Everyday Carry
Bastion Stainless Steel Bolt Action Pen: its own page calls the point both fine and medium
Bastion sells a stainless steel bolt action pen for US$44.99 and calls it “the pen that started it all”. We went looking for the usual gap…
Section
First Look
A single product, looked at closely — what is verifiable about it today.
Tech
GENKI Manta: three chances to hold it before the campaign closes
Update — 12 November 2026. The campaign closed on 2 October with 4,925 backers and US$1,198,973 — just under twelve times its goal. It took almost…
Tech
OZTECH Lab Core Power Bank S: their last campaign is marked delivered, and they still answer its comments
Update — 12 November 2026. The campaign closed on 9 October with 2,422 backers and HK$1,142,818, adding just over a thousand backers after this article was…
Everyday Carry
COMANDI Ti-Toucan: the last knife reached retail, and this one does not lock
Update — 12 November 2026. The campaign closed on 9 September with 172 backers and HK$116,108. It gained two backers and about HK$1,200 after this article…
Backpacks
Arky Design ARKY-05: nineteen campaigns in, and this is their biggest
Update — 12 November 2026. The campaign closed on 14 September with 204 backers and HK$113,434. In August we said the cheaper of the two early-bird…
Home
SmoqeX indoor pellet smoker: nothing to buy yet, and what that means
A pellet smoker built to run indoors: real wood smoke in a kitchen, filtered rather than vented. It also air-fries and grills. It raised US$347,536 in…
Design
imSTONE RockBook: a stone-paper notebook with almost no independent coverage
A notebook whose pages are made from pulverised stone rather than wood pulp — waterproof, tear-resistant, and unusual enough that the idea alone sells it. The…
Everyday Carry
Futurizta Pixy Mini: nine delivered campaigns, and a 1.9 on Trustpilot
A 5,000 mAh power bank smaller than a credit card, from a company that has run nine Kickstarter campaigns and funded every one of them, several by…
Tech
UGREEN NASync DXP4800 Plus: the campaign headline describes a different model
A four-bay network storage box that raised US$6.68 million on Kickstarter. Somebody outside the company put the machine on a desk, ran a benchmark, and published…
Everyday Carry
Paperwallet Micro Wallet: where the maker’s figures and outside measurements agree
A wallet made of Tyvek, the synthetic paper used for express envelopes and building wrap — printed with artwork and folded down to roughly the footprint…