Rugged. Bold. Stout. These are but a few manly words that come to mind when browsing through the masterful blade work of Daniel Winkler Knives. These days, forged cutlery seems to be an oddity in the market due to mass production. However, Daniel Winker, master Bladesmith, has combined the traditional craft of metalwork & tradition and shaped a selection of blades that are unique, versatile, and spectacular in their own regards.

The blades, which have found their way on the consumer market such as the set of Last of the Mohicans and in teams from the United States and Allied Special Operations, are hand-forged and crafted based on an individual’s specifications and needs.

Quality and Design like No Other

The blades, forged by the hands of the Master Bladesmith (honored by the American Bladesmith Society), has seen its share of awards, including:

• 1998 – BLADE Magazine “Best Utility Hunter”
• 2002 – “Best of the West” Best Knifemaker
• 2009 – Most Innovative Design

The traditional blades, ones designed that you would happen across in the early America’s, use some of the most rugged materials available to a Bladesmith such as Damascus, Elk antler, rawhide, antique steel & patina, and even items like horse hair and beads for a flourish.

The types of blades that fall under the “traditional” label include:

• Belt knife
• Bowies
• Camp knife
• Hawks
• Hunters
• Patch knife

A second set of offers by Daniel take the tactical angle through a variety of belt, field, hunting, and military-grade knives, and onward to other blades such as rescue & stealth axes, tactical daggers, and a jungle knife perfect for cutting down large brush.

To put things into perspective: many of Daniel’s knives are in use by Naval Special Warfare Development Groups and other special forces – so if the military and those readily seeing combat rely on the blades by Daniel than you can rest assured they’re going to live up to your demands.
The simplicity of the design and features is what makes many individuals flock to the blades offered by Daniel; they strip the conventional, mass-produced feeling that so many knives have seem to adopt and brings it back to the true feeling of a sturdy, reliable, cutting tool.
Likewise, sheaths for the blades have been extensively field tested for practical use though many owners have made their own modes to accommodate their style.

Overall, the keen eye and commitment to high-quality materials under the control of Daniel’s talent has forged a series of knives that will not only have you doing a double take but will become the dream of any individual that needs a blade they can rely on.

Overview

Holding a knife can immediately swell emotions of the rugged outdoors even if you’re the city type. The blades are of high enough quality and design that they could be framed or used as a gift but the real value is their usage out in the wild – so keep that in mind while choosing your knife.

The blades, by Daniel, come at a hefty price but the level of workmanship that goes into each warrants the price especially when you need a reliable piece to get the job done. Availability, due to the extensive time to forge the blades and high demand for Daniel’s work, can be scarce so it’s important to get in touch through his website in order to know of the next available listing otherwise you could place a custom order for a unique blade to your specifications.

There are a lot of reasons that people choose to go camping when they’re hunting for ducks: they get to get out of the house for a while, they enjoy some beautiful scenery, and there’s a ton of fresh air to go around. Before you head out however it’s important to get yourself properly prepared and make sure you’ve got all the proper equipment in place so that you can actually enjoy yourself while you’re hunting.

As with any kind of camping trip, make sure you’ve got some kind of canopy or tent with you to not only give you a centralized location, but to also protect you from the elements as best as possible. The fact is that sometimes the weather can be unpredictable and even though the forecast calls for clear skies, you might find yourself in a bad situation if you haven’t got housing with you. You can find some great canopies and tarps at CanopiesAndTarps that will do quite nicely while you’re duck hunting.

Secondly, you should make sure that where you’re planning to hunt will allow you to do what you’re looking to do. A great deal of states have an open policy on waterfronts, allowing people to hunt ducks freely throughout the daylight hours, but you’re going to want to make sure that you’re allowed to camp out there overnight. You can talk to the gaming commission or check the laws online.

While it might seem like common sense, make sure that you’ve got enough supplies to last your entire camping trip. There’s nothing worse than finding out that you haven’t got enough stuff to last you and you have to cut your trip short or run into town, breaking the atmosphere completely. It’s recommended that while you bring only what you need, try to bring a little extra with you to ensure that you won’t be caught in a compromising situation.

If you plan to stay for a few days, bring a small cooking stove with you. A grill will work too if the laws permit that you use one. You can’t live off rations for a week long trip, so it will be nice to have something to actually cook the ducks with rather than just eating crackers the entire time. Again – make sure the laws permit it.

Although you’re probably going to be right near water, bring some fresh water with you so you can properly clean the ducks before you cook them while you’re camping. If you plan to catch fish while you’re out, the water will come in handy for them as well. Never use the lake or river water to rinse off your food as it could be too dirty and mar the meal; always bring plenty of fresh water from home and don’t automatically assume that fresh water will be provided.

If you don’t want to hunt in a public gaming area, you do have the option of setting up camp in a private land. Always ask permission before you do this from the owner of the territory and make sure they understand that you’ll be camping there and not just spending the afternoon. Likewise, make sure you inquire about parking; you’ll need to know if they let you park on their property or you’ll need to find a public lot to stow your car.

Camping out while you’re duck hunting is a lot of fun and a great experience, but without the proper tools or information available, you could find that it can be quite less enjoyable. Make sure that you have everything ready and prepared before heading out so you can make the most of your hunting trip.

I had the opportunity to try out several new polo shirts from Golf by James Warren, a clothing collection that utilizes Europe’s best fabrics with a distinctive American style.

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It’s amazing how quickly expectations can change and perceived limitations can be expanded. I remember crossing the finish line of my first half marathon in 2010 and thinking there was no way I’d ever run a full marathon. “If somebody told me to go do that again right now,” I said to my wife after the 2010 Columbus Half, “I’d punch them in the throat.” A little extreme, perhaps, but at the time, it was an honest reaction to the horrifying thought of finishing a 13.1-mile race and turning around to do it all over again. Not a chance.

Soon after Columbus, though, I signed up for my second half marathon and started to more seriously consider running a full. What changed? Eventually, the exhaustion and nausea from that first race faded and I realized that I was now as intimidated by the thought of running a full marathon as I initially had been by the thought of running a half. Once I began training for Columbus, though, and my mileage started creeping toward double digits, that 13.1-mile target felt less and less daunting. I understood that race day would still be a challenge, especially if I had any chance of hitting my target time, but with each bump in mileage during my training, my confidence continued to grow. With that experience under my belt, I knew the same thing would happen while training for a full marathon.

That faith convinced me to take the plunge and sign up for the 2011 Chicago Marathon. Shortly after clicking “submit” on the online entry form, my faith had vanished. What had I just done? I could barely drag my carcass across the line for a half marathon; what made me think I could double up for a full? But I was committed, thanks in no small part to the $145 entry fee, so I mapped out my training plan and set to work. Sure enough, once my long runs crept up to 12, 14 and 16 miles, that faith returned and then grew in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, race day went unexpectedly awry for a couple reasons, but I finished. A few weeks later, with the bad taste of the disappointing race still in my mouth, I signed up for the Phoenix Marathon in January, and a couple days after that, I received an invitation to run the Tokyo Marathon in February as part of the international press tour. Sure, why not?!

Within about a year, I went from being terrified by the thought of running a full marathon to finishing three in the span of four months. The idea seemed crazy at the time, but I stayed true to my training and finished Phoenix and Tokyo with relatively respectable times. Now I know that, with the proper time and amount of training, any goal is possible. However, it seems I’m only able to carve out the time needed for the proper training when I click that “submit” button and sign up for a race. It worked for Columbus and Chicago, and it worked again when I signed up for the Akron Half Marathon recently. I had intended to take a short break after Tokyo to allow my body some time to rest up, but that “short break” wound up lasting about five months. I kept trying to kickstart my training again but there were always more important things to do.

Then I promised a friend that I’d run the Akron Half on September 29 if he signed up as well. It would be his first half marathon, my fifth, and that promise wound up being the motivation we both needed. I only squeezed in about two months of training so I wasn’t in the kind of shape I’d like to be in for a big race, but I still finished pretty well this past weekend and, more importantly, I challenged myself again and thoroughly enjoyed the race.

Have you been thinking about running a full or half marathon, or even just a 5K or 10K, but haven’t found the courage to hit that “submit” button? You’ll be amazed by how motivated you become when you finally sign up for that big race, and even more surprised by the surge in confidence you’ll enjoy once you fully commit to your training and start logging those miles.

In my preparation for the Akron Half, I had the pleasure of trying out a few different products that added a little something extra to this round of training. The latest, greatest gizmo or accessory won’t magically turn you into a world-class runner, but it can definitely help you improve along the way or just make the training seem a little less grueling.

PYLE GPS SPORTS WATCH

The majority of my competitive running came during my high school days, long before the advent of GPS devices, so I always measured my training runs the old-fashioned way: by driving the route and hoping for the best. I started using GPS apps on my iPhone for more accurate tracking but found that to be a hassle, particularly when I needed to check my mileage during the run. This Pyle GPS Sports Watch proved to be the perfect solution.

The watch comes with a 2.4 GHz digitally coded wireless heart rate monitor that you strap to your chest during a run, bike ride or other physical activity. For me, though, the GPS tracking and customizable displays were the biggest draws. The watch has four main modes: Compass, Time, Navigation and Workout. Workout mode works with the navigation system to record and display information such as distance traveled, average pace, workout duration, calories burned, heart rate and more. Even better, you can choose what data is displayed in each of the three main zones of the workout mode. For example, knowing what I needed to average per mile in the Akron Half to hit my target time, I programmed the watch to display my pace in the main zone, with the overall time in the top zone and the distance traveled at the bottom. This kind of customizable functionality makes the Pyle GPS Sports Watch that much more useful for whatever activity you have planned.

Water resistant up to 30 meters underwater and containing a rechargeable lithium polymer battery, this compact wrist computer made my training much more effective and precise. You can even use the watch to help plan your route and then analyze your workouts afterward. It takes a while to get the hang of all the bells and whistles, but you’ll soon see that it’s all time well spent.

JAYBIRD WIRELESS BLUETOOTH HEADPHONES

Some people enjoy running with music, and some people simply can’t stand running without the distraction that their music provides. I, on the other hand, find the distraction…well, distracting. I often zone out if I’m listening to music during my runs and find at the end of my workout that my pace is typically slower in those cases. That’s not such a bad thing when I am simply putting in some long miles where pace doesn’t matter much and the distraction would be welcomed, though, and it was on one such run where I popped on these wireless Jaybird Sportsband Bluetooth headphones, paired them with my iPhone and hit the pavement.

I initially was worried that the headphones would become uncomfortable after such a long run and maybe slide out of place, but they sat snugly and comfortably on my ears throughout. Integrated controls on the Sportsband allow you to easily control the music (play, pause, skip and volume control) with a click, and it’s equipped with apt-X audio codec for pristine sound quality with plenty of kick. The Jaybird comes with a lifetime warranty against sweat, its rechargeable battery allows for up to eight hours of music time, and with its concealed microphone, it can also be used as a Bluetooth headset for your phone. In short, these sleek headphones are awesome whether you’re on a run, cutting the grass or just taking care of some chores around the house.

ADIZERO FEATHER 2

Runners are particular; about their training schedules, their pre-race meals, the kind of energy gel they use, their choice of socks, their race-day routine, you name it. Most significantly, though, they’re particular about their running shoes. I’m no different: I find a shoe that I like, and I usually stick with it. If they hold up well to all the miles, if they’re comfortable and, of course, if I remain injury-free while using them, I’ll keep coming back to the same shoe company, and often the same shoe, for years. So in the interest of full disclosure, I am not an Adidas runner. I generally like Adidas for my everyday tennis shoes but had never run in a pair when the 6.7-ounce adizero Feather 2 arrived at my front door.

Obviously, the weight of the shoe first caught my eye. I love a lightweight running shoe, particularly near the end of a long training run or race, and these adizero Feathers are lighter than my beloved trainers of choice by a full pound. Wow. In fact, they’re one of the lightest everyday running shoes on the market thanks to the SprintWeb mesh construction, which significantly reduces weight while combining excellent breathability with support and comfort. As the cherry on top, the adizero Feather 2 comes in eight slick color combinations — I love the flash of my blue/orange pair, and there’s bound to be a color combo perfect for you.

With so much going for it, the adizero Feather 2 certainly grabbed my attention. I can’t claim that I’m ready to make the switch – what can I say, I’m stubborn – but the lightweight makeup, comfort and style of the adizero Feather 2 make it a trainer to be reckoned with.

We’ve had the opportunity to test a lot of cool products over the years, and in particular I’ve put several different portable/wireless/Bluetooth speakers through the paces. Most of these products offer at least one or two cool features that make them appealing to a potential consumer, but the ones that wind up in the discard pile more often than not fail in the all-important category of sound quality. It doesn’t matter how many unique options you offer, how sleek your design is or how hip your logo looks; if your portable speaker sounds like crap, all that other stuff is worthless.

Ah, but when you find a Bluetooth speaker with those unique options, sleek design, modern look, and a surprisingly deep and rich sound output? That’s a speaker well worth owning. Measuring 5.5″x3.5″x2.5″ and weighing less than a pound, the super portable Turtle Shell wireless boombox from Outdoor Technology packs one heck of a punch. No flat, tiny sound from this little dynamo. The music playing from my iPhone through the Turtle Shell was crisp and deep with more than enough juice to kick an impromptu party into gear. Granted, this won’t replace your proper stereo system, but it’s not meant to. Instead, drop the Turtle Shell into your bag or even the pocket of your cargo pants whenever you head out the door, and you’ll never leave your tunes behind.

While this little boombox easily passes the sound test, its most appealing feature is its portability, and not just because of its size. The Turtle Shell is the first Bluetooth-enabled speaker to offer a built-in threaded tripod mount that will allow you to mount the speaker to almost anything using the optional Turtle Claw all-purpose clamp. Simply attach the Turtle Claw to the bottom of this rugged and waterproof speaker and then mount it to your bike handles, your kayak, a baby stroller, whatever. Or attach a carabiner to the steel loop under the Turtle Shell and then hook it to your belt loop or jacket during just about any outdoor activity. Of course, the threaded base allows the speaker to be mounted onto any camera accessory, such as the mini tripod that I used to test the Turtle Shell while cleaning my office the other day.

A rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery offering up to 8-10 hours of playback, an integrated microphone for speakerphone functionality, and a Bluetooth range of up to 33 feet further enhance this speaker’s versatility, and the integrated controls allow you to answer a call, play/pause your music, skip to the next track or just pump up the volume at the touch of a button. Plus, the Turtle Shell doesn’t discriminate against non-Bluetooth devices, allowing you to plug in just about any device with the 3.5mm input jack. In other words, the possibilities are virtually endless with this awesome wireless speaker, making the Turtle Shell the perfect addition to any hiking expedition, bike tour, camping trip or anywhere else in need of some spontaneous tunes.

Want to get your own Turtle Shell and contribute to the speaker’s introduction to the world? Head on over to Kickstarter, help launch the Turtle Shell by backing Outdoor Technology’s project, and enjoy exclusive rewards that include Outdoor Technology gear, Turtle Claw mounting clamps and, of course, Turtle Shells in seven different colors.