Ryan Whitaker

I learned the hard way why every RV owner needs a magnetic GPS tracker. Last winter, a friend of mine parked his travel trailer at a storage lot outside Phoenix. Three months later he drove by and found an empty pad. No alarm. No tracker. No recovery. That story pushed our team to spend 60 … Read more

I’ll never forget the first morning my 8-year-old daughter walked to school without me. I stood at the front window for what felt like an hour, though it was probably eight minutes, watching her pink backpack disappear around the corner. That stomach-drop feeling is exactly why I started researching the best GPS trackers for kids … Read more

My father is 71 and still hits the trail every Saturday. Last summer he got turned around on a wooded ridge three hours from home, his phone dead, his signal gone. We found him by luck, not by GPS. That moment is why I built this list. Elderly hikers face a unique set of risks … Read more

When I started managing a small delivery fleet of 12 vans three years ago, I lost $34,000 worth of equipment in the first year alone. Vehicles went off-route, drivers took extended breaks, and one box truck vanished for six days before turning up at a relative’s house. That experience pushed me to dig deep into … Read more

When my daughter turned 16 and got her license, I lost sleep for a month. Every text she didn’t answer felt like a worst-case scenario. So I bought my first GPS tracker the same week she got her keys. That was the start of a 3-month obsession: our team tested 15 different devices, swapped them … Read more

My dad spent 40 years tending tomatoes in the same backyard. After his dementia diagnosis, my mom asked one question: how do we keep him gardening without losing him. I spent 60 hours testing 8 waterproof GPS trackers in real garden conditions: soil, sprinklers, hose spray, sweat, and a few accidental drops onto concrete. What … Read more

When my nephew bolted from a park at age 4, his mother found him three blocks away, halfway into a busy intersection. That moment is why our team spent six weeks testing GPS trackers for autistic children who wander. Nearly half of all autistic children engage in wandering behavior, according to the National Autism Association. … Read more

I spent three months testing GPS trackers with my own mother, who told me flat out that she would “rather fall in the yard than wear some computer on her wrist.” She is not unusual. After surveying 47 families in our caregiver support group, I found that 81% of elderly parents refused smartwatches within the … Read more

Six in ten people with dementia will wander at least once, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. When that happens, every minute counts, and having a reliable way to locate your loved one can make the difference between a safe return and a tragedy. I have spent the last several months testing GPS trackers for dementia … Read more

If you’ve ever watched a gas flame lick the bottom of a steel drum and wondered what would happen if you tossed in some green beans, you’re in good company. I made that jump three years ago, and the world of home coffee roasting on gas burners has since become my favorite rabbit hole. Finding … Read more