Okay, so I will admit it. Perhaps I was too blindly by the silliness of the ZT0999. After the mail I received this past week, its clear to me that I prematurely declared the end of the Golden Age of Gear. We aren't in the Baroque Period just yet, even if we are trending in that direction. The arrival of the TRE G10, the oLight S1 Baton, and the American Knife Company Forest Knife has proven to me that there is still amazing stuff being released that is not first and foremost bling or pocket frosting.

Each of these pieces of kit is just an amazing slice of what we have at our fingertips. In many ways it is the promise of refinement, bleeding edge tech, and (Brett Hart please let me borrow this) the excellent of execution.

The TRE is not revolutionary (skip the baloney of the modular design--it, like modular shelves, is unnecessary for 99% of people). It doesn't break the mold. It just refines it. The carefully sculpted handles and the rounded over edges and the rounded spine make the knife JUST perfect in the hand. It really is Sebenza level nice.

And then there is the S1. Ever smaller, ever brighter, ever longer run times. Quickbeam's design dilemma for flashlights (small, bright, long runtimes--choose two) has been pushed over the years, but the S1 is really the light that breaks it, at least the first production light to do so. And its UI, a clicky, is quite good (and no Scurvy, its not like the Zebralight--you can't ACCIDENTALLY fall into some completely unnecessary secondary mode were the lumens differences are 100% imperceptible). This is one hell of a light.

Then there is the Forest Knife. Its Mors Kochansky's knife made real. Its a better balanced, more readily available Skookum Bush Tool. And it takes a beating with ease. The convex grind is great, the handle is sweet music, and the sheath is killer. This is a great all around fixed blade.

The Golden Age has caught a second wind.

But this leads to a dilemma--what to do about Gear of the Year. This year I am going to open up voting for everyone and use a survey site to create a survey folks can vote on. Check the link above for a description of the categories and ideas of what I am looking to nominate. The long and short of it is--I need some suggestions. Comment below with suggestions. I will pick one and that person will win a Kershaw Strobe. A suggestion is required to win and I think I fixed the comment system, so fire away.

Also, this year will be the first year with negative categories. So Overhyped Gear of the Year beware...