The Story Behind Our Pocket Watches

I didn’t start PatriotPocket because I wanted a "hobby" for my retirement. I started it because I couldn't stand the silence of a house full of things that didn't mean anything.

In the service, you live by your gear. If it’s flimsy, it’s a liability. If it’s mass-produced junk, it’s an insult. One afternoon, I was looking at a cheap plastic watch a neighbor’s kid had dropped—cracked, digital screen blinking out, headed for a landfill—and it hit me. We’ve become a "disposable" culture. We’ve forgotten what it feels like to hold something that has the weight of a legacy in it.

I decided right then that if I was going to make something, it had to be built to endure.