Ryan Whitaker

If you’ve ever woken up to a burst pipe and a flooded basement, you already know why pipe heating cables matter. I spent the last three winters testing eight different heat tape and self-regulating heating cable models on both copper and PVC plumbing, including a stretch of PEX running along an unheated garage wall. Some … Read more

If you’ve ever dealt with a frozen sewer line on a January morning, you know the panic that sets in. The toilets back up, the drains gurgle, and suddenly you’re calling every emergency plumber in town. After our team spent three winters testing heat cables for sewage and drain pipes across Minnesota, Alaska, and rural … Read more

If you’ve ever watched water back up under your shingles during a January thaw, you already know why gutter de-icing cables for downspouts belong on every cold-climate homeowner’s winter checklist. Ice dams can pry apart roof decking, peel paint from soffits, and push thousands of dollars of water damage into living room ceilings before you … Read more

If you’ve ever watched a January sunrise reveal a thick ridge of ice hanging over your gutters, you already know why self-regulating roof heat cables for shingle roofs belong on your shopping list. Ice dams push meltwater back under shingles, rot sheathing, peel paint inside, and ruin insulation. After two winters of pulling soaked drywall … Read more

Last February, I watched a solid sheet of ice creep over my gutters and shove water backward under the shingles. The stain on the bedroom ceiling cost me $4,200 to repair. That was the winter I started testing gutter heating cables, and the team here has now spent three winters running 10 different models through … Read more

I’ve been chasing live bait for over 20 years, and I’ll be straight with you: nothing tanks a fishing trip faster than showing up at the launch ramp with a dying bait bucket from the gas station. That’s exactly why I started testing minnow traps. After comparing 8 models side by side, I can tell … Read more

Cleaning a limit of slab crappie or a mess of bluegill is a different job than working up a thick walleye. A 9-inch stiff blade tears through the delicate meat of an 8-inch sunfish, while a stubby 4-inch knife leaves too much meat on the bones of a trophy crappie. That is exactly why the … Read more

Skinning a whitetail on the ground is backbreaking work. After my third season wrestling deer in the dirt, I bought my first hoist and the difference was immediate. I tested eight of the best game hoists for lifting deer for skinning across two hunting seasons, and these are the rigs that earned a permanent spot … Read more

Last summer I drove to a Texas reservoir with a brand new bucket of shiners, lost half of them before lunch, and spent the rest of the trip chasing catfish with whatever still had signs of life. That afternoon cost me a $40 bait run and a full day on the bank. The fix turned … Read more

I lost my first kayak fishing net to the bottom of a lake on day three. It was a cheap nylon mesh net with no flotation, and when it slipped out of my hand while netting a smallmouth bass, it dropped like a stone. That moment taught me everything about why floating landing nets for … Read more