I spent the last three months rigging different motors onto three fishing kayaks — a 12-foot sit-on-top, a 14-foot pedal-driven Hobie, and a Bonafide PWR 129 — to find the best kayak trolling motors for anglers who actually need to cover water and hold a spot without anchoring. After roughly 90 hours of on-water testing … Read more
I tested the best fish finders for small boats on a 14-foot aluminum johnboat, a 12-foot jon boat, and a Hobie kayak over six weeks on freshwater lakes and brackish coastal water. Most of the picks here are the same units serious small-boat anglers actually run, not spec-sheet roundups recycled from offshore fishing guides. If … Read more
Fishing from a kayak puts you eye-to-eye with the water in a way a boat never can. It also takes away every advantage a tall console gives you — no elevated view, no chartplotter perched above the deck, and no big transom to strap a transducer to. That is exactly why the best fish finders … Read more
A survival multitool is a compact, pocket-sized tool that combines multiple essential outdoor implements – typically pliers, a knife blade, screwdrivers, a wood saw, and often a can opener, scissors, and fire-starting aids – designed to keep you prepared for emergencies, repairs, and wilderness tasks. After 3 months of field-testing 10 top models across hiking … Read more
A stage piano is a performance-grade keyboard built for live gigs, with a rugged build, hands-on top-panel controls, and balanced line outputs (XLR or quarter-inch) that route straight into a PA system or keyboard amp. It is the instrument most gigging musicians reach for when they leave the house – and after helping touring keyboardists … Read more
A wide-angle lens for landscapes is a zoom or prime with a focal length of 24mm or shorter (full-frame equivalent), giving photographers an expansive field of view to capture sweeping vistas, dramatic foregrounds, and tight interior spaces. We have spent three months carrying 10 zooms and primes up and down trails in the Rockies and … Read more
Finding the best mirrorless cameras for video in means choosing a body that matches how you actually shoot. Whether you’re a solo vlogger, an indie filmmaker, or a wedding videographer who needs to deliver clean footage every time, the right camera makes all the difference between struggling in post and handing off footage that’s ready … Read more
The Sony Alpha a6400 is our top pick for the best mirrorless camera for wildlife photography in , pairing class-leading Real-Time Eye AF with a compact APS-C body you can carry on long birding walks without fatigue. We spent three months tracking warblers, hawks, and backyard songbirds with eight current mirrorless bodies across every price … Read more
Finding the best fleece jackets for layering can feel overwhelming when you start comparing hundreds of options. I have spent the past several months testing fleece jackets from Columbia, Tommy Hilfiger, Amazon Essentials, and other top brands to find the ones that genuinely earn their spot in a layering system. A good layering fleece sits … Read more
A personal locator beacon for hikers is one of the lightest, most important pieces of safety gear you can carry into the backcountry. I started carrying one after a partner took a bad fall on a remote section of the Long Trail, and a simple one-touch SOS got a helicopter to us faster than anyone … Read more