1,799+ The Ragnarok 2 is a beast of an integrated amplifier that weighs 32 pounds and is capable of delivering 100 watts per channel. The “fully loaded” version comes with a phono stage for connecting your turntable. Rega io $725 The Rega io is an entry-level integrated amplifier that delivers 30 watts per channel, which is more than enough to drive a pair of bookshelf speakers.

WHY INTEGRATED AMPS ARE THE FUTURE OF HI-FI Marantz Model 30 $2,999 The Marantz Model 30 is an absolutely gorgeous integrated amplifier with enough power to drive a wide range of speakers. It has a unique phono stage that can support a turntable with either a moving magnet (MM) or moving coil (MC) cartridge.

An integrated amplifier is arguably the most popular component in modern hi-fi. It combines a power amplifier, a built-in phono preamplifier (which you need to connect a turntable) and, often, both analog and digital connections. It can drive your loudspeakers and connect your turntable, depending on the integrated amplifier, and it allows you to stream or play audio in myriad ways. Integrated amplifiers vary quite a bit. The more expensive models have powerful amps and high-quality components (like phono preamps and DACs) but they also gain more features and connections. The higher-quality integrated amps typically have more analog inputs for multiple audio sources (like a turntable, CD player or TV), as well as a multitude of wireless streaming support. Note: many affordable integrated amps lack wireless streaming functionality.

What’s the Difference Between a Cheap and Expensive Phono Cartridge?

top and right center: photos by cam oden; all others: courtesy

A phono cartridge is the highly sophisticated component that sits on the end of a turntable’s tonearm. It holds the stylus and, most importantly, converts the vibrations picked up from the stylus into an analog signal. It’s one of the most vital components in any turntable setup. It’s also one of the easiest to upgrade. There are two main types of phono cartridges, moving magnet (MM) and moving coil (MC), and they both work toward the same end: to convert vibrations into an audio signal, albeit very differently. MM cartridges are significantly easier to make, but they’re not as sensitive and thus deliver a less accurate signal. This is why most higher-end turntables have MC cartridges. Some of the more affordable turntables only accept MM cartridges, so double-check before you splurge on a top-ofthe-line replacement. If you can, however, an MC cartridge may be well worth your while. They sit deeper in the record’s grooves and do a better job extracting detail while minimizing distortion.

MM Cartridge: Ortofon 2M Red $99

MC Cartridge: Denon DL-103 $299

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VINYL HITS DIFFERENT, BUT HOW?

Michael Fremer

Oscar Zambrano

Dave Malekpour

Johanna Lassig

Hank Shocklee

is a veteran audio journalist and music critic. He is editor-inchief of TrackingAngle. com and is the editor at large at The Absolute Sound.

is the founder of Zampol Productions, an acclaimed NYC recording studio. He has worked on three Grammy-winning albums and collaborated with Harry Styles, Justin Timberlake, Kelly Clarkson and Shania Twain.

is the founder and president of Professional Audio Design (PAD), a retailer and design group that specializes in building professional studios and personal listening rooms.

is a buyer and merchandise manager at Waterloo Records, a popular record shop in Austin, Texas.

is a Grammy-nominated producer and an inductee in the 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He cofounded Public Enemy and was a founding member of the Bomb Squad.

Nirvana Unplugged in New York “The 2009 ‘cut from tape by Bernie Grundman ORG LP’ edition puts you in Sony Studios where it was recorded and delivers texture and dynamic nuance.”

left: photo by cam oden; all others: courtesy

We asked a number of musicians, audio professionals and vinyl lovers to share their favorite albums on the format.

Joni Mitchell Blue “The 192k/24 bit MQA Tidal file sounds more vibrant and three dimensional than the 192/24 bit Qobuz file, which is sweeter and somewhat softer, but the vinyl combines the best of both.”

Jack White Lazaretto “The Ultra LP edition has hidden tracks under the label that play at different speeds, and side A plays from the inside out. One song even has two different intros depending on where you put the needle.” Billy Joel The Stranger “The first track of side two, ‘Vienna,’ is one of my favorite songs. The reverb used throughout this entire album is the one thing that really stands out.”

Joan Armatrading Show Some Emotion “A warm record with a unique feeling that transcends time, and the record speaks to me, capturing the excitement in her voice.”

Pink Floyd A Saucerful of Secrets “When I put this on, I feel like I am more inside the music experience with the limitations of the era in recording. The low end isn’t huge, but it feels very natural though they were pushing the envelope of recording for their time.”

Glass Animals Zaba “On vinyl, these tropical hypnotic tracks are given new depth. The way the sounds of this record bounce and writhe around you is especially evident when the turntable is hooked up to some good speakers.” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Soul “The way vinyl lends it warmth to the songs on this record is like nothing else. The score floats through a room and you feel morning sun even if you spin it at night.”

King Tubby Never Run Away: Dub Plate Specials “Mega producer Bunny Lee is one the most influential producers in the roots reggae vibrations. His hi-fi sounds working out of King Tubby’s studio fashioned the local Jamaican scene.”

Makaya McCraven In the Moment “Recorded live and straight to wax. The improvisational kaleidoscope off the top of the dome vibrations. This experiential approach and technique is as refreshing as waking up and breathing that good breath of life.”

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Clearaudio Nano V2 Phono Preamp $500

M ar

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Marantz TT15S1 $1,799

025

$9 9 9

right: photo by cam oden; all others: courtesy of respective brands

Hi-fi is a tinkerer’s hobby. Every component in the system — from the turntable to the speakers, amplifier to the phono preamp — can be upgraded and changed, which will then have an impact on the end sound. However, complicated setups aren’t without risk. More individual components mean that there is ample room for error. You need to know the various preamp, amplifier and speakers will all work together. And if one thing goes awry, they all do. For serious audiophiles, the payoff is clear. Building a vinyl rig with individual components rather than integrated speakers and such allows a setup to evolve with both technology and one’s individual preferences. Because when it comes to vinyl, the journey is the destination. And who knows how far or deep it can go?

Klipsch Heresy IV $2,998

IsoAcoustics Iso-Puck Mini $100 for 8-pack

PASS THE PUCK Not everything in a vinyl setup has to be super expensive. Take, for example, isolation pucks. They’re super simple accessories but have a very important job: to sit underneath your speakers and other audio components and dampen vibration, public enemy number one in the realm of high fidelity. In other words, they’re a safety net to ensure that a system sounds its best. The inherent issue with hi-fi, or audio in general, is that it needs vibrations. A loudspeaker must vibrate its drivers to produce sound waves. A turntable’s stylus needs vibrations

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from the record grooves to create a signal. But vibrations can have a negative impact, too. Your speakers can shake the surface of your turntable, affecting its stylus’s ability to pick up an accurate signal, and thus hurting the end sound quality. This is one reason why higher-end turntables, speakers and other hi-fi components are more expensive — they are built with better materials and technologies for fighting against unwanted vibrations. Isolation pucks also go to battle in the name of high fidelity, but for a fraction of the cost.

top left: photo by cam oden; all others: courtesy of respective brands

EXPERT

dara $299 Sun an iM iF H

Better Headphones Every true audio lover should have a nice pair of wired open-back headphones. Yep, old school. The open back creates an incredibly wide, vibrant and immersive sound. It’s the closest you’re going to get to the sound of a live performance from a pair of headphones. Open-back headphones have a number of other things going for them. They’re generally more comfortable thanks to their lightweight design, larger earcups and natural ventilation — all things that prevent ear fatigue and allow you to have longer listening sessions. The other thing is there’s more diversity. Unlike closed-back headphones, which almost exclusively come with dynamic drivers, open-back headphones feature dynamic, electrostatic or even really expensive planar magnetic drivers. Sennheiser HD 660S2 $600

Grado SR60x $99

Of course, open-back headphones aren’t for every situation. They’re not wireless and therefore not really portable. Most require an external amplifier for them to sound their best. Also, their open-back design leaks sound and lets outside sounds in, meaning they’re really only great for listening when you’re alone and in a very quiet environment.

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THE MOST POPULAR VINTAGE STEREO RECEIVERS You can’t doubt the appeal of vintage audio equipment, especially stereo receivers. With their giant metal knobs, faux-wood paneling and glow-up facades, they have a unique cool factor that modern equipment just can’t match. Plus, there’s a “thrill of the hunt,” as vintage audio equipment can be difficult to find and time-consuming to restore.

However, not everyone agrees on their sonic capacity. Just like vinyl, a vintage stereo receiver can deliver a warmer, albeit imperfect, sound. But for some enthusiasts, that’s just part of the draw. Here, Drew Brown, the merchandising manager at Reverb, the largest online marketplace for buying and selling vintage audio gear, shares five of the internet’s most popular vintage receivers.

Pioneer SX-980 Receiver 1978 “This vintage monster puts out eighty watts per channel of highly tweakable sonic power. This receiver is capable of powering even the most inefficient speakers and amazes with full bass and very detailed treble.” ~$2,000

l e f t : p h oto by ca m o d e n ; a l l ot h e rs : cou rt esy o f au ra l h i f i

EXPERT

McIntosh MAC1700 Receiver 1967 “This hybrid unit is one of the more affordable McIntoshes on the market. A solid state pre- and power-amp, it’s also paired with a tube tuner. The McIntosh sound is a bit different than some of the others here, and many say it’s more true to the source material you are playing, adding less coloration. However, that doesn’t mean it’s a clinical listening experience. The McIntosh can be listened to for hours on end without any ear fatigue due to its clean and clear sonics.” ~$1,200

Marantz 2270 Receiver 1971 “With seventy watts per channel, this vintage powerhouse is the bestselling model on Reverb. The blue lights, horizontal tuning wheel and WC22 wood case give this amp the look everyone seems to want, and the warm, analog ‘tube-like’ sound it provides is every bit as wonderful.” ~$2,100

Fisher 800C Receiver 1964 “Many consider Avery Fisher to have made the best receivers of all time. These Tube receivers require more know-how than a solid state unit but deliver ample rewards for your effort with true tube power and warmth. The stereo separation on Fisher gear is second to none; listening to vinyl through a well-maintained tube amp can be like listening to your favorite records again for the very first time.” ~$1,400 Marantz 1060 Integrated Amp 1971 “The bestselling Marantz integrated amp on Reverb, the 1060 has both power and preamplifier, but no tuner for radio. With a little less power per channel than the 2270 — but the same analog warmth — it’s our second most popular vintage unit. That said, it’s missing the iconic Marantz blue tuner.” ~$700

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DETOUR

text by

Jack Seemer

photography by

Cody Chouinard

LUFT LOS ANGELES A FULL-SERVICE BIKE SHOP WITH HIGHPERFORMANCE APPAREL, CHIC HOME GOODS AND FREE COFFEE. WHO’S IN? 1930 Lincoln Blvd, Venice, CA 90291 Tuesday–Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Were it not for the fancy road bikes parked in the window display, you might mistake Luft Los Angeles for just another Venice surf shop. That’s precisely the point. “We had this vision,” says Kristen Kuzemko, who opened this cycling haven in 2021 with business partners Cody Chouinard and Zachary Lambert (founder of BlackHeart Bike Company). “How do you treat a bike shop like a surf shop? Someplace that fosters creativity and culture from a larger standpoint.” The answer is a full-service bike shop with a hyper-curated range of apparel and accessories that doubles as a de facto community center for LA’s diverse cycling scene. “It’s not the most welcoming sport. It’s intimidating,” Lambert says. “The whole space is designed to bring more people into cycling, to make them feel welcome.” On the floor, the founders have gotten selective about which brands the shop carries. “Cycling-kit brands, in particular, they have to have a women’s line. We try our best to carry equal part men’s and women’s product in the space,” Chouinard More Cycling says. Once a month, Luft Los Angeles choosStories es one of the brands to help host a group ride around the city. If that doesn’t sound inviting enough, how about some freshly brewed pour-over? Chouinard, a former barista, offers “community-free” coffee to anyone who asks. “It’s a simple thing that’s just an added bonus,” he says. “A pleasant surprise.”

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“THE WHOLE SPACE IS DESIGNED TO BRING MORE PEOPLE INTO CYCLING.” — ZACHARY LAMBERT, COFOUNDER

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