my stuff

This reproduction of a pilot’s helmet bag has quickly become my go-to bag. It’s lightweight, waterproof, and has a ton of carrying capacity. If  you’re in the market for a tough, cheap tote, get yourself to your local Army Surplus.

I told you it could carry a lot. I’m a big fan of slipping my laptop into another, smaller bag when I’m toting it around the city. One, it helps keep some semblance of order to my gear. Two, you never know, an extra layer can’t hurt right? I got the Monocle tote as part of the subscription to the magazine. Although I’m not enamored with all of the external branding, I do really like some of  the small details. Like this inner pocket which is perfect for all my gadgets.

While I wish it was carrying a grappling hook and smoke bombs, sadly, it is relegated to my swiss army knife, cell phone, and hard drive. I also try and always carry an extra pair of glasses around. You never know when your contact lens will decide to make the leap from your eye to the pavement. Try as hard as you want but squinting like a pirate never impresses the ladies.

The reading materials. Normally you’ll see me with a muji notebook shoved in my back pocket. When I went to New York, my dad got me the NYC city guide moleskine. Let’s just say the subway map definitely came in handy when my cousin and I made the trek out to Brooklyn.

Kafka illustrated by Robert Crumb? I’ll take two. I found this book when I was an undergrad. There’s a few in the series, but I couldn’t resist the pairing of two such self-loathing talents.

Look, Kafka’s dad was a haberdasher. Connections, kids, always look for connections. Wanna sound like a moderate jerkstore? Describe things as Kafkaesque.

The Mono Workwear Journal turned out to be one of the cooler things I ended up bringing back from Japan. It’s an exhaustive collection of American workwear and the Japanese efforts to recreate it. With a typically Japanese attention to detail and information, this is a one stop shop for inspiration. Plus, if it’s cool enough for these guys, it’s cool enough for me.

You can’t really have a journal of workwear/military inspired gear and not feature Nigel Cabourn can you?

This picture sums up shopping in Japan. Tons and tons of the coolest gear you’ve ever seen. The only thing that was missing during my shopping safari was the presence of a menswear legend.

There’s well over 300 pages in the journal, so if you’re super interested in a particular topic (’30s denim, military gear, etc.) let me know and I’ll scan a few pages.

Also, if you ever see me with this bag please don’t steal it, there’s lots of cool stuff in it.