Apple Watch wearers just got a whole lot more outdoorsy. In a long-awaited push toward greater accessibility, the global mapping platform Trailforks (which is owned by 翱耻迟蝉颈诲别’蝉听parent company, 国产吃瓜黑料 Inc.) announced the rollout of its new Apple Watch app this month. The move provides mountain bikers, trail runners, gravel grinders, moto riders, and hikers with instant, phone-free access to real-time trail maps and activity statistics鈥攄irectly on their wrist.

Nearly 800,000 already connected Trailforks users across 141 countries now have access to an unmatched database of global trails across mountain biking, trail running, ski touring, and hiking disciplines.

鈥淥ur community asked鈥攍oudly鈥攆or Apple Watch support. Today we鈥檙e delivering a true map-on-wrist experience that lets athletes stay present on the trail while still capturing every stat,鈥� said Trailforks general manager Devin Lehman.

is the world鈥檚 most comprehensive crowd-sourced trail discovery and management platform. For more than a decade, it has helped outdoor enthusiasts get outside by providing users with the best tool for planning their next destination and navigating on-trail experiences with safety in mind.

Now, those tools are ready to hit the trail鈥攋ust like you.

App users can access real-time map information and multi-activity stats right on their wrist, keeping recreationalists on route and off their phone. Users can view their exact position on the Trailforks basemap and scope out nearby trailheads and points of interest.

Detailed offline maps can be downloaded, allowing the adventure to continue even when cell service is unavailable. Traildar proximity alerts gently buzz or notify users as they approach waypoints, intersections, or user-defined POIs to stay on course.

Multi-activity recording provides users with a one-tap start for various activities, featuring auto-pause, distance, speed, vertical, heart-rate, and calorie metrics displayed live. Health and performance-tracking metrics ensure users are pushing their limits. Every session can be synced into Apple Health through HealthKit integration, closing rings, and providing insight into long-term trends.

Together, these tools keep users in the flow, regardless of their location.

The Trailforks Apple Watch app is available as a free companion download with the latest Trailforks iOS release on the . As part of the 国产吃瓜黑料 Interactive network, Trailforks empowers millions of adventurers to explore confidently, plan responsibly, and give back to the trails they love.

The post The New Trailforks Apple Watch App Keeps Users on Route and Offline appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Surfing is addictive. Once it clicks, you feel like you鈥檙e flying over the surface of water. The only thing is, you need a wave to do it. For me, wakesurfing doesn鈥檛 scratch the itch, and while mechanical wave pools exist, they aren鈥檛 exactly cheap or ubiquitous yet. Enter the Lind Canvas, an insanely over-engineered, high-powered electric surfboard that delivers surf-like thrills in any reasonably-sized body of water at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour. And you only need to sell one or two critical organs to be able to afford one!

It sounded like something I needed to test for myself, so I traveled to Stockholm, Sweden, where the company is based, to check them out.

Two things that are important to emphasize right away: First, these are surfboards, not e-foils, and second, these boards are built for flat water, not waves. It is designed to put the power of a wave into the board itself and recreate the feeling of riding waves in places where there are no waves. The idea of some rich scrubs trying to poach waves from normal paddle-surfers on these 80-pound rockets in a crowded line-up is frankly terrifying.

The Lind Canvas surfboard comes in two sizes: a 6鈥�3鈥� shortboard and a 6鈥�9鈥� mid-length. From the top they look like standard surfboards, though they are a bit wider, and at 6鈥� thick they are more than twice as thick as your standard board to accommodate the special sauce. In the board鈥檚 belly, a hollow bay holds the battery and engine. Every single component, aside from the individual battery cells themselves (which are the same lithium cells you find in high-end electric cars), has been meticulously designed in-house. The result? A sleek 3.1 kilowatt-hour battery pack and an astonishing 28 horsepower engine.

If that sounds like a terrifying amount of power to have under your feet, you would be correct. It is one of the most power-dense platforms ever created鈥攄ouble the power density of a Tesla Model S. It鈥檚 the kind of engineering you expect from something military grade, not from a surfboard purely for recreation.

Evolution of the Electric Surfboard

This is not the world鈥檚 first electric surfboard. This isn鈥檛 even the first electric surfboard from Alexander Lind, the Swedish co-founder from whom Lind gets its name. His first boards under the company Radinn were heavy and wide, making them extremely difficult to get on rail and carve with. In other words, they felt more like a small boat you stood up on rather than a board you surfed.

But Radinn enjoyed some early success. In 2014, Lind took the company鈥檚 first prototype and rode it off a 9-foot-tall waterfall for a promo video. The video cuts away just as Lind and the board touch down in the water, conveniently omitting that the thing snapped in half upon impact. It didn鈥檛 matter, though. The video went viral, and despite the Radinn boards鈥� shortcomings, they sold about 1,000 units over the years. So, when Alex was looking to start fresh, he thought, 鈥淲hy not do it again鈥攔ecreate the viral enthusiasm鈥攂ut do it right this time?鈥�

Together with his two new co-founders鈥擜nders Dellson (CEO) and Mattias S枚derhielm (CTO/COO)鈥擫ind traveled to the Maldives. They took surf lessons during the day and, in the evenings, worked on a business plan for what would become Lind Surf. Upon returning to Stockholm, they got to work assembling a production team of absolute killers, including tapped Swedish materials and production specialists and poached experienced Heart Aerospace engineers who had previously worked at NASA on Mars rovers.

While Radinn had started with the jet and tried to build a board around it, Lind started with a surfboard. They worked with shaper Sam Bass of, who is known for making highly-customized boards, refining their design for a shortboard that would have the planning, grip, and responsiveness of a real board while also being thick enough to house the payload that would power it.

Design Features of the Lind Canvas

The Canvas design is modular, separated into three pieces. There鈥檚 the board itself, which features a thick oak stringer with two-dozen screw holes for the included foot-straps. It鈥檚 light enough that it can be lifted with one hand, but it also comes with a canvas bag with a padded shoulder strap. Its largest, flattest surface has an aluminum panel that becomes the bottom of the board and acts as a heat-sink in the water, keeping the batteries healthier. The heaviest component, a 37-pound battery, can be carried in the included backpack.

Also tucked away into the backpack is the jet engine. Rather than using one larger motor, which would have been bulbous and impacted the board鈥檚 hydrodynamics, they split the job and use two motors in parallel. To achieve this, Lind made a mad-scientist-level, multi-stage gearbox with bespoke gears that听 transfers maximum torque to the single impeller in the middle without shearing the gears鈥� teeth off. Like everything else, that impeller is made in-house, utilizing computational fluid dynamics to develop the correct attributes.

A wireless remote control, which uses a simple trigger to control acceleration and has a four-way D-pad on top to power on/off, pair with the board, and adjust the power-level. A bright LCD displays your current power level and remaining battery percentage (but not your speed in mph or kph). For the geeks thinking all this must take an awful lot of programming, that would be correct. The system has six microcontrollers that manage everything from speed to battery maintenance. It even has 4G telemetry so it can share critical information with you. For instance, if you accidentally leave your battery in a hot car with the windows up, it will send a notification to your phone before heat damages the electronics or the whole thing bursts into flames. It really is a staggering amount of engineering, and yes, the price tag reflects that, but we鈥檒l get to that in a minute.

The charger is pretty slick, too. It looks like something you鈥檇 plug into your electric car, but it uses a standard electrical outlet and charges shockingly fast. A battery can fully recharge in an hour. Considering each battery gives you about 45 minutes of run time (shorter if you crank up the power level), that really maximizes the amount of time you get to spend in the water.

It鈥檚 also worth noting that you can customize the board with the paint job, or specific materials, like a wooden inlay on the deck. You can even work with the shaper of your choice, as long as they can make a design that will fit the electronics payload.

Testing the Lind Canvas

None of that engineering matters if the thing doesn鈥檛 work well. Fortunately, I can confirm that it is indeed obscenely fun. The backpack and bag system is designed so you don鈥檛 need a boat ramp or a dock, or anything like that. You can even hike it down to a remote lake, river, or beach, though you probably wouldn鈥檛 want to hike too far as the whole system weighs about 77 pounds. Once you鈥檝e found your spot, you turn the board onto its back, latch in the jet pack and battery, add the fin, flip it into the water, and pair it with the remote. The whole assembly is toolless and takes just a minute or two.

Then you put your belly on the board, point it in a safe direction, and squeeze the trigger. For first timers, it鈥檚 recommended that you start at power level 4 or 5 (out of a maximum of 15). Within seconds you鈥檒l be hydroplaning, dragging your legs behind you, and grinning like an idiot. As with real surfing, the transition from prone to standing is one of the trickiest bits, but here you aren鈥檛 falling down the face of a wave with just seconds to get to your feet. On a Canvas board, you effectively have an unlimited amount of time to get your balance and work your way to vertical, which still takes time to figure out, but as with a bike, the faster you鈥檙e going the more stable it is.

In Stockholm, I test the board on a number of different lakes, rivers, and bays, in fresh water, salt water, and brackish, sometimes with rolling hills in the distance, sometimes in front of massive hotels or vacation homes. As someone who has been surfing for the last 20 years, I came in with high hopes and low expectations, but I was thrilled to make it to my feet on the first try. In fact, every single person in our small group (most of whom had never surfed) all made it to their feet relatively quickly, and then everyone just started ripping. I was able to really lean into my turns, feeling the G-forces pull my feet into the deck of the board, while a rooster-tail of water sprayed off the back. While the 6鈥�9鈥� mid-length board is more stable for getting up, the 6鈥�3鈥� shortboard is much easier to turn. On smooth water, I turned it up to power-level 10. I鈥檇 estimate I was going somewhere between 25 and 30 miles per hour, noticeably faster than the waist to head-high waves I typically surf in California. The heaviness of the board helps dampen some chop in the water, but you really feel those bumps at speed, including when you make a big turn and ride over your own wake. I had no shortage of spectacular wipeouts.

While it does indeed feel a lot like surfing, it鈥檚 not a perfect analog. The weight distribution is different and learning to carve with motorized power takes some getting used to.There鈥檚 certainly a learning curve, and I only scratched the surface. Once you figure it out, though, you can mix in some flair. LLind鈥檚 team riders, none of whom are paddle surfers, were able to cross-step their way up to the nose and hang-five, demonstrating a level of finesse that only comes with time and practice.

For all its speed, because it鈥檚 electric, it鈥檚 also much quieter than something like a jet ski, so the sounds of your uncontrolled whoops echo unimpeded. Tourists who saw or heard me coming were quick to pull out their phones and snap pics of this strange watercraft zipping by them.

Safety Notes

As good of a time as this board is, there鈥檚 still plenty of room for safety improvement. While a normal surfboard has an ankle leash to keep your board nearby, that鈥檚 not an option here. For now, once the controller hits the water and breaks the radio signal, the board鈥檚 motor stops. But if you neglect to release the trigger as you fall, then that board will continue on at speed and with inertia, which means you might have to swim a good 50 yards to retrieve it鈥攐r it could crash into a river bank, boat, or person.

Thus, you鈥檙e advised to let go of the throttle the moment you realize you鈥檙e falling. But that introduces another problem: the drag of the water slows the board down faster than your body, sending you flying off the front, which is extra scary because then you could be run over by the board or slashed by the fin. Thankfully, neither of those things happened to me or anybody in my group, but a couple of times were too close for comfort. Lind is currently testing different solutions for both of these issues.

Sticker Shock

If this all sounds like a ton of fun and you鈥檙e wondering what the catch is, well, it costs $25,000. You could buy a mid-range 2025 Toyota Corolla for that. Hell, you could buy three new, entry-level jet skis, which would carry six times as many people and are more versatile water vehicles. So it鈥檚 not an 鈥渋t鈥檚 not for everybody鈥� thing as much as it鈥檚 an 鈥渋t鈥檚 for very few people who can afford it鈥� thing.

That said, I actually hate jet skiing, and I feel indifferent about wakesurfing, but I loved this board. If I wanted a recreational water vehicle for my lake house, I would choose a Lind Surf board over a jet ski in a heartbeat. It鈥檚 such a unique feeling. It鈥檚 quiet and sleek, and the sheer amount of power it packs is unlike anything I鈥檝e ever experienced. The only problem is I don鈥檛 have a lake house or $25,000 to drop on a surfboard. For those that do, this board offers a truly unique experience on the water, and it鈥檚 a ripping good time. If you can find a way to demo one for a day, you will not regret it.

The post Lind Canvas Review: An Electric Surfboard Is Just as Thrilling as It Sounds appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

This year, there have been some nice trends in the best outdoor Bluetooth speakers: 鈥淭rue stereo,鈥� which lets you pair two speakers at once and play the left channel in one and the right in the other, is available in more and more models. While it may be a clever way of selling you two speakers instead of one, it makes the experience more like sitting in front of your home hi-fi system. Meanwhile, battery life keeps on improving across the board, and it鈥檚 kind of stunning how water-resistant these devices have become: All of the speakers below have an ingress rating of at least IP57, which means they can be submerged in three feet of water for up to 30 minutes. If you鈥檝e ever combined a swimming hole and a large dog in the same outing, you know why this matters. All of which makes the new speakers highlighted here some of the best ever for your adventures.听Here are reviews of seven of our current favorite outdoor Bluetooth speakers, depending on your needs and budget.

Update July 2025: We鈥檝e tested and selected new Bluetooth speakers in two of our seven categories, including a new best all-around pick of the Brane X, and updated prices and availability for all.

At a Glance

• Best Overall:听
• Best Value:听
• Most Portable:听
• Most Rugged:听
• Best for Audiophiles:听
• Best for Parties:听
• Best for Travel:
• How to Choose
• How We Test
• Meet Our Lead Tester

Best Outdoor Bluetooth Speaker Overall

Brane X

Pros and Cons
鈯�听More bass than you鈥檒l believe possible
鈯�听Wi-Fi connectivity
鈯�听Makes funny noises on startup
鈯�听Touch controls are overly sensitive

It鈥檚 rare that a product has so much crossover appeal that it鈥檚 nearly impossible to categorize鈥攍abels be damned. The Brane X is an ingenious piece of technology that transitions neatly from a bookshelf-style speaker for your desktop to a backyard DJ boom box to a travel companion for a remote lakeshore, where, as one tester said, it produces bass that can 鈥渟care away the bears.鈥� This versatility and its surprising power are what led our team to name it the best outdoor Bluetooth speaker we tested.

The reason this 7.7-pound unit has such outsize power is magnets. Specifically, it鈥檚 the first Bluetooth speaker with a subwoofer, which relies on a Repel-Attract Driver (RAD), a patented technology that employs specially designed magnets that cancel internal air pressure and allow it to produce deeper bass than was previously possible.

In practice, the results are impressive: Played at lower volumes, it produces fine detail that is as good as anything that comes out of a Bose product. But when you pump up the volume, you can hear bass notes that reach lower into the audio spectrum. It鈥檚 safe to say nothing we鈥檝e seen at this size (under ten inches wide) has been able to create such a rumble way down deep in your belly.

The Brane X can connect with your home Wi-Fi, eliminating the problem of your Bluetooth speaker glitching out during a party because you stepped outside to fetch ice. This feature also makes streaming music over a subscription service or using the built-in Alexa voice assistant easier and more reliable.

And yes, despite its urban looks, the Brane X can withstand water, dust, and a fair bit of rough handling: Its IP57 rating means it can survive in three feet of water for up to 30 minutes. A 12-hour battery life is respectable, given its power. And the Brane app makes it easy to set up and equalize, for less bass, more bass, or more more more bass. Listening to jazz with a double bass, one user said, 鈥測ou can hear all the subtle squeaks of the player鈥檚 fingers on the strings.鈥�

If there鈥檚 a drawback to a speaker this good, it would only be that it makes the windows rattle. Said one tester: 鈥淚t makes other portable speakers seem like toys.鈥�

Best Value

Fender x Teufel Rockster Go 2

Pros and Cons
鈯�听Sound fills the room
鈯�听Long battery life
鈯�听Controls not all in same place

The German audio engineers at Teuful got together with the American guitar and amp brand Fender to make this thing of beauty. The sleekly designed Rockster Go 2 is smaller than a hardcover airport novel, at eight by four inches, but it pumps out some of the best, bassiest sound in this size range. Much like Bose鈥檚听鈥攚hose latest version weighs in at 1.3 pounds and costs $149鈥攖he 1.6-pound Rockster Go 2 amazed us with its 鈥渟traight-ahead sound quality and musical vividness,鈥� as one tester put it. It goes one step further than Bose with a button that engages what鈥檚 called Dynamore virtual stereo sound, an impressive, non-gimmicky feature that seems to magically move the music to the corners of the room. The speaker is unidirectional, but the Dynamore feature does a lot to make it sound good from the front or the back.

The Rockster Go 2 is supposed to last for up to a whopping 28 hours in Eco Mode (which reduces the bass), though you鈥檒l probably get more like the 15 hours it promises in regular mode at medium volume. Quick charging, however, gets you out the door faster if you forgot to plug it in the night before. A short carry strap enables easier toting, and GoPro users will appreciate the quarter-inch threading on the base, which is compatible with camera mounts. Although its range is only 30 feet, one reviewer remarked that 鈥渨ith a design that鈥檚 worthy of residing on your bookcase plus its rugged build, this may be the ideal indoor/outdoor speaker in the midsize range.鈥�

Note: The Rockster line includes two other, larger sizes: the $180听听and the monster $480听.

Most Portable

Ultimate Ears Miniroll

听

Pros and Cons
鈯�听Very compact
鈯�听Impressive sound for its size
鈯�听Bungee strap is useful
鈯�听Can get only so loud

Over the past decade, the 鈥渕ini speaker鈥� category has been relentlessly trying to reach a level of sonic quality that sounds so much better than your laptop speaker that it warrants a purchase. With the Miniroll, we may have achieved the singularity. At less than 10 ounces and a fits-in-your-hand five-inch diameter, this grab-and-go disc produced some moments of startling loudness for its size. Physics wouldn鈥檛 allow it to be in the same acoustic class as the others in this test, but testers were impressed by what it can do.

Think of the places it can go: With its eminently handy built-in rubber strap, the Miniroll can bungee right over your bike handlebars, onto your belt loop, or鈥攁 habit I鈥檝e acquired solely on account of this portable Bluetooth speaker鈥攐ver the shower curtain rod, so I can keep clean while keeping up with the news. As secure as the strap is, a bouncy bike ride might eventually dislodge it, but with its sturdy build, we wouldn鈥檛 be too concerned about damage鈥攁nd its crazy-long range of 131 feet means you won鈥檛 lose connection when you turn around to retrieve it. A PartyUp feature lets you pair multiple Minirolls together for more power or a stereo effect.

Anyone debating whether to pack a speaker for an overseas flight or strap it to a backpack for playing podcasts on a hike can be confident that the Miniroll, with its 鈥渞oad-friendly size and shape,鈥� is well worth the consideration.

Most Rugged

Turtlebox Gen 3

Pros and Cons
鈯�听Extremely tough
鈯�听Easy to tote
鈯�听Smooth sound
鈯�听Not cheap

Like Pelican and Otter, Turtlebox thinks in terms of durability that will see you through any terrain on earth, if not other planets. Case in point: The company claims that they were able to park a six-ton monster truck on this speaker, to no ill effect. Encased in super-hard plastic and completely waterproof (even floatable), the Gen 3 has quickly garnered a following among fishermen and watersports enthusiasts for more than being tough. The 120-decibel speaker is 鈥渂oth incredibly loud and impressively refined,鈥� one tester observed. Indeed, our team was hard-pressed to find many differences in audio quality between the Turtlebox 3 and the other top scorers in this year鈥檚 test. The unit plays for 25 hours at lower volumes and about six hours at max volume, such as what you鈥檇 need for a big party.

During LCD Soundsystem鈥檚 鈥淭ribulations,鈥� the bass tones flowed smooth as silk and distortion-free, thanks to the 6-by-9-inch woofer, and, to our surprise, the high and midrange sounds also came across with great clarity. With five color options and an ideal form factor鈥攁 lunchbox-size 9.5-pound boombox with a hard nylon handle coated in rubber, plus rubber bumpers on the undercarriage鈥攖he Turtlebox Gen 3 gets just about everything right, and its fairly high price tag is less scary when you consider its durability.

Best for Audiophiles

Bose SoundLink Max

Pros and Cons
鈯�听Very rich, loud sound
鈯�听Long battery life
鈯�听Easy to pair
鈯�听Needs 5-volt charger; standard USB-C is slow

For those who were wowed by Bose鈥檚 1.3-pound SoundLink Flex (our 2022听Editor鈥檚 Choice winner), this larger and far more powerful 4.9-pound edition of the SoundLink will be true love. It punches above its weight, with rich bass and perfect balance in the higher registers. While the addition of a rubber-coated rope handle is both convenient and cute, the sticking-to-basics features from this classic brand made it a bit less fun than other party-ready units in this test. Where Bose beats them, though, is with more subtle orchestral and ambient tracks. Max Richter鈥檚听The New Four Seasons听came through with a dynamism and presence that was a notch above.

Battery life is 20 hours, range is a passable 30 feet, and Bose鈥檚 app is more versatile than those that accompany most speakers, with EQ settings to suit your tastes and listening environment. IP67 water and dust resistance means it鈥檚 fine being dropped in the pool for up to 30 minutes. The SoundLink Max does cost a lot for its size, but for those among us who like to just sit and focus on great music, it may be the most ideal鈥攁nd ideally sized鈥攑ortable Bluetooth speaker to date.

Best for Parties

Treblab HD-Max

Pros and Cons
鈯�听Loud volume when wanted
鈯�听Great value
鈯�听One-dimensional sound
鈯�听Confusing LED modes

If you鈥檙e looking for a speaker to churn out volume in a big crowd for a fair price, the HD-Max delivers. The sound is not as detailed or three-dimensional as the others in this guide, but that matters less when it鈥檚 about a crowd and, as the evening wears on, they鈥檙e getting down and boogying. Treblab鈥檚 newest offering has the power to fill a sizable outdoor space, and if you want to go a notch higher, a bass-boosting feature adds even more thump. 鈥淚t makes you feel like dancing,鈥� said one reviewer.

Two other fiesta-friendly novelties are a pair of multicolor lights on either end that can be turned off and on, and a bottle opener on the removable carry strap. It鈥檒l get 20 hours of play time if you keep it at 10 percent volume, but at 100 percent it鈥檚 certified for only 6.5 hours鈥攕till, enough to get you through the night, or, if not, you can always plug it in. (And the power goes both ways: If your phone is running out of juice, the HD-Max can charge it.) One thing that could use improvement: It鈥檚 hard to tell when you鈥檙e in indoor, outdoor, or bass mode; they鈥檙e indicated by a clunky system that involves deciphering a series of blinking LED lights.

These are small trade-offs when you consider that the HD-Max is a tough-built five-pound, foot-wide boom box that retails for $200鈥攂ut can be found for 30 percent less than that. Others in its class, like Ultimate Ears鈥櫶�, usually set you back $350 or $400. When the fun is over and it鈥檚 back-to-work time, the speaker has a built-in mic that performs well for conference calls, with an average range of 33 feet. One tester praised the HD-Max for its 鈥渃ombination of sound quality, volume, and portability.鈥�

Best for Travel

Marshall Emberton III

Pros and Cons
鈯�听Solid, compact, travel-friendly build
鈯�听Room-filling sound
鈯�听No bass/treble controls on unit

Don鈥檛 let the throwback looks of the Emberton III fool you: This technology is far from basic. Marshall鈥檚 newest travel Bluetooth speaker has better, more robust sound than its predecessors while adding some new features like Bluetooth LE鈥攁 more efficient form of Bluetooth that sucks less energy鈥攁nd Auracast, an incoming technology that will soon have you wirelessly linking several of your speakers and headphones at once, making a connected life more seamless.

The Emberton III is that one piece of gear you鈥檒l wish you鈥檇 packed for your family reunion on the lake this summer. You鈥檒l realize this when you go to play home movies on your tablet with its anemic speaker. You鈥檒l hardly notice the Emberton III in your luggage, at a little over six inches from end to end and only 1.5 pounds鈥攖hree percent of your checked-bag limit. But you鈥檒l notice it when you fire it up, because, in the words of one tester, 鈥渢his little thing cranks!鈥�

As with other Marshall speakers, the Emberton III achieves a deceptively dynamic sound quality through 鈥淭rue Stereophonic鈥� multi-directional technology, which replicates the experience of being on a soundstage by moving different tones to different areas of the speaker. One tester noticed the 鈥渞ich bass notes鈥攏ot much thump, but clean and clear.鈥� And the well-rounded sound is just as good from the back side as the front.

A whopping 32-hour battery life makes it even more travel-friendly, and a 20-minute quick charge provides six more hours of battery life. The range (thanks to the Bluetooth LE addition) is an excellent 100 feet. And an IP67 rating lets you drop it in the drink (up to three feet deep) with no repercussions (although no testers reported trying this).

One tester summed up his report, 鈥淚 love the retro looks and small package. It makes a cool statement on the shelf but is small enough you can slip it into your pocket on the way out the door.鈥�

How to Choose the Best Outdoor Bluetooth Speaker

When shopping for a new outdoor Bluetooth speaker, your first move is to check its听听to get an idea of how much water and dust resistance it offers; these are typically reliable. Next, think about how much you鈥檒l be carrying it around鈥攂etween house and backyard, say, or moving from campsite to campsite鈥攁nd whether you鈥檒l be on foot (carrying a pack or duffel, or not) or on wheels. Then consider what makes sense in terms of weight and dimensions. As a general rule, the heavier a speaker is, the more volume you鈥檒l get out of it, but playing it loud isn鈥檛 always a necessity鈥攕ome of you will be entertaining large groups, but others will just be setting it up for mellow creekside cocktail-hour listening with your partner.

If you鈥檙e someone who moves around a lot, a portable Bluetooth speaker with long battery life might also make a difference. These days most new models will play for a good 10 hours or more even at high volume, but some are longer-lasting than others, as detailed in the models reviewed here. Finally, more and more models offer 鈥渢rue stereo鈥� linking, where two or more speakers can be paired to play at once but in stereo; this makes smaller models with this option a little more attractive than before, because if you later decide to invest more, you can give your soundscape an appreciable boost.

Finally, don鈥檛 assume that if one of the speakers in this list doesn鈥檛 sound great to you, it鈥檚 your fault. Different folks have different tastes, and some types of music sound better鈥攐r worse鈥攐n certain speakers. If you make a purchase and are feeling lukewarm afterwards, keep an eye on your return window and don鈥檛 feel guilty if you have to exchange it.

How We Tested Outdoor Bluetooth Speakers

• Hours of Testing:听419
• Test Environments:听Hiking, pool parties, stand-up paddleboarding, yardwork, movie watching, car camping, making dinner, conference calls
• Highest Elevation:听10,152 feet, Leadville, Colorado
• Lowest Elevation:听5 feet underwater in Lake Pleasant, Arizona
• Most Listened-To Tracks:听Bon Iver: 鈥淒ijon,鈥� Charli xcx featuring BB Tricks: 鈥淐lub Classics,鈥� Childish Gambino: 鈥淟ithonia,鈥� Drugdealer and Kim Bollinger: 鈥淧ictures of You,鈥� Flock of Dimes: 鈥淒ay One,鈥� Fontaines D.C.: 鈥淔avourite,鈥� J Dilla: 鈥淲orkinonit,鈥� Kenya Grace: 鈥淪trangers,鈥� The Hold Steady: 鈥淪tuck Between Stations,鈥� Magdalena Bay: 鈥淚mage,鈥� Prince: 鈥淓lectric Chair,鈥� Puentes: 鈥淎mor y Unidad,鈥� Kathleen Smith: 鈥淚 Can See for Miles,鈥� Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross: 鈥淐hallengers鈥�

The first thing we do with any Bluetooth speakers is attempt to pair them with our phones without consulting the user manual: The quicker, more intuitive, and easier the sync, the more points scored. Then we put them through hours of testing doing the kinds of things听国产吃瓜黑料听readers do鈥攕oaking in remote hot springs, inviting friends over for outdoor dance parties, playing audiobooks while riding a bike, etc.

Our team turns in reports on each product tested, providing a score of 1 to 10 for five different measures: sound quality, pairing and connectivity, fit and comfort, rain and drop protection, and user friendliness. Scores are averaged, with more weight given to sound quality and (knowing our audience) how well they stand up to the elements. Note: Battery life estimates in these reviews are based on manufacturer specs; it鈥檚 difficult to confirm those numbers, given the time involved and variances among user habits (different volumes, different uses, different functions enabled). Actual results may be 10 to 20 percent lower, judging from averages experienced in general testing.

Meet Our Lead Tester

Will Palmer has been testing gear for 21 years for 国产吃瓜黑料, where he was managing editor and copy chief for nine years. Based in Santa Fe, he has been a runner since 1984, and while the mile counts have decreased over the years, he鈥檚 kept motivated to head out the door on the hottest, coldest, and wettest days by the opportunity to test the best new products鈥攁nd to commune with the junipers and pi帽ons.

The post The 7 Best Outdoor Bluetooth Speakers of 2025 appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

When I was younger I had a high-adrenaline running playlist that I carefully curated to pump up my heart rate: Arctic Monkeys, Jay-Z, Rage Against the Machine. As my preference shifted toward podcasts, I seized the opportunity to explore ideas while chasing my weekly mileage goals. What remained constant was my appreciation for the best sports earbuds on the market. I鈥檝e tested hundreds of pairs, ranging from wired to wireless, with features like active noise cancellation and customizable tap-activated controls. Here are the seven sport earbuds we liked best, whether indoors or out, on land or in the water, on city sidewalks or remote trails.

Update July 2025: We鈥檝e tested the best new sport earbuds tailored to every activity, awarding a place to four new models鈥攊ncluding our new best overall pick, the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2鈥攁nd updated prices and availability for all.

At a Glance

• • Best All-Around:听
  • Best High-Fidelity:听
  • Best for Runners:听
  • Best Open-Ear:听
  • Killer Value:听
  • Best for Water:听
  • Most Innovative:听
  • The Hottest Trend in Sport Earbuds
  • How to Choose Earbuds
  • How We Test

Best All-Around

Beats Powerbeats Pro 2

Pros and Cons
鈯�听 Secure fit and comfort
鈯�听 Push buttons that you control
鈯�听 Too trebly at times
鈯�听 Heart-rate device pairing takes some work

The second generation of the Powerbeats Pro is a big step up from the first, and it quickly gained go-to status for every member of our test team. 鈥淎ctual buttons you can feel and click, paired with rich sound, comfy fit, and a microphone that canceled the noise of the windstorm I was walking through while talking on the phone? Wow,鈥� enthused one tester.

This model is loaded with features not seen on the first鈥攏otably active noise cancellation (ANC) and heart-rate monitoring capability. Battery life is a superb 10 hours on a charge, which adds to their everyday-wear appeal. The case, which now allows wireless charging, supplies a total of 45 hours before you need a plug-in.

As with everything Beats (and parent company Apple), the acoustics shine: Adaptive EQ on the Pro 2 reads the environmental factors around you and adjusts the frequencies in your music for optimal sound. That sound is full and rich, without too much bass鈥攂ut a bit too harsh on the treble end for some testers.

The ANC in the Pro 2 shows just how far that tech has come. 鈥淣oise canceling made the city disappear until I had to cross traffic, then鈥攑op!鈥攆ull awareness,鈥� one tester noted. We also appreciated the push-button controls, which not only provide a satisfying haptic response so you know when the button has been pushed, but also eliminate accidental pauses when you brush your finger against the earbud (a huge annoyance for many users). The buttons also make it easy to toggle from one connected device to another without swiping to your Bluetooth controls, and they can even be pressed with a tilt against your shoulder, which comes in handy in the kitchen or whenever both hands are occupied.

The IPX4 rating stands up well to sweat and rain, and the lighter profile (vis a vis the first gen) and soft rubbery coating make them comfortable through long hours of use. The flexy ear hooks鈥攐ne of the big attractions for any athlete鈥攁re extremely well designed, fitting each tester鈥檚 ears perfectly and not budging a millimeter during HIIT workouts. Even the new color palette is alluring, with new orange and purple options. All told, the Powerbeats Pro 2 represent the state of the art in active-user earbuds. As one tester reported, they 鈥渢ransition seamlessly from workout to travel to urban navigation.鈥�

Best for Audiophiles

Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 In-Ear True Wireless Earbuds

Pros and Cons
鈯�听Pristine sound quality
鈯�听Non-frustrating touch controls
鈯�听Not cheap

鈥淭he most audiophile worthy of all the earbuds I鈥檝e tested,鈥� one of our veteran reviewers gushed after a month with the Pi8s. Through hours of listening sessions on planes, on trails, on couches, and on city sidewalks, this was the pair that invariably impressed everyone on our test team, with their 鈥渋ncredibly balanced and musical鈥� sound quality.

The $400 price鈥�$150 above Apple鈥檚 ubiquitous AirPod Pros and $100 north of the Bose QuietComfort Ultras鈥攎eans you have to be serious about your music, and about taking good care of them. They鈥檙e IP54-rated, able to handle sweat and a misty rain, but are not the pair you want to bring to the gym each day. While the four sizes of ear tips help them sit pretty securely and comfortably, they will fall out on occasion. All the same, we won鈥檛 discourage you from ever bringing them on a run on a sunny day, where their high-fidelity clarity is sure to put a little more oomph in your step.

The active noise cancellation on the Pi8s is excellent, similar to that on the Bose QCII, with touch controls for toggling between on, off, and transparency mode. The touch controls work better than in most earbuds we鈥檝e seen, with a satisfying light noise that鈥檚 akin to a mouse click. We also love the pearlescent finish on the outer surface of the Pi8s, which come in four colors. A robust companion app lets you turn off the touch controls and has a five-band equalizer so you can tweak the sound profile to your liking. Battery life here is an average 6.5 hours, and the charging case holds two additional charges (13.5 hours).

Another nice feature is something called retransmission. This allows you to use the included USB-C-to-3.5mm cord to plug the unit鈥檚 charging case into an external device like an in-flight entertainment system and the case will send the signal into the buds, so you鈥檙e not stuck listening on that plastic-wrapped pair the flight attendants hand out with the peanuts.

One reviewer reported, 鈥淚 listened to an album with two double basses鈥�’But Who鈥檚 Gonna Play the Melody?’ by Christian McBride and Edgar Meyer鈥攁nd I could hear their fingers and the pull of the bow on the strings in ways I hadn鈥檛 before.鈥� That鈥檚 a good example of what makes these shine like few have before them.

Best for Runners

Shokz OpenFit2

Pros and Cons
鈯� Great volume despite open-ear design
鈯�听Long battery life
鈯�听Sound not as rich as high-end models
鈯�听Might not fit large ears

鈥淪o comfortable, I forgot I was wearing them,鈥� said one fan of the latest release from Shokz. This, and the smart minimalist design of the ear hooks, made them our favorite trail companions this year鈥攐n both shorter runs and longer hikes. And they鈥檙e another entry in the fast-improving open-ear category.

One distance runner in our test group said, 鈥淭hese are my new favorite for running: no distracting foot-thudding sounds resonating through an earbud, no whooshy wind sounds, and full awareness of the aggro downhill bro bombing up behind you.鈥�

The soft rubber on the ear hooks, combined with the open design, make them one of the most comfortable to wear for long hours鈥攁nd the OpenFit 2 will play for up to 11 hours per charge and 48 hours from the charging case.

It鈥檚 clear that Shokz put a lot of thought into this model. The handy companion app allows you to equalize treble and bass or customize the controls鈥攂oth push-button and touch can be turned on or off. Where the Bose Ultra has one speaker, this one comes with a pair of speakers that get more volume into your ears, making them louder than Bose, if a touch less refined. Like the Bose Ultra (see below), they have multipoint pairing so you can switch between devices with a single push or tap.

IP55 water resistance is a notch higher than most models here, keeping water and dust at bay. And the nicely compact case and overall superlight package make them even more appealing for runners with limited pocket space.

Best Open Ear

Bose Ultra Open Earbuds

Pros and Cons
鈯�听Deceptively rich sound
鈯�听Impressive companion app
鈯�听Microphones were subpar
鈯�听Bass is underwhelming

When I first saw this newfangled design鈥攁 mini speaker held in place by clamping around the side of your ear 鈥擨 didn鈥檛 know what the Bose people were thinking. Is this an earbud or jewelry? Turns out, they put plenty of thought into these surprisingly powerful earbuds. The Ultra Open Ears, small and featherlight as they are, somehow grab onto your ear and stay there even in high-impact sprints or multi-position yoga鈥攁ll while churning out the dynamic blend of sound you鈥檇 expect from Bose.

For audiophiles, the ongoing problem with open designs has been inadequate volume reaching our eardrums鈥攚e鈥檝e enjoyed them for podcasts, but for music, not so much. By shifting the design, Bose has managed to get the speaker a bit closer to the ear canal, while also leaving an ample gap for ambient sounds to get in. Which, of course, is the whole idea: enjoy your audio while also hearing that tourist on an e-bike coming up from behind.

Bose鈥檚 excellent app goes a long way toward making this possible. An easy-to-adjust equalizer lets you dial in the bass, mids, and treble to your exact preferences. The app also has an Immersive Audio setting that shifts the sound profile from left to right as your head moves around so it feels like the sound is coming from the same source the whole time. One tester called it 鈥渄ownright supernatural, making music sound like it鈥檚 coming from a speaker somewhere around you.鈥�

The IPX4 rating gives it good water resistance, and the seven-hour battery life (total of 48 in the case) is good (although immersive mode will reduce this). (If you’re looking for longer battery life in an open-ear model, consider the , which goes for 12 hours per charge.)

For runs, walks, and bike rides, testers found the extra awareness of their surroundings worth the trade-off in volume, which probably isn鈥檛 the best thing for your ears in the first place. Open designs will never provide the same fullness for music-philes as in-ear, but nothing before this has come so close.

鈥淓ven my wife, who is allergic to trendy tech, was won over,鈥� said one user.

Killer Value

Back Bay FirstClass 50

听

Pros and Cons
鈯�听Excellent noise canceling
鈯�听Robust sound quality
鈯�听Slipped out of some users鈥� ears
鈯�听Touch controls aren鈥檛 the most intuitive

鈥淪eriously: $40,鈥� said our Aspen-based tester. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 less than a hamburger in this town.鈥� While we don鈥檛 envy those restaurant prices, we all concurred that the Back Bay FirstClass 50 is one of the best sport earbuds for the price.

Boston-based Back Bay has created something like a day-for-night version of Apple鈥檚 AirPods: similar size and shape but in black, and with sound quality that comes eerily close to that perennially pricey fave. Since Back Bay cuts out a lot of costs by selling straight to consumers, their quality products鈥攁ll certified carbon-neutral, to boot鈥攄on鈥檛 bear any of the marks of cheapness, unlike many similarly priced items.

Even at the bargain price, they deliver excellent sound quality and also offer active noise canceling. Seriously: One itinerant tester said, 鈥淪itting in the noisiest seat on the aircraft鈥攁ft of the wing, and in front of two worked-up toddlers鈥擨 could make it all disappear with a click.鈥� The company claims these earbuds block 97% of noise. We鈥檙e not sure how that鈥檚 possible, but they do the job as well as almost anything we鈥檝e put to the test for a fraction of the price.

While battery life is an average five hours per charge (with 25 hours overall in the case), they offer a 15-minute quick charge to add two hours of playtime. The IPX5 water protection keeps them going in a storm, and while the fit isn鈥檛 as secure as others in this review, they one-up AirPods in this regard by adding rubber tips to help them stay secure.

Best for Water

H2O Audio TRI 2 Pro

Pros and Cons
鈯�听Totally waterproof
鈯�听Onboard memory
鈯�听Song transfer is slow
鈯�听Can cause tickling

Have you harbored dreams of funneling techno into your auditory nerve while windsurfing on San Francisco Bay, then voice-commanding to switch over to an incoming business call? One member of our review crew put three models of waterproof earbuds through this very test and, while the process stands to be improved through future innovations, it worked fairly well, with the TRI 2 Pro coming out on top.

H2O Audio has been selling good products for swimmers and the like for years. It takes a special approach, not least because they need to be IPX8, able to go 12 feet underwater for as long as you want them to鈥攍ike this model can. And, of course, a Bluetooth signal won鈥檛 travel under the waves with you, so tracks need to be stored locally, either on a waterproof MP3 player or an even better solution, like this unit鈥檚 8GB of onboard memory that can store 130 hours of tracks. (It can move your own mp3 files over or 鈥渞ecord鈥� music from a streaming service like Spotify, though this is a slow process.)

The TRI 2 Pros employ bone conduction technology, which makes them great for podcasts while out on a run or bike ride, but a little less ideal when trying to rock out in said open-air activities: Then they can start to tickle. Still, H2O Audio and other companies are making these units sound better every year. And it鈥檚 underwater that they really shine: When you use the included earplugs to neutralize the water noise in your ears, it鈥檚 surprising how smooth music sounds, and at much more moderate volumes. They鈥檙e a minor godsend for lap swimmers, snorkelers, and triathletes (presumably the core audience for the Tri line) who like to enhance their life aquatic by playing their favorite symphony or devouring an audiobook. The headset will play for up to nine hours in Bluetooth mode and six hours in memory mode and comes with a zip case (which is rather bulky) that provides two and a half refills.

Back to our windsurfer: The TRI 2 Pro worked under a helmet (and this success was replicated on the ski slopes), which also secured them in the event of a fall. Playing tunes when the wind was low was enjoyable, but in high wind it was a challenge: 鈥淚 could hear the music, but the output of the headphones had to compete with the roar of wind in my ear canals. It鈥檚 simply a matter of physics.鈥� This also meant the tester鈥檚 hopes of 鈥渢urning sales meetings into sails meetings鈥� by joining conference calls were largely dashed. Listening worked fine, but the microphone couldn鈥檛 pick up his voice from deep inside his helmet. Maybe one day.

Most Innovative

Denon PerL True Wireless Earbuds

Pros and Cons
鈯�听Rich, dynamic sound
鈯�听Impressive app
鈯�听Customizable sound profile
鈯�听Chunky size

鈥淓ach product is hand-tuned by our sound master,鈥� Denon says of the PerLs, and while we don鈥檛 know exactly what that means, it speaks to the Japanese DNA in these premium-sounding buds. Take the accompanying software, for instance: The first thing you do with these wireless buds is download an app that streams a series of sounds and frequencies into your ears to measure how you hear, then creates a personalized profile that transforms how good music sounds. It鈥檚 one of the best uses of a headphone app we鈥檝e seen.

The PerLs came across as lively but not piercing on the high end, with realism and verve. There鈥檚 even a high-gain option on the app that boosts volume for quiet recordings, which one tester called 鈥渁 welcome feature that I would love to see in a lot of sometimes anemic Bluetooth earbuds.鈥� These capabilities are made possible by a series of ultra-sensitive microphones, which probably explains their rather enormous size鈥攐ne reviewer called them 鈥渟harp-edged Alka-Seltzer tablet earbud bodies鈥� and noted, 鈥淚 had to remove the supplied fin attachment before these felt okay.鈥�

Others liked the fit and found them great for running, where they kept the adrenaline flowing with some of the best full-on rocking-out sound in the test. 鈥淪t. Vincent and Spoon sounded like I was listening to vinyl,鈥� one tester said. The active noise cancellation is decent, the six hours of battery is average (with two more charges from the case), and an IPX4 rating means they can handle a light rain. Given the quality and attention to detail, we consider these a true bargain at $139 or less.

The Hottest Trend in Sport Earbuds

This year, for the first time in our testing history, open earbud models outnumbered traditional in-ear ones among our test candidates. The open design allows you to hear far more of what鈥檚 going on around you, and I鈥檝e been slow to take a liking to them. There鈥檚 no doubt that they make a lot of sense for people who run along the roadside or, even more so, cyclists who go anywhere near cars鈥攇enerally a very bad time to be canceling the noise around you.

Since I live in the desert and rarely pass another living soul on the trails, I don鈥檛 prioritize hearing what鈥檚 going on around me, and open earbuds will always be challenged to sound as good, or as loud, when they鈥檙e handicapped by having to reach your hearing by alternative methods. So for music, they鈥檙e not my favorite; for the spoken word, I鈥檝e learned to appreciate them.

During this year鈥檚 tests, one of my fellow reviewers said he liked how the open design allowed him to hear not just passing cars but songbirds. Which sent me into a brief panic: Am I missing all the birdsongs? Sadly, there aren鈥檛 a lot of birds on my trail, but this summer when I鈥檓 hiking above 10,000 feet and the dark-eyed juncos are chirping in the high branches, I鈥檒l be putting that theory to the test.

Open earbuds work in one of two ways: either with the transmitter positioned near your ear canal but not in it (the , a previous winner, is a prime example) or through bone conduction (found in the , named Best for Water this season), which bypasses your eardrum, sending sound directly to your inner ear by way of your skull bones. More recently, a new design has popped up, which I refer to as the clip-on earring style: these fall into the first category but use a more diminutive design that grabs onto the lower part of your ear. The that won the category this summer is one example, but lower-priced models from and use the same concept, all with good results鈥攎eaning they manage to get enough clear sound into my ears that I enjoy hearing music on them.

In the meantime, many closed-ear models these days (see ) let you employ a transparency (or awareness) mode that enhances ambient sound. This can be a nice in-between solution if your need for awareness isn鈥檛 so much life-and-death as it is a courtesy to the runner or biker 鈥渙n your left.鈥�

How to Choose Earbuds

Earbuds are more like shoes than most other gear categories: so much depends on the right fit. What comfortably fits one person鈥檚 ears may not suit another鈥檚, and there鈥檚 more to it than size. The internal anatomy of the ear makes certain designs actually sound better to one person than the next. If you can鈥檛 try them out at a store or borrow them from a friend, it may be best to buy them from a retailer with a good return policy. Once you have them in hand, do some real-world tests with the different tip sizes, and trade them in if you aren鈥檛 in love.

If you want to get serious about the perfect fit, consider aftermarket foam eartips, like听. In addition to helping with a more secure fit, they provide passive noise isolation, which can improve the experience with both ANC-equipped and ANC-less earbuds. Should fit issues persist, consider a model with behind-the-ear hooks like the听.

Also give some thought to which features do it for you: Some people like sleek touch controls, others prefer old-school push buttons; some like to tap for quick pausing, others would rather forgo that feature and pull out one bud to ask for directions, so as to avoid the annoyance of unwanted pauses every time your fingers go near them. And if you live in a rainy climate, be sure to choose ones with an听听ending in 4 or higher (as all the models here do).

Finally, be aware that there are more specialized designs emerging and getting better each year鈥搇ike these earbuds for听, and others for .

Also see: How to Clean Your Earbuds

How We Test Sport Earbuds

• Hours of Testing:听419
• Test Environments:听Running, hiking, dog walking, cycling, windsurfing, swimming, skiing, rock climbing, HIIT workouts, plane rides, gardening, shoveling gravel, grocery shopping, making dinner, car camping, conference calls, video calls, video streaming, noisy coffee shops
• Highest Elevation:听10,152 feet, Leadville, Colorado
• Lowest Elevation:听5 feet underwater in Lake Pleasant, Arizona
• Most Listened-To Tracks:听Bon Iver: 鈥淒ijon,鈥� Charli xcx featuring BB Tricks: 鈥淐lub Classics,鈥� Childish Gambino: 鈥淟ithonia,鈥� Drugdealer and Kim Bollinger: 鈥淧ictures of You,鈥� Flock of Dimes: 鈥淒ay One,鈥� Fontaines D.C.: 鈥淔avourite,鈥� J Dilla: 鈥淲orkinonit,鈥� Kenya Grace: 鈥淪trangers,鈥� The Hold Steady: 鈥淪tuck Between Stations,鈥� Magdalena Bay: 鈥淚mage,鈥� Prince: 鈥淓lectric Chair,鈥� Puentes: 鈥淎mor y Unidad,鈥� Kathleen Smith: 鈥淚 Can See for Miles,鈥� Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross: 鈥淐hallengers鈥�

The first thing we do with any earbuds, headphones, or speakers is attempt to pair them with our phones without consulting the user manual: the quicker, more intuitive, and easier the Bluetooth setup, the more points scored. Then we put them through rigorous hours of testing doing the kinds of things听国产吃瓜黑料听readers do鈥攆rom dog walks to HIIT workouts, from fireside listening to our day jobs, which for one of us is at the local woodworking shop. Our testers, who range in location from Alaska to Berkeley to Aspen to Santa Fe to New York City, spent hours in them, bouncing up and down on trails, treadmills, and trains.

Our team turns in reports on each product tested, providing a score from 1 to 10 for five different measures: sound quality, pairing and connectivity, fit and comfort, rain and drop protection, and user friendliness. Scores are averaged, with more weight given to sound quality and (knowing our audience) how well they stand up to the elements. Note: Battery life estimates in these reviews are based on manufacturer specs; it鈥檚 difficult to confirm those numbers, given the time involved and variances among user habits (different volumes, different uses, different functions enabled). Actual results may be 10 to 20 percent lower, judging from averages experienced in general testing.

Meet Our Lead Tester

Will Palmer has been testing gear for 21 years for 国产吃瓜黑料, where he was managing editor and copy chief for nine years. Based in Santa Fe, he has been a runner since 1984, and while the mile counts have decreased over the years, he鈥檚 kept motivated to head out the door on the hottest, coldest, and wettest days by the opportunity to test the best new products鈥攁nd to commune with the junipers and pi帽ons.

The post The 7 Best Sport Earbuds (Summer 2025) appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

On a brisk weekday in October 2023, three sewing machines hummed while experimental indie pop played quietly inside a warehouse near the airport in Missoula, Montana. Three sewers had their heads down, assembling eggplant-colored jumpsuits, as Mallory Ottariano, the 34-year-old founder of the women鈥檚 outdoor clothing brand , squinted into a dizzying spreadsheet. The Youniverse鈥攚hat Ottariano, a queen of puns, calls the factory she opened just eight months earlier鈥攕melled like the sugary candle that had been burning that morning, and soon it would be fragrant with garlic.

鈥淲hat kind of pizza do you guys like? Or not like?鈥� Ottariano shouted from the lofted office that a handy friend helped her build. Staring at numbers was making her hungry.

鈥淣o olives!鈥� one of the sewers shouted between stitches.

鈥淎ny meat?鈥� Ottariano asked.

鈥淚 like pepperoni,鈥� said another.

You couldn鈥檛 tell from the employees鈥� nonchalance, but Youer was in the middle of its latest supply-chain crisis. Actually, two. First, it couldn鈥檛 find a specific purple thread in all of the U.S. to sew together 300 pairs of leggings, 30 of which had already sold to customers eagerly awaiting their arrival. Any other color would look weird, and dyeing was too expensive. Second, inventory slated to be ready in a month for a Black Friday drop wasn鈥檛 even underway at a contract factory in Los Angeles, California. Unless Ottariano found a fix fast, Youer鈥檚 customers would be disappointed, if not angry.

Since Ottariano started out back in 2012 with a $100 sewing machine from eBay, her brand has amassed a fanatical following among active women. Signature garments like the best-selling ($179) and stretchy Get After It skort ($94) sell out quickly. The vibrant prints are hand-designed and cheekily named by Ottariano, like a floral pattern called OK Bloomer.

Prodded about her stress levels, Ottariano shrugged as if to say, What鈥檚 new?听After all she鈥檚 been through鈥攊ncluding contemplating bankruptcy following losses in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to unreliable factories in 2020鈥攏ot many setbacks phase her anymore.

鈥淚鈥檝e proven to myself that we can figure it out,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not really fun, but I think that鈥檚 just the reality of business. If I want to stay in this industry, that鈥檚 going to happen all the damn time.鈥�

It鈥檚 especially the reality for small outdoor businesses like Youer that have chosen to manufacture domestically despite countless challenges such as higher costs, fewer resources, more regulation, and now potential new tariffs proposed by President Donald Trump on U.S. imports from China, Canada, and Mexico.

These obstacles pose such a threat to small businesses that doubt lingers: Is having more control, greater transparency, and better ethics by manufacturing in the U.S. worth it? And do American consumers care enough about those things to keep the few American-made gear brands alive?

The post How鈥檚 a Small, Made-in-the-USA Company to Survive These Days? appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

I should be wrecked.

It鈥檚 my first full day in South Africa after a brutal 33-hour journey from my home in Bend, Oregon. I woke at 3:15 A.M. to catch the first of three flights to Johannesburg, crossed nine time zones in economy class, and finally fell into bed at 9 P.M. Typically, my jet lag for such a long-haul trip lasts for days.

Strangely, though, I feel great. I have no brain fog. I鈥檓 not dizzy or cold or getting any odd-hour cravings. And I鈥檓 alert; in fact, fighting my way through Joberg鈥檚 frenetic traffic while driving on the left side of the road in a stick-shift rental isn鈥檛 even stressful. As a travel writer who鈥檚 logged about a million miles flying across every timezone on earth over the past 25 years, this state of normalcy has me dumbstruck. No jet lag? How can this be?

Unlike other globe-trotting trips, this time I used , a $99 jet lag鈥揵usting system that five years ago was only available to elite military personnel and a few top business executives. Now anyone can buy it online.

FlyKitt had me taking dietary supplements every few hours, drinking caffeinated, sugary beverages at specific times, and wearing blue-light-filtering glasses at others. The supplements, grouped in blister packs, have simplified names like 鈥減rotect鈥� (instead of vitamin C with tart-cherry powder) and 鈥渕ellow鈥� (instead of magnesium with melatonin). Also key is its app, which queried me about my regular sleep habits and upcoming flights before producing a schedule that told me when to take which pill, when to eat and drink, when to sleep, and when to wear the glasses. The app can detect if flights are delayed and recalculate the schedule instantly.

The regimen began shortly after my alarm went off, when the app told me to eat a high-protein, low-carbohydrate meal and pop two 鈥減rotect鈥� pills and one 鈥渟ustain鈥� pill (a mix of omega-3 fatty acids and fish oil). It听ended 45 hours and 26 pills later. And because the kit comes with enough supplements and drink mixes for two trips, I鈥檒l follow a similar routine when I fly home.

I鈥檇 heard about FlyKitt from an 国产吃瓜黑料 editor, who thought I鈥檇 be a good guinea pig to test its legitimacy, given how much I travel. I was skeptical. Having researched other jet lag remedies before鈥攍ike fasting and eating a hearty breakfast鈥擨 knew most are . Science that light (and avoiding light) and, to a lesser extent, melatonin, are the only things that shift your internal clock.

But in South Africa, feeling great, I鈥檓 flabbergasted. FlyKitt鈥檚 results are mind-bending. I want to know why it works, when no verified research out there yet supports key parts of it. My curiosity turns into a monthslong quest for answers.

A Brief History of FlyKitt and Jet-Lag Research

FlyKitt is the flagship product of the Los Angeles鈥揵ased company 听(which is in the process of rebranding itself as FlyKitt.) A biotech start-up, it has evolved from offering customized coaching and wellness plans for people in high-stress jobs鈥攕uch as CEOs and national security workers鈥攖o developing health and human-performance products.

The company was founded by Andrew Herr, a former researcher for the Pentagon who holds graduate degrees from Georgetown University in health physics, microbiology and immunology, and national-security policy. The company鈥檚 chief technology officer, Clayton Kim, studied neuroscience and economics at Brown, where he conducted sleep research in the lab directed by Mary Carskadon, one of the country鈥檚 preeminent sleep researchers. According to Herr and Kim, FlyKitt solves jet lag for 93 percent of their customers.

FlyKitt鈥檚 work builds upon a considerable body of sleep research that dates back to at least , when scientists at the University of Chicago spent six weeks living in a cave in Kentucky and discovered that humans have internal circadian rhythms. (I once spent 82 hours in total darkness during a cave retreat and my own rhythm fell apart). In 1931, American aviator Wiley Post flew around the world in eight days and described what we now call jet lag, though that term didn鈥檛 appear until around 1966 during the golden age of air travel.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no such thing as ship lag,鈥� says Steven Lockley, a circadian-rhythm scientist, professor, and creator of the app , a FlyKitt competitor that uses tested scientific research and information from peer-reviewed papers听to help travelers overcome jet lag by dictating when you should get light and when you should avoid it. I鈥檝e tried Timeshifter multiple times, too, once while jumping 11 time zones between Oregon and Azerbaijan, and had only slight jet-lag-induced wooziness for a day. It is much cheaper than FlyKitt鈥�$25 a year for unlimited trips or $10 for a single trip鈥攂ut you must begin the regimen of timed light exposure a few days before your trip.

What Is Jet Lag? And How Do Long-Haul Flights Affect the Body?

Jet lag is easy to explain. Crossing longitudes quickly leaves our internal clock鈥攐therwise known as our circadian rhythm鈥攁nd the actual clock at our destination misaligned. What鈥檚 extraordinary is how our bodies naturally adapt. This evolutionary gift lets us adjust to seasonal changes in daylight so we can function our best during the day and rest properly at night. Our internal clock is wired to predict how much daylight we’ll have tomorrow, which, eons ago, was crucial to human survival鈥攊t ensured we were awake at the right time and rested enough to find a mate, gather food, and avoid being eaten.

Since we鈥檝e only evolved to shift our body clocks by a few minutes each day, however, travel throws that bodily forecast off, and we suffer from jet lag. It鈥檚 a delicate system, so delicate that you don鈥檛 actually have to travel to throw a wrench into the works. Monday doesn鈥檛 suck just because it鈥檚 Monday; if you stay out too late on Friday and wake up too late on Saturday, you can suffer from 鈥渟ocial jet lag鈥� come Monday morning, even if you slept well on Sunday and were never hungover. Lockley calls that type of non-traveling jet lag 鈥渨obble.鈥�

Circadian systems run roughly on 24-hour cycles, but each person is different. People who have shorter circadian rhythms tend to be early birds and generally have an easier time traveling east. People with longer circadian rhythms tend to be night owls and have an easier time traveling west.

Circadian 鈥渞hythm鈥� is misleading, because it鈥檚 actually many rhythms. Our lungs, heart, kidneys, immune system, digestive system, brain, skin, and likely every cell have their own cycles of productivity and rest. That鈥檚 one reason why 听in the morning and why people who and spend long periods of time 鈥渄esynchronized鈥� tend to be at a , , and . Our bodies simply don鈥檛 function as well when our internal clocks aren鈥檛 in sync with the ones on our wrists. One study suggested that the only organ possibly exempt from this cycle is the testicle. (The boys must always be ready.)

Each organ鈥檚 鈥減eripheral clock鈥� follows one central clock, a collection of cells in your brain鈥檚 hypothalamus called the suprachiasmatic nucleus. 鈥淭hink of the SCN as the conductor of an orchestra,鈥� Lockley says, 鈥渁nd the peripheral clocks as the players.鈥� The SCN takes its cues from retina cells that contain a special pigment called melanopsin, which can sense changes in light, especially cyan鈥攁 key color in daylight and the reason why staring at the blue light emitting from your phone before bed can affect your sleep.

To shift your central internal clock and beat jet lag, then, all of your clocks must shift, a process that takes about one day per hour of time change. A light-dark cycle registered through your eyes is key to making that shift. You can speed that process up by manipulating that cycle and using melatonin. Says Lockley: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the only thing to have ever been shown to shift the clock.鈥�

The FlyKitt Solution to Jet Lag

None of this was new to Herr. 鈥淲henever you look at performance in the military, the circadian rhythm is huge,鈥� he told me. 鈥淪oldiers don鈥檛 get a lot of sleep, and they need to perform well at night.鈥�

His research went deeper than that. During his years working with the military, Herr sought ways to help SEALs endure extreme conditions鈥攍ike riding for hours underwater in exposed submersibles鈥攁nd emerge ready to fight. He also worked with fighter pilots who felt inexplicably foggy after flying at high elevations. Both led him to understand how changes in pressure and available oxygen levels were causing inflammation throughout the body that hindered performance.

Herr鈥檚 knowledge came into play later, after founding Fount as a high-end coaching and supplement service. One of his clients, a senior executive, was flying from Washington, D.C., to Seoul to close a business deal, and the South Koreans seemed to have purposely scheduled meetings for a day and time when the executive would be struggling with jet lag. 鈥淭hey were using jet lag as a negotiating tool,鈥� Herr says. The client asked Herr if there was anything he could do to help him feel rested enough to keep from getting crushed.

Herr had a hunch. What if beating jet lag wasn鈥檛 just a circadian-rhythm problem but also an inflammation problem? He knew that commercial airlines don鈥檛 pressurize cabins to sea level鈥攊t鈥檚 too costly and stresses the hull鈥攂ut to 5,000 to 8,000 feet. For a person living in New York or Los Angeles, take-off is like being transported instantly to the elevation of Santa Fe, New Mexico, at 7,200 feet, where each breath yields about 16 percent less oxygen. 鈥淒epressurization is stressful on your body,鈥� says Kim.

听People who have shorter circadian rhythms tend to be early birds and generally have an easier time traveling east. People with longer circadian rhythms tend to be night owls and have an easier time traveling west.

So Herr created a new plan. He delineated听when and what the executive should eat, and how and when he should manage light by using blue-light-filtering glasses. He also gave his client supplements tailored to tackle inflammation specific to flying. Herr听incorporated compounds like tart-cherry powder, vitamin C, and omega-3 fatty acids, as well as methylated B vitamins听to help boost energy and aid neurological functions. He included small doses of melatonin, to offer the body鈥檚 peripheral clocks time cues (called zeitgebers) on whether it was day or night. He asked the client to eat small, protein-rich meals to manage fuel for the brain and to听consume caffeine with 13.5 grams of sugar at specified times to create managed spikes in insulin that served as more zeitgebers.

Herr thought, If I could just tamp down the inflammation, tweak the central clock, and wrap it all up in a light-dark routine with enough napping, this client might arrive in South Korea able to function well but also sleepy enough at the right time to get听a good night鈥檚 rest. He could wake up and have his meeting with little to no issues.

It worked. The client emailed Herr the next day and said, 鈥淚 slept all night, I feel fantastic! What the hell did you give me?鈥�

Over the next five years or so, Herr fine-tuned the regimen, bringing Kim on to create an algorithm and eventually teaming up with a supplement manufacturer to craft custom supplements at scale. The overarching idea has remained the same. 鈥淥ther methods require you to sort of 鈥榩repay鈥� and begin shifting your clock days before you leave,鈥� Kim says. 鈥淲e wanted to create something that you could do entirely while you鈥檙e in transit.鈥�

Why I鈥檓 Convinced FlyKitt Is Legit

Fount has raised $14 million in venture-backed capital. And dozens of Olympians and professional sports teams have used FlyKitt, including the U.S. national men鈥檚 soccer squad during the last World Cup, Herr says. Even so, looking over the supplements before my departure, I wondered how safe the whole system might be. For my trip to South Africa, FlyKitt had me taking more than 800 times the recommended daily allowance of vitamin B12鈥攁 move designed, in part, to provide energy and prevent sleep. Curious, I reached out to two doctor friends, both of whom told me that the amount raised no red flags, assuming I didn鈥檛 consume that quantity every day. Doctors often prescribe that much vitamin B to people with malabsorption issues, one told me.

Dr. Stephan Pasiakos, director of the National Institutes of Health鈥檚 Office of Dietary Supplements, also wasn鈥檛 worried about FlyKitt鈥檚 cocktail of pills. 鈥淲hile not commenting on the product per se, and assuming none of the ingredients mentioned exceed recommended intakes, there are no health concerns in taking these together over a relatively short period of time for healthy adults,鈥澨齢e wrote me via email.

FlyKitt has never undergone a clinical trial, but Herr hopes the military will fund one before too long. He also acknowledges that the link between jet lag and inflammation is a 鈥渘ew discovery鈥� that existing science does not yet back. 鈥淏ut I can rebuke that science with results, which is science,鈥� he says, adding that FlyKitt鈥檚 results are based on thousands of test cases. 鈥淚t鈥檚 possible we are right for the wrong reason but we are, nonetheless, right.鈥� The company also offers a money-back guarantee. 鈥淲e do not get taken up on that very often.鈥�

Late on my second day in South Africa, I begin to feel jet lag鈥檚 familiar wooziness seep into my head after returning from a short hike. But the symptom disappears as fast as it came on, after about 15 minutes. Following my return trip to Oregon, I experienced no jet lag at all. Still suspicious, I tried FlyKitt on a third trip, this one with 21 hours of travel, also across nine time zones, to Norway. Once again, zero jet lag.

On that return trip, I decide not to use FlyKitt. Huge mistake. I鈥檓 crushed for days鈥攆oggy-headed, cold, and so sleepy that I struggle to keep my eyes open until 6:45 P.M., only to awake at 2 A.M. A week later, I鈥檓 mostly back to normal. I run all of this by Lockley, who is a competitor, yes, but also impeccably qualified to weigh in. He鈥檚 unconvinced FlyKitt is a viable solution for jet lag. 鈥淢aybe you got lucky,鈥� he says.听鈥淢aybe your flights were timed just right for avoiding light and dark. Placebo is also a thing.鈥�

Without a clinical trial, Herr himself can鈥檛 be entirely sure why it works, but he鈥檚 certain that it does.

鈥淥ccasionally, I ask myself, Did we really solve jet lag?鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut then I look at the results and can鈥檛 help but conclude that we did for the vast majority of people.鈥�

Contributing editor Tim Neville is a night owl who can fall asleep almost anywhere at any time. In fact, he can鈥檛 remember the last time he was awake for take-off. He recently wrote an Outside story about the best听travel hacks听and a feature about the world鈥檚 most traveled people.

The post I Had My Doubts About FlyKitt. But It鈥檚 Proven Itself Time and Again on My Overseas Trips. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

For decades, American alpinist Kitty Calhoun made a name topping out on some of the world鈥檚 highest peaks, including the West Pillar of 27,766-foot Makalu in the Himalayas. But what stayed with her more than any summit view were the alarming effects of climate change.

At such elevations, she often noticed melting ice, a hindrance to her ascents. But in the high deserts of Utah, the repercussions were causing real daily struggles for those living on the Navajo Nation, something she became aware of while mentoring an Indigenous climber who鈥檇 grown up there.

For over a century, natural resources like oil, coal, and uranium extracted from Navajo land have powered the American West, yet approximately one-third of the Navajo Nation, roughly 13,500 families, live without power. That indignity on its own is hard to fathom, but climate change has also exacerbated the aridity and seasonal heat in this region, forcing families to endure more triple-digit days without respite.

With that in mind, last year Calhoun persuaded Utah-based Lion Energy to donate 35 solar-powered kits鈥攍unch-box-size generators that can be charged in as little as four hours鈥攁nd raised $32,500 to buy an additional 65 for families in one of the reservation鈥檚 most disadvantaged areas, remote Navajo Mountain. Equipped with 100-watt solar panels, a single kit can run a mini fridge for 16 hours, charge a laptop 11 times over, and last up to 20 years.

Calhoun then reached out to Norman Lameman, the Native founder of , a nonprofit devoted to preserving tribal values, to lead the distribution efforts. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to force kits on people,鈥� Calhoun says. 鈥淚f they were interested, Norman could explain how the technology worked in their language.鈥�

Angelo Baca, a Navajo-Hopi distance runner and filmmaker, and Sahar Khadjenoury, a Navajo-Persian producer and director, documented the project using a grant Calhoun received from Protect Our Winters for a film called Navajo Solar Sunrise.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important for us to take care of people. From an Indigenous perspective, the people are part of the land,鈥� Baca said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to step away from extractive resources鈥攐ur people are still dealing with the effects of uranium contamination on the reservation. And solar isn鈥檛 the end-all solution, but it鈥檚 an important first step.鈥�

In October of 2023, the trio traveled with Lameman to oversee installation and document the myriad ways the kits can improve lives. Families were able to run fans when temperatures soared and refrigerate food, medication, and breast milk. They could rely on electric blankets and small space heaters to keep them warm in winter, and access the internet to apply for jobs, government programs, and educational opportunities. They could charge their phones. Before the kits, Calhoun says, many residents relied on car batteries to power such necessities.

鈥淟iving simply should not mean living in poverty,鈥� she says.

To donate for more solar generators in the Four Corners region, click here.听

The post Many in This Navajo Community Didn鈥檛 Have Electricity. An Unlikely Foursome Collaborated to Make a Difference. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

The post You Don鈥檛 Need Fancy Anti-Theft Tech. You Just Need a Big Ol鈥� Bike Lock. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

I think of my old car sometimes when I drive by the Walmart Supercenter. The parking lot there was essentially the launch point of my first real long-distance road trip as an adult, spanning ten days and eight states in the late spring of 2004. We drove my 1996 Pontiac Grand Am GT, a car that my friend Nick announced had taught him that he would “never buy a two-door car.”

I didn鈥檛 keep a journal of the trip, but I believe Nick said that while standing in the Watchman Campground in Zion National Park, on maybe our eighth day of wrangling gear in and out of the car’s back seats. We couldn鈥檛 use the trunk because it was full of everything I could justify bringing from my grad school apartment in Missoula, Montana, to our terminus in Scottsdale, Arizona, where I was moving in with my then-girlfriend. We tried to keep what we needed in the backseat, and of course to access anything in the backseat, you had to fold the front seat down, lean in, and bend around the corner.

I believe this type of two-door design was, and maybe still is, referred to as a 鈥渃oupe,鈥� a word that is almost never paired with the word 鈥渁dventure,鈥� which is what we were trying to use the Grand Am for, and certainly not the word 鈥渄irtbag,鈥� which is the type of adventure we were trying to have.

We left Missoula about 10 days before Memorial Day. Nick bussed in via a Greyhound from somewhere in Iowa, an 18-hour ride he鈥檇 probably never do again.听 So a car, any car, a space he鈥檇 only have to share with one person, probably felt like an improvement.

I had gotten the car through my college roommate Chris, whose brother, Andy, had bought it at an auction, repaired the one thing that was wrong with it (someone had tried to steal the passenger-side airbag), and then sold it to me. There were a few reasons why it was not the ideal road trip car, some of which were my fault.

I had packed the trunk almost full by the time Nick added his stuff, and then attached a trunk-mount Yakima bike rack to haul an old Schwinn mountain bike all the way to Arizona, so if either of us wanted anything in the trunk, we had to remove the bike, pull off the bike rack, and then open the trunk. The bike and the rack, of course, fell off the back of the car multiple times on bumpy mountain roads, first on our way up and down to the Mt. Pilchuk trailhead outside of Seattle. The summit was in a cloud when we arrived at the end of our short, steep hike.

People sleep in all kinds of adventure vehicles鈥攐ld vans, new Sprinter vans, RVs, trucks with toppers, trucks with campers, station wagons, even in sedans in which the back seats fold down. The Grand Am鈥檚 seats did not fold down. And we couldn鈥檛 recline the front seats very far on account of all our stuff in the backseat. Still, we slept in the car twice, because we were young and durable, and had no other options, once next to the ocean somewhere near Aberdeen, Washington, and once near Barstow, California, where we鈥檇 driven after hiking up Half Dome and being unable to find a campsite anywhere near the park.

We camped almost all the other nights, except for a couple nights we spent on friends鈥� floors in Seattle and Bend. The trunk light somehow melted a hole in Nick鈥檚 Therm-a-Rest on the second-to-last day of the trip, so he slept rather uncomfortably on our last night in Mexican Hat, Utah. We鈥檇 walked into the ranger station at Natural Bridges National Monument late that afternoon and asked about campsites, and in an I-swear-this-actually-happened exchange that I鈥檝e written about elsewhere鈥攊t鈥檚 so dumb it sounds like I made it up鈥攖he ranger said, 鈥淵ou guys don鈥檛 want to camp here. You鈥檒l be done with this park in an hour. Tell you what: Are you intense?鈥�

I looked at Nick, kind of shrugged, and nodded. We were young, fairly fit, and maybe looked pretty intense, I guess. The ranger went on to tell us to head south to Valley of the Gods, the entirety of which was BLM land, and we could just pull off the road and camp anywhere we found a spot. We thanked him for the advice and left, and I was unlocking the car door in the parking lot by the time I realized what he鈥檇 actually said. Over the roof of the car, I said to Nick,

鈥淥h, he meant 鈥榠n tents,鈥� like are we camping in tents or do we have an RV.鈥�

鈥淵eah,鈥� Nick said, not understanding my confusion.

The low clearance of the Grand Am meant we didn鈥檛 get too far into Valley of the Gods before we chickened out and drove back to the paved highway, and spent the night in a paid campground behind a lodge in Mexican Hat. It was not that intense. The next day we drove through Monument Valley, checked out the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, and gave the car a well-earned rest in a visitor parking spot at my girlfriend鈥檚 apartment complex in Scottsdale, after the biggest adventure it would ever go on.

To be fair, I had not bought the car under any pretense of it being a 鈥渞oad trip vehicle鈥� or 鈥渁dventure vehicle.鈥� I bought it because it was a pretty good deal, from a trusted friend, and I was not very picky about cars. And I didn鈥檛 treat it that well鈥擨 bought it in 1999, if memory serves, and I have been sober since March 2002, but the period of time between was a bit rough on the car. The inoperable driver鈥檚-side window was my fault (rolling it down when it was iced over), as was whatever went wrong with the front right wheel (hit a curb at high velocity). The windshield had been shattered once (a friend tried to jump over the car as we were leaving a party; I eventually got it repaired), and the trunk-mount CD player had been smashed by a full beer keg that rolled into it (on the drive back to our party).

Still, it was what I had, and entering the job market in 2004 with a graduate degree in journalism, I wasn鈥檛 exactly ready for a down payment on a new BMW. Or any car, really. I worked for a year in the Phoenix area, and then moved to Denver, where the Grand Am was even less useful, because, you know, snow.

Luckily, Nick, who lived in Denver, had bought a 2004 Toyota Tacoma, and was willing to drive to Summit County ski resorts in the winter and mountain trailheads all summer. One winter day, though, I drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park to snowshoe, and met a guy my age who also happened to be from the Midwest. We chatted all the way back to the parking lot, and when I stopped behind the Grand Am, he asked, 鈥淚s this your car?鈥�

I said, 鈥淵eah. It鈥檚 kind of a Midwest car.鈥�

He said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of a meth car.鈥�

I wasn鈥檛 about to defend the Grand Am鈥檚 honor. I mean, its overall aesthetic didn鈥檛 exactly scream 鈥淣OT a meth car,鈥� but it also had never really let me down, at least not in a big way. And although we never drove my car to a trailhead if there was any sort of questionable dirt road involved, I thought of the day the previous summer that we had taken Nick鈥檚 Tacoma to climb Grays and Torreys peaks. The road to the trailhead was rough with bumps, holes, and big exposed rocks, and I was glad Nick had volunteered to drive his truck.

But then, about a half-mile from the trailhead, the Jeep in front of us slowed, and in front of the Jeep was someone in a Honda Civic negotiating a very tricky-for-a-sedan spot in the road, backing up, re-orienting, pulling forward, backing up again, and then sending it, with nary a scrape. The Civic made it to the trailhead just fine. I lived in Colorado off and on for 15 years, and I learned that whenever you think that a Forest Service road is impassable by anyone without high clearance and 4-wheel-drive, you鈥檒l always see that someone made it up to the parking area in a goddamn Honda Civic.

The Grand Am survived our 10-day, eight-state road trip, and saw its share of national parks and quite a few Forest Service roads, but it was never my first choice if anyone else was willing to drive their vehicle for a day of hiking or skiing. One night in February 2006, I was cruising up Josephine Street in Denver with my then-girlfriend, and a guy floored it from a stop sign on 5th Avenue, not seeing us until his car bulldozed into the front passenger side of the Grand Am at full speed. We rammed into a light pole on the street corner, hard enough to bend it, but not hard enough to knock it over. Just after we came to a stop, I looked over to my girlfriend and asked, 鈥淎re you OK?鈥� She answered yes, she thought she was OK. A few seconds later, I quietly but excitedly said, 鈥淚 think the car鈥檚 totaled.鈥� The car鈥檚 destruction, of course, being the only way I would be able to replace it, with my $25,000/year salary at the newspaper. As soon as the insurance money came, I found an all-wheel-drive 1996 Subaru Impreza Outback on Craigslist. I figured it could take me anywhere I wanted to go, and it did.

The Grand Am was a bad fit for the lifestyle I wanted at the time鈥擨 was chomping at the bit to see the world, and the world I wanted to see didn鈥檛 have smooth roads leading to it. It was a piece of gear that didn鈥檛 work that well. But when I was first starting out, none of the stuff I had was very good鈥攃otton pants, clunky hiking boots, bargain backpacks that didn鈥檛 fit, a heavy sleeping bag, the cheapest climbing shoes I could find, thrift-store snowboard pants.

Would some better gear have been nice? Sure. But I鈥檓 glad I didn鈥檛 let it keep me from getting out there.

The post An Ode to the Worst 国产吃瓜黑料 Car鈥攁nd All the Places It Took Me appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Josh Drinkard always wanted to build his own cabin. Growing up in suburban New Jersey, he鈥檇 wander to a small strip of woods near his childhood home and spend hours constructing forts and treehouses. When he moved to New Mexico as an adult, Drinkard, the IT Operations Manager at 国产吃瓜黑料 Inc., bought 2.5 acres of land in the mountain village of Truchas, about 30 miles north of Santa Fe. There, he took on his first effort at building a very simple cabin with the help of a friend who was an unlicensed contractor and taught Drinkard framing and building basics.

In 2021, Drinkard and his wife, Saraswati Khalsa, started looking at New England as a place to move once their three children were grown. After scouting around, they settled on 25 terraced, hardwood-filled acres near Halifax, Vermont, not far from the Massachusetts border.

Over the past three years, Drinkard has spent vacations building a cabin near Halifax, with the help of his wife, teenage son, and one of his daughters. After a cumulative seven weeks of effort, they can now stay there for long periods, although it still lacks internet service, a shower, and a toilet.

Learning the ins and outs of building a small log cabin in the woods is no small feat. We asked Drinkard to talk about what the project entailed and what skills are required to turn a cabin-building dream into a reality. This is what he learned.

How Big Is the Cabin?

It鈥檚 still a work in progress, but right now it鈥檚 a one-room cabin with a loft. Two people can sleep up there comfortably. The interior is just 12 feet squared. We use the lower room as the living room and kitchen. Another two people could sleep there with a foldable futon.

Why Did You Choose Vermont?

We bought this property without any services or electricity, so the price was below the national average per acre (which was about $3,000 at the time, according to Drinkard). I love the location and especially the lush green forests. We also love skiing and whitewater rafting and can do both near here; the closest mountain is Mount Snow, 18 miles north, and the closest flowing river is the Deerfield, to the west.

We liked that it鈥檚 not far from a town with big-box stores鈥擥reenfield, Massachusetts鈥攁nd that you can catch a train from Brattleboro, Vermont, to New York City. We thought that if the kids are in college, or after, if they wanted to take a train up, that would be convenient.

And I like Vermont in general. Everything has a small-town feel. There are no billboards. And it鈥檚 similar to northern New Mexico in that it鈥檚 rural and very liberal.

How Did You Get Started With the Build?

We found a spot that was flat and open. There was a little meadow on the property just big enough for a cabin, so we didn鈥檛 have to clear it. We knew we鈥檇 use the hemlock trees from the surrounding forest. I was told hemlock resists rot pretty well.

I knew I鈥檇 have to find a cheap 4×4 vehicle to leave out there, and we only had a few thousand dollars to work with. In Vermont, good pickups in that price range were all rotted out, so I settled on an old Lincoln Navigator in New Mexico that had been stolen and recovered; its interior was beat to shit. I welded a receiver hitch in front, to use as a winch and a pushbar, and I also fabricated a roof rack big enough to haul 16-foot-long lumber and plywood sheets. Then I drove it out to Vermont.

We decided to use a to build the cabin after a lot of time looking at YouTube videos. Butt-and-pass cabins go up quickly, but the drawback is you need a ton of expensive lags to connect the walls to each other and each log to the ones below.

We used logs for the whole first level of the cabin. The first year, the family came out for four days and we felled trees and placed and leveled the bottom four logs. After they left, I stayed another six days on my own and threw up the first 12 rows of logs鈥攖hey weren鈥檛 that heavy鈥攑lus the floor and a temporary roof to keep the snow out.

The next year, we got the structure height to about eight feet. At this point, we started using two-by-fours for the loft level. I traded an old laptop of mine for a bunch of small windows and a door.

After the entire structure dried, we hung shingles on the front. I installed a water-catchment system and solar panels鈥攂oth are sustainable. We built the loft platform inside and scraped and sealed all of the logs. And I built a small shed with scrap materials and installed more windows on the first floor.

What Was the Hardest Part?

Felling trees for the logs and dragging them around 100 yards to the build site was exhausting. And I鈥檓 not in awful shape.

Using a , we took down 30 to 40 relatively straight, light trees on the first trip out, but they kept getting hung up in the tight forest canopy. Then we cut these to 12 and 16 feet and dragged them to the site. It took a few days. The next time we were there, the following July, we cut another 30 or 40 trees.

Does the Cabin Have Plumbing and Electricity?

One of the last things I did when I was there was put in a . The rainwater goes from the roof to a gutter and through a small-screen filter to a 300-gallon IBC (intermediate builk container) tank. The tank was repurposed鈥攊t used to hold soy sauce鈥攁nd someone sold it to me. I鈥檓 gonna have to plumb from that tank to a sink and an outside shower. There鈥檚 no toilet鈥攚e probably will get an outhouse but right now we鈥檙e using a bucket with a toilet seat on top.

鈥淓xcept for needing help fixing the road, we were able to do everything on our own.鈥�

For electricity, I have a small solar setup: two 100-watt panels and a solar battery that鈥檚 good enough to charge things and for basic lighting. The great thing about these is they鈥檙e upgradable; I just need to get more batteries and panels to turn it into something more robust that could handle, like, a fridge.

What About Heat?

I brought out a woodstove from New Mexico but decided it鈥檚 too big and that it would heat us out鈥攖hat鈥檚 a mistake I made with the cabin in Truchas, too鈥攕o I鈥檒l probably buy a small one.

Did You Have to Troubleshoot Any Unforeseen Issues?

It rained a lot one trip, in July, and the road, which is unmaintained, was turning into a rutted off-camber mess. I was having to winch up in several places, and I blew out the Navigator鈥檚 4×4 low. So we found a local heavy-equipment operator and hired him to take down some trees and smooth out the road.听But this is an investment for us. Having a small functional cabin with a roughed-in road will increase the property value by more than what we鈥檝e spent.

Also, except for the initial time I drove the navigator out, we鈥檝e flown. And every time, we fly with the power tools. I check the chainsaw, the circular saw. You can鈥檛 check the batteries, so I have to carry those on.

How Did You Cut Costs?

One of our challenges was thinking up a good chinking method that wouldn鈥檛 take an entire month. There are maybe 80 trees in the structure鈥攂ecause they were smaller in diameter, we needed more, which also meant 80 gaps to fill. Concrete mortar was out, because we didn鈥檛 want to haul water up from the stream and mix cement. was out, because it鈥檚 too expensive. So we used a product called . This is a spray foam with a component that tastes sour, so bugs and rats don鈥檛 want to chew through it.

Pestblock worked better than I imagined, but it鈥檚 gonna yellow real bad and I鈥檒l likely have to paint it. I tried putting floor polish over it, to keep the gray color, but it didn鈥檛 work.

Also, we didn鈥檛 strip the bark off the logs. It looks cool, but bark holds moisture and the logs can rot. After we completed the first floor, they sat for a year, and I thought that if we wire-brushed the logs after a year or so, we could then use floor polish to seal them. So far that鈥檚 been working great, but only time will tell if we have any rot. I might know in a few years.

We also stayed in a nearby campground much of the time when we were working on the cabin.

Did Your Family Like Being Involved?

We just gave my son, Mason, a nice RAV4, so we forced him to come out and be our indentured servant. After the second trip, he told me I鈥檇 worked him pretty hard but that he had a great time. He can do most jobs independently after a little training. One of our daughters also did a lot of work the first visit, carrying logs.

Saraswati, my wife, is really good at certain things like angles or eyeballing whether something is level. My eyes are awful. Also, I can have a short fuse. At the beginning, I鈥檓 fine, but after a week, it grows shorter. And Saraswati will really push to get things done when I鈥檓 ready to quit, so we get a lot more done when she鈥檚 around.

On the flip side, I have to bring her back down to earth on structural realities. She鈥檚 always form over function, and I鈥檓 the opposite. For example, we had a full-size door, but I realized that fitting it would cut too many logs on one side and compromise the structure. So we had a bit of a fight about that, because I wanted to cut the door and make it shorter. That鈥檚 what we ended up doing.

What Are You Proudest Of About the Cabin?

We did this on the cheap and haven鈥檛 splurged on anything so far鈥攖hough having internet out there will be a splurge. The cabin鈥檚 a pretty basic structure, but I鈥檓 OK with that. And except for needing help fixing the road, we were able to do everything on our own. There鈥檚 no cell-phone access out there, so if you run into a jam, you just have to figure it out.

Estimated Costs for the Cabin

Land and Annual Taxes: $78,000

Building Supplies: $8,000

Driveway: $7,000

Eventual Internet Setup: $700

Flights, food, fees to stay in the nearby campground before the cabin was ready: $5,000

Total: $98,700

Tasha Zemke is 翱耻迟蝉颈诲别鈥�s managing editor and a member of 国产吃瓜黑料 Online鈥�s travel team. She appreciates beautiful, and especially ancient, architecture but can鈥檛 imagine building a structure of any kind, given her loathing of giant home-improvement stores.

The post How I Built a Log Cabin in 7 Weeks for Under $100K appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.