HUCKBERRY TOP 10

Summer is hanging on by a thread, it’s just under a month until midnight of September 21st when the clock rings and Earth’s tilt sends us flying into fall. Time to take what’s left of the summer in your own hands and cruise to the mountains for a weekend getaway, where the air is pure, the views are endless, the beer is crisper (we swear), and the weather is cool and refreshing. Pack your bag light, and in the backseat of your chariot, keep enough room for a go-to jacket, some adventure tools, a beer-drinking apparatus, and some strong apparel pieces that don’t just look sharp, but serve a purpose. Here are our top-ten picks from Huckberry for the month of August, the perfect way to wrap up the last full month of summer. Pair these items with some tunes from Tom Petty, Townes Van Zandt, or the new Bright Eyes album, and you’ll be ready for a heavenly road trip to a higher elevation.

The first time you slip your arm into the sleeve of a jacket after a long summer is truly a beautiful feeling. Sure, we still have a few more weeks, but depending on the altitude from your weekend digs, that moment might just come early. Now’s the time to begin the search for the perfect piece for the brisk post-sunset alpine air. Flint & Tinder’s Trucker Jacket is flannel-lined for comfort and comes in this handsome coal color, and continues to get better with age. Simply put, it’s the Jacket of all Jackets. You can already smell the pine from the mountain getaway, can’t you?

Packing light ensures that you bring the most important essentials. Your favorite cap, colorless basics, boots for the trail, a sturdy dop-kitt, playing cards, and hopefully very few electronics. This Huckberry exclusive by Peak Design is made for the late summer, quick getaway. It’s THE bag for when Friday afternoon hits, and that itch to escape the city creeps in your soul. This spacious, weatherproof bag was made for the backseat or trunk it sits in, and while twisting up that winding two-lane road to the top of a mountain, you’ll breathe easy knowing your #1 duffel is riding in the back, housing the essentials that make you look and feel your best.

The right tools help us forge through life. When it comes to a blade, especially in Hatchet form, it better be durable, compact, and get the job done with efficiency. Whether you’re clearing the path through the thick bush, or splitting some cedar kindling for the evening fire, the Fasthawk Hatchet is the tool that will complete multiple tasks, and should always be in arms reach. The multi-powered tomahawk is fashioned with a durable stainless steel head that is mounted to a ballistic polymer. Safely stash it in your rig to cut, chop, hammer, dig, pry, slice sushi-grade tuna, shave… ok maybe leave that last one to these weathered gents.

We don’t know about you, but the George Costanza wallet is something that keeps us up at night. In today’s modern world, the wallet is the most critical part of any person’s everyday carry—it’s got to be made with purpose while simultaneously keeping cards and cash secure. This leads to the introduction of The Ridge Aluminum Wallet, which checks all those boxes for us. It’s built to be durable, sleek, slim, and in our opinion, looks badass enough to pass for something you might find on Batman’s utility belt. Made out of aluminum, the expandable track can hold up to 12 cards, while the side contains a money clip that also transitions to a pocket clip, keeping it in place and preventing any surprise leaps into mountain streams. While you might not find a use for a stash of credit cards mountain high, you will undoubtedly need a crisp fifty for that fireside poker game.

Late August provides the warmest temperatures of the year. It’s summer’s last hurrah, a gut punch to our mindset before it wholeheartedly moves on to fall. We’re begging for cooler weather and can find it on the top of a mountain. It’s a weekend getaway that’s going to be filled with the night time of colder temps and bold whiskey, but every day (literally like clockwork) the sun will creep in and steal the shadows of the night—warming the skin with the summer heat. And during those blazing seasonal hours, there is nothing better than an ice-cold beer. Sure, a 6-pack of your favorite light beer will do…but that is… until you’ve laid your hands and eyes on the uKeg Copper Growler. CO2 keeps the beer pressurized and carbonated for a perfect pour. Holding 8 -10 beers, IT IS your home bar on the move.

You know those frames you found, the ones that you fancied, and then you realized the price tag was 400 buckaroos. Well, these are better, cooler, and way more affordable. While we always have a few pairs in the arsenal, the Weekenders are the clutch pair for journies ahead that might have a little dirt and sweat involved. If Drago is the elements, these frames are Rocky, the strong construction allows them to take a beating and bounce back while the scratch-resistant polarized lenses allow full eye coverage, sunrise to sunset. The shape is a modern version of the classic Wayfarer that can transition from bike trails to happy hour at the mountain lodge—designed exclusively from Huckberry.

This is the EDC item that you probably don’t yet own, but you absolutely need. We can think of too many reasons where the Dark Energy Flashlight will come in handy. Popping up a tent in the night, searching for wood for the campfire, digging through your Peak Designs duffel, lost on a mountain trail, and of course—ghost stories. Only 3.8 inches long, it can fit in a pocket, clip onto a belt or pack. Made by SOG Knives who are an industry-leading company making some of the best damn tools in the world, the brand is inspired by the MACV-SOG which was a highly functional combat knife used by the US military over 20 years ago.

Beers. Yea, we’ve heard of ’em, we know them. But we are way more accustomed to another term we use here at CYTIES known as ICB’s… Ice Coooooold Beers. We only get down on reaching in our coolers for the frosty ones if you catch our drift. This is the gadget you need if you’re stepping away from the cabin or have drained the uKeg aforementioned. When the ICB’s leave the cooler, and that’s when they go straight into Toadfishes’ Sucker Can Cooler. What’s worse than a warm beer? Easy answer, a spilled beer. The Sucker Can Cooler has you covered with a suction cup system so you can smack your beer nearly anywhere with a slick surface and not worry about it taking a tumble. Our pals at Huckberry introduced us to this cooling koozie, and our ICB’s have never felt colder and or safer. Huckberry.com, saving beers around the world every day.

Let’s be honest, the only thing better than a mountain of snow is a mountain of pancakes. Since the warmer months just simply refuse to dissipate, we will kindly shift our attention to the latter. Pappy & Company did a thing and took their retired whiskey barrels that housed Pappy Van Winkle and aged maple syrup. The result is a one-of-a-kind syrup gushing with flavors of vanilla, butter, oak, and, of course, bourbon. We once had wise men tell us any great idea is like making pancakes. You always throw out your first one, so start cooking!

The OG in Huckberry lineup amongst all it’s must-have apparel and gadgets, and you know if it’s black-on-black, it’s got the CYTIES stamp of approval. They teamed up with Ebbets Field Flannels, a shop we know very well, for this cotton flannel headpiece. This cap is more than an accessory for your noggin’, it’s an allegiance to Hucks desire for all adventure. It’s the “See you out there” totem for all kinds of modern explorers, from city streets to alpine trails. It might be our favorite piece in this lineup, simply because we know it’s been there from the very beginning.

These kicks are from On are called Cloud Hi, and will make anyone feel like they are on cloud nine. The outsole is a structural masterpiece, using On’s innovative technology known as CloudTec®. Attention to detail shines through with each step as the Cloud Hi’s can take on every path, from everyday city wear, to logs over rivers, to jungle Eco Challenges. The unique Swiss-engineered Speedboard™ in the shoe turns force into forwarding motion so you can speed up and slow down when needed, while the speed-lace system has your back for easy on and off shoes that stay in place securely. Whether you’re underneath or headed into the misty clouds, don’t leave home without them.

There you have it, now all you need is a city escape right into the mountainous wonder. So, where are you headed? The Great Smokys, Yosemite, or the Cascades? Wherever it is, we hope it’s a misty, mountain, jam. Be on the lookout for more Top Ten with our friends at Huckberry.com. Tag @cyties and @huckberry in your adventure photos, and if our team digs, we will share them.