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Tech News
Synthetic Spider Silk Parkas, Walter Palmer At It Again: What’s New Outside
The North Face is partnering with a Japanese company to make new parkas from synthetic spider silk. And everyone’s favorite Minnesota dentist is in trouble with the law again due to allegedly illegal hunting practices. It’s What’s New Outside. The trouble with Walter Palmer: The same guy who killed #CecilTheLion is now accused of “herding” … Continued
By Wes Siler -
Tech News
Skarping: The Sport America Deserves
Combining cross-disciplinary skills from a diverse array of sports — water skiing, basketball and butterfly catching — skarping doesn’t just look like a lot of fun, it helps the environment too. The asian carp is an invasive species injuring boatmen across the midwest. Asian carp were originally imported to America from China by fish farmers … Continued
By Wes Siler -
Tech News
A Blow-by-Blow Analysis of Donald Trump and Ben Carson’s Knife Fight
Donald Trump is accusing Ben Carson of lying in his story of attempting to stab a friend as a teenager. “How stupid do people have to be to believe that?” Asks Trump, challenging the assertion that a belt buckle could turn a knife blade. Let’s armchair quarterback this. Here’s the video clip from last night’s … Continued
By Wes Siler -
io9Movies
6 Ways to Make SciFi and Fantasy Weapons More Believable
Ever read a fantasy book or watched a science fiction movie and struggled to suspend your disbelief due to the total lack of reality in some make believe weapons? Here’s advice for people writing this stuff on how to get guns and lasers and bow and wands right. When it comes to real-world weapons in … Continued
Benjamin Sobieck -
ScienceAnimals
What The Hell Is This Thing?
No, it isn’t a tiny human dancing in a weird headdress, which was my first guess. And yes, it’s a real thing captured on a motion sensor camera in America. What’s your best guess? Well, it’s actually an animal. And that animal is the spotted skunk. staff captured it on a motion sensor night camera, … Continued
By Wes Siler -
Tech News
Republican Plan To Sell Off Your Public Land Shaping Up To Be Major Election Issue
Republican politicians want to sell your National Forests, Wildernesses and Wildlife Refuges to private interests. And that’s particularly controversial out west, where state economies rely on outdoor recreation for billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of jobs. New data shows this will be a hot issue in key battleground states. Back in March, nearly … Continued
By Wes Siler -
Tech News
The Biggest Rattlesnake You’ll Ever See?
The biggest western diamondback rattlesnake ever caught? An Arkansas man borrowed a hot pink snubnose revolver from his wife to shoot this one after it bit one of his dogs. As with all things “biggest,” there’s controversy over this critter’s size. Some claimed 8’ 9” when photos were originally posted to Facebook last month. But … Continued
By Wes Siler -
Tech News
REI CEO Goes On Reddit, Employees Say How Much It Sucks To Work For Him
“Wow, the tremendous amount of support I have received from the community is truly humbling,” reads the most upvoted comment in the CEO of REI’s Ask Me Anything on Reddit. Except it’s not from him, it’s from an employee complaining about working conditions. And he’s not alone. Update! Yesterday, Jerry Stritzke attempted to capitalize on … Continued
By Wes Siler -
Tech News
What WWII’s Top Secret Spy Manual Can Teach You About Wilderness Survival
Before there was a CIA there was England’s Special Operations Executive. And, as WWII heated up, it put all of its collective tradecraft knowledge into a single training manual. And, it turns out that training spies to operate behind enemy lines is often good training for going outdoors, too. The abridged history of this manual … Continued
By Wes Siler -
Tech News
This 13-Year Old Girl Hunts Bears
Kerigan Disorda wants to become a wildlife biologist when she grows up, in order to learn more about her favorite animal: the black bear. Follow along as she hunts one of those in Vermont. There’s obviously some shots of a dead animal here. If seeing that is going to bother you, maybe don’t watch the … Continued
By Wes Siler -
Tech News
Shark Attacks, 1,600-Foot Falls, 1 Million Coywolves Invade Northeast: What’s New Outside
America has a new predator, and it’s thriving in the northeast. Meanwhile, the outdoor economy is starting to throw its weight around in Washington DC (also home to coywolves) and an engineer has busted a popular survival myth with math. This is What’s New Outside. New FOURSEVENS Lights: Our favorite flashlight brand just released a … Continued
By Wes Siler -
Tech News
Cougars Will Repopulate American Midwest In Next 25 Years
Outside the Florida Everglades, cougars haven’t lived east of the Rockies in over 100 years. But, a new study finds there’s a strong likelihood that states like Illinois, Missouri and Wisconsin could become home to healthy populations of the large carnivores in the next few years. Photos: Johanna Turner, unless otherwise noted. Across America, ungulate … Continued
By Wes Siler -
Tech News
Canada’s Badass New Defense Minister Patented This Gas Mask For His Sikh Beard
Traditional gas masks are designed to seal to your face and neck, protecting you from breathing harmful chemical or biological agents. But they won’t work with full beards, which is a problem if you’re a Sikh warrior like Harjit Sajjan. His solution? Sikhs are rare in western militaries. The US, for example, has 1.4-million active … Continued
By Wes Siler -
Reviews
Chris Reeve Sebenza Review: Is This $450 Pocket Knife Worth The Hype?
If you talk about knives on the Internet then you’ll know the Chris Reeve Sebenza is held up as the pinnacle of production knife perfection. But what’s it like to use and carry one in the real world? I let this one bite me to find out. Full Disclosure: KnifeArt.com provided this Sebenza for review. … Continued
By Wes Siler -
Tech News
WHEN WILL LIBERALS GET A CLUE?
LIBERALS, AM I RIGHT? IF IT’S NOT MAKING UP CLIMATE CHANGE, IT’S TRYING TO TAKE OUR GUNS. WHY DO THEY HATE AMERICA? JUST YESTERDAY, SOME LIBERAL GIRLY MAN NAMED WES SILER (WHAT KIND OF NAME IS THAT, ANWAYS? I BET HE’S MEXICAN) TRIED TO TELL TED CRUZ (PRAIS JESUS) HE WAS HOLDING HIS SHOTGUN WRONG. … Continued
By Wes Siler -
EartherClimate Change
200 Million Americans Will Suffer ‘Psychological Distress’ From Climate Change
A report published by the National Wildlife Federation finds that the majority of Americans can expect to suffer mental health problems as a result of global warming and warns that our mental health system is not equipped to handle it. “The interplay between the climate realities we likely face and the potential psychological fallout from … Continued
By Wes Siler -
Tech News
Ted Cruz Really Was Pointing His Gun At His Friends
Yesterday, we showed you Ted Cruz holding his shotgun backwards, blatantly flouting the first two rules of gun safety. Now, we have a new video from the same photo op perfectly demonstrating why this is a bad idea. Would you want to be one of the hunters he’s pointing his gun at? Since you can … Continued
By Wes Siler -
Tech News
Hey Ted Cruz, You’re Holding Your Gun Backwards
Staunch gun rights advocate Ted Cruz is here seen holding a shotgun while being interviewed by CNN. Can you see what he’s doing wrong? That’s right, he’s violating the first two rules of gun safety. Update: This says it all really. When you learn to shoot, apply for a hunting or carry license and any … Continued
By Wes Siler -
Tech News
This Is Why You Carry A Backup ‘Chute
Ever been tempted to shoot your parachute with a flare gun mid-flight? Well, this is what will happen if you do. It looks like Brianne Thompson does this on purpose, I guess demonstrating what would happen if a ‘chute was ever hit by flaming debris. Thank god for backup ‘chutes! [Via GearJunkie] IndefinitelyWild is a … Continued
By Wes Siler -
Tech News
Best New Bows, The Longterm Impact Of Frostbite, And Fracking In National Parks: What’s New Outside
Want to improve your ultralight water purification? Shopping for a new backpacking saw or hunting bow? What about a pair of hiking shoes? This is What’s New Outside. Easy Ultralight Water Filtration: Section Hiker has a great guide to a simple, cheap and, most importantly, light water purification system for ultralight backpacking. It’ll be applicable … Continued
By Wes Siler