Posts Written by Vic Arkoff

Support your passionate causes with a spray paint can and the Protest Stencil Toolkit, a DIY book updated with stencil designs for the modern activist. Create your own protest slogans and graphics with the paperback’s 42 reusable stencils, including symbols representing important protest movements.

When is a fanny pack not just a fanny pack? When it’s outfitted with water-resistant canvas and ripstop, plus compartments to protect essentials and accessories for everything from filters to a compact camera and large mobile phone. The Moment Fanny Sling expands 1-4” and has external straps to attach a tripod or jacket.

Marc Hagan-Guirey – aka “the dark king of kirigami” – creates marvels with paper, a ruler, a sharp blade, and an equally sharp eye. For Le Corbusier Paper Models, he created templates and step-by-step guides so patient crafters can cut and fold their own mini-models of 10 iconic buildings by modernist architect Le Corbusier.

Mobile phone cameras keep improving, but they fall short when it comes to capturing bigger-than-life-sized images of the smallest objects. Enter the Macro M-Series Lens which twist-and-locks into an M-series case to snap tiny details less than an inch away from the subject. Part of Moment’s line of filmmaker-quality phone lenses.

Dreaming of a new car with a big red ribbon from Santa? Car collector and rally driver Harrison Woodruff one-upped that notion by gift-wrapping his entire Lamborghini Urus, and topping it with a lit Xmas tree. A metamorphosis is to come when the car is redesigned by 1016 Industries in 2021.

“Surf your skate” is Bureo and Carver Skateboards’ motto for The Ahi, a performance board made from recycled fishing nets. Combining Carver’s tech with Bureo’s NetPlus materials, it’s a 27”x 9” concave-deck, double-kicktail cruiser. Made in Cali with a reverse king-pinned truck system and roundhouse wheels.

Avoid auto mechanic rip-offs with the Fixd. The car sensor and app diagnoses over 7,000 car problems in easy-to-understand terms, keeps a running log of issues, and estimates costs so you can negotiate a fair price. An optional subscription adds access to a mechanic hotline, emissions pre-check, and problem forecasts.

We’re not sure why it took so long for someone to realize that gin was a natural subject for an illustrated deck of playing cards. Featuring 40 bottles of gin from around the world and 12 gin-based cocktails, these cards are perfect for playing Gin Rummy or any other card game… especially at cocktail hour.

Cozy up in the warm, comfy, soft-to-the-skin fleece jacket from Beyond Clothing. Lightweight fabric bonded with high-loft pile provides non-bulky warmth-to-weight insulation that takes on the freezing cold – something standard fleece just can’t do. Certified free from more than 100 environmentally-harmful substances.

Motorola Escape 500 ANC Headphones let you tune out the world with noise cancellation, or connect with Alexa, Siri, and Google voice assistants. The Bluetooth-enabled, over-ear wireless headphones provide 12 hours of playtime, and pair with the Hubble Connect for VerveLife app for extra perks.

Whiskers on kittens aren’t the only attribute felines share with humans. Gerrard Gethings’ animal portraits make the case. For the memory card game Do You Look Like Your Cat? Gethings found 25 people and their furry lookalikes. Just place the cards face down and collect pawsome matching pairs.

Toast your friends with spirited holiday cards featuring classic Campari cocktails. Love & Victory’s set of eight cards and envelopes with greetings on the front and a cocktail recipe – Boulevardier, Negroni, Negroni Sbagliato, or Americano – on the back. Just the thing to thank weary Santa and his drink-deserving, gift-giving ilk.

Most big coffee manufacturers can’t trace their beans to their farmers. Nobletree Coffee takes a farm-to-cup approach by sourcing exclusively from family-owned crops. The result is an award-winning line of 100% Arabica coffees: sustainably farmed, milled, exported, then small-batch roasted in Brooklyn.

Renowned for their exceptional, hand-forged hunting and EDC knives, Benchmade’s craftsmen have designed a set of knives to deftly cut grilled meats at the dinner table. The premium Table Knife Set includes four forward-serrated knives with G10 handles, set into in a red birchwood case by H. Arnold Wood Turning.

The producer of America’s highest-rated Single Malt, Westward, introduces an elegant ode to Oregon’s premier grape varietal. Finished for two years in Pinot Noir barrels from Willamette Valley wineries, Single Malt Pinot Noir Cask Whiskey joins their Single Malt and Single Malt Stout Cask on the top shelf.

Books and fire are a terrible combination (except as the premise of Fahrenheit 451), but reading and candles are perfect partners. Digital reading service, Scribd, teamed with Dorothy B & Co. on a fragrant candle scented with teak, sandalwood, patchouli, amyris, and dark musk. Includes a 3-month Scribd subscription.