For once, I wasn’t digging through three different pockets at the airport. My passport, phone, credit card, glasses, lip balm, earbuds, and a snack were all exactly where I needed them, and I had the Arc’teryx Mantis 1 Waist Pack ($40) to thank. This tiny 1.5L pack is too small for layers, water bottles, or anything bulky, but that’s precisely the point. It’s built for the small items that usually disappear into pants pockets or the bottomless abyss of a larger backpack. I tested the Mantis 1 over 6 months on roughly 30 outings spanning airport travel, daily errands, and…

About a year ago, I wrote about Japan and how they’re having a problem with bears in some of its cities. The answer was, naturally, to allow people to shoot the bears before they could hurt anyone. An insurance company even started offering insurance to cover damage caused by stray bullets. Considering how densely packed Japanese cities can be, it was a good idea. However, it seems that the problem hasn’t gone away.Why? Because some people are more than a little nervous about pulling the trigger in a crowded city street.Japan is known for having some…

Area 51 is back in the public consciousness following a swarm of earthquakes near the classified Nevada military site, stirring more speculation about secret testing, UFOs, and whatever else civilians imagine happens behind the facility’s gates. Reports citing U.S. Geological Survey data identified more than a dozen quakes were recorded near the base in late April, with the strongest measured at magnitude 4.4. There is no public evidence tying the earthquakes to weapons testing, alien technology or any other covert program. But Area 51 does not need much help getting people to look toward the desert. The renewed attention comes…

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThe path to 2026 isn’t a distant road—we’re already on it. The flashpoints discussed in this article aren’t future hypotheticals; they’re present-day realities gaining momentum. As we head into a critical election year, the rhetoric will intensify, and efforts to control the narrative will accelerate, feeding directly into these emerging risks. Understanding how these seven risks are developing from current events allows you to get ahead of them. This is about us preppers taking the initiative. It’s about practical awareness of the challenges we face right now and some steps to consider for your…

When I was growing up in rural Texas, it wasn’t a question of whether you would eventually collide with a deer while driving. It was more like an inevitability. That’s evidently true for many Americans, who experience between 1 and 2 million crashes with large animals every year. But unlike my colleagues in Colorado and Montana, I’ve only had deer to worry about. They have to worry about an animal 10 times heavier: the moose. These 6-foot-tall giants can weigh up to 1,500 pounds and will absolutely destroy a vehicle in a head-on collision. They pose an even greater threat…

The Second Amendment remains the only right that basically ends at the border of the state where you live. Once you cross the state line, it’s up to politicians in the other 49 states (as well as U.S. territories and the District of Columbia) to decide if they’ll recognize your right to carry.  President Donald Trump, however, wants to change that, as he made clear on Tuesday at a speech in Pennsylvania. JUST IN: President Trump reveals his administration is working on NATIONAL RIGHT TO CARRYThis would be an absolutely HUGE step towards bringing back the…