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, auger a hole through the ice, drop a line in the water, and sit on a bucket or in a small shelter and ...
Gear
These Brits Debunk the Deadly M1 Garand ‘Ping’ Myth
The beloved M1 Garand Rifle carried the deadly end of American foreign policy from U.S. shores into Europe and the Pacific in World War II and into the forests of Korea the following decade. But the iconic rifle is typically discussed ...
Tom Brown Tracker: The Knife From ‘The Hunted’
Every so often, a movie will make a gun or a knife astonishingly and surprisingly famous. Dirty Harry did it for the Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum revolver, First Blood did it for sawback knives with hollow handles, Crocodile Dundee caused a ...
Winterizing Your Survival Kit
Growing up in New England, I learned to appreciate the frequency of the seasons changing. When the seasons changed, so did the way we had to live with the corresponding weather and environmental conditions. Spring teaches you to deal with rain, ...
$2.5K Knives and Cougar Sausages: Meet Master Bladesmith Josh Smith
Josh Smith held a long blade in his hand. Maybe 18 inches long, it was still black and ragged from the forge, but he had a point he wanted to make. He held it up, so that the group of close to 20 in his shop could get a good look. All were ...
Reader’s Choice: The 10 Biggest Free Range American Stories of 2021
This was a good year for Free Range American. We grew by hundreds of percentage points in every conceivable metric and covered a wide range of topics (and controversies) other outdoor media sites were afraid to touch. We broke the news on an ...
Cold Weather Duck Hunting Gear That Will Keep You Warm and Shooting
After a long, cold boat ride, we broke ice in the hole. Then, my host dropped me, outfitted in waders, by an oak tree in waist-deep water. “Don’t fall in,” he said as I was halfway out of the boat. “It’s 45 minutes to the ramp. You’ll be dead ...
Bowhunting Gear: How to Diagnose and Fix Your Setup in the Offseason
Fall is now a memory. For many reading this, it was an epic season of close encounters with a few blood-soaked arrows. For others, fall was, as it can often be, a season on the brink. Some of you want to delete the past few months from your memory ...
Behind the Scenes of the Black Rifle Coffee Tesla Model XR556
How the hell do you top a vehicle build that pairs a Prius with a Vulcan cannon? By marrying a Tesla with twin miniguns, of course. Black Rifle Coffee Company co-founder, and resident mechanical genius, Richard Ryan cooked up the ...
New Pennsylvania Bill Would Decriminalize Automatic Knives
A piece of legislation was recently introduced in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives that would significantly loosen regulations on automatic knives in the state. Rep. Martin Causer introduced HB 1929, which would make the manufacture, ...
Cold Sharp Steel – A Guide To Putting A Razor Edge On Your Knife
The cliché exists because it is true. A dull knife is a dangerous knife. When our trusty blade doesn’t have the edge, it once did, we tend to force the cut a bit more. Or we simply reduce ourselves to sawing whatever it is we are trying to ...
Too Efficient at Killing? Here Are the Top 5 Combat Shotguns
Americans began fielding shotguns on the battlefield during the final stretch of World War I and with great effect. German soldiers, who had regularly utilized chlorine gas on their enemies, found the wounds left by the weapons to be egregious and ...
Most Important Piece of Hunting Kit: Stay Warm in a Treestand
When I first started whitetail hunting, being cold was the No. 1 thing that’d get me out of a stand early. It didn’t matter how heavy or warm my clothing was; I still froze during November and December hunts. Every Hunter’s Ed test has the same ...
Airgun Cleaning 101: How to Remove Rust
The airguns of today are not what they were when you were a kid plinking cans behind your parents’ house. The modern airgun is powerful, and some are capable of launching heavy .50 caliber projectiles very accurately. They are fine-tuned hunting ...
Why Germany Wanted to Ban America’s Trench Shotgun During WWI
By the end of World War I, the Winchester model 1897 pump-action shotgun had gained a nasty reputation across no man’s land on the Western Front. Despite the emergence of numerous novel weapons technologies, including mechanized armor, ...
Supreme Court Leaning Toward Voiding New York Carry Permit Law
US Supreme Court oral arguments held Wednesday, Nov. 3, regarding the most important Second Amendment court case since D.C. v Heller indicate the court is likely to void the current gun permit laws in New York state. Such a decision would have major ...
Borka Blades: Grinding Away at the American Dream
Let’s discuss the typical American day. It normally starts out by hitting your local Starbucks and buying that $5 cup of coffee. Drink it all down, and then it’s time to hit 24-Hour Fitness before heading into that cushy office job. At ...
Cold Steel Hudson Bay Camp Axe Updates Centuries-Old Design
The axe continues its unlikely comeback as a staple of modern life. From axe throwing to hipster backyards, the axe suddenly finds itself cool again. But hey, we know it never lost its appeal. ‘Cause sometimes, you just gotta swing a good axe to get ...
Is the New Garmin Xero A1i Pro Bow Sight Ethical?
Garmin just released the newest iteration of their Xero electronic bow sight. The Xero A1i Pro offers significant updates to the original. While many archery talking heads are making noise about this technological leap forward, not many are asking ...
The Importance of Mental and Physical Fitness Prep – Adventure 101
Tending to mental and physical fitness before leaving for an adventure is equally as important as planning, preparing food, and packing the gear, but it's something many people often overlook. One of the things I did this summer on the 30-day ...
Planning a Big, Badass Outdoor Trip – Adventure 101
My husband Caleb and I recently completed our first real big, badass outdoor trip. We were gone for a month, backpacked 75 miles, and drove 3,500 miles. Through it all, we saw and experienced things unlike anything we could have imagined, but it ...
Making a Hiking Road Trip Food Plan – Adventure 101
After you have written a trip itinerary, but before you pack up your gear and take care of last-minute things, you need to think about food. Planning a long outdoor adventure requires a lot of food, which means you need a hiking trip food plan. ...
How to Pack for a Big Outdoor Trip – Adventure 101
There is a necessary list of gear that you need to pack for every outdoor trip, and the specifics of that list change depending on what you plan to do. Since you have already written your itinerary and planned your food, you might be getting ...
Most Useful Barbecue Tools: 12 Grilling Accessories You Actually Need
It’s easy to spend a fortune on trendy cooking gadgets that make you look cool on TikTok, but when it comes to barbecue, you don’t really need much more than fire. A designer apron or a set of meat-shredding claws is not going to make your brisket ...
Quill Master Hand Crafts Gear The Native American Way
A lot of people think of beadwork as being the quintessential Native American decorative art, but long before Europeans brought glass beads to these shores, tribal artists were crafting beautifully decorated clothing and objects. The media they ...
2A Legend Sues D.C. Over ‘Ghost Guns’ and DIY Firearm Ban
When Dick Heller sued Washington D.C. more than a decade ago over the district’s ban on handguns, it resulted in arguably the most important US Supreme Court decision ever regarding gun rights in America. District of Columbia v. Heller cemented the ...
War, Van Life, and Journalism: The Many Adventures of Marty Skovlund Jr.
As a member of the Army’s elite 75th Ranger Regiment, Marty Skovlund Jr. completed five combat deployments. But the only time he ever got shot was in basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia. It was a hot July afternoon on the range, and as he ...
Waterfowl Starter Kit: Everything You Need to Slay Ducks and Geese
If you’ve been meaning to try waterfowling and you’ve done your preliminary YouTube research on hunting ducks and geese, you can be forgiven for thinking the endeavor requires a trailer of gear, a hiding place for 12 or 13 of your closest friends, ...
5 Ways To Avoid a Grizzly Bear Attack and How To Survive One
The sun warms your shoulders as you adjust your pack and make your way down a path strewn with pine needles. It’s only a bit wider than a well-used game trail, perfect for a solitary hike through the backcountry. As you crest the ridge, ready to rest ...
Good In The Woods: Surviving The Wild With Laura Zerra
With the state of humanity in chaotic disarray, I have often found myself wondering how well I would survive in the event of a total global apocalypse. Would I be able to hold my own if I was forced to seek shelter in a woodland sanctuary? How long ...