Not every first-aid kit needs to be expedition-ready. Sometimes, you just need an organized, affordable pack to toss in a daypack, car door, or family gear bin before heading out. I tested the HART Outdoor Weekend First Aid Kit ($30) over several months of quick hikes, car camping weekends, and road trips to see if it could handle minor emergencies without taking up much room. I wanted to know if this budget-friendly option could compete with more expensive, outdoor-specific kits. The issue with many entry-level kits is that they cut corners on either the supplies or the internal layout. This…
Minneapolis, Minnesota is one of a handful of cities in the U.S. where violent crime is trending in the wrong direction. Through May 30, violent offenses are up almost 7 percent compared to 2025. The number of reported rapes has increased by 18 percent, while aggravated assaults have seen a 15 percent spike according to the Crime Index (homicides and robberies, on the other hand, have each declined by more than 10 percent compared to last year). The city could use all the help fighting crime that it can get, yet some liberals on the…
Joining the military gives young service members steady pay and access to financial tools built specifically for the military community. That combination makes it one of the best times in your life to build a strong credit score, but it won’t happen automatically. You still need to open the right accounts, use them wisely, and avoid common mistakes that new troops make. This guide walks you through the fastest ways to build credit in the military, the best first credit cards for enlisted troops, and the credit habits that’ll protect your score during your time in service and beyond. Fastest…
Constitutional carry is the law in more than half of the states. That’s fantastic news, but it’s not the law of the land. I wish it were, but alas, we’re a long way from that ever being the case. Still, we’ve made a lot of ground over the years, and I’m proud of where the gun rights movement has gotten us on the national level. There are state laws that need to be addressed, but they’re coming down one by one, so that’s good news, too.Because constitutional carry is so common now, it seems the…
Cory Geisler is the new commander-in-chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), overseeing approximately 1.3 million members. The Hartland, Wis., native was elected July 29 during the organization’s 127th National Convention at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center in Nevada, making him the veterans’ service organization’s 118th commander-in-chief. His election, approved by thousands of delegates who represent the millions of VFW and auxiliary members nationwide, is part of national efforts to put in place leaders and to establish the organization’s legislative priorities for the coming year. Geisler, the Iraq War veteran and life member of VFW Post 721 in Waukesha, Wis.,…
Car manufacturer BMW plans to cut around 8,000 jobs by late 2027. The German auto giant will begin the “voluntary reduction program” by offering buyouts to personnel in research, development, and planning. Factory workers will not be offered a buyout, accoridng to sources. BMW CEO Milan Nedeljkovic is expected to announce the voluntary reduction program at a staff meeting this week, some of the sources said. They added that the plan would be launched in October and run through 2027. The company intends to reportedly cut around 5% of its total workforce. The automaker employed 87,436 people in Germany as…
The list of places where governments can automatically declare the 2A off-limits may have gotten a little shorter. According to reporting from NRA-ILA, the U.S. Department of Justice has voluntarily withdrawn its appeal of a federal court ruling that blocked enforcement of the federal ban on carrying firearms at U.S. Post Office facilities. While the decision doesn’t strike down the law nationwide, it leaves a lower court ruling in place that found the government failed to justify the restriction under today’s Second Amendment standards. For gun owners, that’s another notable development in the post-Bruen legal landscape. For decades, federal law…
The Navy is offering free screenings of Spider-Man: Brand New Day to sailors in pay grades E-1 through E-6 at 14 Morale, Welfare and Recreation theaters in the United States and overseas. The screenings are part of the launch of an expanded Virtual Single Sailor Program, an online resource connecting junior and unaccompanied sailors with recreation, support programs and events wherever they are stationed. Registration was required and closed July 29. Tickets were offered on a first-come, first-served basis, and the Navy said more than 1,000 sailors registered during the first four days. Selected participants were expected to receive confirmation…
A gateway to Yellowstone National Park is once again making headlines — and not because it’s the hometown of that tourist sent airborne by a bison. A group of 11 people fell ill on Monday and required hospitalization after eating mushrooms they’d collected in Park County, Mont., authorities said. Park County is just outside of Bozeman, a primary entrance to Yellowstone National Park and an increasingly popular location for mushroom foragers. The group that fell sick was apparently visiting “from outside the local area,” the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services said. Emergency responders arrived at a private…
Many types of resistance training exist that don’t require lifting weights. While weight training comes to mind first when you say, “resistance training,” you also have other ways to build muscle. Calisthenics, weight vests, rubber bands, isometrics and suspension trainers, such as the TRX, are all classified as resistance training. Here is an email from a veteran seeking training advice about building muscle on the far side of 40 years old: Stew, Army veteran and 44, wondering what you think I need to do to build muscle and strength: calisthenics or weight training? I am more of an endurance guy…
Like any backpacker, I try to cut weight from my pack where I can, but I draw the line at my sleep setup. I am not willing to sacrifice a good night’s sleep on trail for the sake of shaving off a few ounces. As a result, I’ve always shied away from ultralight mummy sleeping bags, preferring slightly roomier (and heavier) bags. And yet, after a week of backpacking in Oregon and sleeping in Therm-a-Rest’s Parsec 20 ($470) sleeping bag, I’ve reconsidered. This bag, which weighs just over 1 pound, shows that going ultralight doesn’t mean giving up comfort. A…
The Supreme Court generally doesn’t like to see appellate courts split on any given issue, since it can result in federal law being enforced in some parts of the country while being put on hold in other states. Still, SCOTUS left a circuit court split in place when it denied cert to five cases dealing with the right to acquire and the right to carry firearms by adults under the age of 21 at its final conference of last term. The Fifth Circuit, for instance, has held that 18-to-20-year olds have the right to purchase…
A Kentucky jury has awarded what the plaintiffs say is the largest verdict ever entered against a seller of firearms in U.S. history, ordering online ghost-gun retailer Husky Armory LLC and its parent company, Up North Media LLC, to pay $104.2 million to the family of an 18-year-old who died by suicide after purchasing a gun-building kit. The verdict stems from a lawsuit filed by the estate of Henry Willis, who purchased a Polymer80-style build kit from Husky Armory in July 2023. According to court filings, Willis was 18 years old when he ordered the kit. Less than a month…
OtherSide Entertainment is ending support for Thick as Thieves, Warren Spector’s most recent stealth immersive sim, after only two months of service. While no new content will be launched, the developer has shared an update on the future of Thick as Thieves’ playability. Initially announced during The Game Awards 2024, Thick as Thieves is a multiplayer heist game developed by OtherSide Entertainment and published by Megabit Publishing. The game also had the close participation of renowned game designer Warren Spector, known for creating some of the best immersive sims of all time, like Deus Ex, System Shock, and Thief. Many…
The global price per barrel of oil is approaching $100 per barrel again, as war rages in the Middle East. While renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran have again brought traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to a near halt, Houthi rebels have begun attacking tankers in the Red Sea, driving prices even higher. The American consumer is already strapped during these difficult inflationary economic times, and yet the war mongering by US rulers continues. A naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, is also presenting an economic…
Ripton is known for a cheeky approach to denim. Founder Elliot Wilkinson-Ray is an avid mountain biker who worked in the outdoor apparel industry for a number of years prior to launching the company and was bored by the general similarity of all the products. When riding, he often used stretchy jeans that he cut into shorts, and in 2019, he decided to make performance denim “jorts” a thing. Ripton has since been a performance denim innovator, launching MTB pants, overalls, an insulated poncho, jackets, and vests, all made of the fabric. But for the most part, it stayed bike-oriented.…
Permit-to-purchase laws strike me as dumb on so many levels. For one thing, criminals are never going to get a permit first. They don’t stop straw buys from happening, as we’ve seen in every permit-to-purchase state. They don’t do anything except create burdens for law-abiding gun owners…and violate their right to keep and bear arms. It’s even more ridiculous when you mandate training prior to getting said permit.But when it’s about crime, I can at least see the so-called logic at work. Not about the training, obviously—though a case could be made that such training…
There was a time when “defund the police” was considered one of the most controversial ideas in American politics. Now, at least among some on the political left, the conversation appears to be moving even further. Forget defunding police. Why not abolish prisons altogether? That question found its way into the national spotlight a few weeks ago after New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani was asked about his endorsement of Darializa Avila Chevalier, the Democratic nominee for New York’s 15th Congressional District. Chevalier has advocated abolishing prisons, and ABC’s Jonathan Karl wanted to know whether Mamdani was comfortable supporting someone…
Many action games are power fantasies that let players step into the shoes of beings who can accomplish feats beyond imagination, some of which are downright scary. While it might not always be the main selling point, these games shine in their ability to empower, and a brilliant way to show that is by having AI enemies react out of pure fear. They might scream, beg for mercy, run away, or act irrationally; either way, the outcome is the same. They are scared of you. To be most effective, this mechanic needs to be triggered by the player’s direct actions…
When you’ve spent hours swinging a Pulaski or hauling chainsaws through the forests of the North Cascades, quality sleep isn’t a luxury. While leading backcountry trail work hitches requires packing light, running a front-country crew demands a different strategy. In those setups, weight doesn’t matter, but quality sleep does. Over a full summer of testing, bouncing between extended work hitches and casual weekends, the REI Co-op Westward Dreamer Self-Inflating Bed became my go-to basecamp setup. At 4 inches thick, it provides the restorative sleep needed for working hard outdoors, and at $199, it’s affordable enough to snag on even a…
It’s been nearly four years since gun control activists were able to put a permit-to-purchase law and “large capacity” magazine ban in place in Oregon, but Measure 114 has been tied up in court ever since. Since then, voters haven’t had any firearm-related referendums on their ballot. This year, though, a group of animal rights activists introduced Initiative 28, which would (among other things) remove the exemption for hunting, fishing, and trapping from the state’s animal cruelty laws. The backers of I28 proudly state on their website that “any practice that involves the intentional injury…
