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The Grey NATO - 386 – Slack Crew & A 2026 [Part 3]

Published on Thu, 13 Aug 2026 06:00:00 -0400

Synopsis

In episode 386 of The Grey NATO podcast, hosts Jason Heaton and James Stacy discuss their recent activities while James is on vacation in Canada. Jason shares his excitement about acquiring a rare half-cab truck configuration for his 1976 Land Rover Series III, while James talks about building an outdoor shower at the cottage and getting his Jeep Wrangler serviced. They remind listeners about the upcoming Toronto Timepiece Show on September 26-27, where they'll be doing a live show and hosting a party with Marathon.

The episode features an extensive Q&A segment from their Slack community covering diverse topics: their hypothetical dream adventure trip together (Jason proposes Iceland with diving and glacier trekking, while James suggests a dive watch comparison program in Bonaire), favorite Slack channels, thoughts on taking an extended internet sabbatical, their "exit level" non-watch items they'd never replace, and strap recommendations. They also discuss Jason's uncomfortable but quirky Omega Speedmaster Mark III and James's continued love for his Doxa Sub 200T Hodinkee Limited Edition. The show concludes with final notes about adventure personality Ava Zubek and the FlexTail Max Pump 3 portable air pump.

Show Notes

Transcript

Speaker
Jason Heaton Hello and welcome to another episode of the Grey NATO, a loose discussion of travel, adventure, diving, driving, gear, and most certainly watches. This is episode three hundred and eighty-six, and it's proudly brought to you by the always-gingrow TGN supporter crew. We thank you all so much for your continued support. And if you'd like to support the show, please visit thegreynato.com for more details. My name is Jason Heaton, and I'm joined as ever by my friend and co-host, James Stacy. James, uh, how's a vacation treating you?
James Stacy It's going pretty well. It's been a a a busy a busy week as you can imagine. you got a lot of plans to see a lot of people and hang out with family and spend time at the cottage and all that sort of thing and ends up being a lot of driving around and prepping and making sure you've got ice in the coolers and you know and and all the other things that you might need. And then we took on a couple projects which I'll I can get to in a moment. But yeah, I'm uh I'm well hydrated, uh a little little bit on the light side of sleep. U myh my son decided to have a bit of an upset stomach last night, so I feel for him.
Jason Heaton Yeah. But other than that, really can't complain. It's
James Stacy a really sunny day. I just got a new tube in the front wheel of my bike and uh should be out for a nice ride once it cools off a little later tonight, which I'm looking forward to. Yeah, everything's pretty good. How about you?
Jason Heaton Nice. yeah. Things are going well here. Yeah, we're just plugging along and you know, just uh getting further settled here at the at the house and uh I've got some exciting news um on the vehicle front. But before we do that we should uh, you know, do our regular update about uh the reminder, I guess, about the Toronto Time Peace Show, which is coming up on September twenty sixth and twenty seventh. Uh you know, this is uh become uh uh one of the annual highlights of the T GN calendar, if you will, and um hope to see a lot a lot of folks there. I think I'm sure we will like we have in the past couple of years..
James Stacy Yep So we'll have our live show on the twenty sixth, midday on Saturday. We don't have an exact time, but it'll be midday on Saturday, uh somewhere right or probably within the vicinity of say noon. And uh and we'll update that as soon as we have that information, it'll be on the show and shared in the Slack as well. And then we will have our party with Marathon um the evening of the 26th, the Saturday night. So those of you who are leaving Sunday, uh, we were able to bump it forward a day this year. They're not doing the award shows again. Uh so we didn't have any conflict on the Saturday night. So it'll be Saturday night. Makes it a little bit easier for folks who might be flying out on the 27th. Um, and that RSVP is not yet ready, but should be in the next couple weeks. And again, uh no need to reach out or or check where it is. We will share it on the Slack and we'll share it in mentions on future episodes when available. Um but sit tight for the next couple of weeks. It's not something I'm going to work on on vacation. We'll get it, we'll get it up and ready and shared, you know, before the end of the month, I would assume. Obviously the live shows are an absolute blast. You know, another one of these kind of annual Aaron Powell
Jason Heaton Last year was was so much fun, uh uh that that whole weekend. But um I think you know there's just a couple of little tweaks, um kind of improvements this year, uh the things you just mentioned, which are um you know the marathon party moving to Saturday night. I think that's just gonna make the weekend just more doable on several fronts. I was a little exhausted, and then to kind of go into a late night party was a little rough. So it'll be kind of kind of fun to do it on Saturday. And then you know, the moving from the first year of the Toronto Time Peace Show to last year to that new venue, uh especially when it came to the recording of our live episode, it's such a great venue for for the show. I mean that auditorium. It just's it it almost feels too you know, l little too pro for for our level, but uh it worked out really well.
James Stacy Way too fancy for us. Oh yeah, for sure. Yeah. No, it's it was a good time and and I'm I'm very excited about it. Uh we're you know, we're chatting with uh with uh the the team for the party to make sure that the food, you know, is as good if not better than last year. I've got some ideas about how to tweak the beer. I think we we've kind of gone too heavy on heavy IPAs, uh which of course is is sort of my knuckleheadery uh when it comes to beer. Um but uh we're gonna we're gonna tweak that a little bit and m might even uh you know work with another local brewer down in Toronto to uh to find some some nice variety. So I'm I'm looking forward to it.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Yeah. Should be great. But speaking
James Stacy of actually, oh, we have a fun one. So last year we drove down to the party on Sunday with the top off of my Jeep. Yeah. It then poured uh and it was up to our ankles by the time we got back in the Jeep.
Jason Heaton That's right. But uh you have uh
James Stacy you have an addition to uh one of your vehicles that that would kind of solve that problem as well.
Jason Heaton So you know of of of the two Land Rovers I have the the one is the the ninety-three defender and then the one I probably don't talk about as much is the is the 76 uh series three, which I've had the longest. And when I bought it, it had a full hardtop on it. And I had it in that configuration for for most of the its lifetime with me and then I took it off I don't know three summers ago and just kinda had it parts sitting in the basement in the backyard and never quite sure what to do with it. I was gonna build a little garden shed out of it or something. Um, ended up just selling it um on Facebook Marketplace and was driving the the vehicle topless for for a long time and it was the the only way it fit in my old garage. And it it was great as a as a topless vehicle. In fact, it was it was more felt more nimble and a little quieter, strangely enough, um, with all that rattling, kind of echoey top um on it. Um but it just kind of limited its usability, like on a really hot day. It just you're always kind of baking there, you know, like sitting at stop signs and things like your stoplights. Um and then, you know, rain and and cooler weather and that sort of thing. So um lo and behold, uh, you know, this local Land Rover group, um it was a posting on there of a guy who was selling what's called a half cab or a truck cab for a series vehicle, an 88-inch kind of short wheelbase uh Land Rover of that era. And I just leaped on it because these things are incredibly rare. So if you can picture the short wheelbase old Land Rovers, um if you put a little truck cab on the front, it just covers the the the two front seats, you know, the driver and the passenger side, in in what looks like a small pickup truck cab, um, which which effectively makes it a very tiny little pickup truck. It kind of it looks like it should have further, you know, more bed behind the the cab, like a proper pickup truck.
James Stacy It's so cool. And it it just looks like a
Jason Heaton toy. In any case, these are very rare, especially in the US. And I always felt over the years that if one ever came up for sale I would grab it just because I love the look. I think it's my favorite configuration of Land Rovers. And so I snatched it up and actually I recognized the seller. It turns out it was the guy that bought my full hardtop. Um it's kind of a long, twisted story that I won't won't go into, but the guy um uh he actually ended up selling his series 2A and and wanted to put the hardtop on it to sell it and then had the spare half cab that that he needed to sell. So I bought it and he brought it over. I you know, I asked if he would kindly deliver it since I didn't really have a way to get it short of driving out there and having him help me put it on. So he drove it over here on Saturday and helped me lift it into place and put it put it on top of uh the Land Rover and kind of give me some tips on uh fixing it, you know, with with the nuts and bolts and things like that. And then I spent the good part of Saturday kind of tweaking it and tightening things down. and uh long story short, it's it's just spectacular. It just changes the the look of the vehicle. It changes the the ride. Um I I just love it. and the funny thing is is it it came he had it freshly painted. Yeah during some point during his ownership of it. Um this beautiful shade of what what Land Rover called Grasmere Green, which was one of the heritage colors and the really old color, um with a limestone or off white roof, um, top of the roof. And um it has these beautiful curved glass kind of three quarter windows and a sliding rear window, which I I just love. Um and uh yeah, I I'm just absolutely smitten. I I took it out, drove it, drove around for some errands yesterday, and um the one thing I'm noticing is it's it now it reintroduces new creaks and rattles, which, you know, I I guess you kind of have to expect that in an old vehicle, especially a Land Rover, but some of them are I can live with and some I just have to fix. And so the rear windows, the sliding glass was rattling in the tracks, and you know the felt in the bottom of those tracks kind of gets compressed and then the the windows don't fit quite so snugly. So I ended up cutting a bit of uh old bicycle inner tube and fitting that under the tracks and it kind of tightens it up a little bit and then I had to tighten up some bolts and I'm there's still work to be done, but it it's uh it's great and it kind of keeps me out of the sun. I didn't put the door tops on, so I've still got the little half doors on the side, so it kind of has this still maintains this airy feel with the rear sliding window open.
James Stacy Yeah. Um and uh
Jason Heaton the only the only downside is I feel a little bit bad for Ruby because she absolutely loves to ride in that in that vehicle and every time I start it up she goes bonkers, like even if I'm just running an errand and she's kind of stuck inside the house. So you can can I hear her crying in the house because she absolutely wants to go everywhere in that thing. And I have a little tether that I hook up to her collar so she doesn't fly out the back. Um so she rides in the back. And I think now that it has a little truck cab on it, she's little I mean she does out the back, but I I when I took her out the other day, she had to kind of lean way out and peer around the side of the cab to kind of get the full front view. But um I think she'll get used to it and she can always stick her nose through the through the sliding glass in the back. So um it's it's been great. And I I have no intention on painting repainting it. I think the Grasmere green is a nice complement to the marine blue that that the rest of the vehicle is. So yeah, I'm I'm I'm just super excited. It was nothing I intended to spend, you know, a fair amount of money on, but uh I I I just figured it was a great investment for the future of that vehicle too.
James Stacy That's cool, man. I'm I'm super happy for you. I showed it to Sarah and she was delighted. Uh it just looks very, very cool. Uh it suits the vehicle really nicely and it it it really makes a proportion that doesn't exist in cars anymore.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Um that you know, it it has
James Stacy the proportions of like if you asked a kid to draw a pickup truck, maybe.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Um totally. It's uh
James Stacy it's it's like it's it's kind of sweet and cartoonish and kind of suits that vehicle really well. Yeah. You know, with the when you get into the nineties ones, they do they look like military sort of vehicles. That's why that's why I love that yours is white. It has this airiness to it.
Jason Heaton Yeah versus a dark one. Yeah. Um and
James Stacy then this one in the blue and now with the half cab and it being the little pickup and then with a dog in it, you're just like, man, that's perfect. So for my week we went up to the to the cottage and it it's the first time that the Jeeps kind of had much of a workout in a while. Um we we decided to take on the project of uh building an outdoor shower.
Jason Heaton Oh yeah. Um on kind of attached
James Stacy to the side of the cottage. Um I had both of my brothers with me uh this week, or the entire family with me, um, but two of my brothers are quite handy and this is this is kind of the world they live in in terms of construction and that sort of thing.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Um so we had everything we needed.
James Stacy Um I have enough exam you know, the the the plumbing side of it's not that difficult to very straightforward, you know, simple tubing and that sort of thing. And we have water delivery from the lake. Uh, so it was really, you know, designing a uh outdoor shower that made sense for our family and some usefulness to the to the greater group of people up at the cottage. And but part of that of course meant like we had to get stuff out of the way because you know there's old bikes and a patio thing and so it was a dump run. Um and the yeah the Jeep sat for the better part of like a year-ish, eight months, eight, nine months, and then I drove it a little bit. I drove it up to the cottage and it wasn't thrilled about it. So that's you know, that from my from where it was in storage with my folks, it's the better part of three hours. Um and it just kind of felt sluggish and you know one I think one of the brakes was kind of holding on um just stuff from sitting right these it's a two hundred and seventy thousand kilometer twenty eleven Wrangler
Jason Heaton yeah it doesn't want to sit that's not
James Stacy gonna be good for it um so this week when we were up there, I, you know, I kind of made a point of using it as much as possible, taking the the top off and the or the the front panels, the freedom panels off, and that sort of thing. And then I had a chance, I needed to get down to the city um for one of my daughters' appointments and we we drove the Jeep down and while I was down here I got the oil and the brake fluid changed.
Jason Heaton And driving back up, it's just mean I you
James Stacy don't really you don't I didn't quite realize just how much I missed stick like driving stick. Oh
Jason Heaton yeah. And it's such an
James Stacy easy vehicle to drive stick so you can just kind of beat it up and and it you know it it rewards finesse, but it's definitely not required. It's basically, you know, we're we're using it like a tractor, it's a farm vehicle now. Um and uh and you know it it otherwise has a good bill of health, so it got a nice workout and we had to you but we took it to the dump, we d you know, delivered a bunch of stuff and it it is nice to have those sorts of vehicles in your lives that you can we know treat like that when you have to. Um and then yeah we we uh got we stood up this uh this shower um and uh and I just got the plumbing done before we left. Uh, so it's it's gotten a couple of
Jason Heaton uses, but that was did did the cottage have a shower at all?
James Stacy Yeah, when we it did a like originally it was somebody's home uh for years, but uh the bathroom was terrifying, like as when I was a kid, it was just a place for earwigs and and stuff like that. Um so when we redid the bathroom, we tore everything out and we just figured like a shower is not necessarily that important. And if you really needed one, we have that Nemo bag, you can hang that on a branch on a tree and have a nice shower if you needed to. Um, you know, there's options like that. And then you're in the lake three, four times a day usually like
Jason Heaton yeah. And with the with an appropriate
James Stacy soap you can clean up in the lake and that sort of thing. But it was uh something Sarah had always wanted, and and she's celebrating a birthday uh this month, so uh so we put it together, and and I think it's gonna be a really nice addition uh to the space. It wasn't, you know, thankfully because of the the having access to the help of my brothers wasn't that difficult. We had the majority of it done in a day. And then it was just me figuring out how to tie into the water system at the cottage in a way that would be easy to winterise later.
Jason Heaton Oh yeah. Um but yeah, it was it was a it was
James Stacy a good one. I'm I'm glad we got that done. I'm glad we got a chance to give the Jeep you know a proper workout. Uh because otherwise it's you know it sits up there with its uh with its battery disconnected and uh and just waits for a chance to go for another drive.
Jason Heaton Is that where it's gonna live? No, I don't I
James Stacy think that would deteriorate it pretty hard up there. I just worry about rodents deciding that that's where they're gonna
Jason Heaton live. Um uh so uh
James Stacy I'm I'm looking into a few options. Sarah and I are also kicking the tires metaphorically and realistically on a vintage sports car. Uh that it would be much too early to talk about it. Um but I'm I'm it's it's something I'm gonna try and drive. Uh before yeah, you've you've seen it, it's crazy.
Jason Heaton yeah. Um yeah. And uh obviously
James Stacy I have some enablers in my life that are pushing me in in that direction. Um so at this point, if I'm fine, it's storage space for one vehicle, what's two?
Jason Heaton Yeah. And uh,
James Stacy you know, a glutton, a glutton for punishment and complexity. But yeah, uh it can definitely do the cottage like April to October, I think we'd be fine.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Um I just worry about something deciding
James Stacy that's where it's gonna winter up in the wiring harness or something. Um the my current my current, you know, quiver of cars is really about the fact that I have one driveway, uh one spot here in uh in the city and no street parking. So yeah. But uh that one was good. And then the uh the other one, you know, this happened over vacation, which is uh fine by me, of course, but we finally got that tutor video live. I've been talking about it since I don't know, February, I guess. Like we did the episode with Cole in Switzerland. That was when we were there filming for this. And um, and it just, you know, it took a long time, and most of the other outlets that were there got their videos up very quickly. You know, I'm not here to make excuses necessarily. We got it out and I'm very proud of of the manner in which we did it. Um but it took a it took us a lot longer because Hoodic is not a video first platform You know, we we maintain something like 15 to 25 stories a week. Um, and uh some of those are videos we try and do uh, you know, attacking watches each month, um, but we are a limited team and some of these things can take a really long time. and the decision was kind of made a couple of months ago um to make it something that would hopefully stand up as um a like the best possible outcome that we could produce uh for this. So it's like a twenty three, twenty-four, something like that minute video, uh very sort of in the in the space of how things get made uh videos, um uh kind of walking you through everything from dials to movements to bracelet parts to uh cases and and all that sort of thing and you'll see lots of watches that you recognize from the tutor world and then all the way up to like final assembly, you know, computerized, robot assisted, you know, stress testing and accuracy testing and all that kind of stuff. So I'm I'm thrilled to finally have it out live. Uh if you're listening and you're from Tutor and you wondered why it took so long, I can you know, I'm sorry. Uh that sometimes these things do just take that long. we wanted it to be the one that people might come back to two, three years from now, rather than, you know, a sort of blip on the radar or uh a social clip or something like that. So that was the decision. It's something I would love to do more of, but it it is as as I think is kind of clear, not outside of our wheelhouse necessarily, but outside of our process, um our our standardized process for sure.
Jason Heaton Yeah I watched the kind of the first half uh last night, and then I watched this this the second half morning over breakfast and showing it to Christy as well. And um, you know, she wears a black bay 54, and of course I've got the FXD, so it was it was kind of fun to see where where these watches were made, and you know, I've done my share of kind of watch uh tours of manufacturers, Omega and IWC and places like that over the years. And I think it it's interesting to um to watch that and look at the the level of automation and kind of yawn and say, oh, you know, it's just it's all robotic and machines and not much human inner interaction. But um I think what what is striking about a brand like Tudor or Omega or Rolex is that level of technology. Well, a couple things I I'm struck by are um the level of technology that goes into the the production of these, I mean, let's face it, obsolete um objects. You know, like these, these, the, these optional luxury items uh and the the level of detail and automation and thought and technology that goes into them is just astounding. and the sheer size of the operation, not only a tutor, but the entire Swiss industry, I mean, in a country that is so known for watches that this is, you know, some level of this sort of thing is happening all over the country, and it's just really amazing. And then with regard to a brand like Tutor, the high level of quality that is maintained repeatedly over just thousands and thousands of watches is is just incredibly impressive. And you contrast that with probably your trip to to Germany. I I can remember, you know, going to Minerva and and Lange and, you know, places like that over the years and like of
James Stacy course that is this very hand
Jason Heaton handcrafted stuff that's so in such contrast and it's just such a different p position on the spectrum of watchmaking and it's it's neat to see both ends of that. So I, you know I, I look forward to seeing, you know, what comes of your your trip to to Germany as well, which I'm sure will come later in a few months or whatever. But um yeah, this was really, really, really well done and and I I can see why it took so long. I mean it was it was
James Stacy yeah. Um in terms of both timeline and and and final outcome. Uh and yeah, just to set the uh expectations clear, there will not be something like this from Longa. There will be pieces of things in this scope, like about how watches are made, about how certain things are done. Um, but at Longa's level, they're doing almost everything in their own facility and there's not a lot of interest um in sharing some of those details.
Jason Heaton Mm-hmm. So two two entirely different
James Stacy uh processes and uh I I don't know of I I certainly have not had that level of access or transparency into the way things are made by a watch brand in in my time.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Uh I've definitely been on factory
James Stacy tours where they show you a lot of stuff but you're not allowed to have cameras. In this, you were allowed to have cameras, you were allowed to ask questions. You could follow up later and make sure that you had all the details correct. If you needed a contact at one of the companies for some wild question, they would do that. You know, I I think part of this is the the sort of Reddit esque opinions that tutors are made in China or that the tutor clones that you can buy for a few hundred bucks that are made in China are just as good. Oh
Jason Heaton yeah. So that that was great and I'm I'm
James Stacy thrilled to have the video out. Uh I hope people enjoy it. I've gotten a lot of very kind feedback on the Slack. Thank you uh as always uh folks for uh you know checking things out when we publish them and leaving comments and while while we're still on watches before we get into an array of wacky
Jason Heaton Yeah, sure. Um I I mentioned uh I think it was last week that um I received a couple of watches back from service, one of which is um the one I have on today, which is the Omega Speedmaster Mark III. I think this one I've doing a little research uh into the history of of this particular watch. And these were made only from I think 71 to 73 or seventy fo,ur so a very short production run. Um for yeah. I suppose for kind of some obvious reasons, if you just look at the thing. I mean it's it's very much of its era. It's weirdo. Um it's a weirdo. Yeah we and and I I do believe it now holds the title as the most uncomfortable watch that I own. Um, it is uh it's I mean I've I've been wearing it for for several days just because I I just it brings me joy to look down and look at it. Um it's kind of at the same quirky appeal as the the Land Rover with the mini cab on it. But it's it's it it's not that it's so top heavy. It's a very heavy watch and it's 16 millimeters tall, but it's um it's the curve of the bottom of the case is is narrower than my flat wrist is across. And so any strap that I put under those hooded lugs pulls down, it just hits my wrist wrong. It's just there's no comfortable position for the for the strap. And I it's okay on the bracelet, but then you have to have the bracelet just that sort of Goldilocks level of tightness where it's not constrictive, but it's tight enough that it the watch doesn't flop over. So I put it on this kind of porthole style rubber strap. I don't know who used to make these back in the day. You know, it kind of looks like an isoframe. Um, but uh and it's it's a thinner rubber, uh kind of an old strap that I've had for a long time. And it looks good. Um and and it's okay, but man, I just can't fine-tune the fit just right. it's it it's just uh I don't know, it's uh it it's the kind of watch that I'll probably wear for a few days and then I'll you know take it off and I'll have like kind of these red marks on my wrist for for a week and then I'll I'll forget the pain and pull it out and wear it again at some point. But uh yeah, it's I'm having fun with it.
James Stacy This is that time of year to wear big silly
Jason Heaton watches. Uh I remain
James Stacy very much a fan of big silly watches. I like a big watch summer for sure. Uh I I'm a hundred percent on board for this. And yeah, sometimes watches just have a character, um, that means they're not going to be a daily, but they can still be a delight. You know what I mean? and for me, I'm I'm going in a different direction. I have not taken the sub army 200T Hodinkee L E off the Doxa.
Jason Heaton Oh uh it's it's been absolutely
James Stacy pay I think like thinking about it now that I'm I said that I haven't taken it off. I think I literally have only taken it off in the last week to hand to somebody to show them.
Jason Heaton Yeah I've slept with it on. Um
James Stacy this is the this is the the best loom experience I've had with a doxin.
Jason Heaton Yeah. It wears so beautifully
James Stacy because it's tiny. Yeah. I mean again, I know that the the 200T is 39 millimeters, but if you haven't had one in person, I would compare this to any of my 36mm
Jason Heaton watches. This wears like my
James Stacy date, my vintage date just uh it's small, it's flat, uh the bezel's great, the loom is pretty solid. Yeah, I'm just very, very happy with it. Um I'm I I don't know that I'll be taking it off anytime soon.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Uh it's just very easy to wear
James Stacy and has been working out really nicely. And I'm I've found that I don't remember the last time I had a watch that I wore extendedly and throughout times of doing various things where I want to use the bezel and it was a countdown bezel.
Jason Heaton Um but I'm getting along quite nicely with this one.
James Stacy Every now and then you have to dup reverse the math. Who cares? Not that big a deal. But also when you want to count something down and you set that time to the hand to the minute hand, it's kinda that's kind of classy. It's cool. I like
Jason Heaton it. Yeah. So yeah, very happy with this
James Stacy watch. As I was with my 200T to be fair, but this is just you know feels a little bit more personal with it being the Hodinkee connection and the coloring and the the orange I really like.
Jason Heaton I I'm seeing so many pictures. Um Slack, Instagram, the the Hodinkee Happy Hour photo essay that I saw.
James Stacy Yeah, it's a goody. I'm I'm excited. Uh yeah, I mean we're we're like six weeks away from hanging out again. This is great.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, so that's what I've got
James Stacy on wrist. And I think that brings us to the slack crew and a. I was up in the middle of the night last night thinking about how to polish up this intro, uh, which I always find is a mess when I get to it. So I'll keep it as simple as possible. The Slack crew and A is text based questions from our Slack platform. If you want to be on the Slack platform but you're not, you can get in for five dollars a month. It's a great time and this will give you an idea as to the quirky characters and exciting trains of thought that exist within the Slack platform. We will read these questions and then we will answer them. And we probably get to, I don't know, six or seven today before the end of the show. So why don't we start off with one from Great Lakes Watch.
Jason Heaton Yeah, he says uh you both finally get to go on an adventure together, all expenses paid by Hodinkee or Blanc Pan or some other well finance company. First caveat is that you both have to contribute to an article once it is all said and done. Where would you both collectively decide to go that would interest you equally for the article? And while on assignment, you both have to bring along two watches from your collections, but for the other person to wear for the entirety of the trip. What two watches are you bringing for the other person? And one last thing, you have to rent just one car for use for any driving needs. What are you renting together? So we didn't discuss this. I mean this isn't necessarily a collective answer, but I'm I I I think that's okay. I'm I'm curious to hear where yeah where you chose and and what watch and car.
James Stacy Yeah. So uh the the first thing I wanted to do was actually answer one, Great Lakes watch, thanks so much for this question. It's a fun one. I had a good time thinking about it. But I wanted to also think about the content we'd be making, this story that we'd have to work on together. Oh
Jason Heaton yeah. And I think deep down someday
James Stacy we need to crack the code on how to do dive watch of the year, like they do performance car of the year, SUV of the year, like P. Cody and all those where you get like fifteen of the best dive watches and you know 10 of people who could dive and write and take photos and all that kind of
Jason Heaton thing. And you put them all in one space
James Stacy for a couple of days and just run them through the paces and see who likes what and and grade everything and then go from there. It would be amazing to do. Of course, if you're not if you're not on our side of the line, incredibly difficult. No brand is gonna really want you to compare their watch directly to another watch. You know, we've we've experienced that with three on threes and stuff like that in the past, uh, and that sort of thing. So you it would be it would be a tightrope walk to get everything together, and you know you,'d also be having to decide what ones don't even make the cut of being part of that program, like how many watches is it? Um, but I feel like there used to be Jason, what was the German watch sport watch magazine or maybe dive watch magazine. Do you remember that one? Oh I'm sure they're still around. I just can't remember what it's called.
Jason Heaton Yeah, vaguely. And for those of you in Germany, I'm
James Stacy really sorry. It's a great magazine that I have I've held in my hands before. But back in the day, they had like we took these three dive watches diving.
Jason Heaton Yeah. You know, a high-end Seiko, an Omega,
James Stacy and a Rolex. Yeah, right. Right. and kind of stacked them up. That'd be rad, but I want to do it with like 10 watches. And you know,
Jason Heaton and have it be this like very extended
James Stacy program. And I think to do that, it would be anywhere that would be like warm, really reliable, straightforward diving where we could get the entire boat or run the program ourselves.
Jason Heaton Mm-hmm. So a Bonaire, a Cosumel,
James Stacy uh you know, any of those sorts of areas I think would be fine.
Jason Heaton Yeah. And I think would work really well. And
James Stacy then as far as the watches I would bring for you, aside from say the 12 or 15 dive watches that we'd be testing, I think I'd bring you that Bell and Ross Andy Digi I've got.
Jason Heaton Oh yeah. Yeah. Just be a laugh and totally out
James Stacy of scope for the other ones. You've got to borrow it or or you know,
Jason Heaton yeah, wear it when you're here in in September
James Stacy because I'm not getting that much wear out of it um yeah
Jason Heaton these days. Uh and then I
James Stacy think uh probably the Pelagos thirty nine. You spend so much time with the FXD on I'd love like a a long term thirty-nine review from you, like whether or not it would like you'd like it more than you do uh you know you know after checking mine out for a few minutes or whatever. Um but I think those would be the two the two watches for me. And then do you want to say do you want me to do the vehicle now or you want to save that for the we can do that together at the end?
Jason Heaton Yeah we can we can save the vehicle I.'m I'm just I've got a comment about the watches. I I think um first of all yes to the Bell and Ross um the the the the Pelagos 39 in my mind I have this notion I mean I I I once had one of the kind of the OG Pelagos, you know, the first generation. The
James Stacy 500s, yeah. Yeah, the 500s. Um
Jason Heaton and you know, love that watch, etc. Moving to the FXD, I I I kind of feel like okay, same but different. Um I I like the FXT so much because of its form factor and the strap uh system. Um I just have the sense that the 39 is just gonna be like, huh, uh kind of feels like like other Keligos. Um but I'm guessing, judging from kind of your feedback, that you think there there's something different enough about it that would that would feel different. So I'm curious about that.
James Stacy I think it kind of blends the the five hundred I'm and this isn't a novel idea from me. Everybody kind of says this, but it kind of blends the 500 meter full fat pelagos with like a like your 14060M.
Jason Heaton Mm. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
James Stacy Uh, but those would be the two the the two watches I'd bring. And I think uh, you know, take me to a nice stable, cool diving, diving where you can do it not super deep.
Jason Heaton Uh where so we get great photos of all these watches
James Stacy and that sort of thing, and then yeah, do like a dive watch of the year sort of uh spread.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Yeah. No, I like that kind of trip. I I had considered a dive trip. I'm glad we both didn't dive trips, but I I the the reason I didn't pick a dive trip was or a specific dive trip was because of the vehicle thing. I thought, well, diving like you don't really need a car. I mean, I guess you can do it in Bonaire, like where it's all shore diving and some kind of a cool truck or four by four. But anyway, so I went with in a different direction. I'm uh you and I are gonna go do um a trip to Iceland. Um where we have kind of a variety of things to do. Direct flights, I'm guessing from Toronto. There certainly is one from Minneapolis. In fact, um spoiler alert, I have a trip planned to Iceland in November this year with Christy. Um we're super excited about that. Um and I've been there a couple of times. And so it it's just it's one of those places that has such a variety of activities um in such kind of an extreme environment that I thought it would make for a good trip with us. We can actually do some diving there. We can dive between the continental plates at Silfra. Um we can do some kind of glacier tracking, uh hiking to hot springs. The driving is just spectacular there anyway, the landscape is is just dramatic. Um and in terms of the watches I'm bringing for for you to wear, um I'm out of my collection, I'm going to bring two very different pieces, but both I think you you love and would love to wear. And one is the the Zin uh 144, the S, the Jubilee edition that I got from Tom Place. Um, just such a great piece. I you know, I wore that for that long swim last week. I mean, it's such a great tool watch. I just I love it more and more every time I wear it. And then um my uh my freshly serviced Blanc pan, Bathiscaf, the Hodinkee edition.
James Stacy Oh, um, you know, thirty-eight millimeter,
Jason Heaton super comfortable, just classic, kind of under the radar, like just doesn't get noticed except unless you kind of know watches. Um very comfortable, very capable, would work great for the the dive at that Silfra. Um, and uh I just think those would make kind of great two great kind of Iceland watches. No doubt. That's where I landed.
James Stacy Yeah, I love that. Um I'm I'm I'm in for all of that. This is great, and a nice A-B option to a tropical dive trip.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Definitely. nice
James Stacy compliment for sure. All right. So uh for vehicle, what do we what are we driving around in Iceland? Because I really hope we p uh I'm thinking what you're thinking.
Jason Heaton Okay, I bet I'm I bet you're not thinking what I'm thinking. I I I'm good we're gonna we're gonna get a I don't know if they even rent these there. Um uh a Porsche 911 Dakar.
James Stacy Oh, okay, wow. Not at all, not at all what I was expecting.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Um, I'm just so smitten with those. I don't know much about them. You know a lot more than I do. But uh just I remember when they kind of debu debuted a few years back. It was like I just it it just seemed like one of these the ultimate kind of blend of of stuff that I like in a vehicle. I mean, just sure. They just look great. And I just can see ripping around on all sorts of road conditions in Iceland with this thing with with reckless abandon. Um and I just think it would it would make for great kind of photo and video content. Um you know, certainly space would be limited for for any gear we're taking along, but you know, throw a roof rack on it or have a chase car or something like that. Uh I think we'd be fine. I think we'd be fine. Yeah. All right.
James Stacy Well then I get to pick the support vehicle.
Jason Heaton Okay. All right. Yeah. Go for it. I
James Stacy want a Toyota Hylix, but one of the ones built by this company Arctic Trucks.
Jason Heaton Oh right. Like they got like
James Stacy 37-inch tires and the light bars. You can drive. I think it's the the I don't know this for certain, but I think that's the one that was prepared for the top gear trip to the North Pole. I think that was an Arctic trucks build.
Jason Heaton Oh, yeah. Again, could could have that wrong. It was
James Stacy a very long time ago that that that happened. Um, but the Arctic trucks thing looks really cool. And I've never uh driven a Hylix, they're not for North Americans. Uh sadly. Uh, but exceptionally cool thing. And I just think, yeah, if our support if we're doing a Dakar with like a TGN livery, like imagine a d a Dakar with the uh with the uh dazzle camo.
Jason Heaton Oh, yes. And then like a
James Stacy matching bright orange uh Arctic trucks on some silly tires. Couple of toys
Jason Heaton for sure. I think that'd be great. Yeah. And
James Stacy then um for Bonaire, Cozumel, etcetera, I figured you get off the dive boat, we're gonna go eat some uh iguana stew or whatever it is that evening. And uh I I want to do it in a a like a local uh Land Cruiser Series seventy nine pickup.
Jason Heaton Mm. They're just one of the I think one
James Stacy of the coolest things ever. Uh I love I love Series Seventy Nines. Uh if you don't know them, it's a it's a Land Cruiser that's uh kind of like what Jason has now built with his. It's a it's a cab with a pickup. Um think think a land cruiser version of like a Jeep Gladiator, if that's easier. Um and they're exceptionally cool.
Jason Heaton So good. I I just Googled it while you were talking and the the the first thing that came up was Toyota of Gambia. Like the the Toyota dealership in Gambia. Where
James Stacy you can probably buy a 2026 one.
Jason Heaton Yes, and they're showing the models available. I'm not going to go into too much detail here, but the single cab, the double cab, the different wheels, the different that, you know, some of the snores, very bare bones ones with kind of small wheels and tires, still four by four, some with diesel, some with petrol. I mean, just yeah, these are great. These are so great. Okay. I'm gonna get out of that rabbit hole. That's very
James Stacy very, very fun thing. Um they look kind of hilarious. They're a little bit awkward. I th actually what the they look like is Ineos quartermaster has the weird proportions of a 79 as well on board. Very fun stuff.
Jason Heaton Yeah. But yeah, so that's a great leg
James Stacy to watch. Great question. Uh let's jump into one from Josher who asks, what could a CWN2 uh be? He says, uh I am wearing and enjoying my CWN one, but would like Jason and James's take on what a potential CWN2 could be. Would it lean more towards a field watch, something on a bracelet, any brands you would be keen to collaborate with, looking for something, uh some fun speculation here? Jason, any uh any kind of uh hopes, dreams for what a CWN two could be? We got a question kind of like this a little while ago.
Jason Heaton Yeah, I mean I think we've we've gone on record as saying we're a little hesitant to kind of get too deep into kind of watch production or you know become regular watch designers um for two reasons
James Stacy philosophy philosophy
Jason Heaton yeah um i mean i think you know just right off the top i mean i think it's no secret that we have a kind of a quiver of brands that that are very TGN adjacent or that we like that that would be potential candidates. And the th these are by no means any hints that anything's coming, because we really don't have any specific plans. But you know, things we've talked about maybe doing is is if we did a CWN two is try to keep it a little bit more affordable than the CWN one, which as watches go, wasn't horribly overpriced. I I felt like at the eleven hundred dollar range it was it was a good value and and we're very proud of that watch. But something uh more even more affordable than that, I think would be great. Um if possible, um maybe an automatic. I don't know. I think that'd be kind of fun to do.
James Stacy Yeah, I think you know from, my side, I I would speak more to the philosophy of how we would approach a CWN too.
Jason Heaton And one, I would say like doing doing
James Stacy these programs to run a limited edition or or do this, like we're exceptionally picky because it's not a it's like I I can can see that you can see from the other side that it's a lot of fun, but it's a lot of stress. Yeah.
Jason Heaton You know, everybody's gonna complain or find something
James Stacy they don't like, or that they didn't have enough time, or or this or that. So I mean at its base level, we need to work with a partner who can allow us a full pre order. So like you have a month to decide if you want this watch.
Jason Heaton As many as are bought is how many will
James Stacy be made. Yeah. Um as much as obviously I have a a love and appreciation for limited editions, I'm wearing one on my wrist. I work for Hodinkee. Uh my wife Sarah runs the limited edition platform. Um I'd like I like the crew to at least know that they had the option of buying it.
Jason Heaton Yeah. No four
James Stacy minutes to buy it online. It's you know it's something we would offer only to the Slack like you do did with the CW or to the to supporters, like we did with the CWN one. The next thing that's important is I I would love to come in under a thousand dollars. Ideally, I mean the dream would be it'd be like a thousand dollars to your door. So when once the taxes have have hit and whether there's any, you know, that's not going to be for everywhere in the world. But ideally, you know, under a thousand dollars comfortably would be nice. Um, and then maybe someday there's a one that's more expensive or something like that. Um, but we like value watches, and I honestly think there's a ton of competition at most price points right now.
Jason Heaton So why not just lean into one that we
James Stacy like and would buy and and kind of bring the stakes down a little bit? Um as watches feel expensive, it probably makes sense to kind of adjust in a different direction. So that that would would be be something we'd be talking to brands about if they were interested in doing this. And then obviously I've been very clear about this in the past. I don't think people always listen. We're not putting our logo on a dial. That doesn't interest us. It's not the way that I would do it at all, really. Um that's fine for a t-shirt for 30 bucks. I think it's goofy to put a podcast logo on a watch dial when you know we're working maybe with a partner who, you know, like like CWC has is like a real brand that like their watches have been in all sorts of crazy theaters of war and adventures and exploration all over the world. And then we're like I just it it feels really weird to put our name on the dial. Yeah. Um or especially the logo, right? If you can be really, really subtle about it, okay, fine. Um, but I think it it's so easy to get like cartoonish or really to be like way too pompous about yourself. We're just a it's a podcast. Come on.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Um so and
James Stacy instead of slapping our logo on the dial, we make it a lot harder, which is where we would preferably like to do something the brand hasn't done before because I think the value that we bring that the T GN crew brings is take can is proving an idea. Like CWC didn't make the TI three hundred.
Jason Heaton Right. Uh and and we came to them and
James Stacy said we would love to do the titanium fixed lugs Monan case. And they said, okay, um, look, we'll have to see how that
Jason Heaton works. And it and we showed that it
James Stacy worked. And I think that's what I would want to do is kind of offer something that doesn't quite exist, whether it's a combination of a few things that do exist with one evolution. And that's where these things take a lot of time. Um you know there's there's only limited interest, like not unlimited interest from Jason and I. We are not champing at the bit to do another CWN watch. We will. There, I'm sure there will be another one in the future, but we're taking our time.
Jason Heaton Always fun to consider. Thanks for that, Joshua.
James Stacy Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Next up, we've got a question
Jason Heaton from Caleb who asks, uh, do you have a favorite Slack channel? Uh the buy sell trade too doesn't count when you're doing a collection purge. Adventure is mine by far. It's the most interesting aspect of the TGN community for me. James, what's your favorite Slack channel? What's your go-to?
James Stacy The ones I jump to pretty quickly are gear and makers. Uh so makers we we get a lot of uh like leather craft, 3D printing. That stuff I always just find interesting and and I learn from from people and what they're up to and what they're thinking about. And then gear is just fun. I mean, because it's so open ended, like almost anything can kind of fall into gear.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Um, those are probably the two, the
James Stacy two that I jump to most often these days. How about uh how about you?
Jason Heaton Yeah, adventure um and makers are the the two that I visit um most often. And I think um I guess if I'm honest, the the kind of the watch focused channels are are the least interesting to me. Um, maybe, you know, kind of being tangentially still part of the industry and just kind of living and breathing and talking about them a lot on the show. Um I just kind of want to not necessarily visit those a lot on uh Slack. So I I think what what interests me about the adventure channel and the makers channel is I'm just I I've just grown to be in such awe of what so many of our crew get up to and and I'm kind of humbled by that. I I feel like you know, when we were doing the podcast almost in a vacuum without this regular direct interaction with our crew, our subscribers, our supporters. Um, you know, it feels like you you and I are kind of we do all this kind of cool stuff and we're gonna talk about it and whatever. And it it like it it is humbling to suddenly be exposed to like all these people that are listening to us talk and how how much more accomplished a lot of them are than than we are at so many different things, whether it's
James Stacy absolutely you know, diving or mountain
Jason Heaton climbing or uh endurance sports or you know building furniture or you know rebuilding a car or things like this that I still aspire to do a lot of or or don't or find too daunting. And to see people doing that stuff on a regular basis is just uh all over the world is just uh really awe-inspiring. And I I guess I'll throw in also um I do love to to visit book club occasionally just for for ideas for reading and then obviously
James Stacy absolutely diving. I mean the diving channel's
Jason Heaton great. I spent a lot of time there. Yeah, there's
James Stacy some great channels for sure. But yeah, I I would agree with that and I would agree that um a lot of what I'm getting from gear or uh makers is like inspiration or or even just a feeling like these guys are doing it, maybe I should try it.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Right. Like whether what whatever it might
James Stacy be. Um and and so yeah, I I I I've get a lot of inspiration and there's a lot of channels to be clear. So it's it's hard to pick uh a favorite, but those are two where I find myself lingering
Jason Heaton yeah uh more often than uh than just
James Stacy making sure that I have an understanding of like, you know, what's going on and most certainly watches or something like that.
Jason Heaton Right. Yeah. All right. Thanks so much for that question,
James Stacy Caleb. Next up we've got one from Evan L who said, if you could take an extended sabbatical from the internet, say like two to three months, would you do it? And if yes, how would you spend your time?
Jason Heaton yes, and yes. Uh-huh. Oh boy. Why don't we do that?
James Stacy Yeah, I'm not sure. I mean, it it would have to include work because my work isn't exclusively on the internet.
Jason Heaton Yeah, right. But if if it was possible
James Stacy to do it without work, then yeah, I would I would be interested in in doing that and seeing if I could kind of reset uh some of the ways that I'm interfacing with the internet. Um I'm so thankful to have the Slack because it means I'm not spending time in sort of the wild uh part of the world. It's a little bit more of a closed garden.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Uh which I think is actually quite protective
James Stacy and helpful and that sort of thing. But yeah, I think a break's probably good. And if it was two to three months and it would include like a like a proper sabbatical. Like I could kind of close my laptop, you know, delete Instagram from my phone and just kind of exist like I did, you know, 20 years ago. Um, yeah, I think I would try that. And the goal for me, uh, you know, this is all really cliche stuff. I'm I feel like I'm I need to learn a new skill. I don't know what that skill is yet.
Jason Heaton Mm-hmm. But it's something I used to
James Stacy be quite proactive about, um, of just kind of diving into something and see how it goes. Um and I feel like I'd love to learn a new skill. I'd love to clear a few books off the list.
Jason Heaton And then for me, two to three months would be enough to
James Stacy get into like a locked in physical routine.
Jason Heaton Oh yeah. Um where I'm not like doing
James Stacy it really well. Like I was pretty good a little while ago about running and lifting weights and that and then, you know, go to Germany for a week and come home for two days and go to New York and it just all falls apart.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Um and I and I think if I you
James Stacy know, if I was sitting still, quote unquote for, a bit. And uh and it would be it'd be much faster for me to go like, well, not only do I have the half hour, I have even more time. Like let's may maybe I'd maybe I'd take up, I don't know, boxing at a gym locally or something like that.
Jason Heaton Right. Yeah.. Right So how
James Stacy about you, Jason? Yeah, I mean I think, you know, two
Jason Heaton to three months. I I just w I'm trying hard not to think of the logistics of it, like how I how would actually do that because, you know, with access to my computer, like I talked to a while back about getting the itch a bit to um to to kind of get back into to fiction writing and maybe work on another book and I think two to three months would be a great at least way to get a really good start on it, um, and without the distractions because I I think that was one problem that I had was when I was writing my my first two novels was you're sitting at a laptop that's connected to the internet and yes I could turn off my Wi Fi but that's easy to turn back on. And then if I'm researching something that's in the book, it leads to rabbit holes and distractions. And um but if if there was a logistical way that I could do that, um, you know, maybe maybe it's just writing on a typewriter instead of a laptop, um, I I think I would do more writing. I think I would dig into kind of getting another book going. Um you know, certainly like you said, I'd get a lot more reading done. Um I also think just I I I realize how much time if I, you know, when I've deleted Instagram from my phone, just how much time I I take kind of just mindlessly browsing that and how much time I gain back if I do get rid of that. And I could see now that I have a a garage space like um over the winter, for instance, two to three months would be a great time to just disassemble and kind of rebuild the gearbox on the Land Rover or, you know, just kind of rewire it or, you know, little little tasks like that. But also two to three months without the internet also would mean and I don't see myself doing this at this stage of life, but two to three months would be a like a long trip somewhere, um, where if you didn't have internet access, like you could go somewhere fairly remote and uh and have a proper adventure, you know, outside off the grid. Um so yeah, those are all kind of intriguing ideas and I I do love the idea of a sabbatical from the internet.
James Stacy the one thing I would add as, I'm sure somebody is currently typing it into Slack, um, they do make um like portable word processors that don't connect to the internet that write in on an e ink screen. Uh there's one called the Free Write Traveler. I've known someone who uh was working on a book on that. it connects to Wi-Fi only to sync your document, but there's no browser, there's no other tools. It doesn't have any other features. It's just like a keyboard with a little screen in front of it that folds up. Um those are you know, may maybe that's something worth looking into
Jason Heaton if uh for you if that if that would be valuable
James Stacy instead of having the laptop with all the notifications and the the full access to the internet. But I've known people who have had these and uh and like them. It's a they call it a portable distraction free drafting tool. Huh. And then I know there's pieces of software that essentially lock you out of the rest of your computer while you're writing. I think there's called FocusRite. Um in I'm not sure of some of the others, but uh yeah, the the free right traveler or its competition might be something worth considering where you could go and have that and be working on your book, and your book is kind of living in that space only. Um, and then you know, you're not you're not having the uh the other distractions and that sort of thing. Solid question there, Evan. Thanks so much for that. Uh next up we've got one from uh the K thirty three who asks uh when I'm coming to Australia to visit the Hodenky Australia team and uh would I bring Jason with me. Uh no plans at the moment, but if the math worked out, I'm not gonna turn down a field trip uh to uh to Australia for sure. And of course uh Jason would be welcome if he was interested in coming along. Uh if I make it to Australia, we'll do something for T GN as well. Uh 'cause that's a long way to go and it would be a lot of fun, I think. Uh but no no planes at the moment. The uh Hoodinky Australia uh team and presence is very, very new uh and is still kind of working through uh their earliest uh endeavors in terms of both uh digital and print. Um, but it's definitely something that could be on the horizon. there's a couple folks that we've kind of kicked around for talking watches uh that are based out that way. Um and would be willing to do it but not willing to do it other places, which is understandable uh as it's so far away. So uh would would like to get there someday. I know Jason, you've been to that part of the world. Uh and any uh any dying need uh to get back there, any plans in the short term? Uh s obviously you have Iceland on the horizon, s sort of an opposite scenario there.
Jason Heaton Yeah, no plans. Um but I've I've I've had a long standing invitation to s from some friends in Sydney um that that they remind me all the time. Like we've visited you several times, it's time for you to come this way. And uh you know it's just it's just a long journey. And I think with with two pets, I think pet care, you know, is just a kind of become a concern for kind of extended travel, um kind of, you know taking care of that sort of thing but uh yeah I'd love to get down there and I know that we have a big contingent of uh of TGN crew in Australia. So um that'd be really fun and just it's it's such a healthy watch community and such a great place for adventuring and um just everything. I mean diving and wine country and great old vehicles and and uh just beautiful scenery and whatever. So yeah, it's on the it's on the list long term.
James Stacy Good stuff, uh the K thirty three. Thanks so much for that. And we'll keep you posted. Uh you'll be the first to know if uh if it looks like we're getting tickets to come down under.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Next up we've got one from Jeremy
James Stacy Barramie who said you wake up in an alternate world where humans have perfected temporal awareness and thus wristwatches do not exist. However, a different accessory has been universally adopted by males, don't ask me how, but it's sandwiches. They're all passed down from generation to generation. They patina and eating a vintage sub is heavenly. Uh figure out the rules on your own. Um, but what is your perfect three sandwich collection? Uh Jason, obviously there's some physics that have been changed here uh in terms of I guess the sandwich doesn't age or rot or decay. Um my problem is the three sandwiches that I had to have I would eat four lunch uh today.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Right. Uh so you'd have maybe
James Stacy three meals before they were gone. I wouldn't be much of a collector of sandwiches, more of an enthusiast, I suppose. Um hopefully they don't cost as much as watches. That part's unclear. Jeremy, this is a wild question. Jason, three three sandwiches in a world where you collect sandwiches that you would have to have in your collection.
Jason Heaton Oh man. Yeah, you're right. I would not collect. I would just I'd be a flipper if or a you know consumer. Um yeah I uh my three, I mean they came to mind fairly quickly. I thought this would be a hard question, but it really wasn't actually. and this sets aside the fact that I don't eat that I don't eat cheese anymore. Um, because all of these have cheese. well, two out of the three have cheese and a lot of meat and uh anyway, I'll I'll get started here. Um, a Ruben. I I haven't had a Ruben in years. Um rye bread, sauerkraut, corned beef, Swiss cheese, you know, a drizzle of Thousand Island dressing, just you know, just go full. I don't know. Um just classic Rubin. Um I I love a good Rubin. Bon Mi. Th there's i don't know if you've been. There's a Bon Mi place near the office in New York, near the Hodinkee. Yeah, Bom
James Stacy Bon Mi Saigon. It's incredible. Okay. Yeah.
Jason Heaton Um I love Bon Mi. Um the bread's
James Stacy too hard. Rips up your mouth, but it does. It
Jason Heaton tears up your palate. Yes, exactly. Yeah. Um, but I do love Bon Mi. Um especially kind of a spicy one. And then the third one is um man, I miss grilled cheese, man. Grilled cheese sandwich is the most basic grilled cheese sandwich, you know, just some bread, butter, grilled cheddar, not too sharp of a cheddar. Um best served with a a bowl of uh tomato soup. Those are my three.
James Stacy Oh, for sure. yeah. No, that's uh the three great choices. For mine, I'm going uh Philly cheesesteak. And just you know, oh I'm a big fan. Uh they're they're absolutely incredible, especially like in and around Philly. Uh like you know, we have a Jersey Mike's here and and they do a great job, let's be fair, to Jersey Mike's, but uh there's some spots near Sarah's parents that are just fantastic.
Jason Heaton I it's good that they're not close by because these
James Stacy are not this is not none of my three sandwiches are even close to healthy. Not even close. Um the next one's chicken parm. I love a chicken parm. It's basically a Philly cheesesteak just with you know from a different part of town.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Um different idea. Same
James Stacy idea, different idea, you know what I mean? And then finally uh French dip. I love a French dip, you know, shaved beef on uh on the right piece of bread, maybe maybe a little bit of g garlic in there and uh and then like the oju to dip in.
Jason Heaton Um so those would be my three for sure. But really
James Stacy we're just talking about sandwiches we'd love to eat.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Um which is uh which is a good one.
James Stacy So thanks so much for that one, Jeremy. Uh a fun one, a weird one for sure, but a fun one. Uh Jason, you want to hit this one from Shane R about straps?
Jason Heaton Yeah, he's he's asking what our go-to places or websites are to purchase uh NATO and rubber or FKM straps. Uh he's looking into options that hide the excess strap so it doesn't have to uh keep back around or you know loop it back through the keepers. Um and he says loves the pot love the podcast and thanks in advance. Uh you're welcome, Shane. Thanks for the thanks for the love. James, I you know I just I I have way too many straps. I just don't really buy many anymore. Um so I had a kind of a hard time coming up with current options. Uh I guess I'll just go first and just throw a few names out there. I've I've crown and buckle's been a long time go-to for me. They just for for NATO's they just the Matt Supreme is one of my favorites. Um does my test. Um, these are all ones you're
James Stacy still gonna have to like fold over though.
Jason Heaton Yeah, that's true. Right. Right. Um watch that espionage. they're doing some great stuff I mean it's first number. out some great straps. Um Artem, it's not even a strap type that that Shane was asking about, but the the sail cloth stuff from Artem is great and worth a look.
James Stacy Yep. And our good buddy uh Nick from Strap
Jason Heaton Habit, who helped us with our CW uh and inspired strap, even though that one you also have to curve back. But hey, look, you know, you can always take a dime, trace around it, and cut and then seal the edges to shorten a NATO strap. that's the tip I learned way back in the forum days and still rely on. So those are kind of my my go-tos.
James Stacy Yeah, and then the only other ones like because I had watched the espionage crown and buckle strap habit redux Erica's. There's no fold back on an Erica's.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Yeah. If there's an idea, you know,
James Stacy you can always check cheap NATO straps, they do a nice job. Um and then you know there's a version, it's the same like architecture as the Tudor strap, I believe it's it's a crown and buckle. I think it's called the Chevron.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Whatever it is, I'll put it in the show notes.
James Stacy And that one allows you to adjust the strap so that there isn't any foldover. That's
Jason Heaton a good strap has all these
James Stacy little areas you can kind of adjust the the sizing and and and that sort of thing. So that would be one. Um I I one I wear a lot of NATOs. I wear our NATO a lot, the just the standard gray NATO for TGN, and I love that they fold over. So
Jason Heaton we might just not be in the same wavelength as
James Stacy far as what we want from a strap. Yeah. So I might not be the best one to answer. And then as far as FKM, I avoid it as much as possible. I'm not a big fan unless it's quite expensive. Um, like with when it comes to rubber straps, I either buy like interesting ones on Amazon that I'm curious about and I'll wear them for a bit. Um, or I do the like buy once, cry once. The and my current favorites would be the you know, the marathon three-piece strap is amazing for the money. It's a great strap. Right up there with any any expensive OEM, Brightling, Omega, all that kind of stuff. It's that it's that level of quality. So on in that case it feels less expensive, but it's very much an expensive, costly sort of rubber strap.
Jason Heaton Oh yeah. Yeah. I I I'm actually not averse to FKM and and I think um in terms of my go-tos for kind of rubber or rubber adjacent straps would be um Zeeland. Zeeland makes a great strap. I've got one on my C Master. Um and uh uh don't uh don't forget about the strap tailor over in the UK. Um known mainly for leather straps, but um he does a a a few kind of cool uh rubber straps as well. So there's plenty of options for you to check out.
James Stacy Yeah, the the last one is Anchor Strap Co.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Um they do, I believe
James Stacy they do a um they do um a sort of deployant NATO. That I believe doesn't have a tail.
Jason Heaton Oh okay. Uh so that that might be worth checking
James Stacy as well. Uh I have seen those in person and they are very nice. I get their Instagram ads. Um I'll put that in the show notes if I'm but I'm almost positive that's what it is. Yeah. So thanks very much for uh that question, Shane. Uh and Jason, you want to hit uh the final one here?
Jason Heaton Yeah, we've got a a last uh kind of an appropriately final question from Scott O, um who it says the idea of an exit watch gets kicked around now and then, a watch that's so perfect for you that you stop looking at getting new watches. With the understanding that you can change your mind in the future, what non watch things do you have in your life that you would consider as exit level? Um he adds that he has a Miata that feels like his exit fun car. He doesn't have any desire to be shopping for another hobby car if it would require him to part with the Miata. Yeah, good good question. It's a great concept. I I've I've long loved the idea of an exit watch or an exit something. Um what about you? What you have anything non watch related that that you consider exit product?
James Stacy Yeah, probably. I've you know I've got um cameras. Like I I think whatever happens in my life, I can't imagine my M ten not being the camera that I would use for my life that isn't taking photos of watches. Um it's just it's that level. I think I think it'll go down as sort of a classic, even the in the digital world. And I know people say that these things become obsolete and and that sort of thing. Um, I think the 10 it in my mind at least gets to the point where I can't imagine needing a lot more from it.
Jason Heaton Yeah. It's serviceable, it's something you can have fixed
James Stacy if it's need if it needs to be fixed. Um I don't need more resolution. I already have some lenses. Uh so that one feels very strong to me. Uh sleeping pads, I've got you know thermores, neo-air, X therms. I'm not buying more sleeping pads. They're perfect. They're the the expensive, nice one. Um I got lots of great flashlights. I have several machants. Uh so if I want to pick up a flashlight that I know is quite literally the end game of flashlights. Um I've got that. Uh you know, I've got a uh I've got a um a GMX from uh giant mouse knife and I I can't imagine like every time I go look at uh Chris Reeves or or or whatever it may be. I go, yeah, but I I'm it's gonna do the same thing that this does.
Jason Heaton Yeah. And I just I absolutely love it.
James Stacy It's just such a pretty, well made could easily be the sort of thing. It's definitely the sort of thing that keeps me from buying more knives, uh for sure. Uh the planet Earth shirt. I don't need another field shirt.
Jason Heaton Ever, I don't think. Yeah. Uh I would
James Stacy love to I'll probably one day if I get lucky enough and there's a sale and it's in my size and all that, I'd love a green or a tan one, not a black one. Um, but other than that, I'd be buying it only for the color. Um backpacks. I've got probably good. You know, you got you got me the Dynema Go Ruck Bullet. That's not going anywhere. That's a end game backpack for sure. Um, I've got uh GR2 Heritage
Jason Heaton uh from Go Ruck as well. I like I
James Stacy like both of those a lot. Um so yeah, those those are the things that l leap to mind for sure. Yeah,
Jason Heaton that's a good that's a good list. Um you know I've this is actually a really timely question for me because as as I'm moving and I've been purging a lot, I've just I've just come to realize how many multiples of so many things that I have that I just don't need. And I I've I'm kind of at this point in my life where I'm just not in acquisition mode. I don't know if it's in my age or or kind of the fact that I'm moving or or something, but um so it really kind of drives home what what it is that I do want to keep. Um and I I I just I don't um when it comes to like I I think clothing is the one thing I used to buy a lot more of. And I think once I kind of settled into what I like, and I think the planet earth shirt is was one of them that was on my list, but you know, you give me that shirt, a good pair of uh like Fjallraven Vita Pro pants, or the Kebs, like yeah, they um and then a pair of Blunstone boots. Um I'm good. Like I'm good for clothing, at least you, know kind, of in the shoulder seasons in the winter, um, with a with a good commando sweater. Um, I I really don't need much more. I just don't want to keep buying multiples of you know boots and pants and that sort of thing. Um so with that, and a uh a wa, you know, watch on my wrist and then I Land Rover would be f you know, for my non watch kind of exit vehicle. Um, I think I'm set. I think I'm good. I I can't decide if that would be the defender or the series. I think if I had to push game to shove I would, I mean it's hard it's hard to pick between the kids, but uh the defender would go and I think I would just keep the series. It's just uh just kind of more fun and quirky and collectible and and uh unique. It's also that
James Stacy step closer to a sports car. You know what I mean?
Jason Heaton Like top off if you want. Right. With some utility to it. Yeah. Yeah.
James Stacy For sure. But uh yeah,
Jason Heaton I mean in terms of other stuff, uh, you know, I I think camera, I think, you know, you we we made a trade, I got the queue. I can't see, you know, why I'd buy another camera at this point. I'm just kind of not in that game anymore. And it just kind of does everything, everything I need it to. Um so yeah, that's that's about it. I think, you know, I when I look around it, what I'm
James Stacy That's great. Perfect. Yeah. All right. Thanks so much for that question, Scott. Oh, and also to Shane, Jeremy, the K33, Evan, Caleb, Josher, and Great Lakes Watch for all your questions. It's always a blast that we've got maybe I don't know, 80 more uh to get to in the next uh next little while, but this uh kind of concludes round three and we'll jump into some final notes. Put a bow on it.
Jason Heaton All right, I'll jump in first. Um this is a recommendation of a person to follow or read. Um and maybe most of you have heard of her, um, Ava Zubek. Um I was actually um kind of introduced to her um by by a neighbor who saw me out tinkering with my Land Rover on the side of the road uh at my old house and and he said, you know, you've ever heard of Ava Zubek? She's uh kind of a Land Rover personality. She's this uh woman, I believe she's from Poland, but she was educated in the UK. Um I would say she's probably in her early thirties. Um she d has a very popular YouTube channel. And she's written a book recently. And then Sidetracked magazine just did kind of an online profile of her as well. And I just think she's a great follow. She's um you could call her an influencer or kind of one of these kind of travel personalities, but sh I I think she's got more depth than a lot of them. Um she's she's just she has a certain kind of realism to it. Um I I think some of the kind of the promotional aspects of her videos feel a little bit sensationalist, but once you kind of watch the long form stuff, she's she's quite brave. I mean, for a single younger woman to kind of go across, you know, areas of the Sahara Desert or drive the Dalton Highway in a in a early 2000s defender completely on her own is is a pretty bold thing for anybody. And um and she kind of does all this kind of self-documenting and she travels with her her really cool dog, um, Vilk, I think is the dog's name, um, that she kind of trained to be a self-protection dog. Um and uh yeah, I just I kind of like her delivery and and she goes on some really amazing adventures, not just in her Land Rover, but also she's done kind of uh she did like an ultra marathon across Mongolia. Um, uh and she just she does some kind of cool stuff and and with kind of a really raw, very personal style of delivery. So we'll throw um the link to her YouTube channel uh in the show notes as well as this article about her on sidetracked.
James Stacy Very cool. Yeah. She's uh brand new to me, but uh I have now subscribed and uh I look forward to uh checking out some of these videos. These look very exciting.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Good stuff. All right. What do you got? You got a pump here, an air pump.
James Stacy Yeah, an air pump. So um, you know, it it's a perennial thing. This time of year comes around. You want to do some camping, or in my case, you want to pump up uh kayaks or uh even um you know uh air mattress for a family visiting and that sort of thing. Um you always have these cheap ones that they sell at like you know, Canadian tire or whatever, uh, that are fine, and maybe they have like a cigarette adapter to plug 'em in for the car. I wanted something that was more of like the the polished, nice option. Yeah. that kind of had a lot of flexibility. You could do, you know, beach toys, it could do more heavy duty stuff. And all of the reviews kind of kept pushing me back to this one. I mean, FlexTale is a well-known company and they make a few different pumps, but they're the one I ended up going with is the larger of the of the options called the max pump three.
Jason Heaton Mm-hmm. It's tiny to be clear. It's
James Stacy uh it'd be yeah, you know, maybe the size of two espresso cups would
Jason Heaton be the right small. Smaller than a bottle
James Stacy of pills, smaller than um uh it's tiny and and it has a little clip on the top so you can hang it because it's both uh a very high performance battery powered pump for all sorts of things, uh even up to like I blew up two kayaks with it.
Jason Heaton It couldn't do the it couldn't get them like fully
James Stacy rigid. These are those uh like challengers, uh in tech challenger kayaks I bought a while back, but like to do the first 80 percent had no trouble. Uh seemed like light work for it. And then there's another button and the the sort of uh profile the the the where it comes to a bit of a point on one end is also a lantern for your tent.
Jason Heaton Yeah. And it's this like nice warm
James Stacy light with a few different levels of brightness uh from an LED. And I'm just very impressed for I think I paid about fifty-five sixty Canadian dollars. Um, but it is one of these Amazon things where I'm not insure the price in every territory, uh, but it's probably around 45 to 60 bucks wherever you are.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Um, and if you are doing
James Stacy you know, mattress pads when you're sleeping, uh like when you're camping, if you're doing you, know the, occasional uh, you know, bed or or or yeah uh beach toys, all that kind of stuff, really handy, really small, charges on USB C and it's a lantern. Uh I'm I'm impressed. It's a cool thing.
Jason Heaton It's great. They're even on their website they show it someone using it to uh kind of like a bellows to to pump up a you know blow on the the the campfire. It's a it's uh Oh
James Stacy yeah, yeah. That's a that's another one you can do for sure.
Jason Heaton Yeah, it's cool. A good exit pump to go back to. Yeah, there
James Stacy you go. Uh yeah, may maybe you'd need more. I don't think I do. Uh you you still had to use the hand pump for the last little bit for the kayaks, but that's
Jason Heaton okay. No big deal. But
James Stacy hey, there you go. A whole episode. Good
Jason Heaton stuff. As always, thank you so much
James Stacy for listening. If you'd like to subscribe to the show notes, get into the comments for each episode, or consider supporting the show directly, which would get you into the Slack and you could be part of the next time we do a big round of questions, which will be for next year. But there's lots of action in the Slack all the time. And you can even get yourself a new TGN signed NATO depending on the level of support. Just visit thegreynato.com for more details. Music Throughout is Siesta by Jazzar via the Free Music Archive.
Jason Heaton And we leave you with this quote from Francoise Sagan, who said, Curiosity is the beginning of all wisdom.