Cool stuff to check out

Boss Ride

I am an unabashed sucker for powerful design. Whether it’s exposed structural elements in a building—from Craftsman-style brackets to hammer beams on timber-frame homes to the lintels of Stonehenge or a super-boss truck, it blows my hair back.

So when I saw the HUMMER H3T I got that some jolt of uber-cool. Not only has the H3T got a dialed-in design its got features people who do things—like fix houses. The truck bed is big enough to carry sheet goods, the 2-postion tailgate—invented by a contractor—puts the tailgate on-plane with the wheel wells…uh rock-on. A 5 or 8 cylinder engine gives you different power packages. Towing capacity is awesome. And the interior trim: primo. So for family or fun, cool or crashing through the woods, the HUMMER H3T is a boss ride that gets you there in smooth style.

Work Book

Shop Class As Soulcraft is a heady book about working with your hands and, in the broader view, about the value of work in the modern world. Part history, part philosophy, part research paper, part been-there-got-the-calluses testimonial that working with your hands takes brains, author (and motorcycle mechanic) Matthew B. Crawford nails it. This one makes the Clement Bookshelf for sure. www.matthewbcrawford.com

The ‘Outside-the-Box’ Box

I like smart tools and Stnaley’s new FatMax Portable Truck Box is just that. It reinvents the entire truck box category. A totally cool docking station means when you stow it in your truck bed, it’s safe. But—unlike other truck box designs—you can detach this bad boy and roll it to your work which also frees up the truck bed for large loads. This FatMax also comes with keyed or keyless entry and, get this, and alarm. This is an invaluable feature for stowing everything from tools to camping gear to beach stuff—and everything in between.  Now that’s box-thinking that’s outside the box.