NEWS – The H204K9 K9 UNIT insulated stainless steel water bottle carries water just for your dog. The scoop-shaped lid comes off for use as a drinking bowl, so you won’t need to carry a separate bowl for him. The lid is 100% BPA-free plastic, so it won’t harm your little friend.
The bottle and lid are 100% recyclable. It measures 3.25″ x 3.25″ x 9.5″ and holds 25 ounces. The bottle is available in your choice of six environmentally-friendly paint finishes. The H204K9 K9 UNIT insulated stainless steel water bottle is $21.99 at the Chewy website.
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REVIEW – As an every-day carry (EDC) enthusiast, I’m always on the lookout for a way to compartmentalize or simplify the things I take with me wherever I go. So when I found out about the EDC Wallet from Galen Leather, I was eager to get my hands on it.
What is it?
Galen Leather’s EDC Wallet is a minimalist zippered wallet for your pocket size, every day carry (EDC) tools. Equipped with a sturdy YKK zipper. It’s a pocket-sized carrier for cash, credit cards, and business cards.
Hardware Specs
11.5(4.52″)cm x 9(3.54″)cm x 2(0.78″)cm when closed
11.5(4.52″)cm x 15,5(6.10″)cm when opened
It can fit an A7 size notebook, Kaweco sport or similar size pens, or a mini flashlight. Includes an elastic outside pen loop for quick access.
What’s in the box?
Surprisingly, many items!
It’s crazy how much extra stuff they sent.
The Leather EDC Wallet, in a nice box, plus…
A care & cleaning card with date and maker stamp
A small metal 8” ruler with “Measure Twice Cut Once” emblazoned on it
A small, glass Evil Eye with a short story of its origins (more on this later)
Design and Features
I’m an EDC junkie. I love to see what others carry around with them everywhere they go. These photographic pocket-dumps are like glimpses into the everyday lives of fellow enthusiasts and I find myself making little wish-lists of future purchases.
Personally, I always carry at least the following, because you just never know when they’ll come in handy.
pocketknife (currently, the Swiss Army Spartan)
tube of lip balm
black Fisher Space Pen
microfiber cleaning cloth
Herschel canvas zipper wallet
Each individual item typically knocks around in the same front pocket of my jeans or khakis. It doesn’t cause too much of an issue, it just feels a bit sloppy.
So when I was approached with reviewing the EDC Wallet, I thought to myself, now there’s a great concept. Get all that loose stuff in a nice, neat, zippered package! I gave it a shot for a few weeks and here are some thoughts.
You can see the craftsmanship in the piece, and also how quickly the leather picks up scuffs.
The initial presentation on this wallet (and with what I’m assuming every item ordered from Galen Leather) is absolutely top-notch. From the classy boxes and sleeve, everything comes in to the extras included.
My wallet came with a beautiful metal ruler, a personalized care & cleaning card, and a glass Evil Eye(!) charm bead, which is a talisman for warding off a curse, transmitted by a look, that might cause injury or bad luck. It’s a pretty incredible package.
An interesting note on the “Care & Cleaning” card that came in the box:
For small scuffs or wear marks, simply rub your thumb or finger along the cleft between your nose and nostril for a bit of oil. With tight pressure rub the spot on your cover in a circular motion. The scuff should be less obvious.
I love this. It’s so direct and informal, like a care tip your grandpop would give you. “Jus’ rub yer nose on it, champ!”
The wallet itself is handcrafted in Istanbul (which probably explains the evil eye charm, much more common in that part of the world) from quality leather and strong stitching. It’s got a nice, smooth feel to it. The inner pockets and separating flap are made from a softer leather to protect the contents.
It use, the wallet does a good job of keeping everything in place. It can hold maybe 2-3 cards and some cash in the card pocket side, and the other side can contain a variety of items. I tested several configurations, pictured below, to give you an idea of what you could use the case for.
Several EDC loadout ideas.
For the most part during the review period, I carried my Swiss Army knife, a tube of lip balm, cleaning cloth, 2 credit cards and a Space Pen in the outer pen loop.
I will say that having a pen with a clip would have been better, as removing the wallet contents made the outer loop a little too loose for the pen to stay put.
The EDC Wallet kept everything together rather well. I didn’t feel the contents shifting around while it was zippered and the wallet fit in my pocket about as well as a typical thick bi-fold.
I think that having a thicker knife helped in keeping things in place. Thin knives or a bunch of small items seemed to shift around, as the thickness of the items didn’t cause enough tension against the inside to stay put.
One thing that took a while to get used to was how to hold the wallet in your hand in order to unzip it without heavier contents falling out. It seemed like there was never a good way of telling which side of the wallet was facing me… the card side or the EDC stuff side. More than once, I unzipped it thinking I was going to open it to the knife side, only to be wrong and, in failing to hold it flat enough, all my stuff clattered noisily to the ground.
Hey, did you know lip balm rolls surprisingly far when dropped in a supermarket? Fun fact.
Once I got used to how the wallet (and gravity) acted, I started opening it flat, like a small book, in order to keep the contents in place so I could grab what I needed.
Much safer to open up like a tiny book.
Overall, there is definitely a tradeoff for convenience by packing all your items into a case. The EDC Wallet keeps everything together quite nicely, but it also adds an extra barrier between you and the thing you need, like, right now.
Liked
very good value for the price
good size for the pocket, can hold a variety of essentials
top-notch presentation and extra goodies
Challenges
easy to accidentally spill contents upon opening — which way’s up?
the leather is easily scuffed but also pretty easy to buff out those marks (with a little nose oil)
Final Thoughts
Packing away all your loose pocket items into a handsome, leather case is a great way to keep everything together in a nice, neat package, but also a way to limit how quickly you can access those items. All in all, this wallet is fantastic. Especially for the price!
Price: $35 (really!) Where to buy: You can pick up the EDC Wallet on Galen’s website in a variety of colors. Source: The sample of this product was provided by Galen Leather Company.
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NEWS – The Dossier Folio from Levenger holds everything you need for a meeting or for a day at the office. This beautiful envelope-style leather portfolio has two sections to organize your papers and to hold your notepad and a tablet. There’s a card window inside to hold your ID or business card. A pen loop keeps a writing implement at hand.
It’s made of full-grain textured leather. It measures 15.13″ x 1.5″ x 10.13″ and can accommodate an iPad Pro. The flap is held closed with a magnet, and an exterior stash pocket holds extra papers or travel documents. Personalize it with three initials ($6.00 extra) or with a name ($12.00 extra). The Dossier Folio is available in black or navy for $179.00 at Levenger.
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REVIEW – Most people would look at the numerous surge protectors and USB wall warts that I have plugged in at home, and readily suggest that I may have created a fire hazard. Since they would likely be correct, I eagerly accepted the opportunity to test this surge protector with multiple USB charging ports built in.
What is it?
BESTEK 8 Outlets Surge Protector Power Strip is an 8 outlet AC surge protector with an additional 4 USB charging ports built-in.
What’s in the box
1 x BESTEK 8 Outlets Surge Protector Power Strip
1 x Instruction Booklet
Design and features
Specifications:
AC Input: 100-125V
USB Output: 5V/7.5A Auto 0~2.4A*3
Qualcomm Quick Charge TM 2.0: 5V/2.4A, 9V/1.6A, 12V/1.1A
The surge protector has 4 grounded AC outlets on each side for a total of 8 AC outlets.
On the top of the surge protector, there are 4 USB charging ports which provide a great ability to charge multiple devices that normally use a USB cable with a wall wart. The ports have convenient covers.
On one of the slim sides of the device, there is an on/off switch.
At the bottom, there is a spring-loaded stand that swings outwards perpendicular to the surge protector so that it can stand flat on a surface. There are also 4 screw holes in the stand that allow you to permanently mount the device to any surface, with the 4 supplied screws.
I now use this surge protector every day to power several devices simultaneously including a desk lamp, a laptop, a Bluetooth speaker and a Photography Lightbox, and it works flawlessly.
What I like
I really like the quality of the build of this surge protector and the very convenient 4 USB charging ports. I also like the 6ft power cord.
What can be improved
The one issue that this surge protector has is the closeness of the AC outlets that become less convenient if the AC cords have a larger sized wall wart.
Final thoughts
This BESTEK 8 Outlets Surge Protector Power Strip is a very convenient surge protector that includes the great convenience of 4 USB charging ports. I would have liked to see rotating AC outlets so that they could be arranged to fit the maximum number of wall warts. However, given the relatively small footprint of this power strip and the overall convenience, flexibility, and cost, I give it a thumbs up.
Price: $33.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Bestek.
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NEWS – I love peanut butter, especially in my protein shakes so I usually buy the big family size jar of natural peanut butter. The problem is getting the last bit of peanut butter out of the jar without getting it all over my knuckles. The PB-JIFE peanut butter knife is here to save me, and you from those sticky knuckles.
The Peanut butter knife has a 7-inch stainless steel blade with a curved tip. Its long blade allows it to reach the bottom of even the biggest of jars.
The curved tip allows it to clean the sides, bottom, and top rim of the jar.
Strength treated stainless steel allows the blade to cut and stir thick spreads and natural peanut butters.
And its ergonomic handle helps give you better leverage.
The extra-broad blade design means you’ll get an ample serving with every spread.
In short, it lets you get every last bit of deliciousness out of your peanut butter jars.
The PB-JIFE Peanut Butter Knife costs $12.99 and is available on Amazon.
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