GEAR
I buy the gear so you do not have to.
Here is how I buy, most of the time. I do not buy the claim on the box. I buy when a problem I have already been living with meets a thing that says it fixes exactly that. Why a thing is sold and why I buy it are not always the same thing, and I wait until they line up. Then I ask whether the price is worth my problem, not whether it is fair for the category.
And sometimes none of that applies. Sometimes I buy a thing because I am curious, or because it looks fun, or even a little dumb, and I want to see if it makes my life better. That is part of this too.
Everything in here is something I have actually used, usually on camera, usually long enough to know how it ages. Each entry tells you what the thing fixes, what it does not fix, who it is for, and whether I would buy it again.
Most gear pages are written as though every purchase is an upgrade. Most purchases are not. Some of the most useful things I can tell you are that a thing solves one narrow problem completely, that it depends on what you are actually chasing, or that you do not need it yet.
A chain, not a ladder. Every one of these is a place you can spend money, and none of them is a step above the one before it.
BREWERS
I own more of these than anything else, which is exactly what makes me slow to crown one.
NOTHING HERE YET
GRINDERS
The one purchase I will not shortcut. Everything after it is easier when this part is settled.
NOTHING HERE YET
FILTERS & ACCESSORIES
The things that bolt onto gear you already own, filters included. What is here earned its way in by fixing something I could name.
1 PICK →
Some links here are affiliate links, which means I get a small cut if you buy through them. It does not change the price you pay, and it has never changed what I put on this page. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.