BEST MADE PROJECTS

From the forest: magic lantern slides 

via the archives of the Oregon State University Libraries

From the field: Capturing the peregrine stoop on film

In a follow up to our recent post on Joe Kittinger, the brave man who jumped from a balloon 20 miles in the air, we are excited to bring your attention to a similar - but perhaps more majestic maneuver - the peregrine’s stoop.

To avoid detection by it’s prey, a peregrine falcon - one of the fastest animals on the planet - will ascend hundreds of feet and once it has locked onto its target will then tuck it’s body and deploy into the stoop formation - the most elegant of animal contortions - and nose dive like a rocket at upwards of 240 mph. Even at these blinding speeds the peregrine has enough control over its trajectory that it can actually target the wing of its prey, sending it tumbling to the ground, and avoiding injury in a high speed, full-body collision! 

So sit back and enjoy this clip from the PBS Nature series and watch as falconer and engineer Rob MacIntyre devises a clever mini-falcon cam that is strapped onto the back of his peregrine so we can watch the stoop, and the kill first hand.

Archival Eye Candy: The lumberjacks of Clark Kinsey

From the field: The Highest Step in the World

On August 16, 1960 Captain Joe Kittinger of the United States Air Force ascended into the sky in an open gondola. Towed by a helium balloon, he ascended to an altitude of 102,800 ft. It was the highest altitude a human had ever achieved at that time. As the sign on his gondola proudly proclaimed, “This is the highest step in the world.” At the edge of space, nearly 20 miles up, Joe Kittinger jumped, beginning an epic fall back to Earth. He compared this amazing fall with the feeling of being suspended silently in space. What felt motionless was really a 614 mph fall through the stratosphere. It wasn’t until he reached the lower, denser portion of the atmosphere that he was met with the deafening sound of his descent and the familiar push of the wind on his body. In the span of just a few minutes he had plummeted almost 85,000 ft with only his drogue chute to slow and stabilize his fall. At a height of 18,000 ft he deployed his main chute and slowly returned to the safety of the earth.

Kittinger’s amazing journey was part of Project Excelsior, a project of the United States Air Force studying the effects of high altitude bail-out on pilots. At the time, tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union were running high, and for the past 10 years the United States Air Force had been developing high-altitude aircraft for the surveillance and reconnaissance of it’s cold war counterpart.

At any given height above the surface of the Earth, the boundaries that separate nations are invisible, non-existent. There is no United States, there is no Soviet Union, only an expanse of sea and land gently curving to the horizon. And while it may be difficult for those on the ground to cross these invisible, cultural boundaries, we should in turn focus on the journey of crossing our own expansive void back to the comfort of solid ground. And let us enjoy the ride, if just for a few minutes.

The Best Made Customer: Matt Dorfman, Brooklyn, NY

Best Made has the best customers on the planet and to tell their stories we publish their answers to “The Ten Best Made Questions”. Pictured above: Matt Dorfman in the photo booth at The Bell House music hall in Brooklyn (during a live show). To our knowledge this is a first, and Matt assured us the staff didn’t seem to mind (or notice) that he was wielding a large felling axe around the bar! Go Matt.

- what’s the weather like where you are?

The humidity index is slowly creeping north. It doesn’t feel like a swamp just yet, but all the elements to make it so are in place. 

- what’s your most valuable piece of advice today?

Opportunity does not present itself at a moment of your comfort or convenience.

- what is the best thing your father ever taught you?

It’s not the problem that’s the problem. It’s how you handle the problem that’s the problem.

- what is the best thing your mother ever taught you?

She taught me that I’m not the center of the universe, (she is, naturally).

- what skill, trade, craft, or hobby would you like to learn most and why?

I keep trying to think of something better than a pitmaster, but I can’t. As I’ve gotten older, cooking’s become more important to me, but my kitchen instincts, while competent, are hardly anything to write home about. Mastering a craft like BBQ would satisfy my desire to get wise in at least one dedicated area of culinary prep and execution. Moreover, in order to do it properly, time and concentration are required and I’m interested in having at least one task throughout my month which requires focus on a singular project over an extended block of time. Not only that, but BBQ has the power to bring friends and family together so it has the added draw of pooling good company. Lastly, (and I can’t imagine I’m telling anyone the news here), but BBQ is absolutely delicious, so there’s that also. Dear Lord, please make me a BBQ pitmaster.

- if you could be outside right now, working, what would you be doing?

I’d be dogwalking. Presently, we have a no-pet clause in our building and it’s driving us crazy. My occasional high-fives with the neighborhood dogs tied up beside the market is not a satisfactory equivalent. 

Ideally, I would be walking a Bull Mastiff, a Dane, two Boxers, two mutts and an English Bulldog. We’d be an unstoppable army. I’d probably have to gain some weight to pull this one off.

- what problem would you like solved?

Oil dependence—foreign and domestic. That seems to have created a few unnecessary spats over the past half century. Once that’s taken care of, we can move on to addressing the issue of humanity’s disproportionately big mouth in relation to its ear.

- what’s your favourite answer to a question?

“Again?!”

Matt Dorfman is a graphic designer and illustrator living in Brooklyn, just like a few other people. Counted among his work accomplishments, he once typeset a public apology to Tom Waits in Italian. He has also climbed the Precipice in Acadia National Park while wearing Vans without socks. Additionally, he once successfully reclaimed both a camera and a sketchbook from a man who was mugging him with a syringe on Easter Sunday of 1997. But he has yet to find a suitable piece of wood with which to chop. His most current work can be seen here.

Best Made Travel Bulletin: Fly fishing in Argentina

Some of you may already be planning a get away this Fall / Winter so we thought we’d throw a spectacular idea your way… a customized fly-fishing tour through Patagonia with some of the best guides and trip planners in the sport. Chip Drozenski, the Best Made fly expert in residence, turned us on to the Drifters and has this to offer: 

Andes Drifters a family run operation specializes in customized vacations in Argentina. We feature trout and dorado fishing, trophy red stag / world class wing and waterfowl hunting, adventure, eco and luxury trips. Each itinerary is personalized to the preferences of our clients. Value, quality, unique experiences and customer satisfaction is what Andes Drifters is all about.

Hiking, biking, equestrian, kayaking, skiing, sailing, art, music, native culture, wine, fine dining, cooking classes, spa, artisans, photography, bird watching, designer shopping, golf, fishing, hunting, eco and the list of activities goes on all in a fantastic landscape and environment.

For more information log on to their site or contact Chip Drozenski.

A Best Made life: Othar “Otha” Turner (1907-2003)

In June we posted a short film about César Newashish, a 67-year-old Attikamek of the Manawan Reserve north of Montreal who builds a birch bark canoe from scratch. Here’s a nice follow-up: a short film about Othar Turner, a Mississippi farmer and fife player who fashions his instrument from river cane, and puts it to the test at a local picnic with his buddies in the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band. 

For the most part Othar and his band played for locals and family in small gatherings and picnics. In the 1950s Othar began hosting a Labor Day picnic that eventually grew to attract fans from all over the world. The menu at these gatherings consisted of one of Othar’s goats which he himself butchered and cooked. In 1998 Othar and his Rising Star Fife and Drum Band released their album “Everybody Hollerin’ Goat”, one of our favorite albums. Martin Scorsese featured a song from this album on the soundtrack of Gangs of New York. Othar died in Gravel Springs Mississippi, and the same day his daughter died of breast cancer. His granddaughter lead the Rising Star Fife band on the fife in the procession to the cemetery of their joint funeral. 

When planning you’re Labor Day celebrations you might want to consider some of Othar’s tunes in the mix (and some goat on the BBQ!). 

Happy birthday Joe Strummer.     

“The campfire was always going to be one of the central themes of the film. In the last ten years of his life, really the time I got to know him best, we had our deepest conversations around the campfire. It was a much bigger thing, once he‘d moved to Somerset, where Joe‘s house was. Up on the Quantock Hills, a rebel outpost…a place even the Romans had never managed to conquer.

“Just as in his lifetime, we had people from all walks of life sitting by the fire, listening to the music that was so much a part of him. It was a place to lose themselves in the flames; in the firelight everyone is equal, the famous people no more relevant than the not so famous people. By interviewing that way for the film we were freeing ourselves from the ‘talking heads‘ of a conventional documentary. We were getting a real sense of the friendship and the connections.

“I had to make it work because it was so important to Joe. He once said to me that he thought the campfire was a better idea than any of the music he had ever made - some nights it really did get that good. The whole thing was about people from completely different backgrounds around that fire, and I hope we have brought the essence of that to the film.

“More often than not, Joe was the last one at the fire. To whoever was left standing he‘d say: “It‘s you and me at Club Dawn…”- Julian Temple, director of The Future is Unwritten.

The Best Made Typeface: INDICATOR by Chris Rogers

Look at the top of our homepage and the top of this page today and you may have noticed a change in type. The talented Chris Rogers has helped us develop prototypes, build boxes, paint axes, invent shop furniture, and hand-letter and monogram Best Made boxes. With the help of Shawn Hasto, Chris has spent the last year developing a brand new typeface for Best Made called Indicator, which we’re really proud to launch today. 

Indicator draws inspiration from mechanical draftsmanship and commercial artists’ lettering styles seen in schematics, blueprints, showcards, and signs. We’ll be incorporating Indicator into the fabric of our company’s identity and into our special packaging, monogramming, etc… the possibilities are endless when you’re armed with your own font! 

The Best Made Customer: Molly Woodland, Minneapolis, MN

Best Made has the best customers on the planet and to tell their stories we publish their answers to “The Ten Best Made Questions”. Above: siblings Molly Woodland and John Sullivan at their family’s log cabin “up North” with John’s Grayscale axe (a gift from Molly). Built by a Finnlander in 1928, the cabin boasts extraordinary craftsmanship, tall pines, a spring fed lake and lots of room to roam. Summers of their youth were spent exploring the woods, fishing, making bon fires, playing card games and completing the “world’s hardest puzzle” (a huge Jackson Pollack). 

- what’s the weather like where you are?

  Thanks for asking! Do you know how much Minnesotan’s love to talk about the weather? It’s a sweltering 95 degrees—just uncomfortable enough to be the topic du jour.

- what’s your most valuable piece of advice today?

 Take the high road.

- what’s your sign? 

 I hope I know it when I see it.

- what is the best thing your father ever taught you?

 Use your head, Kid!

- what is the best thing your mother ever taught you?

 How to make perfect pie crust and how to get 20 things done before most people wake up.

- if you could be outside right now, working, what would you be doing?

 Tending my vegetables, hoping to harvest an heirloom tomato for dinner.

- what skill, trade, craft, or hobby would you like to learn most and why?

How to make bread. I love the combination of skill, patience, rote movement and comforting smell — though there’s just enough science involved to intimidate me.

- what’s your favourite answer to a question?

 Another question.

- what problem would you like solved?

Why the world’s honeybees are disappearing (and how to look good in skinny
jeans).

Molly Woodland ventured from cabin life to study at Marquette University and has since been a graphic designer for 15+ years. She currently owns Apiary Design, a stationery company devoted to the beauty of the handwritten word. Today, Molly fights traffic to weekend at the cabin in an attempt to regain simplicity/perspective/sanity.

John Sullivan is an avid outdoorsman. Growing up he spent every opportunity possible outdoors—at the cabin, fishing Canadian waters and paddling the far reaches of Manitoba to Hudson Bay. John attended the University of St. Thomas and went on to work in film production in New York City. After five fast-paced years, he returned to his beloved state to work, fish, and once again, wield an axe.