The outdoor industry lost one of its pioneers last month. Rodney Johnson, who founded Minneapolis-based outdoor store Midwest Mountaineering, passed away at the age of 76 on October 26. Johnson operated the store for over 50 years, helping an untold number of folks enjoy the great outdoors. Who Was Rodney Johnson? Johnson was an avid outdoorsman, climber, hiker, and paddler. In emails with GearJunkie, longtime store manager and friend, Randy “Rudi” Hargesheimer, recounted that Johnson was a true outdoor fanatic. “Rod was a gear-head and an adrenaline junkie, like so many of us outdoor-loving adventurers. He did everything his way,…

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has quietly retreated from his planned special session on gun control, but he continues to push for a ban on so-called assault weapons when the state legislature begins its 2026 session next February.  The odds of a gun ban bill getting through the Democrat-Farmer-Labor-controlled Senate were already fairly decent, but there are a couple of DFL senators who’d been quiet about whether or not they’d support a ban. Now one of them, a supposed moderate named Judy Seeberger, has decided to break her silence and come out in favor of a…

The U.S. Coast Guard is piggybacking on the news of its highest recruiting numbers in decades by soliciting a new potential location for a training center, Military.com has learned.The service announced Friday that its Fiscal Year 2025 accession numbers were the highest since 1991, with 5,204 active-duty enlisted service members–equivalent to hitting 121% of its target of 4,300 members for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, 2024, and concluded Sept. 30, 2025. It exceeded USCG expectations.USCG, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), today announced a Request for Information (RFI) and market research to identify prospective locations nationwide…

I grew up on a steady stream of books that contained not only really great information, but a lot of high-quality pictures. I could probably spend hours reading and looking at Stephen Biesty’s Incredible Cross-Sections. These days, however, I’ve come to really appreciate the more historically oriented coffee table books that Headstamp Publishing has been putting out. Their latest book, authored by Forgotten Weapons’ Ian McCollum, Forged in Snow: Finnish Small Arms 1917-2025, is available now through their Kickstarter campaign, which has already fulfilled its funding goal, a mere 6 hours into it. Forged in Snow: Finnish Small Arms 1917…

From dawn patrol corduroy to hidden powder stashes, the best women’s all-mountain skis are made for skiers who want to do it all. These quiver-of-one workhorses thrive on everything the mountain throws at you — smooth groomers, wind-buffed ridges, or surprise tree runs with friends. We tested the top contenders in everything from knee-deep powder to East Coast ice, skiing hard at Stowe in Vermont, Jackson Hole in Wyoming, Utah’s Powder Mountain, and more than half a dozen Idaho resorts. What follows is our A-List, the cream of the crop for women’s all-mountain skis. Whether you’re chasing the all-around excellence…

I’ve long said that if you want mandatory gun safety training for people to exercise their Second Amendment rights, rather than mandating it before a purchase, mandate it as part of the school curriculum so that everyone gets it that way, and it’s not a barrier to buying a firearm lawfully. Most of the states that want mandatory training, though, aren’t exactly the kind of states that will embrace gun training of any kind in public schools.But some other states looked at it rather differently.Now, three require it.This school year, students in elementary, middle and…