The Best Brands for Enthusiasts

Good things are approximately ten times better than the average thing you can buy. In each category. The real challenge is finding them.

Wirecutter was supposed to be exactly about this, but I often find myself baffled by their recommendations for product areas I care about. They don’t focus on user experience as much as they should and often prioritize the price too much.

Reddit is kind of an obvious one (please watch this 47s video on “finding subreddit for a hobby”), but few subreddits bother to collect their findings in a single FAQ post, so you have to go through everything.

Reviewers and youtubers are incentivized to care about the most recent thing and produce more content, so I often find myself overwhelmed — they rarely tell you directly what is the best.

Enthusiasts have the greatest recommendatons, but they’re scattered across the web. Zen of Things is a great nifty website by Arun Venkatesan but only for several categories.

So our only option is to build our own lists. Here’s mine, and I plan to continue updating it as I go. Would be great to start a trend here, so if you read this, please write about your recommendations on your own blog or Twitter.

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• Backpacks: Aer for everyday and travel, Peak Design for photography and travel, Matador just for travel
• Wallets: Secrid for delightful minimal wallets that can comfortably hold a bit of cash as well, Leatherology for a classic bifold
• Slings: Rework Toshi and Peak Design Outdoor Sling
• Multitools: Victorinox
• Chargers/Powerbanks/Stands: Ugreen and Anker
• Outdoor Wear: Patagonia, Millet
• Pens: I’m not into fountain pens, so a Parker Jotter is all I need
• Notebooks: Leuchtturm1917