aaron lam • life through the lens » military

humvee.

aaronlam — Wed, 11 May 2011 05:54:36 +0000

This was my friend in NZ’s 1986 military HUMVEE I helped ship from L.A. to Auckland. We took it off-roading in Bethel Beach, NZ.

embassy pen.

aaronlam — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 00:03:07 +0000

Now this is a total indulgence (like none of the other things here are either)… and I am not at all a pen person. But a co-worker of mine has switched back to using a fountain pen… very fancy. Too fancy for me. But when I saw this, I said… that is RIGHT UP MY ALLY. I waited about a month… and still wanted it. Plus, I’ve always wanted a space pen for all those times of doing crosswords in bed or laying in the grass.

So ordered one of these from CountyComm… I think the only dealer as they created these for a government order. It’s a nice hefty pen… my favorite knurling around the tube. The pen itself is an official Fisher Space Pen in Med Black. So far, it writes beautifully. Nothing else really to say… it’s a pen. An expensive one but will run you the same as any of the decent pens you got at graduation. Only bad thing is that the cap doesn’t fit on the back… so when writing, there’ll be two pieces. At least it won’t scratch the finish. And I think this one looks so much cooler. Hopefully… won’t lose it or lend it to someone who doesn’t give it back!

Came in a cool tube too.

tad gear op1 admin pouch.

aaronlam — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:03:48 +0000

I got this OP1 Admin Pouch (from Grey Training Group in North Carolina) since Tad Gear was out of this color. Grey Training’s online customer service was fantastic.

The pouch is great. First of all… I LOVE the color. It’s foliage green but I have never seen this green in any other tac-gear product. The seams are well done and lots of pockets and elastic to hold everything. Best of all, it has a really cool tag! I know that seems silly but it has a really nice design. I now carry this in my Belstaff Bag to hold all my loose work gear since the Belstaff has no built-in organizers. Tad Gears pouches I feel are much superior to the other tactical pouches out there (and I have tried a lot).

Low profile organizer.
Nominal dims: 1″ deep X 6.75″ tall X 7.25″ wide.
Fully opening clam shell zippered design.
Multiple pockets, dividers, slots, and elastic webbing keepers.
MILSPEC construction.
500 denier Dupont Cordura, lined with smooth nylon 420D oxford, 1″ webbing, Velcro, and heavy duty elastic webbing.
Features our 2TAC webbing straps which fit all our 2TIBS webbing system & all MOLLE.

Check out my Flickr page to see everything that it holds.

lum-tec b2 combat.

aaronlam — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:17:01 +0000

A few weeks ago, I read about an interesting independent watchmaker in Ohio who has been creating limited runs of about 20 different types of military style watches. I started doing some research and got bitten by the watch bug. Most guys who are into watches go straight for the generic fancy labels: Tag Heuer, Omega, Rolex etc. And all fine watches. I looked at them but I was really drawn back to the military style watches. The military and government currently issue the Marathon Navigator watch… which looked nice but an interesting post on a forum enlightened me to what is probably a very true reality: actual military issue watches are contracted out for the lowest price and are probably cutting some corners. Ha! So I also checked out Traser watches which was interesting too (specifically the P6500). Lastly, I spent some time looking at the Breitling Avenger in black but at $4000, it was way out of my price range (I even looked into ordering a Breitling Chinese knock-off).

After 3-4 weeks of pounding the online pavement, I kept circling back to that independent watchmaker: Lum-tec. My original criteria was pretty much what I had currently been wearing… a black face and case, a chronograph for timing my runs, a diving bezel because I thought it looked nice (would have gone with a GMT bezel which is probably more practical) and a date. No Lum-tec model fit all these criteria. The closest thing they have was the M14. But it was already full on the pre-order list. So I kept looking… Hamilton, MKII, Seiko, Citizen, IWC, Luminox etc. What I kept getting drawn back to was the original Lum-tec watch that I saw… the B-series. Extremely clean, simple and beautiful. And when I put a picture side-by-side of the Lum-tec and one with a chronograph…I started shifting towards the cleaner, simpler Lum-tec.

There were 3 choices of the B-series that had black cases/black faces: the original B1 which is out of production now and has an interesting dial pattern from 0-60 which probably would have slowed down my time telling anyway, the B2 which is like the B1 but with a date and normal dial and the B3H which was a limited run with a display case and no date. All beautiful and when I finally let go my silly criteria, I settled on the one that would be most practical for me every day: the B2.

When I got the B2 in, it was a really cool looking tank of a watch. Solid and the first mechanical watch I had ever owned. I wasn’t completely sold just yet but after a short week of wearing it, I knew I was in love. I didn’t miss the chronograph and really liked the pilot-watch-type styling. And there is just something very charming about the fact the watch was put together by hand in a private shop in Ohio. It’s like buying local. The anti-reflective coat is beautiful and has withstood well against scratching. I got a green Nato band for it and it’s been a pleasure to wear. And you know you have a unique timepiece when within the first week more than half a dozen people have asked about the watch.

Now a note about Lum-tec. They really are a privately-owned family business. The owner picks up the phone when you call! How often does that happen these days. They were extremely accommodating and worked with me to get a second watch to me before my trip for a friend. I won’t go into detail as not to set any ridiculous precedent for them but don’t hesitate to order. It’s well worth every penny! My Tag is off to eBay.

Order yours here.

Watch in Auckland New Zealand.