My current gear / apparel obsessions from the wild amount of product testing this season
It's been a month of listicles for me, so why not keep it going
I have a dozen half-finished Substack drafts about actual real topics, but as those unfortunate enough to be in my inner circle know, April has been entirely loaded with commerce assignments. Hannah and Amelia both mentioned it in their recent newsletters, but April has def been rough in terms of low morale, scope creep, and reduced rates, all for commerce that I don’t mind writing, but also don’t love when it makes up the bulk of my work. And for some reason, half of them seem to be about socks?
Basically, SEO updates for these types of listicles have dictated we write more surrounding copy (Frequently asked questions about socks! What to consider when shopping for socks! Three-paragraph intro with 12 secondary SEO keywords about socks! 14 H3s with different categories of socks!) and another element is that we have to take our own photos of every product.
This has resulted in an overwhelming amount of gear showing up at my door. It feels wasteful to call products I wouldn’t otherwise be using, and while I give away a lot of it, I still feel guilty.
To make up for it, and since this is a month of listicles anyway, let’s do one here too. About the stuff I actually love. There will be no fluff, no SEO keyword cramming, specs, and no affiliate links because I can’t be bothered to monetize one more thing in my life. And if you decide to try any of it, pleeeease don’t buy from Amazon. K love you!! Thanks!
I LOVE THIS STUFF!!! —>
These memory gel stress balls for the teeth-grinding freelancer
Out of all the insanely expensive gear I test, these stress balls have been my favorite thing this spring. No contest. If you’re going to test the durability of a stress ball, I’m your person. I am the human version of gritted teeth, and I have given these a run for their money. I walk from room to room while squeezing them and it’s like pumping blood to my heart.
This two-bike hitch rack that I held the instructions for while Matt assembled. And the bike.
Thule came in HOT last year sending me this rack, and I responded by having a meltdown about my to-do list and didn’t get the hitch installed on my truck for 10 months. I wish I’d done sooner, because this thing is fabulous. No more tangled handlebars and banged-up topper door trying to cram multiple bikes over my tailgate. Just $250 to a high schooler at the UHaul hitch shop and one hour of watching Matt assemble the rack, and I’m good to go in less than a minute loading the bikes. The rack is stable, has its own dual bike lock, and folds up to be low profile and down so I can open my tailgate. The bike is also sick, with Priority’s drive belt and an internal bluetooth shifter. I’m pitching full reviews of it though, so maybe I’ll talk about it more later.
As we know I’ve tried a lot of socks. This random Le Bent pair has been my fave.
Le Bent didn’t email me or check in for what I was working on this month, they just sent a random package with a bunch of socks (how timely) and some nice lightweight hiking shirts. I grabbed this pair last week because I was out of clean socks and had a few PR packages to unbox, and wow they are amazing. Super soft without feeling hot, the right mini-crew height, and don’t stretch or bunch up. They’ve toppled Darn Tough and Smartwool, for the moment at least.
I know Recess technically isn’t soda, but they’re so good I can almost convince myself they are.
I’m randomly on Recess’s media list, which means I get a case of their new flavors. I’m not complaining. I can’t attest that it changes my mood based on the ingredients, but in the middle of 12 hours on my computer, it’s a morale boost to crack open a cold Magnesium And Adaptogen Infused Sparkling Water from my fridge full of string cheese and Diet Coke.
Everything Free Fly has ever made, in every color
If I had to pick one brand to wear every day for the rest of my life it would be Free Fly. While they’ve become more popular over the past few years, they’re still a relatively small, family-owned business that started out making super soft fly-fishing apparel. They’ve expanded a lot since I went on a press trip with them three years ago, and they’ve become my #1 pick for travel layers, yoga, lounging, and daily wear. I love a good pair of yoga pants and a slouchy shirt, and boy do they deliver. I get their new release highlights each season and I wear every single item. I am currently wearing the Bamboo Shade Hoodie and All Day Pocket Leggings, seen above because I took this picture two seconds ago. And the best news for people who can’t dress themselves: all the colorways coordinate. Lucky us, no thinking :)
Oh my god look at these boots.
The color, the chunky sole, the pebbly finish. PLEASE. I’m kind of cheating here because I haven’t worn these extensively yet, but I almost don’t want to ruin their perfect patina. Everything about them, from the outsoles to the colorway to the height to the detailing on the back is perfection. These are no barn boots, but we can call them my fancy rain boots.
Speaking of barns, my women’s Wrangler chore clothes all fit so well!
I have trouble finding top layers that fit my shoulders, and workwear can be especially tricky. All of the women’s workwear shirts I’m trying from Wrangler have been fantastic though, with full range of motion and plenty of durability for my volunteer gig at the alpaca farm. I linked the barn-type zip-up above, and I also love this jacket. Even if you don’t spend your Wednesdays shoveling manure, you can still wear it! I won’t tell!
I can’t take off Teva’s marshmallow looking slide things
They look even more ridiculous on my feet, but no free foot pics in this newsletter. I freaking love these things. They’re like walking on clouds and I can leave size 12 footprints in the sand if I wanted to with the massive platform. Between these and my rain boots, I have fancy footwear covered.
Why not try getting away from this commercial stuff and try some full on nature writing? a la Annie Dillard, John McPhee, Peter Matthieson, and so many others. You’d be good at it.
How did you get started writing commerce? I find that other writers can find that work and want to know how to get started