Search results for: outdoors buying guide
About 183 filtered results
by Ryan Zanoni · Posted
If you had to leave home, work, school, or the gym right now to escape an impending disaster—would you be ready? Would you have the tools, supplies, food, and water that you would need for at least the next three days? Having one or more go bags, a.k.a. “bug-out bags,” stocked with essentials for health and survival is a smart way to be prepared for emergencies. You don’t want to be scrambling at the last minute to gather your flashlight, batteries, and blankets when the hurricane, zombie herd, or army of darkness is closing in.
In the
by Ryan Zanoni · Posted
September is National Preparedness Month, so with that in mind, we’ve put together a list of Recommended First Aid Kits to keep you and your loved ones accessible to immediate treatment for lacerations, fractures, punctures, and other injuries when the ambulance hasn’t yet arrived.
Adventure Medical Kits Adventure First Aid 0.5 Treat 1 person over 1 day with 15 bandages, 2 gauze dressings, 6 antiseptic wipes, an
by Daniel Wagner_1 · Posted
Choosing the best preparedness backpacks can help each member of your family meet unexpected challenges with greater security, confidence, and optimism. Factors such as load capacity, gender, age, and a detailed list of provisions are important considerations. Calling a family meeting to solicit input will go a long way to ensuring that everyone is happy with their backpack selection.
A versatile backpack for the family member capable of carrying the heaviest load is the 90-liter
by Christopher Witt · Posted
When I was in high school, going to the beach was easy. My friends and I would grab a towel and a Frisbee, jump on our bikes and ride a mile to Theodore Roosevelt Park, in Oyster Bay. In college, we’d pile into someone’s car and drive to Jones Beach or Robert Moses State Park. Since we’re older and we’re all married, and many of us have kids, going to the beach is decidedly more complicated. Now that the Fourth of July has passed and we’re in full-on Summer Fun-time mode, we here at B&H thought we’d help all of you out with some beach gear
by Ryan Zanoni · Posted
Summer is here, so get ready for a photo/video adventure on the beach or in the water, with B&H’s broad array of waterproof camera/smartphone bags, housings, and accessories. Whether you want to catch some rays, ride the waves, explore beneath the surface, or enjoy a scenic boat ride, these enclosures keep your camera or mobile device protected from the water while you’re having fun. Accessories such as color-correction filters and add-on conversion lenses help you enhance your images with ease. If you’re planning an expensive vacation,
by Christopher Witt · Posted
With the days getting longer and the sun shining brighter, families tend to spend more time soaking up rays, exploring roads less travelled, taking in outdoor concerts or games, or sightseeing. As an Optics writer for B&H, I’m frequently asked for binocular recommendations from friends and family - and random people at restaurants once or twice - so I’m here to share some of my favorite binos and what they’re good for. I’m not going to go into excruciating detail about terminology here, so if you start to get a little confused about some
by Morgan Lyle · Posted
Whether we think of them as essential tools or just cool gizmos, the gear we use makes our outdoor activities safer and more fun. Technological advances have brought us equipment that past generations could hardly imagine—and it gets smaller, cleverer, and more effective all the time. Here’s a look at some gadgets and gear that will enhance your outdoor adventures.
Personal solar power has come into its own, and you can now use your very own photovoltaic cells to recharge your devices, as long as the weather cooperates. The
by Joshua Kleiner · Posted
Before you know it, the winter freeze will thaw; snow birds will return from their warm retreat; bees will bumble; and flowers will flourish. Campers, fishermen, trail runners, hikers, and the like will emerge from hibernation to resume their outdoorsy activities. Elsewhere, the winter is just setting in, which means that skiers, mountaineers, ice fishermen, and hunters are gearing up for their outdoor recreation. Before hitting the dirt (or the frozen lake), this is an opportune time to add some essential gear to your travel bag or daypack.
by Morgan Lyle · Posted
How to hike: Extend a foot (either one.) Now put the other foot in front of the first. Repeat. As outdoor activities go, hiking couldn’t be much simpler, yet millions of people find it profoundly rewarding. Whether it’s an hour-long ramble in the nearest state park or a five-month trek over all 2,650 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, walking through a natural setting seems to have universal appeal.
There are many great reasons to lace up your hiking shoes and join the more than 34 million people who hike each year. It’s very good exercise. It
by Christopher Witt · Posted
Unless you’re exceptionally light sensitive, you probably regard sunglasses as an accessory to your outfit or a convenience that you can live without if you forget them when you leave the house. The truth is that sunglasses are an important piece of protective gear that every person should wear. Recent studies have shown that incidents of cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, and a slew of other eye conditions are on the rise and the average age of
by michael sukhotin · Posted
Most of us probably have seen, in the movies or on TV, Special Forces people looking like hybrids of human and machine with sophisticated night vision devices covering their faces, enabling them to see in the dark. Previously, these gadgets were reserved for special agencies and the military. Today, with the advancement of technology and lower costs of manufacturing, these devices have appeared on the consumer market. Even if you are not the type to storm buildings under cover of night, they may prove helpful and greatly enhance your hobbies
by Joseph Albanese · Posted
Who doesn’t love a road trip—the thrill of the open road, the siren song of what may be hiding just around the next bend? It’s the kind of freedom that can only come from chewing up the asphalt on some well-worn two-lane or freshly paved Interstate. The way the wind from a cracked window caresses your hair, the allure of the world’s largest ball of string at a roadside pull-off. This is the lure that created our nation’s fleet of flatbed cowboys, pulling steel or grain from one end of this great nation to the other. You may not feel the need
by Morgan Lyle · Posted
A sleeping bag is a pretty simple piece of gear, but there are several factors you should keep in mind when selecting one. After all, a bag that might be perfectly adequate for a summertime backyard slumber party could be completely inadequate for camping in sub-freezing temperatures. By the same token, spending a summer night in a cold-weather bag can make you feel like a burrito fresh from the microwave.
Comfort Ratings
Sleeping bags almost always come with a comfort rating. Most three-season bags, for example, will have a comfort rating
by Christopher Witt · Posted
In the comments for one of my other binocular articles, a reader pointed out that I had neglected to suggest binoculars for children. In response, we’re publishing this piece that is devoted strictly to kids, and will deal with the different types of optics we offer here at B&H: binoculars, spotting scopes, and microscopes. Buying for children presents a complicated set of contradictory ideas. You don’t want to spend too much on them because they tend to
by Joseph Albanese · Posted
For some, there is nothing better than cooking directly over an open fire. Fire can be mesmerizing—I challenge you to look away from the campfire when there’s one near. You can’t, and no one else in your party will be able to either. The way the flames dance seems to transfix all those whose gaze happens to fall upon it. There is certainly is something about the crackling roar wood gives off as it succumbs to the flames surrounding it, transforming into embers. And wood smoke definitely has a certain appeal to it, as well; the way it cloaks