via Honda
Last week, we talked about buying a $600,000 Mercedes 6×6 Brabus and a Tiki Cruiser. This week, I’m pivoting to survival—specifically, surviving the whiplash of going from a Las Vegas German beer hall and three days of meetings to the unforgiving slopes of the Eastern Sierras. We also have a futuristic camping trailer, a four-door Corvette family hauler, and the ski gear you need to stop embarrassing yourself in the crud.
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Let’s dive in.
There is a specific kind of brain-melt that occurs after 72 hours of discussing “affiliate ad yields” in a windowless Vegas conference room. That is the nature of the beast in INTERNET ADVERTISING. You go, shake hands, and… try not to lose your soul. Beer helps with that.
Speaking of souls, this week was heavy. We lost Bob Weir. I was hiking in the Santa Monicas when the news hit, and processing the loss of the architect of the “long, strange trip” was a lot to handle. I wrote a eulogy about the atomic energy of a life lived on the road and what Bobby meant to us. Read it on Substack here: Time Is a Cruel Bandit.
Back in Vegas, I forced a hard reset. “Work Vegas” is a blur of obligations, so I dragged the sales team off-strip to Hofbräuhaus. I’ve always wanted to go to this place by the Virgin Hotel, and the vibes were immaculate—liters of lager and a bratwurst the size of a billy club. You get paddled by the waitstaff when you order Jameson shots. I kept the streak alive with lethal mezcal margs at Javier’s and the newly revised chicken sandwich at Momofuku. It looks like a dinosaur on a bun, and it is delicious. I was full the rest of the day.
But the real highlight of this week-long adventure was the escape. I pointed my Jeep Grand Cherokee north on US 95, an empty ribbon of highway that connects Reno with Vegas. Mammoth, California, was my destination. Most Californians know the drive to Mammoth on US-395 like the back of their hand. This route, however, is even more spiritual—100 miles of open hills and silence. I rolled into town, hit Mammoth Brewing for a bite, and settled into Clocktower Cellar to soak up the mountain town vibes (easily one of the best mountain town bars in California, if not the United States). In fact, I headed to Clockwork twice, and even spent about an hour at the bar talking to a fella about climbing Mt. Whitney. It’s been on the shortlist for a while, but I have a ticking urgency to do it sooner rather than later.
My first ski day of the year was an absolute ripper, until it wasn’t. The morning was pure bliss on fast groomers, but the afternoon brought the infamous “Sierra Cement.” I hit a patch of crud, caught an edge, and went down hard enough to rattle my 40-year-old bones. My bindings popped (saving my knees), but my ego is still recovering.
It was a hell of a week being the publisher of BroBible dot com.
Here are the things we want this week: Gear for the road, the snow, and the recovery.
What I’m listening to: Since the news about Bobby dropped, I’ve listened to nothing but the Grateful Dead. I’m deep in the archives, spinning both shows with under-appreciated Weir gems like “Greatest Story Ever Told” and “Looks Like Rain” on repeat. Or a good “Samson and Delilah,” which is just a great Bobby song. I am sad and in my feels over the loss of a legend that changed my life with his art, and it’s the only way to keep the bus moving right now. One show that I’m enjoying in particular is Wembley Empire Pool, London, England 4/8/1972.
What I’m reading: I haven’t finished that Pynchon book I mentioned last week, because, well, skiing and Vegas.
What I’m watching: Industry on HBO. Holy cow, that first episode has me jacked for whatever high-stakes messy finance sh*t is going to go down. Eric coming out of retirement?! Kiernan Shipka, who played the pivotal role of Sally Draper in Mad Men?! KAL PENN?! My favorite thing about Industry is that it somehow still feels like a secret niche thing, even four seasons in. It has completely evaded the radar of the LinkedIn influencers and the Succession withdrawals crowd. It’s just too sweaty and unhinged for the general watercooler. It’s the show you text your one degenerate friend about at 2 AM.
Also, for my fellow HBO Industry-heads, this was great:
My most recent online purchases: I actually didn’t buy anything online this week. Shout out to tax season and my IRA. My future self will thank me, I hope.
1. The Prototype: Honda Base Station Trailer
Honda just unveiled something that stopped me in my tracks. It’s called the Base Station, and it’s a futuristic travel trailer prototype developed by the same US R&D team that gave us the Motocompacto scooter, which I rode at the LA Auto Show a couple years ago and had a blast on.
It looks like a sci-fi command center, but the specs are grounded in reality. It weighs less than 1,500 pounds, meaning you don’t need a heavy-duty truck to tow it—a standard Honda CR-V (or even an EV) can handle it without breaking a sweat. It’s modular as hell. The five side windows can be swapped out for add-ons like an outdoor shower, a kitchenette, or extra battery packs. Inside, you’ve got a queen-sized futon, A/C, and a roof-mounted tent that sleeps two more. It’s minimalist, stylish, and exactly what I want to drag out to the mountains for a weekend of fishing or… whatever. Rumor has it this might actually hit production with a price tag between $20k-$40k.
Honda, if you’re reading this: Please, please build it.
Price: TBD (Prototype) LEARN MORE @ HONDA
2. The Family Hauler: 1969 Chevrolet Corvette (4-Door)
(Found on Facebook Marketplace, Santa Ana, CA)
Every week, I scour the internet for the weirdest vehicle money can buy on Facebook Marketplace. Some day I will buy something reckless and foolish on there.
This week, we found the final boss of mid-life crises. Behold: The 4-Door 1969 Corvette. The seller description is pure poetry: “This four-door Corvette was designed for the family man, offering room for a few more friends or loved ones.” Nothing says “family man” like a stretched fiberglass sports car with T-Tops and three color televisions that fold out from the dash and headliner. It’s a “Silver Bullet” custom job that sits on air suspension and features a digital dash that likely glows with the intensity of a thousand dying suns.
It’s absolutely ridiculous.
Under the hood, it has a Tuned Port fuel-injection engine and a 700R4 transmission, but who cares about the specs? You’re buying this for the shaved door handles, the 12″ side pipes, and the sheer confusion you will cause in the school drop-off line. It is an abomination. It is a masterpiece. I want it.
Price: $98,000 CHECK IT OUT VIA FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE
3. The Kit: Nike ACG Team USA Winter Olympics Collection
The Milano Cortina games are next month, and while I won’t be competing (my crash this week confirmed that), I plan on looking like I could medaled in “Après-Ski Style.” Nike just unveiled their Team USA Winter Olympics collection, and it is absolutely sick. It’s an ACG junkie’s dream. The absolute hero piece is the Sherpa Fleece (pictured).
Look at it. It features a massive bald eagle soaring over a mountain range. It is aggressive, patriotic, and incredibly cozy, in a way that you would wear to dinner on a trip to Aspen or Mammoth or wherever you go get beers after skiing at your local hill.
The rest of the lineup is just as strong: Polartec hooded jackets for the hill, tees featuring the eagle carrying ski gear (a deep cut nod to the OG ACG Base Camp logo), and—get this—a Therma-FIT ADV skirt that unzips into a recovery blanket. It drops January 23rd. Get your refresh button ready.
I can’t say this enough: I NEED THIS FLEECE.
Price: TBD CHECK IT OUT VIA SNEAKER NEWS
4. The Fix: Nordica Enforcer 104 Free
If you read the intro, you know I got beat up by the “Sierra Cement.” The problem wasn’t the snow (okay, it was mostly the snow); it was that I wasn’t driving a tank. I love my Atomics, but the Nordica Enforcer 104 Free is that tank. Updated for the 2026 season, this ski is widely considered the best “crud buster” on the market. It has two sheets of metal, a wood core, and a rocker profile that lets it float in powder but smash through the heavy, wet afternoon chop like it’s not even there. It is stable at speed, damp enough to absorb the vibrations that rattle your bones, and wide enough to handle a dump. If you ski in California, you don’t need a carving ski. You need a bulldozer. This is it. And for the complete fit, note that you gotta put some Look Pivot 2.0s on these.
Price: $899.90 BUY NOW @ NORDICA
5. The Vision: VALLON Crossroads
You have the skis to handle the chop, now you need to actually see the chop before you hit it. VALLON just dropped their new Crossroads goggles, and they are a whole vibe. They fuse that classic 70s mountaineering aesthetic (which pairs perfectly with the Flint and Tinder jacket below, by the way) with serious next-gen optics from ZEISS. The lens uses a “Toric” shape, which sounds like something from a sci-fi movie but actually means it gives you the massive peripheral vision of a bubble lens without the fish-bowl distortion. Crucially, they use the PolarLock™ magnetic system, so when the Sierra clouds roll in at 2 PM, you can swap lenses in about three seconds without taking your gloves off. Plus, the strap looks like a climbing rope. Style points matter.
Price: $249 CHECK IT OUT VIA VALLON
6. The Tech: HMD OffGrid
I mentioned the drive up US 95. There is a solid 100-mile stretch where your cell phone is nothing but a glowing rectangle of disappointment. No bars or 5G. Just you and the coyotes, and some pull-offs where you can get out and comfortably take a piss in the wild without worrying about the judgment of passerbys (also, dudes rock). The HMD OffGrid was one of the standouts at CES this year. It’s a rugged little puck that pairs with your smartphone to provide satellite messaging, SOS, and location tracking anywhere on the planet. It’s cheaper than a sat-phone subscription and gives your loved ones peace of mind when you disappear into the desert for four hours. Plus, it looks tactically cool clipped to your backpack. I think I need one just so I can roam off-grid while the people in my life have some peace of mind.
Price: $149 CHECK IT OUT VIA HMD
7. The Watch: Garmin Instinct 3
I love a luxury mechanical watch as much as the next guy, but when I’m slamming into snowbanks, I don’t want to worry about scratching a sapphire crystal. Garmin just dropped the Instinct 3, and it is the ultimate “do cool sh*t” watch. It has infinite battery life (literally) thanks to the solar charging face. It tracks your ski runs, your heart rate, your sleep, and probably your soul. The monochrome display is easy to read in blinding sunlight, and the casing is built to military standards. It’s the G-Shock for the quantified self generation.
Price: $449 BUY NOW @ GARMIN
8. The Recovery: Hyperice Normatec 3 Legs
I travel with my Hyperice massage gun on literally every ski trip (it’s non-negotiable), but after this spill, I needed the heavy artillery. If you haven’t used Normatec boots, which we have written about in the past here on BroBible, you are missing out on the closest thing to magic in sports recovery. You zip your legs into them, and they use dynamic air compression to massage your limbs, flush out lactate, and increase circulation. It feels like a blood pressure cuff for your entire lower body, but in a good way. 30 minutes in these while watching football on the couch, and your legs feel fresh for the next day of skiing.
Price: $799 BUY NOW @ HYPERICE
9. The Grail: Freenote Cloth RJ-1 Riders Jacket
Everyone and their mother has that other waxed trucker jacket. You know the one. It’s fine. It works. But you want something better. Enter the RJ-1 from Freenote Cloth. This is a masterpiece of American craftsmanship, designed and sewn right here in California, in San Luis Obispo
It uses a heavy 10oz Martexin waxed canvas that will outlive your grandchildren, but the devil is in the details. It has pleated fronts (a nod to classic denim jackets), interior elastic bands for shoulder mobility, and custom metal hardware from Kentucky. The kicker? The liner is a Japanese-made southwestern print that looks incredible when you leave it unbuttoned at the bar. This is “if you know, you know” at its finest.
Price: ~$495 BUY NOW @ FREENOTE CLOTH
10. The House: 710 John Muir Rd, Mammoth Lakes
If I ever have the money to own a true ski house, it will be in Aspen. But… I like the idea of a place in the Sierras, because I’ve really come to love the Sierras in the last five years. This is where I’d crash after a day on the hill. This $6.3M estate in the Greyhawk subdivision of Mammoth is the dream. It’s a 5-bedroom, 5,900 sq. ft. monster with direct ski-in/ski-out access, which is pretty rare in Mammoth (it’s not Deer Valley, a place I find completely soulless). It has a massive stone fireplace, a gourmet kitchen for cooking up those post-ski feasts, and a game room that is begging for a pool table. Crucially, it has a “mud room” that is nicer than my actual apartment. If we all chip in $50, we can… actually, never mind, we still can’t afford it. But if we could, we could all have a very complicated spreadsheet of who is staying there and when.
Price: $6,300,000 SEE THE LISTING VIA ZILLOW
11. The Drip: 7-Eleven x Sunday Golf El Camino Bag
We love a high-low collaboration. We love it even more when it involves carrying your clubs in a bag that screams “I stopped for a taquito and a Big Gulp on the way to the first tee.” The mad scientists at Sunday Golf have teamed up with the legends at 7-Eleven to re-release the viral El Camino bag. It’s a midsize carry bag (holds 12 clubs) that weighs less than a 12-pack (3.9 lbs). The aesthetic is pure convenience store chic—iconic orange, green, and red stripes. It lets the cart girl know you are a man of culture who appreciates the finer things in life, like buffalo chicken rollers at 2 AM. Pre-sale ends tomorrow (Jan 16), so move fast.
Price: $249 (Pre-Order) BUY NOW @ 7 Collection x Sunday Golf
12. The Noise: Soundboks 4
You rented the $6.3M ski house. You bought the whiskey. Now you need to make sure the neighbors three canyons over know you’re having a good time. The Soundboks 4 isn’t just a bluetooth speaker; it’s a noise violation waiting to happen. It pumps out 126 dB of concert-level sound. For context, a jet engine is about 140 dB. This thing is loud. It’s built for the “après-anywhere” crowd. It’s IP65 rated, meaning it can handle snow, slush, and the inevitable spilled pitcher of beer. With 40 hours of battery life, it will outlast you, your guests, and probably your lease agreement. If you want to turn a quiet cabin weekend into a mini-festival, this is the tool.
Just please don’t bring it on the chairlift or your golf cart. I’m begging you.
Price: $1,199 BUY NOW @ SOUNDBOKS
13. The Conversation Piece You Can Drink: SPYRT Ukrainian Spirit Howitzer Edition
You have the ski house. You have the party speaker. Now you need something to put on the mantle that says, “I appreciate fine spirits and heavy artillery.” This is a 3-liter bottle of award-winning vodka encased in a literal refurbished M119A2 artillery shell casing from the front lines in Ukraine. It’s brought to us by SPYRT Worldwide, a veteran-owned company. The vodka itself is top-tier (Double Gold winner), but let’s be real—you’re buying this because it’s a 3-liter howitzer shell wrapped in Italian leather.
Best of all, 10% of profits go to Invictus Global Response, a team of US vet bomb techs clearing landmines in Ukraine. Drink vodka, support a good cause, own a piece of history.
Price: $999.99 BUY NOW @ SPYRT
14. The Art: BUFF Blank Canvas Collection
I’ve been rocking BUFFs for years. Whether I’m on a boat fishing and trying not to turn into a lobster, or fending off the high-altitude sun in Mammoth, they are non-negotiable gear.
But their new Blank Canvas initiative is next level. They tapped a roster of killer artists to turn their gaiters into wearable art. There are a few standouts here. Ian Ross partnered with the Surfrider Foundation for an ocean-inspired line. Micayla Gatto designed a collection inspired by the red rocks of Southern Utah (which vibes perfectly with my desert drive). And for my fellow anglers, Derek DeYoung and Rob Benigno created some incredible fish-scale patterns. It’s the best way to keep the sun off your neck without looking like you just wrapped a t-shirt around your head.
Price: Varies BUY NOW @ BUFF
15. The Sweat: Plunge Sauna
So, you crashed on the mountain (like me). Your 40-year-old bones are rattled (like mine). You need heat. Serious heat. The folks at Plunge (famous for their cold tubs) just dropped The Sauna, and it is the recovery tool of my dreams. It’s built from premium weather-resistant cedar, meaning it looks great in the backyard or the garage, and it rips up to 230ºF. That is legitimate, Finnish-level heat.
It has a smart app so you can fire it up remotely (perfect for when you’re leaving the slopes) and ergonomic backrests so you can actually relax. It’s currently on a massive New Year sale (up to $4,500 off), which makes the investment significantly less painful than my hip feels right now.
Price: $10,390, normally $12,990 BUY NOW @ PLUNGE
16. The Carry: The Ridge Oceanlight Collection
The Oceanlight Collection is a collaboration with the incredible Perrin James, an underwater photographer who catches those fleeting moments where the sun hits the sea. You’ve got Dark Harbor (that deep, moody twilight blue), Gold Horizon (golden hour on the water), and Green Flash (that legendary, blink-and-you-miss-it moment at sunset).
They took the best minimalist wallet in the game and gave it a soul. If you’re still carrying a Costanza wallet that ruins the lines of your ski pants, fix your life.
Price: Starting at $95 BUY NOW @ RIDGE
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See you next week! brandon@brobible.com