Flat, straight trails. Skinny, pointed skis. Boots that look more like high-tech sneakers. Bindings that only lock you in by your toes. It’s easy to think that cross-country skiing is the awkward junior high version of downhill that somehow missed ...
Gear
Starter Kit: Learn How To Ice Fish
To the uninitiated, ice fishing can seem like a masochistic endeavor: Drag a sled full of gear out onto a frozen windswept lake in frostbite temps, gouge a hole through ice that’s up to 2 feet thick, drop a line in the water, and sit on a bucket or ...
Understanding Blades: The Survival Knife
There is no such thing as a survival knife. Knives have been called that and have been marketed that way — as some kind of magical tool that will save your ass in some unlikely situation. But that idea is inherently flawed. Sure, some general ...
How To Pick Out Your First Deer Rifle
Whatever your reason for reading this piece, you’re somewhat interested in the subject of deer hunting — the adventure, the benefits of harvesting your own meat, or the camaraderie with friends and family. Choosing your first deer rifle shouldn’t be ...
ATF Reverses Course on Honey Badger-Style AR Pistols — Again
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives has reversed course on plans to reclassify AR-style pistols with stabilizing braces such as the Honey Badger from Q LLC. In a letter released two days before Christmas, the ATF withdrew its ...
2020 FRA Holiday Gift Guide: The Adventure Travel Wish List
Shopping for traveling adventure seekers is tough. So much gear marketed at globe-trotters is straight junk, like outlet adapters we’ll never need, passport wallets, or goofy hats and vests. And a good adventure, if anything, helps us pare down on ...
2020 FRA Holiday Gift Guide: The Hunting Wish List
When we’re not making coffee or printing T-shirts, you can bet the crew here at Black Rifle Coffee Company and Free Range American are out hunting. How into hunting is this team? The HR department gives away hunts for filling out internal work ...
2020 FRA Holiday Gift Guide: The Fishing Wish List
The holiday shopping season is in full swing, and for outdoors enthusiasts that means one thing: new gear. New gear to gift our buddies who fish and hunt. New gear to put in our own letters to Santa. This year, FRA decided to go big and asked ...
Honey Badger vs. the ATF: What You Need To Know
Update: The ATF Reverses Course, Again Last week, Q LLC, manufacturer of the boutique Honey Badger AR pistol, made public an Aug. 3 cease-and-desist letter from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that seemed to outlaw ...
Bushcraft Knives vs. Survival Knives
The terms “bushcraft knife” and “survival knife” probably go back to the 1980s. The first comes from a seminal book by the Canadian survival expert Mors Kochanski. Bushcraft was published in 1987 and is an instruction manual on how to live in the ...
Is This Hunting App Worth $100?
In the second week of my 2019 elk hunt I was playing the public land shuffle — bouncing around forest service and Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, roads trying to locate elk while avoiding other hunters. No stranger to this game, I had pre-plotted ...
There’s Something About MOLLE: The History and Evolution of the Modern Tactical Load Carrying System
The modular lightweight load-carrying equipment (MOLLE) platform has been an integral part of the standard-issue military backpacks since the early days of the Global War on Terror. Since then, first responders have also embraced elements of this ...
GEAR TEST: The Ultimate Bino Harness Shootout
With binoculars ranging in price from $300 to $500 for entry-level glass to more than $3,000 on the high end, it only makes sense to protect them. Not long ago, that meant a harness of a few elastic straps that held exposed binoculars close to the ...
Review: Garmin’s Instinct Tactical is Fit for the Wild
When people think of Garmin, they generally think of the first GPS unit they had for their vehicle. But Garmin’s global positioning system technology is used across a variety of industries, including aviation, marine, fitness, and outdoor recreation. ...
Backcountry Water Sterilization: 4 Methods for Drinking Clean Water While Off the Grid
When it comes to going off the grid, whether it’s backpacking, hunting, or fishing, water is a basic need. One can survive for weeks without food but only days without water. Unfortunately, humans are not equipped to drink water from natural sources ...
Review: The Tyto 1.1 is a Knife Every Outdoorsman Should Own
Hunters across the United States head into the wilderness each autumn in search of various game. Aside from their weapon, the most important item that every should hunter carry is a good knife, which allows them to properly care for the meat after ...
Review: Stay Warm with Eberlestock’s -22 Degree Euro Down Sleeping Bag
Looking up through the spruce trees, I could see the stars, bright and sharp overhead. A cold breeze blew all night, and the day had been cold enough to half-freeze my water bottle while I hiked. But tucked into my sleeping bag in a bivouac camp, I ...
Sitka’s Fanatic Jacket and Bib: The Ultimate Cold Weather Whitetail Hunting Outlayer System
While there’s a certain segment of the population who views the dropping temperatures and falling leaves as a sign for all things pumpkin spice and flannel, there’s a whole other segment who sees a purer purpose: the rut. In most areas of the United ...
Kifaru Slick Bag: A Zero-Degree Sleeping Bag Made for the Wilderness
The chief debate among people searching for a cold-weather sleeping bag is the choice between down and synthetic fill. As a rule, down fill is lighter and more compressible than synthetic fill. However, down clumps when it gets wet and loses much of ...
Review: Here’s What I Learned After Living in Kifaru’s SuperTarp for Two Weeks
When preparing to go elk hunting in Colorado this year, I knew I wanted a floorless shelter, and Kifaru International’s SuperTarp was on the top of my list. For two weeks, it would be my home. The SuperTarp is a three-season, floorless, lightweight ...
Review: The American-Made VSKA AK Rifle from Century Arms
From the sun-baked deserts of North Africa to the tropics of Central America, the venerable AK47 rifle has been used in international conflicts around the world for decades. Few firearms share the name recognition of the AK47, and Mikhail ...
Gear Review: The Garmin inReach Explorer+ and inReach Mini
We live in a time when near-infinite information and communication is literally at our fingertips. We can use cell phones to do everything from solving complex problems to organizing a night out with friends. So when our adventures, hobbies, or work ...
Hornady, NSSF Weigh in on Walmart Decision to Drop Handgun Ammo
Last week, Walmart announced its decision to discontinue the sale of .223 and 5.56 ammunition — which they referred to as “short-barreled rifle ammunition” — calibers commonly used in AR-15 rifles. Perhaps even more startling to the firearms industry ...
Review: The Barrett REC10, Now Available to Civilians
Imagine harnessing the reliability and power of a .30-caliber firearm in an 8-pound portable platform. Barrett Firearms did just that with the release of their REC10 in 2018. The REC10 is the officially selected medium-caliber, long-range rifle for ...
FN 509 Midsize: Full-Size Performance in a Concealable Package
One thing the firearms industry has in spades is choices. A quick visit to a local gun store can leave a new shooter feeling overwhelmed with all the available options. And advertisements touting every gun as the best one out there offer little ...
Review: The Daniel Defense Delta 5 is a Bolt-Action Rifle with AR Modularity
The AR rifle platform is popular among gun enthusiasts because of its customization. The modular platform allows gun owners the freedom to accessorize or even create their own build from the comfort of their own homes — the epitome of user friendly ...
Sandrin TCK 416 Makes a Sharp and Slim EDC Addition
Even before the millions of everyday carry (EDC) pocket dump photos started popping up on social media, knives have been a common everyday tool. Young boys receive their first knife as a rite of passage, and more women are becoming acclimated to ...
Review: The Glock 48 is a Solid Concealed Carry Option
Contrary to certain stereotypes, gun owners aren’t all cut from the same cloth — they have an array of personalities and opinions, and they’re generally happy to share them, whether warranted or not. Nothing fires people up quite like the release of ...
Keep Your Gun Running Smoothly with Real Avid Maintenance Tools
Be good to your firearm and it will return the favor. Whether you use firearms for self-defense or hunting, they need to be maintained. Some people enjoy keeping their guns in top shape and always make time for a good cleaning. For others, however, ...
Kimber EVO SP: Not Your Average Striker-Fired Pistol
Kimber America is known for its high-end 1911s. So when they announced a new striker-fired gun, people took notice. For a new gun to succeed — especially a striker-fired gun in a market full of them — it must bring something valuable to the table. A ...
