In March, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) celebrated a major milestone. It purchased 45 all-terrain, electric-powered wheelchairs so that everyone could get out and enjoy the outdoors. It was a huge step toward adaptive access to Indiana’s public lands and a major investment. Each chair is valued at nearly $20,000. On April 30, less than a month after the program launched, thieves broke into storage and stole two of these all-terrain wheelchairs. Indiana police are investigating the crime. They are currently seeking any leads that could help identify the perpetrators. GearJunkie reached out to Indiana DNR for comment,…
Russia has begun implementing border controls and other measures to keep hantavirus at bay. These precautions aim to prevent the potential spread of the deadly Andes hantavirus strain, the country’s public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, has said. As a precaution, “Rospotrebnadzor – together with the Russian Border Service – has taken measures to strengthen border controls,” it said. Automated information systems are being used at the border to assess and minimize risks, it added, according to a report by RT. This current outbreak was discussed during a Rospotrebnadzor video conference on Tuesday, where the discussion centered on preventative measures. Hantaviruses are…
No matter how prepared you might be when you go camping, you’re still vulnerable in a tent, camper, or van. Hungry bears, hostile humans, and even flesh-eating zombies could be lurking. And a thin nylon wall or plywood siding isn’t going to stop them if they’re intent on getting to you. Camping shelters protect you from the elements, and that’s about it. Except for the Mammoth Overland Xtinction Level Escape (XLE) camper. This 18-foot, 4.2-inch, 4,300-pound behemoth tow-along trailer is complete with bulletproof glass, deployable flare guns, remote-activated “sonic defense” and “quad bear defense” systems, 360-degree night-vision CCTV, and much,…
Democrats in Massachusetts are scrambling for political cover after a repeat, violent felon managed to evade the state’s restrictive gun control laws and get his hands on a rifle this week, using it to fire dozens of rounds at motorists in Cambridge before he was stopped by an armed citizen and a Massachusetts state trooper. As the Gun Owners Action League reports, some Democrats are demanding new laws in response; not to make it easier for lawful citizens to exercise their Second Amendment rights, but to make violent crime even more illegal. “The only law that…
Everybody knows Call of Duty, Halo, Half-Life 2, and Bad Company 2, but plenty of great FPS games have become forgotten over time, destined to only appear in these types of articles as memories by someone who loves to track down gems from yesteryear. There are many reasons a video game masterpiece might never attract the attention it deserves or slip through the cracks in time, and quite a few of these titles have not been properly preserved and made easily accessible to a modern audience. The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay One Of The Greatest FPS Movie…
Hitch bike racks are arguably the easiest, safest way to transport bikes to a trailhead or campout. Based in Colorado, lead tester Eric Phillips has spent hundreds of hours testing five hitch racks with a variety of mountain bikes and electric bikes over the past six months including local circuits and a road trip to Utah. After thousands of hours of testing on racks since 2022, it’s clear that the 2-bike Küat Piston Pro X sets the bar among plush designs, with hydraulically actuated wheel clamps, LED lights, and robust security features. Meanwhile, the 2-bike Küat Piston Ion offers a 100-pound…
President Donald Trump’s feud with Pope Leo XIV has evolved beyond disagreements over Iran and military escalation into a broader ideological and political clash involving immigration, Catholic theology, humanitarian policy and growing tensions between the White House and the Vatican over the direction of U.S. foreign policy and moral leadership. The increasingly public dispute involving Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and senior Vatican officials has transformed into one of the most consequential confrontations between a U.S. administration and the Catholic Church in years, forcing the White House into an increasingly delicate balancing act as the…
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger ran as a moderate Democrat. She made a lot of campaign promises and has already turned her back on pretty much all of them. Rather than focusing on affordability, as she and her fellow Dems promised, they immediately went to work on gerrymandering the state and passing gun control. They gerrymandering thing blew up in their faces, but gun control? They can still do that, for now at least, and Spanberger took the last step on two controversial measures.That’s right, Virginia has an assault weapon ban and a magazine limit.irginia Gov.…
Armed Forces Day falls on the third Saturday of May every year, and it is the one day on the American calendar specifically set aside to honor the men and women currently serving in uniform — not veterans who have come home, not the fallen who gave everything, but the approximately 1.34 million active-duty service members on duty right now, stationed across six continents, doing the work while most of the country goes about its Saturday. For 2026, Armed Forces Day is Saturday, May 16. Most people could not tell you that. Armed Forces Day gets lost in the shadow…
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Space has long been treated as a supporting element of military power—essential, but secondary to operations on land, at sea, and in the air. That reality has changed. In a recent interview with Military.com, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Brook Leonard, a former senior U.S. space commander who helped stand up U.S. Space Command and later oversaw global space operations supporting U.S. and allied forces, said the domain has crossed a threshold, one that fundamentally reshapes how nations project power and compete. Leonard, now CEO of Rogue Space Systems, said the shift is already underway. “Space, for me, is moving…
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Making high-stakes decisions and dealing with the rules of engagement hits differently for U.S. service members who were exposed to human suffering and sanctioned lethal force. For some, experiences that deeply conflicted with moral beliefs left them with what we now call moral injury. The concept of moral injury came to light through the work of psychiatrist Jonathan Shay with Vietnam Veterans back in the 1990s. Today, an estimated 955,000 military veterans experience moral injury and more than 1 million have a service-connected disability for PTSD. While the two may have similarities, they are different. According to the Journal of…
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Modern navigation systems assume satellites will always be available. TERN, an Austin-based technology company, believes that assumption is becoming increasingly dangerous. In an interview, TERN co-founders Brett Harrison and Shaun Moore described how the company developed its Independently Derived Positioning System (IDPS™), a navigation platform designed to continue functioning even when GPS, cellular service, and connectivity fail. The technology recently expanded into off-road navigation, allowing vehicles to maintain turn-by-turn guidance in remote terrain and GPS-denied environments. The expansion, which TERN formally announced on May 12, 2026, brings continuous positioning and waypoint-based routing to trails, unpaved roads, and other off-road environments…
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From steep crag trails to slabby scrambles, the best approach shoes blend hiking comfort with sticky rubber. We also look for climbing precision and enough durability for repeated abuse on rock. For this update, GearJunkie editor Chris Kassar and lead tester Ryan Kempfer tested five new approach shoes over a three-month cycle. From the Tetons to Moab, we logged rocky approaches, desert scrambles, crag days, and mixed trail miles to see how each shoe handled grip, fit, stiffness, support, and durability. After further testing, we awarded our top spot to the La Sportiva TX4 EVO for its unmatched mix of…
A U-Boat Killed 763 American Soldiers on Christmas Eve in 1944. The Army Kept It Secret for 50 Years
The Belgian troopship SS Léopoldville had already begun sinking into the English Channel after a German torpedo struck. Gerald Howard went down with it. The 23-year-old rifleman was dragged beneath the freezing water alongside hundreds of fellow soldiers, narrowly escaping the same fate. Somehow, he made it back to the surface. “I stayed on that ship until it went under,” Howard recalled decades later. “It pulled me down, and when I came back up, I spotted a life raft. They told me, ‘You can’t get on.’ I said, ‘Like hell I can’t.’” Howard regained consciousness around midnight in a hospital…
The sun’s blazing overhead, you’ve got miles to go, and there’s not much shade in sight. The best sun hats protect your head, face, ears, and neck from harsh UV while staying breathable, secure, and comfortable enough to wear all day. For this update, GearJunkie Editor Chris Kassar tested four new sun hats over nine months while sweating through trail runs, scrambling exposed routes above the tree line, paddleboarding, and logging long days out photographing wildlife. While none of the new contenders unseated our current favorites, the process reinforced the strength of our existing selection. This guide has been shaped…
Sgt. Ross F. Gray carried a satchel charge through a minefield while under heavy Japanese fire. The explosive weighed 24 pounds and left no room for a rifle. He went in unarmed anyway. Behind him, three Marines provided cover. Ahead, a fortified Japanese bunker anchored one end of a network of gun emplacements that had stopped his platoon cold on Feb. 21, 1945, two days into the bloodiest battle in Marine Corps history. Gray had already mapped a route through the field on foot, under fire, without triggering a single mine. Now he was going back in to finish what…
