For most locations in the Northern Hemisphere, May is a month of bright colors, warm days, and blooming flowers. For coastal cities on the west, however, the fifth month of the year is characterized by weather that denizens of the state refer to as ‘May Gray’. Throughout the month fog gets pulled in during the morning, and clouds hover high defusing light over an otherwise warm city.
We thought we’d pay a little homage to the paradoxical weather patterns of the West Coast and put together a gray gear dump. Of course, more than being mostly monotone, this gear is totally capable. Just because Amazon is the largest and most ubiquitous store in the world doesn’t mean they don’t have quality, hard to come by products. Whether you are looking to sharpen up your knives, head out on a rainy spring run, or just put a little something special on your pancakes this is a collection of the best gear on Amazon to do it with.
PowerTabs
Getting stranded without a charge is the worst. Whether you are just caught off guard on a long day running around for work or completely cut off from power because of an unexpected outage – these disposable (and biodegradable) single use charging tabs are here to help out.
Word Notebooks Mist
Relax and take notes. This misty iteration of Word’s popular notebook is ideal for jotting down ideas or to-do lists at work, at home, or on the go. Thanks to their slight size, they can easily fit in your front or back pocket for travel so you’ll be ready when inspiration strikes.
Trees Knees Spicy Maple
Want a little extra kick in the morning that isn’t from your coffee? Bushwhick Kitchen’s spicy maple syrup is happy to oblige. Made with top notch grade A maple syrup from the Catskill mountains and hand-infused with chili peppers at their bottling in Brooklyn, this maple syrup will wake you up and then some.
Sharpal Knife Sharpener
A dull knife is about as useful as a super car with no gas in it. Keep yours at the ready with this 6-in-1 sharpener and survival tool that comes complete with tungsten carbine and ceramic blades, as well as a tapered diamond rod. If you really end up in a pickle it even features an emergency whistle and fire starter as well.
North Face Jester
Featuring a proprietary FlexVent suspension system for keeping you cool and comfortable in the summer, this bag from North Face is ideal for daily cary either around campus or at the office. To carry all of your gear, it boasts 27 liters of volume, and tough high-denier fabric construction to stand up against the challenges of the urban environment.
Stanley Master Vacuum Bottle
This summer is looking like it is going to be long and hot – so you better have a tough, seriously insulated water bottle on hand if you are looking to stay hydrated and cool. This 25 ounce bottle from Stanley is made from kitchen grade stainless steel and can keep iced drinks cold for 100 hours.
Ontario Knife Spax Tool
Made from tough 1095 high carbon steel and featuring a comfortable and grippy Krayton handle – this tool is more than capable of accomplishing basic tasks in the backcountry and keeping you safe at home. And if for whatever reason you feel the urge to open up a fire hydrant this summer, the cutout in the middle of the axe is is designed to do just that.
Shun Higo Nokami Folding Steak Knife
A folding knife featuring a 3.5 inch long VG10 ‘super steel’ blade and a stunning ebony PakkaWood handle with a Higo No Kami inlay. This stunning knife comes complete with a protective leather sheath and is a solid friction folder for dinner, or for everyday carry.
Sorel 1964 CVS Boot
Spring isn’t all sunshine and flowers. Boots like Sorels 1964 Premium CVS boot are built to keep you protected from all the wet weather that comes with springtime. Featuring a waxes canvas upper and a rubber sole – you’ll be totally dry no matter how hard it rains.
Arc’teryx Incendo Hoody
Hoodies like this light polyester one from Ac’teryx are perfect for almost year round wear. Not only does this moisture repellent nylon jacket keep you protected from light rains, but it can be worn as a wind layer during the winter to beat back chilly gusts.
Bose SoundLink Revolve Bluetooth Speaker
If you are looking to open up the windows and turn up the volume this spring, you should consider picking up this new speaker from Bose. This sleekly built water resistant aluminum speaker is built to put out 360 degrees of high fidelity sound streaming via Bluetooth connection so you can enjoy all of your favorite tunes in the quality they deserve. To top it all off the speaker also pairs easily with Siri and Google Now.
Fujifilm Instax Square SQ10 Camera
Just in time for adventuring around this spring, Fujifilm has released the brand new SQ10 instant camera that shoots the brand’s larger format 2.4 by 2.4 inch film. This camera boasts an LCD screen, has in-camera filters you can apply, and allows you to save photos on an internal memory or micro SD card.
