The Best Deals of the Day: May 2, 2018

Welcome to Deals of Note, where Gear Patrol captures all the best deals of the day. You can also follow all our deal posts in the Deals section. Comments or concerns? We’d love to hear from you at [email protected].

Instant Pot

Instant Pot Ultra
The cooking multitool that launched a thousand big brand knockoffs sits comfortably on its throne. Though some of the appliances it claims to replace are, well, suspect (is an “egg cooker” not just a pan?), there’s no denying you’ll be able to purge at least one cabinet of cumbersome kitchen appliances after buying. Everyone is using the Instant Pot, and we’ve only begun to scratch the surface (40-day black garlic in six hours, folks). Apart from the bevy of stuff you’ll get to finally toss out, you get, among many, many other functions, a machine that’s capable of slow-cooking lamb shank to delicious perfection and boil an egg faster than your stove can (8 minutes!).

The Instant Pot Ultra, the brand’s newest and most functionally versatile model, is on sale now at its lowest price ever. — Will Price

Garmin

Garmin Sale
Save $50+: Garmin is known for its spot-on GPS tracking — most notably for its Forerunner series, as well as its Fenix series. The brand also makes budget friendly trackers that monitor any exercise you want to test. On JackRabbit today, you can save $50 to $200 off these reliable and durable watches. — Meg Lappe

Alternative

Alternative Apparel Franchise Zip-Up Hoodie
Save 58%: When I was living on the West Coast, one of my close friends was a religious devotee of Alternative Apparel hoodies. I never really understood it until the brand opened its boutique in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco. My friend was stocking up on some new zip hoodies, so I decided to tag along and see what the fervor was about.

The hoodie designs are dead simple. They feature a one-way zipper, front hand pockets, raglan sleeves and a tonal drawstring. But the fabric is what makes these hoodies special. It’s a cotton-poly French terry that is ridiculously soft. Alternative Apparel even claims the material is resistant to pilling.

Though I didn’t pick up a hoodie that day, I couldn’t stop thinking about how good the fabric felt. So when I got my next paycheck, I picked one up for myself and it quickly became my go-to layer for lazy weekend mornings, casual afternoons and chilly evenings on the beach. If you want to try one of these hoodies out for yourself, you don’t have to wait until you get paid because Nordstrom Rack is having a great sale — you can pick one up for just $23. — John Zientek

JAB

Shoe Trees
Save 55%: Nice shoes are wonderful. They keep you looking like you care about your appearance (even when you don’t), they’re cozy and they last longer than cheap shoes. They also cost piles of money.

If you’re in the business of buying said shoes you’d better have shoe trees to keep them healthy. Yes, healthy. For the uninitiated: a shoe tree mimics a foot in the shoe and eliminates any creasing or folding of the material that may occur. If it goes on long enough, this folding and creasing can result in permanent folds and creases even when you’re wearing the shoe, particularly if you live in an area where salts or other grimey substances can wedge themselves in those nooks and begin eating away at the shoe. Also, because they’re made of cedar, they keep whatever foot smells your shoe may carry (we’re not judging) at bay.

Use code FRIEND55 on these Jos. A Bank shoe trees at checkout for 55 percent off the sticker price. — Will Price

Blunt

Blunt Classic Umbrella
Save $40: At some point in your life, you learn to quit messing around with cheap, easy-to-break umbrellas that bend and snap at the slightest puff of wind. If you’ve finally reached that point, we recommend pouncing on this excellent Blunt Umbrella deal from Massdrop, which has the brand’s Classic umbrella marked down to $50 (a $40 drop from MSRP). The Blunt Classic has a solid, non-collapsing handle and a radial tensioning system that’s meant to keep the umbrella as taut as possible when open and, supposedly, has been tested at winds up to Force 11 (72 miles per hour) winds. — Andrew Connor

Patagonia Nano Puff Jacket
Save $70: The Nano Puff Jacket runs typically for $199, but right now you can score one for 35 percent off in last season’s colors at Backcountry. It’s one of those if-it-ain’t-broke pieces that Patagonia launches every season in new colors but the guts of the jacket remain the same. You’ll never need to update it either because Patagonia’s zero-questions repair program will take care of any fixes as it continues to age. (I’ve taken advantage of this multiple times, and my jacket has the new zipper and patch to prove it.) — Tanner Bowden

Bell Helmets

Classic Bell Helmet Sale
Save up to 28%: Today, on Revzilla, you can get classic and vintage inspired Bell Helmets for up to 28% off and save around $100. — Bryan Campbell

Lodge

Lodge Cast-Iron Dutch Oven
Save $26: Beyond a chef’s knife, and maybe your trusty cast-iron skillet, a Dutch oven is the most important (read: versatile) tool in the kitchen. Any chef worth their salt will recommend one of two French brands – Staub or Le Creuset – but this 5.5-quart, budget-friendly version from Lodge is just $34 right now. It may not look as pretty on your stovetop. But it cooks chili just fine. — Jack Seemer

Eddie Bauer

Eddie Bauer Stowaway Packable 20L
Save 50%: This Eddie Bauer Stowaway Packable 20L wasn’t exactly a bank-breaker to start with, but now it’s half off at only $15. The lightweight ripstop polyester is perfect for taking the punishment of day hikes, travel and commutes, all while ridding your conscience of any guilt if it gets too beat up. Because, again, it’s just $15 — get two. — Bryan Campbell

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