The best hiking shoes are light, efficient, protective, and keep your feet cool on trails. You’ll give up a bit of ankle support with a shoe versus a boot, but many find the increased comfort and performance are worth the trade-off. This guide combines the perspectives of prolific thru-hiker Chris Carter, consummate woodsman Nick LeFort, and trail runner, hiker, and hunter Sean McCoy. Between them, they’ve spent thousands of miles testing hiking shoes from the eastern forest of Appalachia to granite peaks in California. For this guide, the team has tested 30 pairs of hiking shoes over the past 6…
A family in Kent, Washington is safe and sound today thanks to the quick thinking and support for the Second Amendment displayed by one family member. Police in the city were called out to a home just after 3 a.m. on Monday morning on reports of shots fired. When the got to the scene, they found a deceased suspect and five family members who were understandably shaken up. According to authorities, the couple who own the home were there with their daughter, son-in-law, and grandchild when their daughter was woken up by strange noises coming from the first floor. …
Chiappa Firearms is adding something a little different to the rimfire space for 2026. The new Chiappa M1-22 Bushranger doesn’t try to look like a competition rig or a tactical trainer. Instead, it leans into simplicity. Then quietly layers in just enough modern capability to keep things interesting. Familiar at First, Flexible When It Matters Pick up the Chiappa M1-22 Bushranger, and the first thing you’ll likely notice is the feel. A pistol-grip wood stock, lightweight frame, and straightforward layout give it that classic rimfire vibe. It appears comfortable, intuitive, and easy to get behind, exactly what you want from…
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the Iranian government is using the Strait of Hormuz as an “economic nuclear weapon”. Rubio added that the U.S. ruling class will not allow Iran to continue to use the vital waterway to control the direction of the war. According to multiple sources, including Axios, Iran has passed a new offer to Washington, which includes a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the war, while deferring nuclear negotiations to a later stage. While speaking on Fox News on Monday, as reported by RT, Rubio was skeptical of…
After months of waiting, the T-bar was spinning at Crested Butte Mountain Resort. It had been an unseasonably dry December and January. Finally, the snow was stacked up enough to open the infamous High Lift, a surface lift serving double-black extreme terrain. After riding groomed runs and park laps all season, I was yearning to get off-piste and back into my favorite cliff bands. At the top of the lift, I strapped into a 160 W Jones Howler, with Jones Mercury FASE bindings, the perfect board in my quiver for big mountain freestyle riding. I strapped in and rode the…
I’ve spent too many mornings frustrated with a soaking wet blind bag after wading across the marsh. This morning was different. As I slid the Divebomb Waterproof Zip Backpack off my shoulders and unzipped it, I was happy to see (and feel) my shells and camera gear were dry. While waterproof blind bags have been around for a while, I’ve never been a fan of the traditional roll-top dry bags. They waste a lot of space and never feel comfortable while on my back. After several months of using the Divebomb Waterproof Zip Backpack in the dove field and duck blind, I…
President Donald Trump said Iran has asked the U.S. to lift a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz while the two sides negotiate an end to the two-month war, which has upended global energy supplies.Tehran wants the critical waterway for oil and gas shipments open “as soon as possible, as they try to figure out their leadership situation,” Trump said on Truth Social on Tuesday. Iran has said it’s in a “State of Collapse,” he added.The U.S. leader on Monday convened his national security team to discuss an Iranian proposal to end the conflict, which began with U.S. and…
Heading into his final months as a World War II combat medic, Sgt. Andrew “Tim” Kiniry thought he had seen enough carnage to haunt him for the rest of his long life. After all, Kiniry landed on Omaha Beach along the French coastline on June 16, 1944, just 10 days after the bloody D-Day invasion. In the brutal winter of 1944-45, the Army soldier was in the thick of the Battle of the Bulge, Hitler’s last stand to salvage his crumbling Third Reich. Despite the devastation he had already witnessed, it paled in comparison to the hell he would walk into as…
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that the United States has been humiliated by Iran in negotiations. The U.S. lacks skills in diplomacy and has “no convincing strategy” in talks with Tehran. “The Iranians are clearly stronger than expected, and the Americans clearly have no truly convincing strategy in the negotiations either,” Merz said during a visit to a school in Marsberg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Iran Offers To Open The Strait Of Hormuz, Then Hold Nuclear Talks “The problem with conflicts like this is always that you don’t just have to get in – you also have to get out again. We…
Whether it’s ignorance or fabrication, the truth of the matter is that anti-gunners routinely espouse a belief that the firearm industry is responsible for violent, gun-related crimes. Back in the day, lawsuits against gun manufacturers were common. Anti-gun groups routinely funded suits that tried to place the blame for violent crime on companies like Smith & Wesson, Ruger, etc. The PLCAA was passed in response to that because they were trying to hold manufacturers responsible for what third parties did, creating massive costs to these companies for things that were beyond their control.That died down…
Japanese Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi carried a heavy burden. In November 1942, the USS Washington’s guns had sent his battleship Kirishima to the bottom of the ocean off Guadalcanal. He survived. In Japanese military culture, that survival brought immense disgrace.Two years later, commanding naval forces in Manila, Iwabuchi saw his chance at redemption. General Tomoyuki Yamashita ordered him to abandon the Philippine capital. Iwabuchi refused, choosing to sacrifice himself and the lives of his men so he could regain a sense of honor. His decision to fight to the death would transform Manila into the most savage urban battlefield of…
Jeffery Epstein’s convicted accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, has offered to deliver “exonerating” information on both Donald Trump and Bill and Hillary Clinton in exchange for a full pardon. Maxwell was the ex-girlfriend of Epstein and is currently serving 20 years in jail for multiple offenses. Both Trump and Clinton are pictured and mentioned in the Epstein files, but they all deny any wrongdoing. Maxwell has come under new scrutiny in recent weeks as lawmakers try to investigate how Epstein, a well-connected financier, was able to sexually abuse underage girls for years. ”Both President Trump and President Clinton are innocent of any…
Since its inception in Portland, Ore., in 2012, The James Brand has steadily grown its reputation for quality knives. To be fair, the brand’s classy aesthetics were never in question. But the quality of its USA-made knives has grown steadily. Several models have received glowing GearJunkie reviews in just the last few years. Now, The James Brand has released what it’s calling “the finest and most technically advanced knife we’ve ever made.” That knife is The Barnes Stonewash + Damasteel. It’s the most beautiful version yet of The Barnes, a super-popular EDC knife that the brand first released in 2021.…
Ever since Alex Pretti was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis, the left has been dinging the Trump administration over comments by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and others that suggested Pretti did something wrong by carrying a concealed firearm while protesting. “He was exercising his Second Amendment rights,” they’ve proclaimed time and time again… and they’re not wrong. The problem, though, is that they don’t really believe what they’re saying. It’s nothing more than a talking point to them. If they really believed that the Second Amendment protects the right to carry at…
For almost four decades, Kevin Charles Luke lived a life of service and sacrifice to the United States.A retired Army combat veteran who worked as a high-level civilian contractor at Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Luke was long entrusted with some of the nation’s most sensitive secrets.But it was an ill-conceived effort to impress a woman that precipitated the former colonel’s remarkable downfall.On Tuesday, a federal judge sentenced Luke to two years in prison for sharing classified battle plans with a woman he was dating.Luke, 62, stood in a Tampa courtroom weeping as he addressed U.S. District Judge…
There’s a certain beauty in stepping into the river on a crisp morning. The mist lifts off the water, the air carries that sharp chill of early morning, and every cast holds the possibility of the first strike. But anyone who has fished in these conditions knows that cold is more than an inconvenience. Weather can shorten your day, numb your fingers, and become a safety issue. Insulation isn’t just about comfort; it can also mean the difference between packing up early and fishing through to the evening hatch. Dressing smart on cold days makes fishing safer and more enjoyable;…
Years ago, I got very interested in discussing masculinity as a concept. I’d seen way too many so-called guides that basically argued that to be a man, you need to be some kind of ass or player. If you weren’t scoring with a different chick all the time, or you weren’t basically some kind of jerk to everyone around you, you weren’t a man. I wrote a book about masculinity, and I looked elsewhere for sanity. I’d hoped I’d found it in something called The Good Men Project. Instead, what I found was a leftist…
Sponsored by Silencer Shop EchoCore Suppressors’ Sector 5.56 Compact has earned a 2025 Editor’s Choice Award from On Target Magazine, marking significant recognition for the company’s innovative approach to suppressor design. The award comes after extensive editorial testing by On Target’s staff, who evaluated the Sector Compact’s performance against a competitive field of suppressors. According to Ben Battles, Editor of On Target Magazine, the suppressor stood out for its sound performance, advanced internal architecture, and impressive size-to-weight efficiency. “Earlier this year, we noticed the Compact model earned Second Place overall in Shooter’s Ear (SE) LEQ dB(A) testing at the 2025…
Team U.S.A. excels at many sports at the Olympics — snowboarding, downhill skiing, curling — but traditionally, cross-country skiing is not on that list. In fact, a U.S. man hasn’t medaled in a single cross-country skiing event at the Olympics since 1976. At least, that was the case — until today. After competing against a stacked field in the cross-country individual sprint, American Ben Ogden, 25, took home the silver medal. View this post on Instagram The silver marks the first time in a half-century that an American has stood on an Olympic podium for cross-country skiing. The Race In…
Anti-gun bias in the media is hardly a new phenomenon, but rarely is it as blatant as a report from NBC’s Today show, which gave anti-gun activist Nicole Hockley of Sandy Hook Promise free rein to demonize online influencers in the 2A space as well bash tech companies for supposedly exposing kids to gun videos. The premise for Today’s reporting is a new report by Sandy Hook Promise and the group Children and Screens called “Untargeting Kids: A Call for Platform Transparency — Putting Parents Back in Charge of Firearm Safety.” The report claims, in…
United States envoy to NATO Matthew Whitaker has likened NATO’s (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) European members to children, who must eventually leave parental care and get a job. Whitaker said that while the U.S. “still loves” its allies on the continent, they need to grow up. At the presentation of an annual report on Monday, the organizers of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) said, “for decades, Europe thrived under an American security umbrella that allowed it to prioritize integration and prosperity over hard power. That era has ended.” At that same presentation, Whitaker said, “I completely reject everything I just…
