Whether it’s watches or packs, these items are seen by enthusiasts as core pieces of kit for daily adventures. Both work best when they’re rugged, versatile, and well-built—and both Worn & Wound and Carryology are dedicated to providing their readers with in-depth reviews and news around the latest in watches and packs.
When we discovered that we were fans of each other’s publications—it became immediately clear that partnering in multiple ways would only strengthen each other’s audiences. Last weekend’s meetup in Austin, TX only proved that point more emphatically. Readers from both publications converged on one of the city’s most exciting new distilleries: Fierce Whiskers. This location served as the perfect backdrop for enthusiasts to connect, grab a custom cocktail or two, and show off their watches and packs.
Regardless of whether your primary interest was what’s on your wrist or what’s on your back—it was immediately evident that these enthusiasts were cut from the same cloth. Watches ranged from robust divers like Sinns and Seikos to refined, go anywhere, do anything daily drivers like Rolex Oyster Perpetuals and Grand Seikos. Packs abounded and came in the form of everything from a wide array of Carryology collabs to high-end custom builds. There were also a group of enthusiasts who came with both amazing watches on-wrist, as well wildly cool backpacks and other carry solutions. For them, this event was a mind-melting meld of two of their absolute favorite categories of gear.
No event in Austin would be complete without live music and Fierce Whiskers wouldn’t have it any other way. The Nick Swift Band supplied the soundtrack, while conversations ranged from best NATO strap material to ultimate camera packing solutions as the sun descended into that perfect ‘Golden Hour’ glow.
The late afternoon was punctuated by a series of giveaways starting with a one-of-a-kind Carryology collab prototype. The grand prizes were a BOLDR x Worn & Wound 3xT GMT Limited Edition and a final prototype of the newly released GORUCK x Carryology Kaidan 3.0 ULTRA.
As a fitting conclusion to the whole intent of bringing these two enthusiast groups together under a single banner—the winner of the BOLDR GMT was one of Carryology’s diehard readers, who also happened to be sporting a nice TAG Heuer. While the winner of the latest Carryology collab was first and foremost a watch enthusiast, who couldn’t have been more excited to get such a desired bag after spending the day among a slew of amazing packs. The equal excitement of these two winners, along with over 100 additional enthusiasts, was more than enough proof that though this was the first of these crossover meetups, it wouldn’t be the last.
Each and every registered guest left with a custom backpack patch, a Carryology tradition. This was co-designed by Carryology Creative Director, Taylor Welden, and Worn & Wound Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Zach Weiss. The patch is reserved only for those in attendance and becomes an enduring emblem of that day in the golden Texas sun.
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