2025 Gift Guide
I have never made one of these listicals, though I have, it seems, done every other kind. This isn’t a Gear of the Year, that’s coming nearer to the end of the year, but instead a run through of stuff I like. That’s the sole criteria—I like this stuff. It doesn’t need to be new. It's not necessarily the best ever. Value isn’t a key. It’s literally just stuff I like and a reason why. The only limitation is that I want to choose stuff that is somewhat EDC adjacent. I do include a knife, light and multitool so you feel comfy reading, but there is mostly other stuff here. And in case you are worried I am going full shill site—every one of these things is something I have used myself.
And no, there won’t be an idiotic bullshit like you can find on this steaming pile of crap from Uncrate. Exactly how does whiskey, no matter how expensive, have the capacity to engage in “immersive storytelling?” What does that even mean? This kind of copy is silly and obtuse, sounding like it was either written by AI or a dumb person trying to simulate what a smart person would say.
Axes and hatchets are like peanut butter and chocolate for me—part knives, part woodworking. I love them so much. The GB Wildlife Hatchet is so amazing, I can’t think of a piece of kit I like better than this tool. I don’t have a lot of use for it and I do baby it a bit, but man is it good. Its so clean and simple, so well made and obviously produced by a craftsman, it just makes you feel more connected to your tools. It sings in the hand and chops like a karate master.
I haven’t used a pen for long term note taking since June. I got my Remarkable 2 in June. The reality is, in my line of work, the Remarkable 2 offers a huge number of benefits over actual paper, including cost savings. We would routinely spend $500 in paper pads a year. The Remarkable 2 is less than that. We both got one so if we get two years out of them, they have saved us money. But better than that, the notes are easier to us, incorporate into our CMS, and the entire thing is wafer thin. If you take lots of notes, you need to look into a digital notepad and the Remarkable 2 is the best performer for the money.
Inui P50
It claims to be the world’s smallest 10,000 maH power bank. I don’t know or care if that is true. What I do like is the size, the ports, and the build quality. There is a metric ton of garbage in the power bank market. Inui makes non-garbage and this is the right balance of size and capacity. Plus the display is amazing and clear. Four dots that are so tiny they look like bug eyes can be hard to read, especially at night. This display is better in every way.
Main Street Forge The Icon
In 5th grade I got a full grain leather belt from a non-chain department store in my home town of Xenia, OH called Foster Haines. I was a tiny kid and my Dad had to drill extra holes in it so I could wear it. It was my only belt from 5th grade until I was about 27. Then I got some dress belts to complement it, but it was still my primary belt. Then around 32, I got a Filson belt which was a huge step up. I converted that Foster Haines belt into a strop. Then at 47, I realized the Filson belt had baconed up and I needed a new belt. The Main Street Forge Icon is a nice, simple, well-made belt with all of the quality of the Filson for about 25% less money. And it is made in the USA. It’s not fancy or complicated, but you don’t want either of those things in a belt. Unless you are Roland Iten (his most “prestigious” design is a belt buckle fit for Jeffrey Epstein…its called the Predator)
Wera Tool Check Plus
Just go buy it. Its perfect. And its not too big, unlike the absolute junk kits you find at Home Depot and Lowes. Seriously, this is worth ten of those. No 144 safety torx bits or 12 different flathead drivers. Only good stuff, well made, that you will actually use. This is as German as it gets. You can practically smell the bratwurst. But all that German precision and engineering makes kit that just works. It is made in the Czech Republic, but who cares. Its a masterpiece.
Tactile Knife Co Mini Side Click
I have been on the quest for the perfect pocket pen for years and since I got this in 2021, nothing has come close to unseating it as my go to pen for all sorts of things. Jails, prisons, court rooms—this thing is like Johnny Cash in that one songs. Its been everywhere man. And it just keeps working. Its not too fancy nor too tacticool. It just works. Without fail. All the friggin’ time. I love it. You will too.
Akashi White Oak Blended Whisky
Japanese Whisky is a daunting part of the spirits world with lots of stuff being outrageously expensive and exceedingly difficult to get. Alcohol remains one of the more difficult things to order online so even finding good Japanese Whisky is hard. But its worth it. Much cleaner than American whiskey of the same price, Japanese Whisky feels like it has been distilled with patience alone. If you like bourbon and have run through lots of different offerings, this is a good place to start with Japanese Whisky. And if you can find the missing “e” let me know.
Note: if you are in New England, a ramen joint in Worcester, Chashu Ramen, has a great selection of Japanese whisky, from this cheap but very clean offering to some staggeringly expensive stuff.
Flint and Tinder 10-Year Hoodie
Okay, $158 is a lot of money for a sweatshirt with a hood and a zipper. But I have owned quite a few hoodies over the years and this one is, by far, the best. It lasts forever and looks pretty good the entire time. The first one I had lasted more than ten years and the second one is on year 5 and other than a stain from spray foam insulation it is still going strong. It feels great in the early fall with a t-shirt, flexes into an under layer later on, and works great around the house on a cold winter day. For the amount of wear I get out of it, the price is actually not that bad. There are a tier of hoodies above this and a tier below, but I found this is a price sweet spot for hoodies.
W.R. Case Crossroads Barlow
Case is one of the oldest cutlers in the US. Among pocket knife companies it is the oldest. Lamson is the oldest continuously operating cutler in the entire country, founded in 1837. But it has been years since Case has made something for us, the Internet Knife Community. There have been efforts at producing modern knives or hybrids, but none hit bit. The Crossroads line, which includes a Sodbuster and the Barlow, are true competitors to high end knives like those from Jack Wolf. They have S35VN steel, higher end materials, and, critically, astounding fit and finish compared to normal Case knives. The Barlow is a positively perfect rendition of the pattern and is just over an ounce in weight. Finally a knife that appeals to both the Butterscotch Club AND the IKC.
Prometheus Design Werx Victorinox Replacement Scales
They are brainlessly easy to put on. They allow you to continue to use the scale tools. They fit a lot of great models (the best is, of course, the Compact). And the clip is outrageously awesome. I love these things. I have given a bunch as gifts and not one person has been like: oh, thanks. In fact I have made knife carriers out of a few normies thanks to these things. Did you know your Dad would like a Victorinox Compact with these scales as a thoughtful gift for Christmas? He told me to tell you.
If I were making a tool kit for every person on the planet, I would recommend this as the torch. Its universally good, got great performance, is dual fuel, and has a nice easy find in the dark feature. Lumintop is at the TOP of their game (see what I did there?) and this is one of the reasons why. Plus it is under $30.
The Remembrance of Earth’s Past Trilogy (Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest, and Death’s End)
I like science fiction a lot. For years there were two series that stood astride the entirety of speculative fiction: Dune and Hyperion. Remembrance of Earth’s Past now makes that a triumvirate. While I loved The Expanse series and its action packed pulpy feel, nothing has expanded my brain or challenged me while reading it like this series. When I say that it has been as difficult to read and follow as something like reading Heidegger Sein und Zeit in German, its not an exaggeration. I had to read, reread, and even draw out a diagram to truly understand the parts where they encountered four dimensional objects. I even watched few videos on the subject to understand. Don’t expect a lyrical word dance, but if this doesn’t change how you think about any of a number of big ideas I’d be very surprised.
Steam Deck 512 GB
They aren’t cheap. They are positively huge. But if you want the best gaming device on Earth, it’s the Steam Deck; better than an Xbox X, PS5, and the Switch II. It plays awesome games and looks great. The controls are peak performance stuff. And the Steam ecosystem is better than any other content system in the world—better than iTunes, better than Game Pass, better than anything else. I have played only a little bit because my 10 year old loves his Steam Deck and Rite of Rain II.
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