Web Reviews

Uncrate Great Stuff

Indianapolis, IN - February 2, 2009

“I want to be perfectly clear: Uncrate doesn’t highlight things you want, it brings your attention to things you really, really need. Especially if you’re a superhero.”

– Jim Cota

Men really aren’t complicated, but we are nuanced. For example, most of us really hate to shop, but we like to have cool stuff. This is why we aren’t all that excited about ties (a necessity for most of us) but can spend quite awhile talking about a new hand-held Garmin GPS unit that most of us will never have occasion to use to save our hides. (Still, a veritable ‘must-have’ for any self-respecting man.)

I was reminded of this at the end of the day yesterday when I received an email from Uncrate. Uncrate is a simple concept, and one that is becoming increasingly common. Billing themselves as “a web magazine for guys who love stuff,” Uncrate posts daily updates about the best guy stuff found across the Internet and around the globe. Divided into the five basic food groups (Gear, Cars, Style, Body, Crib), each item is posted with a small photo, a quick description, and a link to more information. Even better, the site features a daily digest sent via email just before quitting time. So when you find yourself fading at about 4:45 pm, your Uncrate email shows up demonstrate that something you didn’t even know existed is the very thing that you simply must have.

I want to be perfectly clear: Uncrate doesn’t highlight things you want, it brings your attention to things you really, really need. Especially if you’re a man. Or, perhaps, a superhero. Take, for instance, the Pocket Grappling Hook. This little gem (a mere 1" x 5.5") was designed for special warfare operators to handle detonation and trip wires, it supports up to 350 pounds to handle whatever you want to throw its way.

If a grappling hook is a little too esoteric for you, (maybe you’re more road warrior than special ops) consider the ZUCA Pro Suitcase. This revolutionary little gem fits in the overhead bin and is built within a lightweight anodized aluminum exoskeleton, allowing it to protect everything inside while being strong enough to offer a built-in seat capable of holding up to 300 pounds. Its draw-like packing maximizes storage capacity in a very small package.

Maybe you’re just a Dad, in which case Uncrate uncrates a whole bevy of items intended to help you perform at your peak. Consider the Porsche Design Aluminum Sled, the ingenious Fire Fork (I couldn’t help ordering several of these), Bicycle Guardians Playing Cards, or the Lego Ice Cube Trays, which form ice in the shape of standard Lego brick and are stackable.

Interest still not piqued? Maybe you’ve got a hidden agenda of some sort, like sharks with lasers or blowing up the world with a space-based laser. If so, they’ve got something just for you, too: The Villain Chair is an oversize, futuristic chair made of steel, aluminum, leather and chrome in a rounded form-fitting design absolutely built for maniacal cackling.

Uncrate has featured more than 5,000 items since 2005, and is one of a growing number of sites dedicated to daily product highlights. Many magazines regularly feature gear guides of one sort or another, but sites like Uncrate focus on providing daily updates for gear across a wide spectrum of categories. Others include Gizmodo, CoolHunting, Engadget, but I prefer Uncrate for both design and content. (For women, in case you’re wondering, the gold standard seems to be Daily Candy.

The site is organized like a blog, with periodic posts arranged both by order of posting and categories. The search function works well if you have an idea of what you’re looking for, and the clean design removes the clutter in favor of concise, pithy content. You can subscribe to either the daily email or an RSS feed, whichever fits your “get in the know” preference.