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 ...
Latest Articles
Report: More Than 80,000 Acres of Public Land Inaccessible to Hunters, Fishermen
More than 80,000 acres of federal, state, county, and municipal public lands in the Mid-Atlantic are inaccessible to hunters and fishermen, according to a new report from onX Maps and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP). The ...
Fish Candy: Dry-Brined and Smoked Lake Trout
The best part about fishing with Big Spoon Sportfishing isn’t all the fish you catch but the snacks that Capt. Chris Bomysoad serves up on the water. “Fishermen,” he likes to say, “fish on their stomach,” so this New York guide keeps his clients ...
John Wesley Powell’s Geographic Expedition of 1869: The Discovery of the Grand Canyon
Four fragile wooden rowboats, 10 months’ worth of provisions, and 10 courageous men set out on May 24, 1869, on an audacious expedition from the Union Pacific’s Green River Station in Wyoming en route for the “Great Unknown,” the last unexplored ...
How a US Air Force Combat Controller Survived a Double Parachute Failure
Jumping out of a perfectly good airplane is scary. Having your main chute fail? Even worse. Having the backup fail? Shit just got real. And that's just where Jared “CCT Peaches” Pietras, an Air Force Combat Controller, found himself during what was ...
Watch: 19th Anniversary of the Sept. 11 Terrorist Attacks
Those of us who are old enough to remember it happening no doubt have vivid memories of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. Four commercial airliners were hijacked by terrorists — two targeted New York City, crashing into the north and south towers of the World ...
Simple Food, Simple Training: The Fitness Secrets of South Asia’s Wrestlers
It’s a sweltering Friday afternoon in pre-COVID-19 Dubai, and two of the emirate’s many laborers — Mohammed and Iqbal, both from Pakistan — are ready to fight. Wearing little more than a speedo-like loincloth, the two fighters glare at each other ...
‘This is Who We Are’: A Q&A with Biologist, Explorer, Filmmaker Donnie Vincent
Donnie Vincent is being watched. The biologist, explorer, and filmmaker has made three feature-length documentaries on hunting and his connection to wildlife and wild places. His style is slow, thoughtful, philosophical, with long, bracing shots of ...
Get Bit: My First Time Hillbilly Hand-Fishing for Alabama Lake Monsters
noodling [ noo.dling ] (verb) A slightly deranged person holds their breath, submerges themselves under water, shoves their entire arm into a muddy hole, and then uses their hand as bait in order to lure a giant catfish into biting them so they ...
How Two Special Operations Veterans Found Each Other — and Healing — in the Himalayas
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars, And say “These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.” fter I left the military in 2011, I wandered for months, crisscrossing India and Nepal. I studied Buddhism in the misty mountain village of McLeod ...
Catching Waves on Camp Pendleton: Surfing Culture Provides Community of Strength
It is common knowledge that nearly all Marine Corps duty stations are next to the ocean, and that surfing comes with the territory. With surfing comes a community strengthened by a shared desire to be mentally, emotionally, and physically strong, ...
Hunting for Connection: Texas Nonprofit Encourages Vets to Bond with Nature, Each Other
Suicide and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have become widespread issues within the U.S. veteran community. According to the 2019 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report, the most recent data available, an average of 16.8 veterans ...
Free Range American Podcast Spotlights Hard Work and Adventure
The world of podcasts is a wide and varied one. Offerings have nearly doubled over the last two years — and with more than 900,000 podcasts to choose from, there's sure to be one to match the tastes and interests of the more than 50 percent of ...
5 Classic Books You Should Read While Sheltering in Place
For many people, their exposure to classic literature has been limited to what was shoved in front of them during high school or college. Some of you may have soaked up these novels at the time, but a lot of us breezed through them without taking the ...
Coronapocalypse: 10 Ways to Survive Working From Home
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, more and more U.S. employees are being volun-told to stay home. For some, that means no work — and no paycheck. For others, that means clocking their hours at the homestead. But “social distancing” from ...
4 Ways to Beat the Daily Grind and Crush Your Workout
It’s 0600, and you’ve had a long week at work. Your body is sore, you are low on energy, and the idea of driving into PT or completing a WOD makes you want to punch something. You have a banger of a workout to get done this morning, but you need to ...
How One Woman Prepared to Race in the Iditarod
Gliding across the snow on a dogsled is a perception changer. Traveling by dog team opens up the wilderness. In a world filled with mechanical transport, allowing a team of Alaskan huskies to pull you across a frozen muskeg or through the taiga is a ...
How to Increase Strength and Break Through Plateaus With Cluster Sets
Plateaus are common in strength training. Nearly anyone who has ever lifted a barbell has reached a place where progress eluded them. This happens because people tend to stick to what they are comfortable with, which can lead to stagnation in the ...
No Dog Gets Left Behind: Reuniting Service Members who Bonded with Stray Dogs
Deployed service members can find themselves in a range of situations. Some face life-threatening decisions every single day, while others deal with endless days of severe boredom. Some are firing rifles, others are turning wrenches, and others are ...
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. ...
How Generations of Loggers Have Kept the Petersen Ranch Sustainable
In a small, dead-end valley in Springfield, Oregon, on Camp Creek, three generations of the Petersen family still work the ranch they have owned since 1941. Over the decades, despite the majority of the land being devoted to a variety of things ...
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 ...
3 of the Best Winter Snowshoe Adventures
Floating across the frozen backcountry on snowshoes is a unique way to see the wilderness. But finding a place to go out and enjoy the snow can be hard. A good summer hiking trail may not be a good snowshoe hike, but areas that are hard to access in ...
6 Ways to Beat Cabin Fever This Winter
This can be a hard time of year. The holidays are over, and we’re ready for spring — but it’s still winter. For many people that means not leaving the house, or the couch, until the middle of March. But let's face it, there are only so many shows you ...
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 ...
A Beginner’s Guide to Snowshoeing
Blinded by the wind and stung by the cold, we set up our camp as the day grew dark around us. The two of us had snowshoed to Dogsled Pass, deep in the Talkeetna Mountains of south central Alaska. We hoped to explore nearby alpine valleys over the ...
Taran Butler is More Than the Man Who Made John Wick
Taran Butler is a better shot than you. Sure, there are people who may be better at very specialized skills within shooting, or who shoot better with a particular style of firearm under certain conditions or at a specific range of distances. But ...
The Untold True Story of How Black Rifle Coffee Got Its Start
van Hafer, the founder and CEO of Black Rifle Coffee Company, was suspicious. He was holding staff meetings every two days, being told that their in-house fulfillment center was only a few shipments behind, and yet customer service complaints were ...
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 ...
