Toys! Some off the gear I use for work and play throughout my day.

I am a bit of a gear junkie and fall prey to hobbies that are gear intensive. Following are some lists of some of the gear I use in my personal and professional life.

Work Gear

Workstation

  • 16” MacBook Pro, M1 Max, 32GB RAM (2021)

    I am so glad Appple brought back some commonly used ports. I really missed the SD card slot and HDMI on my previous Intel based Macbook.
  • LG Ultrafine 27 inch Matte Display

    Not a bad display. Not the greatest, but it gets the job done. I do appreciate the matte finish as opposed to the reflective glass my prior Thunderbolt monitor had.
  • Apple Magic Mouse

    I like these mice, but my only complaint would be that you can’t operate it while plugged in to charge. Thank goodness for the trackpad I guess!
  • Herman Miller Aeron Stool

    I mean if you’re gonna sit in a chair most of the day, get a good one and save your back.
  • UPLift Desk

    I have a standard 5’ UPLift standing/sitting desk with programmable seating positions. Having that option to stand for portions of the day makes a huge difference for me.

Development tools

  • Visual Studio Code

    For React and NextJS you can’t beat VS Code.
  • PHP Storm

    I still do a lot of work in PHP (Symfony Framework), and for PHP work its hard to beat JetBrains.
  • TablePlus

    So far the best GUI I’ve found for working on databases. Typically that being MySQL.
  • Git/GitHub

    I mean... How does one survive without Git?

Design

  • Adobe Creative Cloud

    I work daily with nearly the whole gammut of CC products. XD for UX design, After Effects and Premiere for motion design, Illustrator and InDesign for a variety of things, and of course Photoshop for everything.
  • Figma/FigJam

    I used Figma in some UX coursework I did. I like it but am more familiarized with XD so tend to prefer it. I do use FigJam quite regularly for User Flows, Journeys and Empathy Maps when doing UX research.

Photography

  • Camera Body

    I was forever a Nikon fan until I discovered Sony mirrorless. My last camera body was a company issued Sony A7rIV. Unfortunately I don’t have this camera anymore and am currently without a camera body.
  • Glass

    Mostly I’ve used Sony G and G-Master E-mount lenses of the standard sort. 28-70 ƒ2.8, 70-200 ƒ2.8. For birds I have a Sony 200-600 ƒ5.6-6.3 G, and I also have a Sigma Prime 50 and a Sony nifty 50.
  • Lighting

    For studio work I use ProFoto B1S strobes and softboxes.
  • Action Camera

    For the fun stuff I have a GoPro Hero 10 Black.

Play Gear

Trail Running

  • Footwear

    Finding the right trail running footwear has been an adventure of its own for me. I started out in Brooks, and after that got into a pair of Montrail Mountain Masochists. I stuck with the Montrails for several years until they were bought out by Columbia and quality took a nose dive. After that I ran in Salomon Speedcross for many, many years until I finally realized that some of my foot problems were due to the narrow toe box in these shoes. I tried out a pair of Hoka Speedgoat 5s after that, and found them comfortable but the soles were like sponges and had poor traction in wet conditions. Today I am running in a pair of Altra Olympus and I am really happy with them. Good grip, light, wide toe box. Love these shoes.
  • Activity Recording

    I wear a Suunto Baro 9 for almost all my outdoor activities. I love the elevation accuracy in this watch. I have this data tied into my Strava account for record keeping and tracking.

Biking

  • Mountain Bike

    On trails I ride a 2019 Specialized Stumpjumper FRS Comp in Stormtrooper white.
  • Road/Gravel Bike

    On the road I ride a 2020 Specialized Diverge E5 in Carbon Black.
  • Helmet

    I protect the noodle with a Specialized Ambush MIPS helmet (if only it worked for collarbones).

Hiking/Backpacking

  • Footwear

    I typically (weather permitting) hike in my trail running shoes. In cold/wet conditions I hike in a pair of La Sportiva Nucleo High II GTX.
  • Snowshoes

    I snowshoe in a pair of MSR Revo Ascents. I find these really grippy and they tend to take elevation changes and rough terrain pretty well. This is my first pair of snowshoes, so I don’t have much to compare to.
  • Day Pack

    My daypack is an Osprey Syncro 20. I love this pack. It’s made for mountain biking so it has a mesh barrier with a breathable boundary between you and your pack to help with sweat wicking. It also fits my 2.5 liter hydraulics system well.
  • Extended Stay Pack

    I went with another Osprey pack (The Kestrel 68 liter) mainly for the familiarity and that it accommodates my existing Osprey hydraulics set up nicely. I do like this pack. Its comfortable and easy to wear.
  • Cooking

    I use a Snow Peak Lite Max stove and a Toaks Light Titanium 650ml Pot for camp meals.
  • Trekking Poles

    For longer hikes with elevation, I’ll bring out my Komperdell Carbon C3 poles.
  • Sleeping

    I’m currently set up in a Durston X-mid 1 and a Kelty Tundra 15 on a Thermarest Trail Lite. Looking for that right summer bag at the moment.
  • Water Filtration

    I use a Sawyer Squeeze micro filter and keep some Aquatabs handy for those really nasty situations.
  • Locator Beacon

    I use a Garmin InReach Mini 2 personal locator beacon. This is a great little unit that gives me and my family peace of mind when out exploring.
  • Crampons/Ice Axe

    I use a pair of Grivel G10 New-Classic EVO Crampons and a 66cm Petzl Summit 2 Ice Axe.

Navigation

  • Map and Compass

    I use a Suunto M3 baseplate style compass in conjunction with 1:24,000 scale topographic maps from MyTopo with UTM grids. The Suunto M3 has adjustable declination which is nice. The west is big and having to calculate declination for everything is a PITA.
  • Digital Maps

    Depending on the activity I will use Gaia, onX Backcountry and AllTrails for digital mapping.