Watches, Stories, & Gear: A Cool Inflatable Tent, the Gladiator II Trailer, and a Fully Caffeinated Pencil

“Watches, Stories, and Gear” is a roundup of our favorite content, watch or otherwise, from around the internet. Here, we support other creators, explore interesting content that inspires us, and put a spotlight on causes we believe in. Oh, and any gear we happen to be digging on this week. We love gear.

Share your story ideas or interesting finds with us by emailing [email protected].

An Impressive Inflatable Tent from EXØD

When you think of a typical all-American camping trip, what kind of tent comes to mind? It’s probably pretty rustic, and involves wrangling a group of poles to build out a crude structure that can protect one or two people from the elements overnight. EXØD has just introduced an inflatable tent that makes your traditional pole-based tent seem like an ancient relic. The Air Station Pod-01 is 45 square feet once inflated and features two rollable walls that separate the structure into multiple rooms. Best of all: no poles. It inflates in minutes, has large round windows, and compresses down into a very packable size that makes the Air Station Pod-01 a compelling car camping solution. More information at Gear Junkie here.

The Gladiator II Trailer Debuts

Later this year, the long awaited sequel to Gladiator, the creatively titled Gladiator II, is set to hit theaters. The original, of course, was a phenomenon, winning Best Picture at the Academy Awards and a host of other accolades, it was perhaps the peak of Russell Crowe’s fame and a career highlight for director Ridley Scott. A follow up has long been discussed, so it’s kind of a marvel that decades later it’s finally here. The cast is stacked, with Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, and Paul Mescal headlining. The first trailer promises plenty of action, lots of combat, and maybe some contemporary rap music (although we hope that’s relegated to the promotional materials for the film). 

The Recycled Coffee Pencil 

We’ve seen a lot of ways that spent coffee grounds can be recycled in recent years. Even watch brands have gotten in on the act. It makes sense, as coffee grounds are reportedly a significant and growing contributor to landfill waste. Zirobio, a biotech firm dedicated to researching novel solutions to sustainability issues, has introduced the GRIND-Z pencil, which instead of graphite uses “lead” made from recycled coffee grounds. Coffee based materials have actually been used in the arts for some time, so this is actually a natural extension of coffee based paints and other specialty items made using coffee. The lead comes in a standard 5.6mm size, which makes it compatible with a variety of pencils targeted at visual artists. You can read more about the GRIND-Z right here.

Rare Leicas For Sale

From Leica Rumors comes a story of a set of extremely rare Leica cameras listed for sale. The seven prototype Leica M cameras come from the collection of Ralph Gibson, and are available via the Leica Store in Lisse in the Netherlands. Gibson is an American fine-art photographer who has shot on Leicas for years and has quite the impressive resume (he was an assistant to Alfred Hitchcock during the prime of his career). Among the cameras in the collection are an M6 titanium body, an MP body, and M7 body. Again, all are prototypes, making them extremely sought after for the Leica collector. The asking price? A cool $250,000 for the set.