All Outdoor

Alright, now that you’ve done your research and joined some online communities, you’re well on your way to becoming an EDC exeprt. Now it’s time to start acquiring the items for your EDC. This is the fun part–shopping for your wishlist items. While quality gear can get expensive, hopefully you’ve learned that it’s a better investment to stick with reputable items that might cost a bit more than cheap, generic products. That’s not to say there isn’t plenty available for those on a budget; I’m a believer in budget EDCs, and we’ll be sharing more about which items we recommend within your budget. To get started, here are some of the best places to purchase EDC gear online.

In the south, we have the darndest business combinations — there’s a place in my home town that is both a BBQ joint and a self-storage warehouse business. People will put just about any two things together and make a business out of it.

Buying stuff for Father’s Day is hard. This guy, in most cases, is the most important man in your life. But if you are an adult you have already used up your “gimme gifts” and home made collages of your youth.

Before he started down the custom knife road, Geoff Blauvelt a.k.a. TuffThumbz, was the Internet’s premiere knife modifier (yes, I am going to use that term instead of the other one). Since then, things have changed. There are a few new guys on the scene–Menovade, for one–but a lot of the newer folks are really changing what we think of when we consider a knife mod. As with all things, the level of innovation and skill continues to rise. Now instead of a simple handle scale swaps or an acid washed blade, we are getting full-on reconstructions of production knives with entirely new dimensions and features. Here are three of my favorite “next gen” mods out there.

This video shows true craftsmanship and is pretty cool to watch. Around the 4:50 marker let me know who else was thinking “what is he doing?”

Spring is an excellent time to fish topwater baits for large bass. As a bass fisherman, I enjoy the beautiful nature of this sport — the orange glow of the sunrise, the calming of the wind and waves, the continued motion of casting and retrieving.

What would you say if I told you that you could shoot your AR-15 as inexpensively as a .22LR, but without a .22LR conversion? A shooter would be lucky to find .22LR ammo less than 14 cents a round, and .223 ammo for less than 35-50 cents a round.  More than a few fellow AR-15 enthusiast have suggested AR-15s converted to shoot inexpensive $.16-$.20 per round Russian Surplus 5.45×39 ammo packed in steel food-like cannisters (commonly referred to as a SPAM cans).

By the time summer comes around, I start getting a little antsy with excitement for impending expeditions. Although I live in a region where adventures can be had year-round, summer offers the best time and weather for non-stop camp-outs, trips to the beach, hikes, fishing and more. So get yourself jazzed for adventure season by checking out this great documentaries on Netflix.

This video had me on edge, for sure! What goes through some people’s minds is just beyond me.

Would anyone else do this?

Everyone should know how to make one of these. They work well for boiling small amounts of water or cooking some beans, eggs, and bacon.

I am a huge fan of adjustable gas blocks and have then installed on nearly every AR-15 and AR-10 format rifle I own. I maintain that an adjustable gas block is the single most impactful upgrade you can make on any AR-15; you’ll see less recoil, faster shot follow up, less shooter and part fatigue, cleaner operation, and altogether a better shooting experience than you have ever experienced.

Most people prefer smaller guns for carry. They also like higher performance, greater capacity, accuracy and comfort of larger guns when time comes to use the weapons. At the bottom of the heap are .45 ACP derringers that fail on all counts other than small size, at the top are mid-size pistols that work fine but really strain the concealability requirement. And in the middle are micro-1911 types, XDS and others that work fine but aren’t much fun to shoot. And without comfort in shooting, extensive training becomes difficult.

This week’s destruction test features the Green Beret (GB) by Chris Reeve. Although it’s a Chris Reeve brand knife, it was designed by “renowned knife maker and designer Bill Harsey, with function and manufacturing input from Chris Reeve.” It’s referred to as a “no-nonsense, hardworking tool,” and that’s reflected in the design. The Green Beret, referred to as the Yarborough by the U.S. Army Special Forces, comes in two sizes–5.5″ and 7″.

In my recent AR-15 build and review of the JP Enterprises Barrel Kit, I utilized JP’s own rifle-length Hand Guard System.  3-Gun and competitive high speed AR shooting has influenced new development and innovation of the AR platform more than any other factor in the last 10 years, even more than our engagements overseas.  The JP Modular Hand Guard is one of those products born from competitive needs, and I wanted to write a separate review of this deceptively elegant forend.

Shooting a compound bow beyond 40 yards was once frowned upon. Those days are over. Oh, how times have changed. Increases in bow performance and technology have shooters of all levels extending their comfort range. Why? Practicing harder and further shots makes hunting easier and more effective. Having an enhanced range will allow you to hang more horns on the wall, and put more meat in the freezer. Not to mention, it’s fun!

The Spyderco Paramilitary 2 is the hottest production knife in the world right now. It’s so hot that most places don’t even have the regular model in stock. The reason is simple–this is a damn good knife. I loved it, and my voice is part of a large choir of fans around the knife world. It can do a lot of different kinds of work quite easily. Thanks to the amazing compression lock, it can soak up beatings like a punching bag. Yet, the genius of the design is that flat ground blade and the half-and-half finger choil give it enough precision to do small cutting chores. There is very little the PM2 can’t do, and with a blade around 3.5 inches, it is a lot of folks’ ideal EDC.

In our previous installments of this series, we covered the best general EDC sites and some sites that cover specific types of gear. But once you’ve familiarized yourself with these resources, it’s nice to know that there are others who want to share their knowledge and opinions about EDC. Social networks and forums are an excellent way to learn about items you’ve never seen before, or to get a new perspective on popular products. Here are some of the best EDC communities online.

As I said in my Ultimate 10/22 Shootout, “..and then the Magnum Research rifle shows up at about half the price of any of the rifles here. Kinda like the guy in the tweaked Nisson 300Z who can keep up and occasionally beat the guys in $1 Million sports cars.”

There’s a popular saying that goes, “A deer may hear a person, and doubt its ears; a deer may see a person, and doubt its eyes; but if a deer smells a person, there is no doubt in his mind.” After countless deer hunts all over the country, the saying almost always holds true. A whitetail’s nose is its top sense and defense in identifying predators.

As 3Gun competitions were getting popular, Barry Dueck, Surefire’s Director of Suppressors, came up with a great idea to provide a set of offset backup sights which could actually be used when an optic was mounted in place. The concept was simple; create a set of sights which allow the shooter to simply and easily transition to the backup sights with just a twist of the rifle. The result of that idea has been one of the hot ideas in 3Gun competition that has spilled over into the defensive world as well.