A roll-down pack for climbers, cyclists and hikers

There's something about a roll-down pack that Ernest finds irresistible. Maybe it's the way you can change the litre capacity, just by expanding or rolling down the top like a coffee bag? Maybe it's the way they they fit snugly around your shoulders and back, ensuring a comfortable climb, cycle or hike? Or maybe it's because they look so ruddy awesome?

Organic Climbing roll-down pack from Kinoko, £90

Kinoko have a keen eye for products that are comfortable and functional, yet have a uniquely beautiful aesthetic. This can definitely be said of their new roll-down pack from Organic Climbing, handmade in the USA. It was designed to meet the demands of climbers, cyclists and hikers who wanted a bag they could take out in all seasons and adjust the size to their needs. The bag features:

- Durable ballistic nylon shell, hand-stitched with the same heavy-duty stitching used for making bouldering mats
- External daisy chains for clipping on extra gear, or bike lights if you're cycling
- Ergonomic shoulder straps, ideal for cyclists and climbers
- Adjustable sternum belt and hip belt for stability while adventuring
- Large internal stash pocket for your phone and other precious bits
- Bright yellow lining for better visibility when rummaging around inside the bag

This is a sponsored blog post, created in collaboration with Kinoko. For more information on partnerships and joining our directory, please email advertise@ernestjournal.co.uk.

Introducing The Bearded Colonel

Magazines, books, socks and now razor blades – the world of subscribing knows no bounds. Tyvand McKee, co-founder of The Bearded Colonel tells us about German-made razor blades that can be delivered straight to your letterbox as often as you need them

You can subscribe to a delivery of razor blades monthly or every two or three months

Tell us a bit about Bearded Colonel – what's it all about?

The Bearded Colonel is a subscription service that delivers fresh razors through your letterbox once a month or once every two or three months, depending on how often you shave a week. We endeavour to provide a better way to shave. That means a better relationship with the people providing the razors, a better experience when buying the razors, and of course a better experience while actually shaving. The first two were simple fixes. You can’t have a good relationship with a brand if they’re extorting you by holding your face ransom. So it's easy – we offer a fair price. In our experience, men generally hate shopping errands and queues. We deliver razors regularly so you don’t even have to think about it. 

What’s so special about your razors?

A fair price means nothing if the product is cheap and made in China. So, we teamed up with a century-old German manufacturer, who I think make the best razor blades in the world. They made their start in the grooming business producing straight razors for Europe’s top barbers. Today, they’ve developed something really impressive –  they've cut our blades into the same shape as a straight razor, only much smaller. This makes the blades incredibly sharp and surprisingly durable. Sharpness, while often overlooked, is one of the most important factors for a razor.

What’s the art of a good shave?

Forget the gimmicks – the vibrating handles and roller balls – you need a good razor, and a good razor is a sharp razor. A lot of ads today talk about closeness. It’s silly really; they’re talking about getting half a micron closer. You literally need a microscope to see that difference. However, the sharper a razor, the smoother the shave; the smoother the shave the less irritated your skin will get, and that means less shaving rash. But a really special shave requires something extra – a shaving brush and a real shaving soap.

What’s important to you?

We want men to love shaving. You may have gone to a barber for a shave before, and I bet you loved it. You loved the feeling of luxury, the smell, and the way your face felt afterwards: smooth, supple, and strong. That experience can be replicated at home. Most men think they need a straight razor, but they don’t. What they need is a shaving brush, and a real shaving soap – not a gel or foam. The soap and brush are so often overlooked, but we found the best, and it makes all the difference. Our brush is made from pure badger hair and the cream is by Taylor of Old Bond Street.

Ernest readers receive 50% off their membership to The Bearded Colonel for the first month - just quote 'ERNEST' at the checkout.

This is a sponsored blog post, created in collaboration with The Bearded Colonel. For more information on partnerships and joining our directory please email advertise@ernestjournal.co.uk.

Creature Candy

Fancy a dangling brown long-eared bat on your tea towel or mug? Yep, so do we...

Brown long-eared bat, A4 print, £10

The brainchild of ecologist and entrepreneur Lizzie Barker, Creature Candy was created to help raise awareness of Britain’s declining and protected wildlife. Focusing on a trio of compelling species (the buff-tailed bumblebee, the brown long-eared bat and the privet hawk-moth) the products are simple yet stunning. We are particularly taken by the bat design, which adorns notebooks, prints, mugs and tea towels.

Having studied endangered species and worked alongside charities such as the Bat Conservation Trust, Lizzie donates 10% of every purchase to help British wildlife and each online purchase comes with additional information on the relevant species. Surely you need no further reason to go out and treat yourself to something special, and feel very good about helping a worthy cause at the same time.

View fullsize

View fullsize

A4 prints £10, soap £6.50, creaturecandy.co.uk

Words by contributing editor Duncan Haskell.

Play the game

From Cold War strategy and gold-mining to railway building and crop harvesting, board game aficionado Henry Ward recommends six classic eurogames to play long into the summer evenings

I have a guilty teenage past; a misspent youth. From the age of 10, I devoted my time to battling giants, exploring castles and seeking treasure. I played Dungeons & Dragons. I was geekily excited by the paraphernalia: I meticulously painted miniature models, painstakingly recorded my alter-ego’s character traits and covered my bedroom walls with maps of other worlds. I barely existed in the here and now. The collective name for gamers is a stink. And I think there’s good reason for this.

When I was 16, I discovered other things to be interested in; namely music, films and girls. I packed my dragons away. But 30 years later I find myself, once again, obsessed with board games. Not Monopoly and Cluedo. These are actually fairly shit. Games like Stone Age, in which a tribe of Neolithic people build a civilisation, breaking stones and washing their gold in the river. It comes complete with a leather cup that smells really nice. Power Grid, a game in which you build an infrastructure of power stations across Germany. Agricola, where you take on the role of a farmer struggling to feed his family in post-plague Europe. And my current favourite, Twilight Struggle, a faithful reenactment of the Cold War between 1945 and 1989, played out over four hours. Go on, give one of these classics a go...

Twilight Struggle
Ananda Gupta & Jason Matthews; £36.99
A strategic reenactment of the Cold War from the end of WWII to 1989. The game uses cards printed with historic events and a world map on which players place influence points as they try to secure victory. If it goes to 1989 you can be playing for four hours!

Ticket to Ride: Europe
Alan R Moon; £31.49
This game holds a distinct memory for me. We had a rainy family holiday in Yorkshire a few years ago and ended up playing Ticket to Ride for hours. The aim is to build rail routes across Europe – either to finish secret mission routes, which players have on cards dealt at the beginning, or be the builder of the longest railway. A great family game; it may well have inspired us to go Interrailing a few years down the line!

7 Wonders
Antoine Bauza; £28.99
A quick 20-minute game for 2-7 players, and yet fantastically rich thematically. Everyone plays simultaneously, so there’s no tiring waiting around for that one person who takes ages over a go. Each player attempts to build one of the original 7 Wonders and a civilisation to go with it. You can focus on building an army, creating an economy, constructing monuments or encouraging science. It sounds much more complex than it actually is. Well worth a go.

Agricola
Uwe Rosenberg; £42.99
Another ‘worker placement’ game where players start with a farm and two pieces to place on it. You can play solo or with up to 5 players. As the game progresses you develop your farm: creating fields and pastures, raising animals, planting and reaping crops. With each harvest you have to ensure there’s enough food to feed your growing family. It’s a game I return to time and time again. It looks frighteningly complicated but it is well worth it.

Lost Valley: the Yukon Goldrush 1896
Tobias, Roland & Johannes Goslar; £44.99
A recent acquisition, which was first published in 2004. Each player takes the role of a prospector. As you explore the valley by placing tiles, you choose to mine for gold, hunt for furs or gather clues to buried treasure. You can return to the general store to trade in nuggets for tools but you must watch out for the coming of winter, which ends the game.

Caylus
William Attia; £27.99
A wonderful example of a pure strategy game. It’s for 2-5 players but I like it as a 2-player chess-like battle. Players use their workers to build a castle and gather resources. One of my favourite gaming memories is spending hours playing this with my gaming buddy Joe on holiday in Wales. We sat outside and drank pints of Reverend James ale and ate pork scratchings. Gaming bliss.

Henry Ward is an artist, writer and educator based in London. He paints, draws, takes photographs, plays board games and attempts to make music on a growing collection of string instruments.

henryhward.com

 

 

 

You can read Henry's exploration of the psychology of board games in the third print issue of Ernest Journal, on sale now, or listen to his podcast at oddpodcast.com

sale

Issue 3

Sale Price:£5.00 Original Price:£10.00

Quantity:

Add to Cart

Pictures of the floating world

Traditional scenes of Japanese life and culture, captured in silk. Yes, we rather like these new pocket squares from Cravat Club, hand-crafted in Britain

Higure, £60: Mount Fuji Ukiyo-e print

Uyiko-e means 'pictures of the floating world' in Japanese. The traditional art form consists of woodblock prints and paintings usually depicting beautiful women, landscapes and scenes from history and folklore.

Cravat Club founder Jenny Meguro has strong connections to Japan: "I lived in the country for five years, and I have a Japanese husband. I love the traditional art of Ukiyo-e and I thought it would work really well printed on silk pocket squares.

"Instead of being a repeat pattern on a pocket square, they're more aesthetically pleasing as a whole picture, and you can show different parts of the design and colours of the square each time you fold it and put it in your blazer or waistcoat pocket."

There are three Ukiyo-e designs to choose from: Maiko, Koi Carp and Mount Fuji, each of which come in a choice of colours. They were designed by London-based Japanese artist Yusuke Aoki. Find out more about the collection here.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

This is a sponsored blog post, created in collaboration with Cravat Club. For more information on partnerships and joining our directory please email advertise@ernestjournal.co.uk.