I'd like to start this series, Overhyped Gear, to highlight gear in our community that is often overhyped. This overhyped gear will be extremely popular in the EDC community, but ultimately not worth all this hype. A big reason behind why gear is so overhyped revolves around brand names. Fanboys stick to their favorite brands like leeches. This series will obviously be subjective to my opinions and preferences. I will try to stick to talking about things that I have tried personally. I do not want to tear down any products by any means. However, I've had a large amount of disappointment after trying some products that everyone seems to absolutely love, so it's time I finally share how overhyped certain products are. Without further ado, here is the first Overhyped Gear post.
Three products I think are extremely overhyped are the Hinderer Investigator pen, the Zero Tolerance 0566, and Moleskine notebooks. All these products cost considerably more than they should, while failing to be unique or be worth this extra money.
The Hinderer Investigator pen is one of my least favorite pens I've ever tried. The whole writing experience was extremely disappointing to me. This is easily one of the most talked about pens in the EDC community. I see so many on Instagram, the forums, YouTube, etc. I don't understand why people love them so much. Oh wait, yes I do. They are only loved because of their brand name. If it was any other brand, I don't think these would have done so well. For $60, you are getting a pen that writes like a $10 to $20 Fisher Bullet Space pen. It is an uncomfortable pen to write with, and the clip absolutely sucks. If you want to see more of a review about this pen, look here. Just know that if you buy this pen, you are giving into a huge amount of hype that is honestly not worth it.
The Zero Tolerance 0566 is something that I also consider overhyped. I don't actually believe this ZT in particular is loved as much as others, but I didn't think it was fair for me to say all ZTs are overhyped. I have only tried out maybe three ZTs after all. This ZT though, is not what I'd expect to get from Zero Tolerance, especially for the price. The materials of this 0566 are what make it overhyped. If I'm paying over $100 for a knife, I expect high end materials like titanium and fancy steels. The 0566 uses stainless steel instead of titanium on the lock side. I thought ZT was know for their titanium framelocks. How can they sell a stainless steel framelock when practically all their other knives use titanium? I find it kind of funny that this 0566 is a Hinderer design. Contrary to what it seems like, I don't have some sort of hatred for Hinderer. I honestly just think this knife is overhyped considering the materials, price, and brand name.
And last but not least, I believe Moleskine notebooks as a whole are overhyped. The sub-par paper quality you're getting for the jacked up price is outrageous. The paper can't even handle simple ballpoint pens. Any pen I write with smears and shows through on the back side. After trying different paper, I can see that this poor performance isn't normal. I've tried Rhodia paper that is cheaper, and had no issues whatsoever. As you pay more for something, it should get exponentially better. That is not the case with these Moleskine notebooks. When people think notebooks, Moleskine is probably among one of the biggest brand names. This dedication to big brand names is what contributes to the overhyped product.
So there we go. That was the first Overhyped Gear post. I hope you all found it entertaining. You may not agree with me, but I think all my points are valid. I will continue to write these posts as time goes on. Thanks for looking!
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