Review of the GORUCK GR Echo

My buddy Álvaro Serrano has nailed it yet again with his review of the GORUCK GR Echo daypack this morning over at Tools & Toys.

[T]he Echo thrives in an urban environment. Its understated looks and slim profile make it easy to dart through crowded areas like subways, shopping malls and the like, while providing the assurance that your belongings are always safe.

However, don’t let its discreet appearance fool you into thinking this is an ordinary bag. The Echo shares much of its DNA with the rest of the GORUCK packs and like them, this bag can take whatever you throw at it, and then some.

As usual, the photos are gorgeous and worth clicking for alone. Check it out.

Cast Iron Skillet Care and Recipes

This morning over on Tools & Toys I published a guide to cooking with and maintaining a great cast iron skillet, plus some recommended accessories and recipes.

Not only do [cast iron skillets] perform awesomely in the kitchen (once they get hot, they stay hot), but with proper care and maintenance they can literally last generations. If you’ve ever been lucky enough to be given a grandparent’s old cast iron skillet, relish this gift and take care of it. It will take care of you in return.

There are so many myths out there surrounding cast iron. I've done a lot of research on the subject over the years, trying to discern fact from fiction and experimenting on my own skillet to see what works. I wanted to write a guide covering the sort of information I wish I'd been given when I inherited my grandma's old skillet after she passed.

A truly in-depth, comprehensive guide would have been far too long for one article (probably more like book-length), but I think I managed to distill a good deal of information into this one-page resource. Think of it as "Cast Iron 101".

The SIRUI T-025X Travel Tripod

Álvaro Serrano wrote a review of the SIRUI T-025X travel tripod for Tools & Toys:

In a nutshell, the T-025X is one of the world’s most compact and lightweight full-size travel tripods, but what really sets it apart from the competition is its incredible balance of performance, features, portability and price. There may be some slightly lighter tripods out there, and tripods that can withstand more load. There are probably also taller tripods, and tripods that offer more stability. But you’d be hard pressed to find one that matches the T-025X in all those features at the same time, and even more hard-pressed to find another carbon-fiber tripod that can do all that at this price point.

You wouldn’t necessarily read the term tripod review and think “interesting read” or “gorgeous photography” but Álvaro nailed it on both counts.

Federico Viticci's Review of the iPad Air 2

Federico's review of the iPad Air 2 is far more than a breakdown of its specs and features. It's a credo for why the iPad has become his primary computing device.

“The iPad’s screen and body are glued together physically and conceptually. [...] as a computer [it] truly disappears in your hands, feeling like a display that you grab and touch and swipe and throw away when you’re done.

[...]

Three years ago, when I was stuck in a hospital bed and I wanted to continue my work, I started using the iPad out of curiosity, challenging myself to get more done on iOS in spite of its limitations and differences from OS X. Today, some of those limitations still remain, but the iPad and new versions of iOS have solved most of my problems in new and unexpected ways.

The iPad is the best thing that happened to my professional life.”

Like Federico, the iPad—mine is the 4th-gen model—is my primary device. In fact, I don't even own a traditional computer anymore (unless you count my wife's Windows 7 laptop, which I avoid using at all costs).

I'm in a better position than most to find any holes in Federico's argument, but I can't disagree with a single word of his review, or more importantly his philosophy concerning the iPad. It truly is an incredibly versatile device. Most shortcomings with it I've ever come across have been due to lack of developer interest, but even that problem is getting less and less prevalent by the year.

Just to give an example, here are some of the apps that help me get my writing work done:

• I write in Editorial, with a bevy of workflows and TextExpander snippets that make my life at least 10x easier.
• I publish in Squarespace Blog.
• I capture ideas in Drafts and often move my more long-term personal notes over to Simplenote.
• As I come across interesting links in Twitter and RSS, I save them in Instapaper and archive the best stuff in Pinboard (which I often access using Pinner).
• My teammates and I at Tools & Toys and The Sweet Setup use Slack and Basecamp to communicate and stay on top of upcoming projects.
• I use a mixture of apps for managing blog photos: VSCO Cam for editing, Pixelmator for creating and/or combining images, Reduce for resizing images to appropriate widths and file sizes (with EXIF Wizard Pro to double-check EXIF data), and Droplr for hosting Spark Journal images.

And this list is just the tip of the iceberg. The iPad has limitations, sure, but those are more and more becoming edge cases. Nearly all my needs are covered by the iPad, and I have almost no desire for anything more.

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Further reading: Josh Ginter's review + gorgeous photos of the iPad Air 2 on Tools & Toys.

The Tom Bihn Parental Unit Review

Erin Brooks wrote a great review of the new Tom Bihn Parental Unit diaper bag for Tools & Toys. It seems like only yesterday, rather than over three years ago, that my wife and I searched seemingly endlessly for the "perfect" diaper bag bef0re finally settling on the Diaper Dude bag. It wasn't a bad bag at all, but I still kinda wish the Parental Unit had been around at the time.

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If you enjoy Erin's review, be sure to check out the first post on her brand-new blog, wherein she discusses her iPhone photo-editing process.

A Review of the GORUCK GR2 Bag

Speaking of Mr. Serrano, the man has written and photographed my new favorite review of the GORUCK GR2 bag—quite possibly the only review one will ever need to read about it.

This line really sums it up:

“With just a bit of planning and the right strategy, it’s the only bag you’ll ever need to carry.”

But it's more than just an in-depth examination of an excellent bag—it's a call to travel. If you reach the end of the review and don't feel like planning your next big trip, I can't help you.

Celebrating Fountain Pen Day

Since today is Fountain Pen Day, I thought it appropriate to celebrate the occasion on Tools & Toys' Friday Quality Linkage column. I compiled several interesting links and videos for fountain pen aficionados to enjoy, so if you're into that sort of thing, go check it out.

Tools & Toys 2014 Christmas Catalog

Me and the other guys at Tools & Toys have published our 2014 Christmas Catalog. This is our best one yet.

“We at Tools & Toys don’t believe we should buy stuff just for the sake of buying stuff. We believe gift-giving should genuinely benefit the recipient and increase the quality of their life. One way to do this is to give carefully-considered, quality items. We have done our best to make sure everything in our Tools & Toys Gift Guide meets that standard.”

Couldn't be happier with how this turned out. If you're already thinking of shopping around for gift ideas, I truly believe our catalog is the best place to start.

A Little More Playful

Yesterday, Shawn Blanc guested on Myke Hurley's podcast, Inquisitive. They discussed the Tools & Toys redesign, as well as the site's history and how our editorial team came together. The parts about starting projects and managing teams were particularly interesting.

Side note: I listened to the show live, and it was a bit surreal to hear Shawn talking to someone else in real-time about how he originally discovered my old site, Unretrofied, two years ago.

The New Tools & Toys is Live

Yesterday, I said I couldn't wait for the new Tools & Toys site to be revealed. Today, the veil has finally been lifted and you can check out the shiny new design for yourself. It's seriously beautiful.

There's a lot more to it than just a fresh coat of paint, though. Our publishing guidelines and philosophies have also been expanded, in ways that truly resonate with me and what I aim for here at The Spark Journal. Shawn Blanc explains further:

“With this new design, we are aiming to become more than just a cool stuff site. Our new, longer-form articles will center around the values of mindfulness, intentionality, knowing your tools (and your toys), and appreciation for quality.

As fun as it is to geek out over the latest and greatest stuff, at the end of the day, there is much, much more to life. Our self-worth is not tied to how fancy our gear is nor how often we upgrade it.”

We will continue to post about cool stuff we find throughout each week, but at a slightly reduced rate so that we can focus more on long-form editorials, reviews, and interviews. The best example of what's in store is Shawn's long-awaited review of the Olympus OM-D E-M10 camera. I love what we can do with photos on the new site.

Credit for the design and development goes to Pat Dryburgh, who is a genius. Hire him for your next project.