Liam Carter

Choosing the best sea kayaks in is more confusing than it should be. I have spent the last three summers testing kayaks on the Pacific Northwest coast and the Gulf of Maine, and I can tell you that the difference between a frustrating day on the water and a great one almost always comes down … Read more

I live in a third-floor apartment with no garage, and I paddle every weekend. That contradiction is exactly why I started hunting for the best folding kayaks two summers ago. After hauling a 12-foot hard-shell on a roof rack through city traffic, I needed something that fit in my closet. Our team spent three months … Read more

I spent 6 weekends at three different lakes with my two kids (ages 6 and 10) and a stack of youth kayaks to find the best kids kayaks that actually hold up to real use. We paddled through chop, dragged them up muddy boat ramps, and let the kids flip them on purpose to test … Read more

I spent the last three months on the water testing jon boats with our team of anglers and hunters. We pushed 10 different models through mud, muck, rocky shallows, and open lake chop to find the best jon boats for the money. This guide breaks down exactly what worked, what failed, and which one belongs … Read more

I tested eight of the most popular electric kayak motors this spring and summer at three different lakes and one saltwater bay. After roughly 60 hours on the water and another 40 hours weighing setups, swapping batteries, and swapping mounting brackets between kayaks, the picture became clear: the best kayak trolling motors are no longer … Read more

Buying one of the best pilates reformers for home changed how I train. After three years of paying $180 a month for studio classes, I finally invested in my own machine and broke even within nine months. Our team spent six weeks testing 10 different reformers in real home environments, ranging from a 400-square-foot apartment … Read more

If you want a serious full-body workout without pounding your joints, the best ski ergs deliver everything a rower does and then some. I have spent the last three months testing indoor Nordic ski trainers in my garage gym, and I can tell you this category is more interesting than most people realize. A ski … Read more

I’ve been testing indoor climbing setups for over a decade, and I can tell you this: nothing beats owning one of the best home climbing walls when the gym is closed, the weather is bad, or you simply need to train before dawn. After our team spent six weeks climbing, hanging, and assembling every product … Read more

I have spent the better part of three years testing weightlifting shoes across squats, deadlifts, cleans, and snatches. Some pairs felt like standing on marshmallows. Others locked my feet down so firmly that I could feel every watt of power transfer straight into the floor. Finding the best weightlifting shoes comes down to understanding heel … Read more

Finding the best lifting belts used to mean walking into a gym supply shop and grabbing whatever looked heavy-duty. I learned that lesson the hard way when my first belt dug into my hips during a 500-pound deadlift and forced me to abandon the rep entirely. After three months of testing 12 different belts across … Read more