We’ve made some new adjustments to Today in Gear, including a new publishing time of 4 p.m. in order to capture all the day’s new stories. Comments or concerns? We’d love to hear from you at tig@gearpatrol.com.
Harber London’s Slim Leather MacBook Sleeve Case
As is the case with a great many beautiful things, the MacBook’s bead-blasted aluminum alloy exterior shell is liable to scrape and scratch, making it markedly less beautiful. But you shouldn’t have to sacrifice looks to preserve them — enter Harber London’s Slim Leather MacBook Sleeve Case. The understated exterior is full-grain vegetable-tanned leather, and the interior is a soft, moisture-wicking wool felt. The handsome sleeve slides over your device and protects it from stray pens, pocketknives and quarters floating around your work bag. The Harber London case is available in black, navy or tan and in various sizes to fit the spectrum of MacBooks out there.
New & Noteworthy Releases
The Best Deals of the Day
Brooks Brothers Slim-Fit Dress Shirts
Save $107: As lofty as it sounds, you could make a very strong case that Brooks Brothers, the historic fashion house that suited everyone from Abraham Lincoln to Cary Grant, basically invented the modern dress shirt. And today, you can take advantage of its Wardrobe Event and pick up three for $169 — just in time for wedding season. — Jack Seemer
Brooks Brothers Long Wingtips
Save 48%: Pebble-grain leather adds a distinct texture to dress shoes. A type of corrected-grain leather, it is produced at a tannery by either embossing with a pressing plate or roller under high pressure. This process hides slight imperfections such as stretch marks or blemishes, ensuring more of the hide can be used. Considered less formal than smooth calfskin, the additional texture needs slightly different care than traditional leathers (use a light polish to prevent wax buildup in the leather grooves). If you’d like to introduce this unique appearance into your footwear rotation, consider a pair of Long Wingtips from Brooks Brothers. Made in the USA, they feature Goodyear welt construction and traditional broguing. They’re also 48 percent off and will only run you $224. — John Zientek
Vitamix 5200 Blender
Save $80: More often than not there’s some debate within a market as to which product reigns supreme. Not the case in the blender world.
The Vitamix 5200 is a superlative blender — aircraft-grade steel blades break down virtually any substance, hard or soft, and the variable speed gauge can spin fast enough to create a frictional heat that aids in ingredient breakdown and is able to bring cold frozen items to piping hot in 6 minutes. The chamber holds up to 64 ounces safely, meaning it’s meant for making more than smoothies on the weekend (though it can do that plenty well, too). Toss the ingredients for a soup in, turn the switch for 10 or so minutes and you’ll have a hot, perfectly pureed soup without ever turning on a stove. It can make non-dairy milks, nut butter, knead dough, batters and grinds even small ingredients like seeds down to a fine, uniform form. It’s also exceedingly well-reviewed for a premium product on Amazon (4.5/5 stars), a place prone to crushing reviews on pricier goods, is built in the USA and backed by a solid 7-year warranty program.
The Vitamix 5200 is on sale for $80 under its typical price, nearly an all-time low. — Will Price
Lumintop Tool Copper AAA
Save $20: The Lumintop Tool Copper AAA Flashlight runs on just one AAA battery and shines at three brightnesses — 5, 32, and 110 lumens — and weighs only 1.6oz. Offered in two models, the CREE XP-G2 R5 LED or the Nichia 219 LED, each 3.2-inch pocket-size light is about as long as a deck of cards. Originally retailed for $50, save $20 today on Massdrop when you sign up with email. — Meg Lappe
Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm Camping Mattress
Save $60: The difference between three-season camping gear and four-season camping gear is often, unfortunately, a lot of extra ounces. Sleeping bags, pads and tents that handle spring, summer and fall with ease suddenly flounder when permanent snow and below-freezing temperatures are thrown into the mix. Get a four-season product though, and it’s often too hot and too heavy for use in July.
Therm-a-Rest’s NeoAir XTherm is an exception to that broad brush stroke. Every pad in the NeoAir series is remarkably light — yes, there are even less weighty summer pads than this one — but at just 15 ounces (in the regular length size), the XTherm is a four-season pad that requires no concessions. Fully-inflated, the XTherm is 2.5 inches thick, providing more than enough cush for even the rockiest and rootiest campsites. Its fourth-season warmth comes from Therm-a-Rest’s Thermacapture technology, which traps radiant heat within the pad with reflective foil and an internal triangular baffling system. All this tech makes the XTherm capable of providing comfort in temperatures well below zero degrees Fahrenheit, but despite that, it still packs up to the size of a Nalgene, and in fact, has the best warmth-per-ounce of any sleeping pad available. — Tanner Bowden
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