I've been chasing waves for 17 years, from freezing New England lineups to tropical reef breaks in Costa Rica. Over those sessions, I've burned through more board shorts than I'd like to admit, and I've learned that the best board shorts for surfing aren't always the priciest or the prettiest. Our team spent the last […]

I spent three summers hiking through the Sierra Nevada, the Cascades, and the High Sierra with sunburn layered on sunburn from sunscreen alone. Last summer, I switched to a dedicated hiking shirt with SPF, and the difference was immediate. My shoulders stopped peeling on day four, and I stopped carrying a 4-ounce sunscreen tube. Our […]

I learned the hard way that a gym sports bra is not the same as a hiking sports bra. On a four-hour descent in the Adirondacks, my favorite high-impact running bra turned into a chafing nightmare under my pack straps. Since then, I've tested dozens of options across weekend trips, multi-day section hikes, and hot-weather […]

I've been testing kayaking gear for the better part of a decade, and I'll be straight with you - finding the best drysuits for kayaking changed how I paddle. Before I owned one, every cold morning on Lake Erie felt like a coin toss between hypothermia and a long drive home. The truth is that […]

When I started writing about the best sailing jackets, I reached out to two skippers I know from the San Francisco Bay sailing community. Between them they log roughly 14,000 nautical miles a year across coastal races, deliveries, and one offshore passage per season. I asked them one question: which jackets have actually kept you […]

There is nothing worse than watching your tip-up flag fly and realizing your fingers are too numb to set the hook. I have spent more freezing mornings on the ice than I care to admit, and cold hands have cost me fish more times than I can count. That is exactly why I put together […]

When the temperature drops below zero, your hands are the first to fail. I learned this the hard way on a February ice fishing trip in northern Wisconsin, where my fingers went numb within fifteen minutes and my standard ski gloves failed completely. That weekend sent me searching for the best mittens for extreme cold, […]

I've spent the last three winters pulling my kids out of snowbanks, strapping them into car seats, and dragging them through slush on the way to school. After one too many meltdowns from a soggy toddler, I started testing every pair of best snow bibs for kids I could get my hands on, from budget […]

After one too many soggy Scout hikes with three cranky kids, I started treating the search for the best kids rain jackets for hiking the same way I treat adult shells: hands-on, on real trails, in real rain. Our team spent six weeks testing eight popular kids waterproof shells on Pacific Northwest trails, desert washes […]

Last summer, my family packed up our two kids (ages 6 and 9) for a five-day trek through the Cascades. By day three, my youngest had shredded two pairs of cotton pants on granite scrambles. That's when I learned why dedicated kids hiking pants exist. After 60+ trail days and testing on three more kids […]