Brewis

I tested kayak roof racks on three different vehicles over six weekends this summer, loading everything from a 9-foot recreational sit-on-top to a heavy 14-foot fishing kayak. What I found surprised me: the most expensive rack wasn’t always the easiest to use, and a few budget options held up better than I expected after 1,500 … Read more

I learned the hard way that pontoon boats act like giant sails on the water. The first time I anchored my 22-foot pontoon at a sandbar with a 15-pound mushroom anchor I picked up at a garage sale, I drifted halfway across the lake before I noticed. That mistake sent me on a months-long search … Read more

Looking for the best marine stereos for boats without drowning your wallet in salt spray damage? I get it. After spending 12 weekends on the water testing head units from pontoon decks to center consoles, our team learned one hard truth: a regular car stereo on a boat is a 90-day paperweight. Marine stereos are … Read more

I learned this the hard way three years ago. I launched my 16-foot aluminum boat at first light, motored out to my honey hole, dropped the trolling motor, and watched my fish finder flicker out 20 minutes later. Dead battery. The rest of the day was spent drifting, untrolling, and swearing. After that trip, I … Read more

Dry camping changes everything about how you pick an RV battery. Without shore power, every amp-hour in your battery bank has to carry your fridge, lights, water pump, and devices through the night. I learned this the hard way on a five-day trip in the Utah desert, watching my old lead-acid bank drop to 50% … Read more

Clean water makes the difference between a great trip and a miserable one. After three months of testing RV water filters across 14 campgrounds, our team learned that the best RV water filters for campers do far more than improve taste. They protect your plumbing, your health, and your peace of mind when you hook … Read more

My first time leveling a travel trailer, I spent 45 minutes stacking wood blocks under the low-side tire, climbing in and out to check the bubble level, and finally giving up when the fridge started making that awful clunking sound absorption refrigerators make when they’re not level. That weekend taught me a hard lesson: a … Read more

I learned this lesson the expensive way. Three seasons ago I side-tied my 22-foot bowrider without enough coverage and watched a wind gust push the gunwale into a wooden piling. The scratch cost me $1,400 in gelcoat work and a week off the water. Boat fenders are the single cheapest insurance policy on your boat. … Read more

I spent the last three summers running electronics tests on a 22-foot center console in everything from Chesapeake chop to Gulf Coast swells, and I learned one thing fast: the best marine GPS chartplotters for boats are not the shiniest ones in the catalog. They are the ones that still show a clear picture at … Read more

There is nothing quite like the sinking feeling of pulling over on the interstate at 70 mph and watching your boat trailer tire disintegrate into strips of black rubber. I have been there. Last summer, halfway between Lake Texoma and home, the sidewall on my 6-year-old tire surrendered to heat and UV damage, scattering tread … Read more