Gear

Generally, I meet two types of fly anglers—those who tie their own flies and those who don’t. It seems to be a zero-sum game, but I’m here to make an argument for a gray area in the middle. Enter myself, the purely functional fly tyer. I’ve never smuggled exotic bird feathers to save up for a rare...

Finding the perfect gift for Father’s Day is never a simple task. From gear-head dads who already seem to own one of everything to the well-rounded outdoorsman father figure, it can be difficult to decide on just one item. To save you some time, we’ve rounded up a few of our favorite picks for the...

We’ve all been there. You shiver out of your sleeping bag and pile on layer after layer of clothing. You sling your pack on your shoulders, affix your gun or bow somewhere stable, and look up at the elevation you must gain to reach your glassing spot. Then you start climbing. Sometime after the...

Using a sawbuck and panyards is one of the simplest ways to pack a horse or mule. Place a saddle pad atop a well-groomed horse or mule. The sawbuck sits on top of the pad, much like a saddle. The britchen comes around the rear end, the breast collar secures the front, and the cinch fastens around...

Where I’m from, you’re not really an angler until you have a decent pair of waders. In the Pacific Northwest and many other regions, you need to be able to get comfortable standing in chilly water if you’re going to catch anything outside of July and August. Whether that’s wading deep in glacial...

I hate video games. My radicalization began years ago when I watched a friend of mine, who was eight months pregnant, physically struggle to make dinner and set the table while her husband sat on the couch in his living room playing a golf game. Just as the sight of a junky might lead you to hate...

Two universal truths to outdoor excursions of all kinds are that they tend to take a little longer than we originally planned, and most of them should be intentionally experienced at night or well before the crack of dawn at least once. Obviously, hunters are used to both scenarios. Pre- and post...

Walking down the dock on Day One of the 2014 Bassmaster Classic at Alabama’s Lake Guntersville, dodging fanboys, photographers, and jersey-laden anglers who looked like NASCAR drivers, I stopped at each boat. I didn’t need to talk to anyone, I just wanted to know what the fish were biting. Sure...

Buying optics isn't easy. The strange assortment of numbers and specs can be headscratchers rather than selling points if you don't know what they mean. But to get the most out of these impressive tools, it's important to understand just what they're capable of, which is mostly what those numbers...

Along with hunting pants, jackets are the other cornerstone of a gear system. Your jacket does the most work to keep your core insulated. It can also provide important wind and moisture protection for your torso, as well as useful pockets for storing gear or un-numbing fingers. Some jackets are...

For relentlessly wet and cold weather, nothing can beat the Omen Stormshelter jacket and pant. It’s heavy-duty but not bulky, and the folks at First Lite engineered it specifically to get you out farther and keep you out longer. The jacket’s tricep and pit vents allow you to dump body heat without...