Multitool.org Forum
Non Tool Forum => Gadget Freak and EDC Forum => Topic started by: powernoodle on July 20, 2021, 04:18:58 PM
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Jon Gadget ("Jonathan") is a new Youtube reviewer who just started his channel in December, 2020, and has only 5,500 subscribers. By the quality of his reviews, you would think that he has 1M subscribers - and I would not be surprised if he did some day. Jonathan has a 25 year history in the gadget and EDC industry, having created The Gadget Shop and RED5 retail outlets in the UK with over 100 stores. And that's just the beginning of his impressive resume. I just thought I would bring him to your attention. He has quickly become my favorite Youtube reviewer in the EDC/MT/SAK/gear genre. Maybe its because English chaps just naturally sound smarter than everyone else.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Lrhn_lfJzw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFEQR9HJ2oE
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I follow John Gadet and, yes, he is very professional. For anyone who hasn't seen his channel please do so, you won't be disappointed :climber:
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I've enjoyed a couple of John's Videos. He is a great presenter.
Is he a true expert......? You decide.
( He picked a Compact over the PX for EDC.....automatically disqualified from 'expert' in my book! :rofl: )
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Yep, been watching him for a few months.
First class presenter.
Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
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I’ve never heard of him so thanks for the link.
I can’t wait to check out his videos!
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His EDC videos tend to be quite reasonable -- stuff that you might regularly find yourself wanting to have with you.
It's refreshing these days considering so many videos include many hundreds or even thousands of dollars worth of "everyday carry" that they probably rarely carry. It's more an exercising in selling lifestyle/product. :pok:
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His EDC videos tend to be quite reasonable -- stuff that you might regularly find yourself wanting to have with you.
It's refreshing these days considering so many videos include many hundreds or even thousands of dollars worth of "everyday carry" that they probably rarely carry. It's more an exercising in selling lifestyle/product. :pok:
Reasonable to carry yes, but reasonable in price... I wouldn't go that far, the man like Bellroy :ahhh
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I've caught a couple of his videos and agree they are well done and sensible. Interesting to hear more about him :tu:.
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https://forentrepreneursonly.co.uk/members/retail/jonathan-elvidge
https://www.4-small-businesses.com/top-small-businesses-idea-011.html
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I don't recall anyone here ever mentioning they've gone to those shops? Good on him for getting after it.
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I don't recall anyone here ever mentioning they've gone to those shops? Good on him for getting after it.
I recall going in gadget shops as a lad, they were neat but always a little pricey and there wasn't one near me. The kind of shop you always look forward to having a wander around.
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I’ve never heard of him so thanks for the link.
I can’t wait to check out his videos!
+1
:cheers: :tu:
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The gadget shops preceded the interwebs. Its hard to think about, and a little frightening, to recall that we actually had to go to stores back then to buy stuff. <shudder> Now we can compare the price and selection of a dozen vendors when looking for a new toy.
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The gadget shops preceded the interwebs. Its hard to think about, and a little frightening, to recall that we actually had to go to stores back then to buy stuff. <shudder> Now we can compare the price and selection of a dozen vendors when looking for a new toy.
I remember there being a lot of lava lamps, plasma balls, and inflatable aliens...
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Yes great channel, I've been subbed since last year. I love how popular the topic of EDC gear has become on YT. I remember back in the day (2005/2006) when there were just a handful of YouTubers like NutnFancy.
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I watched him for a while, but found him quite irritating, in the end.
Most of what he comes out with can be found, often verbatim, in the posts of EDC forums and blogs, and his 'favourite' items at any given moment seem to be whatever comes with an affiliate link.
He is a salesman, with a history in selling gimmicky junk to the disposable income demographic.
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There is good reason why i never bother to watch these.
Reason is they make explaining simple thing long as possible and when i am trying find info it makes me irritated when they just cant move on. Also its much funnier to find out yourself do you like that edc-gear or not.
Only Tools Matters
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Since I last posted in 2021 I hadn't caught another video. My attention span is low for somethings. He's certainly got quite a following thats for sure. Y'all are enough of the enabling I need ;).
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The video is a VISUAL media. I want to see the item or product up close, in hand for size, and doing what it was built for. Materials and specs can be found on websites, but I expect the reviewer to tell me how it feels in hand and what it can do. Most youtubers just sell stuff. I get it, it's their livelihood, but I think the best videos are done by people who like a product enough to share their experiences with no monetary incentive. And I'm SO done with "ten best knives of current year" or similar themed infomercials.
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Personally, I break YT creators for EDc into two categories: showcase and review. The benefit of the latter is you get exposed to new products, but the content doesn't really review the product or I don't really value the review opinion of the person, the latter is self explanatory.
JonGadget is a showcase to me, decades of being a successful entrepeneur, and to be honest, the UK's classism, makes him seem greatly out of touch. You can readily see this when he talks: his love of Belroy despite the cost, the London boutique notepads he uses at insane pricing, boutique class toiletries etc. This greatly warps the value proposition part of his reviews and the actual usecase... well I don't really feel like he tests most things, more impressions.
As a fledgling creator I don't begrudge affiliates and sponsorships, at the end of the day gear isn't free and creator's time and effort matters. The same with list videos and clickbaity titles, I don't like the prevalence of it, but at the end of the day it's what gets pushed on Youtube, it's a symptom of the audience watch-patterns.
All that said I follow Jon Gadget for the same reason I follow ExcessorizeMe, to discover new stuff I hadn't come across on my own yet or see things I can't justfiy spending 'phat stacks' on.
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I don't begrudge him for being wealthy - I respect him for it. Nice house, nice Land Rover, nice toys. All earned from 35 years of churning the butter and risking his assets. But you are right, he buys spendy stuff for his personal use fo shizzle. I bought 1 or 2 Belroy products products because of him, but draw the line at spendy leather wallets and notepads etc. He has thrown in plenty of budget product review that somewhat balances the higher end stuff. It seems like his channel as taken off well because he's a real grownup with some solid, grownup opinions that he articulates well. The accent, persona and mannerisms don't hurt either IMO. He is quite a contrast from a hipster like Zac in the Wild (who I also liked), who just shut down his channel.
:tu:
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I miss the days when YouTubers used to go out in the woods and actually use the gear. I don't see too many of those channels anymore, 99% are just tabletop reviews which is cool, but I miss the variety. For example, when Kershaw released the Cryo, the Blade HQ channel did a 2 part simulated urban bug-out scenario where they used the Cryo for shelter prep, etc. The 1st part was called "Urban Bug-Out Part 1 | With the Kershaw Cryo" and was posted in 2013.
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I bought a Cryo for many reasons and those type reviews are great in that way.
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I don't begrudge him for being wealthy - I respect him for it. Nice house, nice Land Rover, nice toys. All earned from 35 years of churning the butter and risking his assets. But you are right, he buys spendy stuff for his personal use fo shizzle. I bought 1 or 2 Belroy products products because of him, but draw the line at spendy leather wallets and notepads etc. He has thrown in plenty of budget product review that somewhat balances the higher end stuff. It seems like his channel as taken off well because he's a real grownup with some solid, grownup opinions that he articulates well. The accent, persona and mannerisms don't hurt either IMO. He is quite a contrast from a hipster like Zac in the Wild (who I also liked), who just shut down his channel.
:tu:
Hey powernoodle! Wow, a name I remember from back in the day! Glad to see you're still around. It's been a few years since I've been active on any of the forums but IIRC you were on several others like Blade Forums too no? I heard that like Zac in the Wild, they recently shut down also. I saw Zac's last video and was surprised as I enjoyed his content too.
I agree, a lot of Jon's featured gear is spendy but I enjoy it for the product variety. I agree though that a lot of his stuff or ideas I wouldn't necessarily buy or subscribe to either. I'm pretty happy with my setup(s) which is one of the reasons I drifted away from all these forums in the first place.