Christmas Comes Early

On Friday my early Christmas present to myself arrived, my Nike ID LeBron 12's. Its been a long time since I've used the ID service, and it still kind of amazes me that you can custom design your own shoes. I've considered it on a number of models over the last few years but was never able to make a design that was quite right. However the great design and excellent colour options available for the LeBron 12 were finally too good to resist.

I'm really pleased with how they came out. The bonded part of the upper is a little shinier than I expected, but the Team Red is a great maroon/wine colour. I think my favourite part of the shoe is the hits of royal blue which really sets of the other colours. As I mentioned in my previous post I wanted to take the basic design of the Heart of a Lion shoe and give it a proper Cavs colourway, and I think its really worked.

The only part of the shoe that didn't come out quite how I expected was the white-on-white paint splatter. As you can see from the pictures it doesn't really show that well, and I was expecting it to be more raised, and in a contrasting finish. However I quite like that it's a subtle detail that you only see up close. Overall the quality is really good, there's a few glue marks around the edges of the posite, but no more than on a normal Nike shoe.

I was really impressed by how quick they got them to me as as it only took three and a half weeks to make and ship, which was a a week and a half quicker than they originally estimated.

I especially love how the new hexagonal zoom air system looks, the coloured pods and the clear sole give the shoe an awesome futuristic look. You can read a great write up on the tech behind it at Design Boom, and I'm really excited to see how it performs on the court.

Basketball Diaries

Adidas T-Mac 3.

Quality Goods.

Way back at the end of August I had a Filson bag on my list of most wanted stuff for the Fall season, and after a couple of really rainy days I decided it was finally time to put away my Carhartt tote and get something a bit more suited to wintry weather.

I've been considering a Filson bag for a couple of years as I've been really impressed with the great materials, craftsmanship and style of there bags. I'd actually reserved this exact bag at the Filson store over a year ago, but at the time decided it was a little on the large size so passed on it. However after using my tote bag all Summer I've come around to having a slightly bigger bag so finally pulled the trigger. Unfortunately the Filson store haven't had the navy colour in stock for the last month or so, so I ordered mine from endclothing.co.uk.

Filson bags are made in the USA, based out of Seattle. The zip tote I got is made of paraffin treated 22oz Cotton Twill with bridle leather straps. All Filson products come with a guarantee for the liftime of the product, and they have a reputation for being almost indestructible. So considering it just has to survive my commute to work each morning it should last me for the foreseeable future.

Its a great practical everyday bag. The main body has a zip closure, and it has two large side pockets that are ideal for shoving some papers or a magazine in. It also has two smaller end pockets that are great for keys etc. The straps are also a great length for when you want both hands free and need to throw it over your shoulder.