Dear friends, with great pride and joy I am insanely pumped to share the official launch and release of HAPTIC ARMOR, MARK I. I truly believe this to be a fabric and a lifestyle revolution:
Why?
Life is too short for inferior fabrics. HAPTIC ARMOR is forged and engineered to be the most supreme fabric, the fabric to conquer them all.
How?
The science and technology behind a HAPTIC ARMOR lies in our unique HAPTIC WEAVE pattern; a three dimensional octagonal weave, which maximizes surface area, well also reinforcing strength.
The philosophy is this:
How can we take and utilize the worlds best linen in the world, the supreme raw linen from Lithuania, forge it with cutting edge South Korean technology, to make a sublime cloth?
Cloth talk
I want everything I own to be part HAPTIC ARMOR. In my clothes, my everyday lifestyle etc.
Distinguish yourself
It seems apparent to me that the elite refuse to wear basic fabrics. The elite wear linen, wool, cashmere.
And now that the hot and humid summer is upon us, with the relentless sun, how can you continue to venture, explore, and journey further? HAPTIC ARMOR is your solution.
Skin in the game
I am currently 35 years old, and I’ve been on the road ever since I was 21. 14+ years on the road, nomading around, lots of time in airplanes, in foreign hotel rooms and Airbnb’s, and out of all of it, what have I gleaned?
All of it all, I have discovered that clothing is critical. Nowadays the only clothing I wear is linen, merino wool, nothing else.
When you travel and if you’re on the road, you can’t take your Lamborghini with you, you can’t take your Tesla with you, you can’t take anything with you. An interesting philosophy that I have is that when you’re traveling, your clothes almost become like your mini house. Let us consider that your clothing protects you from the elements, infuses you with self-esteem and confidence, and also pragmatically, it is illegal to go outside naked.
HAPTIC ARMOR
It is my personal ambition that with HAPTIC ARMOR, you can venture further, more courageously. With less heat, less weight, less annoyance with having to launder your clothes while on the road.
A simple observance that I have made is that linen is even better at drawing moisture away from your body, even superior to merino wool!
This phenomenon is called “hygroscopic”— that when you’re wearing HAPTIC ARMOR, if you sweat, HAPTIC ARMOR will naturally absorb the sweat away from your body, and absorb into the three dimensional haptic weave pattern, and then due to its increased surface area, it will dry instantly when you’re out in the sun.
The result is you are not sweaty, and also your clothing is not drenched.
Suitable for all climates
HAPTIC ARMOR is suitable during the relentless summertime, but also practical in the fall and winter time. Linen is naturally elegant, and effortlessly simple.
Linen is also insanely strong and robust, and with our unique octagonal HAPTIC 3D WEAVE pattern, it will be able to withstand any sorts of puncture wounds, and metaphorical arrows.
Nothing lasts forever
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Nothing last forever. It is doubtful that HAPTIC ARMOR will last 1000 years.
However, why not try? We only got 19 suits of HAPTIC ARMOR left in stock, seize your destiny now!
Where in the world is ERIC KIM?
Currently going to be a month here in Saigon Vietnam. Housesitting for a friend in an insanely epic high-rise apartment. Floor to ceiling windows, great amenities, etc.
Some turbo thoughts:
- First, Cindy has made the interesting observation that at least in Vietnam, our spending power is at least 30X. Example, we can go to an all you can eat Korean barbecue restaurant or even an all you can eat shabu shabu restaurant, for only around eight to $10 USD! We also made the funny observation that in theory, this is even cheaper than ordering meat and cooking at home! Plus the upside is that we don’t have to clean up when we’re at a restaurant.
- Coffee here is insanely good: And if you ever visit Saigon Vietnam, go to 96B, our favorite coffee shop here. I rate the coffee there at least 100X better than any third wave coffee I’ve discovered in the states, even in Australia! What is the secret? A tighter source. The beans are grown locally here in Vietnam in Dalat, and also roasted and crafted here. The result? Insanely fruity and fragrant. Even the robusta here is phenomenal!
- I still prefer the states: a very nice epiphany that I had is that even though life here is insanely good, ultimately, I still prefer the states. Why? First and foremost, crypto and cryptocurrency. While I was here in Vietnam, I actually had some weird difficulty and strange error messages when trying to load up my crypto assets. Funny enough, I think I’ve made a fatter profit off of my speculative crypto and bitcoin speculations than I have ever in all of my photography workshops combined.
- Also, the pollution in Vietnam is actually really bad. When Cindy and I lived here in around 2017, while the pollution in Hanoi was bad, it wasn’t that bad in Saigon Now, the pollution actually feels pretty unbearable. For example, I can’t even go outside for too long without choking on the pollution here. This is an interesting epiphany, as what it means is that even though you have all the worlds best amenities, without fresh air, none of it is worth it. Now I think I understand why the rich mainland Chinese people are buying up property in Vancouver and other places, in order to escape the relentless pollution back in the mainland.
- Perhaps California banning gasoline cars is a good idea — why is California so overpopulated? Even though there are lots of bad things about California, my thought is the reason why traffic in LA California Southern California etc. so bad is actually because everyone wants to live there. Also, the thought of banning gasoline cars is a good idea, because although generating electricity via sustainable sources is a little doubtful, at least it directly stops the injection of pollution fumes into the air. In fact, once again after experiencing the pollution here in Saigon, it almost feels unethical to purchase a brand new gasoline powered car, even a hybrid. Why? As Elon Musk said, even a hybrid car is 100% reliant on gasoline. How about the Prius prime brother plug-in hybrids? Fuck it, just go 100% electric. 30 miles on an a plug-in Prime Prius electric charge is hilarious.
- Sustainability and the planet? Certainly humans can live even in polluted areas. It will not directly kill you, at least not in the short term. However the downside is that it makes every day like to life living terrible. Nobody wants to live in the mall for the rest of their lives.
Photo Updates
This month while in Vietnam I am doing two free photography talks, one in Saigon this weekend and another in Hanoi next weekend with my friend Chu Viet Ha.
Will try to see if I can get it recorded and will share with you later.
Camera thoughts?
Currently looking at the camera landscape, everything seems uninteresting to me.
Car thoughts?
It seems that if you want a car or a new car, the most economical is to just buy used Prius.
For a new car, just buy the cheapest base Tesla model 3. Or if you plan to lease, just lease the cheapest price Tesla model Tesla model 3.
Crypto thoughts
For any recent crypto developments, the chain link blog seems to be the best resource. However, some nuances:
- There is no web 3.0. Whenever you see anything written with Web 3.0, don’t trust it.
- I see a great future ahead for AI.
- International money: while bitcoin may still not be the future, it seems to not be totally bad of an idea. Why? My frustration being here in Vietnam, from any normal ATM machine, it is difficult to withdraw more than $100-$200 USD a day. Insanely annoying.
Future developments?
- If you want critical and honest feedback on your photos, upload it to arsbeta. I am still shocked and amazed, even building it three-four years ago, the platform is still insanely robust!
- Why? am I a genius? Building why app before ChatGPT was announced? Thinking of the idea almost 3 to 4 years ahead, in 2017?
New ideas
My new current idea is regarding photo selection and curation. For example, let us say that you shoot 1000 photos a day. Having some sort of AI assistant help you cull through the photos seems like a good idea.
HAPTIC DRIP
HAPTIC SHOP: CONQUER IT ALL.
Forward the turbo!
Or if you’re new,