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1 2 3 4 5 6

My Pop Life From the Editor It’s Fun to Take Games & Toys Cars & Trucks Powersports
Tips, gear picks & Why you should Things Apart Best board The pros and cons Why we love
confessions from buy used tech How to juice up games of 2019 of choosing diesel the fantastically
our staff p.8 a Power Wheels p.12 or gas impractical
p.4 mini-car p.16 Polaris Scrambler
p.10 p.20

7 8 9 10 11 12

Machines Food Drink Home Sci-Fi Deep Math

An all-electric Plasma grapes, and Why and how to Everything you The Skywalker Supercomputers
dump truck? other microwave fat-wash whiskey need to know saga comes to a solve a 65-year-
p.24 experiments p.32 about buying a close with one old math problem
p.30 standby generator last film p.44
p.36 p.40

13 14 15 16 17 18

Hoax Tools Outdoor Stuff Editors’ Choice This Changed How to Be Good
Did the Titanic Portable heaters Breathable, durable Five products Everything at What You Do
really sink? for every space boots for roughing we’re wishing for How GoPro Azalia Mirhoseini,
p.48 p.80 it outdoors this season sparked a DIY Senior Research
p.84 p.88 video movement Scientist at
p.90 Google Brain
p.100

// FE ATURES //
F R O M L E F T: A N G I E S M I T H ; E M I L I A N O G R A N A D O ; W I L L S U T H E R L A N D ; T R E VO R R A A B

Injured Athletes Inside the Build a Tiny Fire: The

Lost What They Torture
Love. These Chamber
Boards Bring Check out Gore’s test
facility, the space where
It Back Peek inside a textile engineers mimic
nonprofit in action. p.52 scorching hot, wet, and
frozen climates. p.58
House on Complete Guide
Wheels to Mankind’s
Make your own skoolie
(a school-bus tiny home)
Greatest Tool
with tips from West
Why fire is awesome:
from grilling to powering
Virginia’s most popular
a rocket. Plus, we build a
Airbnb owner. p.64
flamethrower. p.70

// ON THE COVER // P HOTOGR A P H BY TREVOR R A A B

December 2019 3
 1 Alexander George
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
// EXPERT H ACKS, GE A R RECS & LIFE-TESTED W ISDOM FROM OUR STAFF //
Matt Allyn Features Director;
Brian Dalek Director of Content
Operations; Leah Flickinger
Director of Content Creation; Lou
Mazzante Test Director Suzanne
Perreault Senior Managing Editor;
@linderrama Jesse Southerland Creative
Director

CURRENT DESIGN + PHOTO

PASSION PROJECT
I was obsessed with the
Carmen Sandiego computer
game when I was a little kid in
COURTNEY LINDER the ’90s. I’m trying to down-
SENIOR NEWS EDITOR load compatible CD-ROM
software but haven’t been
Big fan of buying
able to get it quite right.
your dad’s old vinyl
Tips are welcome!
Amy Wolff Photo Director; Colin
McSherry Senior Art Director; Eleni
Dimou Senior Designer; Zack Kutos
Designer; Kristen Parker Photo
Editor; John Hamilton Associate
Photo Editor
EDITORIAL
Molly Ritterbeck Health & Fitness
Director; Tracy Middleton Senior
Features Editor; Darren Orf,
Christa Sgobba Deputy Editors;
Tyler Daswick, Taylor Rojek
Associate Features Editors;
Andrew Daniels How-To Editor;

For Healthy Plants
Simply whip up a mixture of about one quar-
ter leftover coffee and three quarters water
and add it to your watering can or mix used
W
My Favorite App
Libby, hands-down. All you have to do is enter your
credentials from your current library card and you
can place holds on or download audiobooks and
Courtney Linder Senior News
Editor; Hailey Middlebrook, Jordan
Smith Editors; Danielle Zickl
Associate Health & Fitness Editor;
Jennifer Leman News Editor;
Daisy Hernandez, Paige Szmodis
Associate News Editors; Ezra Dyer
Automotive Editor; Katie Fogel
Social Media Editor; Drew Dawson
Gear & News Editor; Jessica Coulon
Assistant Editor; Leah Campano
Editorial Planning Associate; Lori
Adams Administrative Assistant;
Gabrielle Hondorp Editorial Fellow

grounds with the soil while repotting. The ebooks, instantly. The library has always been cool, Kit Fox Special Projects Editor
Caroline Dorey-Stein Assistant
nitrogen in coffee aids in healthy growing. but in a digital world, it also has to be accessible 24/7. Special Projects Editor

PRODUCTS I’M USING RIGHT NOW
Laundr y Hack
If you’re too lazy to
separate your colors and
whites in the wash, buy a
dye catcher. They’re little
TEST TEAM
Will Egensteiner, Jennifer Sherry
Associate Test Directors; Jeff
Dengate, Matt Phillips Senior Test
Editors; Roy Berendsohn, Adrienne
Donica, Brad Ford, Amanda Furrer,
Bobby Lea, James Lynch, Riley
Missel, Morgan Petruny, Dan
Roe Test Editors; Jimmy Cavalieri
Image Editor; Lakota Gambill,
Trevor Raab Photographers; Joël
Nankman Logistician

white sheets that capture VIDEO

1 2
Dagne Dover Allyn Tote
in Oxblood
Every ambitious woman (and
dude!) needs a bag that’s
both sleek and functional.
This baby has a cushy internal
15-inch laptop sleeve, a
holster for your reusable
water bottle, and a secret
smartphone pocket.
iRobot Roomba 675
Robot Vacuum
I hate vacuuming. So much.
So I caved and decided to get
a Roomba. I waited for Prime
Day and got this bad boy for
under $300, which I figure
has been worth the price
for all the work it does (and
saves me from doing!).
all the color from your
bright clothing. Plus,
you can cut each one into
halves or thirds to make
them last a long time.
Derek Call, Pat Heine Producers
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Joe Pappalardo, Daniel Dubno,
Wylie Dufresne, David Grossman,
David Owen, Richard Romanski,
James Schadewald, Joseph Truini,
Nicholas Wicks
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Bill Strickland
Popular Mechanics International
Kim St. Clair Bodden Russia, South
Africa • SVP/International Editorial
Director
Editorial Offices
3939 West Drive
Center Valley, PA 18034
HOW TO REACH US: Customer
Care Visit Online POPCustServ@
CDSFulfillment.com; Phone 800-
333-4948; Mail Customer Care
Service Dept. Popular Mechanics,
PO Box 6000, Harlan, IA 51593-
0128.
CO U R T E S Y (L I N D E R) ; DA KOTA G A M B I L L (P R O D U C T S)

LICENSING AND REPRINTS:

Contact Wyndell Hamilton, Wright’s
Media, at 877-652-5295 ext. 102 or
hearst@wrightsmedia.com.
3 4 DECEMBER 2019

TILVIEW Twin Air Mattress Pac-Man Connect Kodak the Kitty

This guy comes with a
built-in pump—just plug in
the attached cord and let it
inflate. Bonus: It’s great for
small spaces, and it didn’t sag
at all for the six weeks
I slept on it when I moved for
my new gig at Pop Mech.
and Play
I dig anything that has an
old-school vibe, so I’m queen
of the plug-’n’-play games,
especially since I like the
nostalgia that comes with
playing the games from
my childhood.
Three years ago, my
boyfriend and I saved
Kodak, the tiniest little
runt of a black cat and
the only kitty I’ve ever
met that loves belly rubs
more than a dog. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

4 December 2019
PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY. BULLEIT DISTILLING CO, LOUISVILLE, KY.
 1 Jack Essig
// EXPERT H ACKS, GE A R RECS & LIFE-TESTED W ISDOM FROM OUR STAFF //
@jessesoutherland
JESSE SOUTHERLAND
Creative Director
New bio update now
available. Compatibility
and stability bugs
fixed. Tons of enhanced
features added.
Favorite App
Discogs. My entire
record collection and
album wishlist are
stored here. When I’m
at a record store I always
remember what I need
to look for, and more
importantly, I don’t buy
albums I already have.
CURRENT
PASSION PROJECT
Restoring a massive pair
of Bozak speakers from
B-300-U’s into B-302’s
by adding mid-ranges
and upgrading the cross-
overs using the sworn-by
“Tobin modification.”
The Best Money
I Ever Spent
A Peter Angelo
Simon photograph
of Muhammad Ali
training for the Rumble
in the Jungle fight. He’s
on an early morning
run on a foggy little
road in Deer Lake,
Pennsylvania, where he
built his camp, Fighter’s
Heaven, to get away
from everything. The
photo reminds me of
being in a magical place.
6 December 2019
PRODUCTS I’M USING RIGHT NOW
1
Mission Workshop
Rambler Backpack
This bag feels minimal when
packing light, but has an
expandable cargo feature
doubling it from 22L to 44L
for when you have more stuff.
Five-Pocket Card Case
20 years ago, a chiropractor
told me to keep my wallet
in my front pocket, so I have
ever since. A slim, soft wallet
is the only way it works, and
to date, this Shinola wallet
has lasted the longest.
THE BEST THING POP EVER TAUGHT ME
The best thing I learned from Pop Mech is also one
of the simplest: how to roll up cords and cables
tangle-free using the over-under method.
Verified Life
Hack
Save your dryer lint
and roll it into little
balls, mixing it with
petroleum jelly. These
little firestarters will
burn forever—even in
wet conditions.
House Industries Book
The Process Is the
Inspiration
I learned more about graphic
design from this book than
4
Blind Barber Tompkins
Scented Candle
This candle smells of leather,
smoke, honey, and lavender, and
is tried and true as I’m on my
fourth. Go for the large to get the
full effect of the Barbicide-styled
container. For extra life, don’t
light it—place it on a warmer.
SVP, PUBLISHING DIRECTOR
William Upton Associate
Publisher; Cameron
Connors Executive Director,
Head of Brand Strategy &
Marketing; Samantha Irwin
General Manager; Chris Peel
Executive Director, Men’s &
Enthusiast Group, Hearst Magazines
Digital Media
ADVERTISING SALES OFFICES
NEW YORK: Caryn Kesler
Executive Director, Luxury Goods;
John Wattiker Executive Director,
Global Fashion & Retail; Doug
Zimmerman Senior Grooming
Director; John Cipolla Integrated
Account Director Spirits,
Entertainment & Travel; Kimberly
Buonassisi Account Director;
Joe Pennacchio East Coast
Automotive Director; Jake Heffez,
Samantha Wolf Integration
Associates; Caroline Hall Sales
Assistant; DETROIT: Marisa Stutz
Group Advertising Director, Hearst
Autos; Toni Starrs Integration
Associate; CHICAGO: Justin Harris
Midwest Sales Director; Autumn
Jenks Midwest Sales Director;
Madeline Bednar Sales Assistant;
LOS ANGELES: Stacey Lakind
Southwest Sales Director; Anne
Rethmeyer Group Sales Director,
Hearst Autos; Olivia Zurawin Sales
Assistant; SAN FRANCISCO: William
G. Smith, Smith Media Sales, LLC;
DALLAS: Patty Rudolph PR 4.0
Media; HEARST DIRECT MEDIA:
Brad Gettelfinger Sales Manager
MARKETING SOLUTIONS
Jason Graham Marketing Solutions:
Executive Director, Integrated
Marketing; Jana Gale Executive
Creative Director; Karen Mendolia
Executive Director, Events &
Promotions; Mike Sarpy Design
Director; Yasir Salem Director,
Group Marketing; A’ngelique Tyree
Senior Digital Marketing Manager;
Alesandra Ajlouni Senior Manager,
Integrated Marketing; Amanda
Bessim Marketing Associate; Jaclyn
D'Andrea Marketing Coordinator;
William Carter Executive Director,
Consumer Marketing; Peter Davis
Research Manager
ADMINISTRATION/PRODUCTION
Aurelia Duke Finance Director;
Regina Wall Advertising Services
Director; Eric Espada Production
Manager
PUBLISHED BY HEARST
Steven R. Swartz President and
Chief Executive Officer; William
R. Hearst III Chairman; Frank
A. Bennack, Jr. Executive Vice
Chairman
HEARST MAGAZINES, INC.
Troy Young President; Kate
Lewis Chief Content Officer;
Debi Chirichella Executive Vice
President, Chief Financial Officer
and Treasurer; Catherine A.
Bostron Secretary
Gilbert C. Maurer, Mark F. Miller
Consultants
300 West 57th Street
New York, NY 10019
CO U R T E S Y (S O U T H E R L A N D) ; T R E VO R R A A B (P R O D U C T S)
 TM

JANUARY 10-12, 2020

JOIN US AS WE TOAST WINTER IN STYLE WITH AN
ARRAY OF IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES IN ONE OF THE
COUNTRY’S MOST BEAUTIFUL RESORT TOWNS.
Esquire, Men’s Health and Popular Mechanics are setting up shop at the
base of Aspen Mountain to bring you an exclusive pop-up mountainside ski
TM

lodge at Aspen’s Wintersköl Celebration. Featuring daily après-ski parties,

For more information and to

book your travel to Aspen, visit
WWW.ASPENCHAMBER.ORG

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY. BULLEIT DISTILLING CO, LOUISVILLE, KY.

 2
// BY ALE X A N DER GEORGE //
Stop
Buying
Your
Tech New
W
H AT E V E R Y E A R
y o u’r e r e a d i n g
this, the new
i Ph on e i s a w e -
some. It always is.
Same with the new
Samsung Galaxy,
and Bose’s new noise-canceling
headphones. But right now, just
before 2020, the improvements
between versions are becoming
less obvious. In the case of the
iPhone 11, the cameras are a big
advance. But for the majority of
us customers, last year’s model
will serve us just as well as the
new one.
That’s why, when I need some-
thing like a phone or laptop, I
almost never buy it new. You
should do the same.
I’m not talking about going
on eBay or Craigslist or letgo
for used tech. Even if you know
what t o look for a nd what
prices are fair, the time cost
of doing all the quality control
yourself is almost never worth
the savings. I’m talking about
the sections of manufacturers’
sites specifically dedicated to
not-new products. Apple’s is
called Certified Refurbished.
8 December 2019
Nintendo’s is just Refurbished. my arguments, based on years of
Bose has an Outlet. Samsung sells product testing and reviewing,
Certified Pre-Owned. The goods was enough to convince him that a
in these shops are maintained pair of Sony MDR-7506’s were the
and g uaranteed. Sometimes, better value. And gifting someone
the products were never even a phone that comes in a box that
taken out of their packaging. says “Pre-Owned” feels off. Even
And whether or not they’ve been I bought a Nintendo Switch Lite
handled, the hardware has been the day it went on sale because
s cr upu lou sly i n s p e c t e d a nd I just…couldn’t stand waiting
tested to make sure it works, to try it.
sometimes more so than new A l l g o o d . B u y s ome t h i n g
products. They also come with refurbished for yourself, and
a warranty. spend the savings on the gift, or
But, look. I get it. New and something new you want right
well-marketed stuff feels better. away. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I
Years back, my nephew wanted have to get back to my search for a
Beats headphones, and none of used Tesla Model 3.
U S T R AT I O N BY T E E K AY N A M E
One of the Coolest Things the Pop Mech Staff Did This Year
Contributor James Schadewald and Test Editor Roy Berendsohn, in partnership with Knob Creek, built
a home bar—and wrote detailed plans for readers who wanted to do the same (popularmechanics.com/
buildabar). As always, I learned from their work. I watched them earn the satisfaction of finishing an ambi-
T R E VO R R A A B
tious project, which motivates me. But one specific observation stuck with me. It’s that, as Roy said, you
have your first set of build plans, and then you have the plans from after you’ve built the bar. That’s where
you apply everything you learned from doing the thing, and share the new, better ways that will help the
next person who tries it. I'll add that to my mental list of Building-Stuff-Philosophy-as-Life-Philosophy.
A SKY OF STARS. WILD GEESE SPIT-ROASTED OVER THE FIRE.
AND EVEN THOUGH THE DOG SNATCHED A LEG OF LAMB,
FRIENDS FROM NEAR & FAR PITCHED IN TO MAKE IT A MEAL
TO REMEMBER. HERE’S TO ENDING THE YEAR WITH GENEROSITY.

GIVE ORVIS
NOT ORDINARY
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We’ve taken our years of know-how—earned from building
the best insulated midlayers for river or field—and put it
into the RT7 Vest, a piece that takes you from appetizers
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it is core warmth for the holidays.

OUTDOOR OUTFITTERS, INSTRUCTORS, AND APPAREL MAKERS. SINCE 1856.

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 3
// BY DA N ROE //

If you were five years old, you’d be pretty

Power NOTES:
stoked to see this under the Christmas tree. Its
12-volt drive system whisks you up to 5 mph.

Wheels Ride- A power lift-and-lower tailgate can carry your

toys. There’s even a speaker with a 3.5mm aux
jack to bump “Baby Shark.” But eventually, NUMBER

On F-150 you’d get bored of it, and so might your parents.

That’s how stock Power Wheels become juiced-up
OF PARTS:

PRODUCED:
MEXICO
miniature race cars. Bigger batteries, motors
pulled from cordless drills, custom-fabricated
axles, slick tires—Power Wheels upgrades are
284
only limited by your ambition. Thanks to online
TIME TO DISASSEMBLE :
communities in Facebook groups and on forums
3 HOURS, 4 MINUTES like modifiedpowerwheels.com, there’s plenty of
knowledge to go around.

To navigate the world says. You could drop in
of modified mini-cars, a Power Wheels brand
we spoke with Rob 6-volt battery, or opt
Fusi, a New Jersey– for a cheaper aftermar-
based mechanical ket model; the latter
engineer. His You- option doesn’t come
Tube video where he with an inline fuse,
swapped the battery so you’ll want to add
in his son’s Power one to protect against
Wheels Porsche 911 power surges. Start by
HOT-ROD YOUR GT3 has about 5 mil- chopping off the exist-
lion views. He says ing battery connector
POWER WHEELS that whether you’re and use F2 connec-
after a modest power tors, sold at auto parts
upgrade or a high- stores, to wire it all
performance rebuild, together.
these are the four
stages of modification. STAGE 2:
ELEC-
STAGE 1: TRONIC
BATTERY SPEED
/ The CONTROLLER /
easiest The electronic speed
go-fast modification is controller (ESC) tells
boosting your battery the battery how much
voltage. Most ride-on power to send to the
cars use 12-volt bat- wheels. The stock
teries, so upgrading ESC is just an on/off
to 18 volts increases switch, full throttle or
speed without putting no gas (and no coast-
too much strain on the ing, either). An ESC kit
motor or gears, Fusi delivers a more realis-
tic driving experience. point, your Franken-
You can build your own steinian creation is
from a Razor scooter probably only safe for
variable speed control- adult use—turn over
ler and the rest of its the keys when your kid
parts (pedals, wires, turns 16.
connectors, and more),
or buy a complete kit. A STAGE 4:
universal ESC kit from TRICK IT
Eastcoast PowerUp O U T / It’s
will run you $150. not just
Fusi’s bonus tip: Now about speed: A ride-on
that you’ve got more car is the perfect canvas
power and control, for the Pimp My Ride
F L ATA R T (B AT T E R Y, G E A R) ; T I M O F E Y R O S T I LO V (C I R C U I T ) ; W I R A W I A N D A (S P E A K E R)
improve handling by makeover you’ve always
duct-taping the plastic wanted to do on your
tires for better grip. Civic. With an after-
market ESC installed,
STAGE 3: you’re primed to wire
CUSTOM in the accessories like
FABRICA- a reverse buzzer or a
TION / virtual engine sound
Advanced tinkerers simulator (for custom
swap gearboxes for ignition noises and
powerful direct-drive engine notes—how’s
electric motors, or a screaming Ferrari
even motocross bike V-12?). Finish it off with
engines. ATV-style underbody LED lights,
suspension makes and drop a pair of LED-
heavily modified Power lined subwoofers in the
Wheels legit off-road truck bed for maximum
vehicles, and at this style points.

10 December 2019
P H OTO G R A P H Y BY TO D D M C L E L L A N December 2019 11
 9
4
// BY WILLIAM HERKEWITZ //

The 2019
Popular
Mechanics
Board
Game
Awards

T
H I S Y E A R I P L AY E D A S
many new board games
as I could get my hands
on. And I’m not partic-
ularly picky, so if it was
popular, I played it. If it
had a fascinating theme
or novel game mechanic, I played
it. And if other reviewers said they
loved it, I played it. I only avoided
games that required any sort of
phone or app.
I tested just shy of 40 new
games, published from December
’18 to October ’19 (when this issue
went to print). I played most of the
games in Rwanda, where I work in
international development. There
are no personal mailboxes in the
country, so I had the games fer-
ried over in suitcases, one visitor
at a time. Often they were the only
copies in the entire country.
I’ve played several hundred
board games in my life, but these
five are the new ones that I can’t
stop playing. So here are 2019’s
absolute best, either for yourself
or as a gift for the tabletop gamer
in your life.
1 / NEMESIS: THE BOARDGAMER’S
BOARD GAME $150
Think Ridley Scott’s Alien, but
with even more dread. You and
four friends wake from cryosleep
to discover something horrible
lurking aboard your starship. You’ll
need your teammates to fight, flee,
and hide from this astral terror, but
a heavy fog of mistrust lies among
you all. Because one of your friends
may be trying to kill you.
I’ve played Nemesis all year, and
I’m convinced it’s a once-in-a-de-
cade game—it’s altogether tense,
riveting, beautifully cinematic,
and terrifically difficult. You take
control of a single character, and
in each turn you’ll be immersed in
dozens of hard choices about who
to trust and what to do, which you
Imagine hope will lead to mere survival. It
waking up
from cryosleep rarely does.
only to have If you’ve got cash for Neme-
this Queen
from Nemesis sis’s price tag, hours to spare, and
staring enough patience to wade through
you down.
No thanks. a heavy rulebook, don’t allow your-
self to miss this game.
2 / WINGSPAN: BEST FOR
REPL AYABILIT Y $55
Breathtakingly illustrated and
exceptionally easy to learn, Wing-
span has you and several friends
competing to coax flocks of birds
into private nature reserves. Each
new feathered friend gives you a
special ability or bonus, and the
heart of Wingspan lies in finding
interesting ways to combine these
birds’ special abilities into long,
clever chains of well-laid actions.

12 December 2019 P H OTO G R A P H Y BY L A KOTA G A M B I L L

 ENJOY RESPONSIBLY.
©2019. DEWAR’S BLENDED SCOTCH WHISKY 40% ALC. BY VOL.
IMPORTED BY JOHN DEWAR & SONS COMPANY, CORAL GABLES, FL.
 5
4

Wingspan was another early

2019 debut that started the year
off strong. It’s easy to teach to
new players, and I love the room
for discovery and creating new,
winning strategies. With more
than 160 unique birds, it feels like
there are countless avian engines 2

that will lead you to victory.

3 / PAX PAMIR, SECOND

EDITION: BEST FOR HISTORY
BUFFS $85
It’s 19th-century Afghanistan.
From the ashes of the Durrani
Empire, you’re fighting to form
a new reigning court of real-life
historical figures and forces. But
you are not alone. To win, you and
your friends will have to forge
and break alliances among three
coalitions: the interloping Rus-
sian and British empires and the
nativist Afghanis.
Pax Pamir is striking—and 1
not ju s t b ec au se of t he gor-
geous components and artwork.
Of the hundreds of games I’ve
played, I’ve never experienced
anything like Pax Pamir. It’s a
wargame where none of the sol- 4x4 grid of a town. Once you’ve got We played of various practitioners of the
dozens of new
diers are yours. You’re free to the right resources in the right board games occult and alchemical arts. With
switch alliances at every turn, shape, you’ll replace the little col- this year to hands of complex but easy-to-
find the five
and it requires tons of strategic ored cubes with buildings and best. understand cards, you’ll weave
ingenuity. I love how cunning it then spend the rest of the game magic, monsters, and machinery
feels when you deftly navigate working around your increasingly together in clever combinations
among the three coalitions, like congested hamlet. to rapidly increase your stock of
marching your British soldiers Tiny Towns is also great for magical essences. By spending
out of Herat before swapping families (with kids at least 12 those essences, you’ll take con-
over to the side of the incoming years old), but the game rewards trol of magical realms that will
Russian Empire. It’s delightfully geometric foresight and strat- quickly win you the game.
insidious. egy that makes it a total blast for It’s no surprise that a game
adults as well. about alchemy has found a way
4 / TINY TOWNS: BEST FOR to transmute heaping mounds of
FAMILIES $40 5 / RES ARCANA: MOST GAME FOR strategy into such a compact and
Tiny Towns is a simple strategy THE LEAST AMOUNT OF TIME $40 speedy game. I especially love
game with just a handful of rules. Here’s a fantastically dense strat- how Res Arcana’s brevity cre-
Players take turns calling out egy game that you can pull out, ates a level of unshakable tension
resources—cubes of wood, wheat, play, and pack up in as little as that’s easy to love. Each turn feels
brick, glass, or stone—for every- 30 minutes. In Res Arcana, you important, and each decision feels
one to place within their personal and your friends take on the roles potentially game-ending.

14 December 2019
 5
// BY EZR A DYER //

I
F YO U WA NT A N E W S I LV E R -
ado, and you’ve got an extra
$2,495 to spend on upgrad-
ing from the 5.3-liter V-8
engine, then Chev y has a
dilemma for you. For that
money, you have your choice
of a 6.2-liter gas V-8, or a 3.0-liter
Duramax diesel inline-six. So,
which one do you get?
Superficially, the choice comes
down to horsepower or fuel econ-
omy. A 4x4 with the V-8 gets 17
mpg combined, while the diesel
gets 25 mpg combined. On the
other hand, the V-8 makes 420
horsepower to the diesel’s 277. The
gas truck is quick and thirsty, while
the diesel is slower and thriftier.
But that’s not all there is to it.
While the big V-8 is unques-
tionably quicker when you’re
going wide-open-throttle, the two
engines don’t feel wildly different
in normal driving. Both engines
make plenty of torque—460 lb-ft
of it—but the diesel delivers it by
1,500 rpm, while the gas engine
needs to rev up to 4,100 rpm.
As a result, the smaller six feels
effortlessly powerful, while the
6.2-liter always seems to be work-
ing harder (because it is).
This might confound your
expectations, but the diesel is
smoother than the gas engine.
A straight-six is inherently bal-

The New Chevy anced, and the diesel’s advanced

fuel-injection system smothers
all but a trace of compression-

Silverado 1500 ignition clatter. The fuel-injection

system runs at 36,250 psi, with
nine-hole injectors delivering

Offers a Tough Choice: fuel up to 10 times per combustion

cycle. With that kind of precision,
you can fine-tune not only power

Gas or Diesel?
CO U R T E S Y C H E V R O L E T

output, but noise and refinement

as well. The difference between
the engines is most noticeable
in part-throttle cruising on flat
roads, where the diesel is near-

16 December 2019
 MAKE⁄MODEL

2020 CHEVY SILVERADO 1500

B ASE PRICE ENGINE
$29,895 6.2-liter gas V-8: 420 hp and 460 lb-ft
(Engine upgrade: of torque / 3.0-liter diesel I-6: 277
$2,495) hp and 460 lb-ft of torque

MAX TOWING EPA FUEL ECONOM Y (4X4)

13,400 pounds (gas) / 16 mpg city, 20 mpg highway
9,300 pounds (diesel) (gas) / 23 mpg city, 29 mpg
highway (diesel)

SHOULD YOU GO If you need your truck to double as a thrifty highway commuter, go with the
1500 Duramax diesel. But if you need to tow 35,500 pounds, there’s a truck

HEAVY-DUTY?
for that too—the 3500 HD. ¶ The heavy-duty pickup wars are an ongoing
exercise in one-upmanship. Everybody lays claim to superlatives for as long
as they last. Years ago, when Chevy’s 6.6-liter Duramax diesel hit 397 horse-
power, Ford immediately re-rated its engine to 400 horsepower. I figured with the 2020 HD trucks,
Chevy would torpedo the Ram’s 1,000 lb-ft of torque by tuning its trucks to, I don’t know, 1,005
lb-ft? But no. They’re not playing that game. The diesel trucks make 445 horsepower and 910 lb-ft
of torque. Ford once again bumped its numbers just ahead of Chevy and Ram for 2020 with 475
horsepower and 1,050 lb-ft of torque, allowing them to claim best-in-class horsepower. So Chevy
is just getting stomped by everyone, huh? ¶ Well, no. The most bodacious of the HD trucks, the crew cab dually 4x4, runs 0–60 in 7.4 seconds,
two seconds ahead of the equivalent Ram. That advantage remains even when towing an 18,000-pound trailer. A big part of the credit goes to
the Chevy’s new Allison 10-speed automatic. That’s a hard thing to brag about, though: Best-in-class number of gears isn’t really a thing. But
GM’s point is that we should stop obsessing over towing stats and concentrate on how the trucks actually work in the real world.

December 2019 17
 5

MORE CAMERAS / Cameras in front and cam-

eras behind. A camera for the bed, and one
for the inside of your trailer. The cleverest
angle is “invisible trailer,” a view that makes
silent, while the V-8 is cutting it appear as though you’re looking straight
cylinders. That increases effi- through the back of your trailer. No more
wondering if there’s a car lurking off the rear
ciency, but noticeably changes the
corner of your boat before you change lanes.
exhaust note and vibration that
makes it way to the cabin.
Towing is one area where the
V-8 has a definite advantage,
with the 6.2’s tow rating top-
ping out at 13,400 pounds to the
diesel’s 9,300 pounds. If you’re
towing the sort of boat or RV
that’s in that gray area at the top
of a 1500 truck’s rating, the 6.2 is
the better bet. However, towing
at altitude might send the advan-
tage back toward the Duramax. Its
turbocharger can compensate for
altitude, while a naturally aspi-
rated engine will lose power the
higher you climb.
One more thing to consider:
money. The straight-six and the
V-8 might cost the same up front,
but this is one of the rare cases
where the diesel will start saving
you money the moment you leave
the lot. While the 6.2 requires pre-
mium fuel, which is at a national
average price of $3.17 per gallon,
the Diesel is at $2.93 per gallon.
Over the first 10,000 miles (assum-
ing the EPA combined numbers), HITCH VIEW / Usually
the diesel will save you $692. when you’re lining up
You’ll need to top off with diesel your hitch ball, you
have to remember
exhaust fluid every now and then, that your truck
but that won’t put much of a dent will lurch forward
in the fiscal advantage, even with a couple inches
mixed-use driving. On the high- after you put it in
way, the diesel’s even better, with park. GM’s solution:
When you’ve got
the rear-wheel-drive trucks earn- the rear camera set
ing an almost-suspicious 33 mpg. for hitch view, the
While we appreciate a scorching truck automatically
0–60 time and better tow rating engages the e-brake
CO U R T E S Y C H E V R O L E T

as much as anyone, this one’s a when you shift from

reverse to park. No
no-brainer: If you’re going to step
lurch. Nice.
up from the 5.3 in a Silverado, go
for effortless torque and extreme
economy. Get the diesel.

18 December 2019
 MAX TOW RATING / One Duramax truck was hooked up
to a trailer that purportedly weighed 35,500 pounds—
the new maximum tow rating, which is achieved with a
rear-wheel-drive regular-cab long-bed dually.

TOW RATING BADGE / Every indi-

vidual truck also now has its tow
rating stamped on a VIN badge
on the door sill, which elimi-
nates a lot of confusion, given
that tow ratings vary depending
on engine, driveline, bed length,
TRAILER ALARM / When a trailer rear axle ratio, interior color,
is hooked up and the truck is and the position of Jupiter.
locked, disconnecting the trailer
will set off an alarm and send a
notification to your phone. Now
you don’t have to worry about
backing up against a wall to
make your trailer hard to steal
out of the hotel parking lot.

December 2019 19
 6
// BY EZR A DYER //
S
The Polaris P O R T AT VS A R E A N
enda ngered sp ecies.
Back in the glory days of
Scrambler Is 2008, just about every
AT V c omp a n y b u i lt
a sport machine. But
Absolutely today’s ATV market is
aff licted with an acute case of
pragmatism, rife with blocky four-
Useless—and wheel-drives fitted with cargo
racks and hitches. The implica-
Completely tion seems to be that fun for its
own sake is irresponsible—you use
your utility quad to clear brush off
Exhilarating the back 40; any entertainment is
purely incidental. That’s why the
2020 Polaris Scrambler XP 1000
S is so refreshing: It’s gloriously
20 December 2019
useless. The tow rating is zero.
The Scrambler exists to turn gaso-
line into serotonin, end of mission
statement.
The Polaris approaches that
mission a little bit differently
than the other lonely sport ATV,
the Yamaha Raptor. The Raptor,
in either 450-cc or 700-cc form,
is a lithe motocross machine with
a solid rear axle, rear-wheel drive,
a nd a ma nua l tra nsmission.
That’s the traditional format,
going all the way back to classics
like the 1980s Suzuki LT500R
Quadracer. The Scrambler has
a n aut omat ic t ra n sm ission,
floorboards instead of foot pegs,
all-wheel drive, and independent
rear suspension. It’s also phys-
ically huge—in terms of sheer
size, it looks like a quad-and-a-
half. Its 881-pound dry weight is
more than two Raptor 700s.
A motocross machine this
isn’t. The Scrambler is more like
a Baja trophy truck with han-
dlebars. It’s got 12.5 inches of
suspension travel up front and
14 inches in the rear, along with
more than 14 inches of ground
clearance. It soaks up big hits at
high speeds in wide-open places.
CO U R T E S Y P O L A R I S
E AT YO U R WAY TO A H A P P I E R , H E A LT H I E R YO U

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h 100+ DELICIOUS & EASY MEALS g

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 6
MAKE⁄MODEL

POLARIS SCRAMBLER
XP 1000 S
BASE PRICE ENGINE
$14,999 952cc
DRIVE TYPE WEIGHT
AWD/2WD 881 lb dry

HORSEPOWER 89
Nail the throttle and the rear
end squats as the front fenders
climb sky ward; hit the brakes
(single-lever for all four wheels,
with a separate rear foot brake)
and the process is reversed, with
dramatic dive. Watch a Stadium
Super Trucks race and you’ll get
an idea of the Scrambler’s han-
dling dynamics. It’s a snorting,
bucking bronco that ultimately
delivers an incredibly smooth
ride and shrugs off flinch-worthy
impacts. And the 55-inch width
(about four inches wider than the
more utility-minded Sportsman
XP 1000) gives the Scrambler
reassuring stability when you’re
powering out of a corner.
The Scra mbler of fers t wo
throttle modes: standard and
performance. Why would you buy
a machine like this and use any-
thing less than the full-ruthless as it blitzes more or less straight No, this is a machine for drop-
throttle setting? Because the ahead. It feels like the 27-inch- ping into a dry wash at 65 mph
952-cc twin puts out 89 horse- tall tires are ballooning from a nd going wherever it t a kes
power, and the less aggressive centrifugal force, like a Top Fuel you, as quickly as possible. The
mode is actually useful if you’re dragster’s, and maybe they are. Scrambler is a new kind of sport
on a trail or negotiating close Put it in two-wheel-drive mode to quad, one that’s optimized for
quarters where you don’t want to disable that beefy front diff (bor- big spaces rather than motocross
warp to 60 mph at a brush of the rowed from the RZR XP 1000) tracks or tight forest trails. It is
throttle. But when you do find and the Scrambler feels like it actually a lot like a Raptor—not
enough runway to enjoy wide- could drift the perimeter of the the Yamaha, but the Ford one.
open throttle, the Scrambler is Glamis dunes. Engage low-range Wide, powerful, with overkill
CO U R T E S Y P O L A R I S (S C R A M B L E R) ; CO U R T E S Y R A D P O W E R B I K E S (R A D R U N N E R)
a loony rush. Even in all-wheel- AWD and the Scrambler could suspension, this Polaris would
drive mode, it accelerates so hard probably handle some serious be the perfect ATV complement
that the tires struggle for grip, the rock climbing, but that doesn’t to Ford’s desert-racer pickup. If
machine squirming and dancing seem like its primary objective. only it would fit in the back.

Rad Power Bikes’ least-expen-

The Modernized Minibike sive e-bike ($1,299), a 750-watt
two-passenger step-through, offers at least 25 miles of range and a 20 mph top speed. The
Bafang hub motor might need some help from the pedals when you’re heading uphill at any-
thing near the 300-pound load limit, but on flat roads you can twist the throttle and ride it
like a silent moped. A headlight, taillight, and dual-leg kickstand are standard, but there are
plenty of optional accessories, too. The $99 passenger package is a must unless you’re a bike
courier, and the 12-liter center console (also $99) turns the RadRunner into a capable machine
for urban beer runs. Semi-fat all-terrain Kenda tires, developed specifically for this bike, are
happy to hit the dirt, too. If you’ve ever dreamed of making your commute on an electrified
version of a two-up ’80s minibike, this is your ride.

22 December 2019
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Some discounts, coverages, payment plans and features are not available in all states, in all GEICO companies, or in all situations. Boat and PWC coverages are underwritten by GEICO Marine Insurance Company. Motorcycle and ATV coverages are underwritten by GEICO
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 7
// BY COURTNE Y LIN DER //

The eDumper’s
tires alone are
six feet tall.

The World’s

W
Largest HO SAID ELECTRIC
vehicles can’t do
hard labor? Meet
At 30 feet long, 14 feet wide,
and 14 feet tall, the “eDumper”
isn’t an obvious candidate for elec-

Wheeled Elektro Dumper,

the biggest wheeled
EV on the planet.
trification. But eMining AG didn’t
just paint the stock dump truck
green. The company also added
Electric eMining AG, a
Swiss manufacturer of smart
a 600 kilowatt-hour battery pack
to the vehicle—enough to power

Vehicle Is a construction equipment, mod-

ified a standard Komatsu HD
six long-range Tesla Model S cars.
Those lithium batteries tack on
CO U R T E S Y E M I N I N G AG

605-7 truck, an off-highway vehi- another 9,000 pounds.

Dump Truck cle used in quarries and mines,

to operate entirely with electric
energy. Plus, the thing recharges
itself using rocks.
Her e’s how it work s: The
eDumper weighs 45 tons and
ascends a hill at, say, a 13 percent
grade. On the way back down, it’s

24 December 2019
POPULAR MECHANICS STUDIO FOR TRANE® RESIDENTIAL
HEATING UP
THE SEASON
PREPPING YOUR HVAC FOR WINTER
RELIABILITY AND EFFICIENCY
Y
ou’ve winterized your outdoor
faucets, replaced your tires
and made sure you have
everything needed for snow
removal, but what about your
HVAC system? A properly maintained and
serviced HVAC system by an independent
Trane dealer is crucial for continued
reliability, efficiency and longevity.
However, it is often an area of winter-
proofing maintenance that is neglected.
How do you prepare and maintain your
HVAC system during the winter? It starts
by changing your filters and cranking up
your system earlier on, to ensure it is
running properly before the season gets
cooler. You also want to check the vents
throughout the home to make sure they
are clean and unobstructed.
Additionally, this is when you should
contact a professional to perform a
seasonal maintenance check. Spending
money on something that appears to be
working properly might seem pointless,
but Trane comfort specialists can look
for less obvious problems to ensure the
unit keeps running at peak efficiency.
Unfortunately, a lot of homeowners wait
until extreme temperatures strike to even
think about their HVAC system, which can
leave them scrambling to repair or replace.
It is important to be proactive and not wait
until your HVAC leaves you stranded in the
cold. Deciding when to repair or replace
your HVAC is no small or easy decision. A
new unit can be expensive but spending
money on an old inefficient HVAC is not a
wise financial decision. It is important to
look at the age of the unit when evaluating
the cost of repair. Most HVAC system
components will last an average of 13-20
years with regular maintenance. If you are
near the end of this estimated life cycle, it
may be more economical to replace it with
a system that has higher energy efficiency
ratings and is more reliable.
When replacing, Trane offers a line of gas
and heat pump models that exceeds the
industry standards. The Trane S9V2 Gas Trane S9V2 Gas Furnace
Furnace provides consistent
temperatures and low noise
through the use of a 2-stage gas
heat feature. This model also burns
efficiently with a 96% AFUE,
meaning you waste less gas heating
your home. This Energy Star rated
furnace meets even the strictest
of building codes, and at only 34”
tall is ideal to retrofit into your
current space.
Trane XL824B Connected
If your home uses a heat pump, the Trane
XV20i is the beacon of efficiency in a Trane’s units work with most
crowded market. This variable speed heat major brands of thermostats
pump is one of the industry’s most efficient, but upgrading to their new
with ratings up to 20.00 SEER or Seasonal thermostat gives you total
Energy Efficiency Ratio (California requires control from anywhere. On
a minimum of 14 SEER) and 10 HSPF or average the thermostat could
Heating Season Performance Factor save you 10-20% in heating
(anything over 8 is considered high and cooling costs with its
efficiency). The Trane TruComfort™ advanced adaptive thermostat
technology automatically adjusts itself to technology. Plus, the XL824B
avoid temperature swings. With nothing also works as a smart home
overlooked, it’s also a quieter unit, hub, allowing control over
measuring 4 decibels lower than doors, locks, lights and more.
its competitors.
Trane XV20i Variable
Speed Heat Pump
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

X V20i H EA T P U M P TO SIMULATE 5 YEARS OF ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE,

TEST WE PUT OUR PRODUCTS THROUGH EXTREME TEMPERATURE

S YSTE M EX T R E M E FLUCTUATIONS INSIDE THE SEET LAB. WE PUSH BEYOND ANY

E NVIR ON ME N T A L T E S T WEATHER YOU SEE, SO THEY CAN RUN THROUGH ANYTHING.

S L A M

WE
W E T

TEST.
C O L D

SO
H O T

IT
S H A K E

RUNS.
 7

now carrying 65 tons of ore. To

rectify that scenario, the truck’s
How Regenerative
regenerative braking system actu- Braking Works
ally recaptures the energy created
by going downhill, refilling the
battery’s charge for the next time
the truck travels uphill.
For a crash course in regener-
ative braking, think back to high
school physics. Kinetic energy BATTERY
is created through motion, and
potential energy is stored because
of its placement relative to other
objects. You can experience this
in gasoline-powered vehicles, too.
The kinetic energy is created by a
spark and the ignition, but while
rolling down a hill, a vehicle cre-
BRAKES

ates more energy due to gravity.
Regenerative braking, then,
takes kinetic energy and trans-
forms it into electrical potential
energy that is stored back in the
battery. Other factors—the truck’s
weight, load, vertical position, and
gravitational pull—dictate how
much energy can be transformed
and stored. The same process is
used in other electric vehicles, like
the Honda Clarity plug-in hybrid.
“Rock trucks” like the Komatsu
HD 605-7 haul marlstone, a type of
lime-rich mudstone readily found
in the sides of Swiss mountains.
The cement trade relies on this raw
material; these trucks transport it
directly to their factories.
While the eDumper can go days
without charging, an eMining AG
rep says the truck still needs a
good jolt from time to time if you
put it through a rigorous workout.
Frequently hitting the brakes, for
example, may take up too much
energ y due to the mechanical
parts moving.
While EVs are quickly prolif-
erating throughout the United
States, the serious work in the
trades is still done by gas-guzzling
diesel engines. And according
to the World Economic Forum,
WHEEL
When you accelerate,
the battery powers elec-
tric motors that allow
the wheels to spin and
create forward motion.
When you brake, the
motors become gen-
erators that harvest
the kinetic, mechanical
energy created by the
an international organization
for public-private cooperation,
heav y industry and transport
will account for 15.7 gigatons of
carbon emissions by 2050 if left
unchecked.
The eDumper is a good start,
but it isn’t just a science experi-
ment—it’s already hauling tons of
rocks from a quarry on the slopes
of the Chasseral to the Ciments
BRAKES
ELECTRIC
WHEEL
MOTORS
car’s movement and percent of the kinetic
transform it into electri- energy created by mov-
cal energy. ing downhill is lost as
The electrical energy is heat. EVs do lose some
sent back to the battery kinetic energy from
and stored as potential movement and heat
energy for the next time loss, but Tesla says
the car accelerates. regenerative braking
In cars with combus- is about 90 percent
tion engines, up to 70 efficient.
Vigier SA cement factory near the
Swiss town of Biel.
Making the trip from quarry to
factory 20 times a day produces a
surplus of 200 kilowatt-hours of
energy (or 77 megawatt-hours per
year), says the eMining AG rep.
Your average dump truck, by con-
trast, uses between 11,000 and
22,000 gallons of diesel fuel each
year. You do the math.

28 December 2019
 THE BEST GIFTS
A R E S H A R E D.
NOT GIVEN.

Jim Beam Black® Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 43% Alc./Vol. ©2019 James B. Beam Distilling Co., Clermont, KY.
 8
// BY JACQUELINE DET W ILER //

CO U R T E S Y P R O C E E D I N G S O F T H E N AT I O N A L A C A D E M Y O F S C I E N C E S U S A : " L I N K I N G P L A S M A F O R M AT I O N I N G R A P E S TO M I C R O WAV E R E S O N A N C E S O F A Q U E O U S D I M E R S " H A M Z A K . K H AT TA K , PA B LO B I A N U CC I , A N D A A R O N D . S L E P KOV- M OV I E S1

1 2
3 4
5 6
Cut a grape
ho knows the rea-
s on s a s c ie nt i s t
may have for choos-
ing the quest ion
that will shape his
life’s work. Maybe,
when p onder i ng
life’s great mysteries, he prefers
the guidance of physics to that
of religion. Maybe he has always
dreamed of circling the Earth in
the International Space Station,
watching the sun rise every 90
minutes over the soapy blue of his
home planet. Maybe he acciden-
tally put a fork in a microwave one
time. Or maybe it was the micro-
wave thing, but with a grape.
The scientist in question,
Aaron Slepkov, discovered the
old grape-in-the-microwave trick
when he was young, in which a
sliced grape erupts into a fireball
of plasma—an ionized gas that
is considered the fourth state of
matter and is present in large
quantities in, among other places,
the sun.
Twenty years later, Slepkov,
now a physics professor at Trent
Universit y, t ook on his ow n
experiment to explain how the
phenomenon worked. His findings
were published in the journal
Proceedings of the National Acad-
emy of Sciences of the United
States of America.
“In 1995, [Slepkov] had found
the first website describing mak-
ing plasma in a microwave, and he

Scientists Finally part of the way

through, leaving
two halves that
are still con-
got really fascinated with it and
kept it in the back of his mind,”
study coauthor Pablo Bianucci,

Figured Out Why nected by a small

piece of skin.
When placed in
the microwave,
Ph.D., a physics professor at Con-
cordia University, says.

Grapes Spark in the radiation

causes the grape
to increasingly
spark from the
From a thorough inspection of
the internet’s best “microwaved
grape fireball” videos, it seems

the Microwave middle. to be necessary to cut the grape

in half before microwaving, leav-
ing a small, ion-rich skin bridge
between the two hemispheres.

30 December 2019

“The more or less consen-
sus explanation was that the
grape would work as an antenna,
and that would create a current
through the skin bridge that
would eventually heat it up and
create the plasma,” says Bianucci.
Through the sacrifice of untold
masses of grapes (and 12 micro-
waves), the researchers showed
that this hy pothesis—which
had never been explained math-
ematically anyway—was false.
Not only is a skin bridge between
the grape halves not required, but
you can ignite a plasma fireball
in two whole grapes placed side
by side in a small bowl, or two
ground cherries, two quail eggs,
or even two hydrogel beads of
the type used in diapers.
Using microwaves with
the doors removed, “they
managed to decouple the
generation of the plasma—
the really flashy thing you
see—from the actual phenomenon
that’s going on underneath, which
is the focusing of the electromag-
netic radiation, the microwaves,
in bet ween the t wo spheres,”
Bianucci says.
It turns out that water-based
orbs about the size of a grape
amplify microwaves (which is
electromagnetic energy, just like
light) so effectively that a hot
spot just between the two orbs
creates plasma.
Apart from being cool, this
“
THE GRAPE
WOULD WORK
AS AN ANTENNA
THAT WOULD resea rch may some-
day contribute to better
CREATE A understanding of a field
CURRENT. called nanoplasmonics.
“If you put, for instance,
two metal nanoparticles
next to each other, you have this
same effect, a really increased
electromagnetic field, but with the
metals you see it with light instead
of microwaves,” says Bianucci.
“The key thing is that the water
has a high reflective index, so it
shrinks the wavelength a lot. If we
were able to find a material that
works like water, but for light,
where we could really shrink the
wavelength of light, then we could
probably use it to focus light into
very, very small spaces.”

More Experiments You Can Do With Your Microwave

If you’ve already 1 SOAP BUBBLE 2 EXPLODING 3 SPEED OF 4 CD LIGHT SHOW 5 EXPANDING

turned grapes Carve a small EGG Place an egg LIGHT Put a thin Put a glob of Silly PEEPS Peeps or
into plasma balls, notch in the in the microwave, layer of mini- Putty on an edge other large marsh-
middle of a bar and the egg will marshmallows on of a CD so the CD mallows expand
here are five other
of soap that has explode. You will a plate, and put it can stand up in and explode in the
things you can try,
moisturizer. Put also hear a loud in the microwave the microwave. microwave. Put
according to Brad the soap in the boom. Similar to Dim the lights in them on a paper
(with turntable
Conrad, Ph.D., microwave, turn it a popcorn kernel removed) for 15 the room, turn on plate, arrange six
director of the on, and a bubble popping, the to 20 seconds. the microwave for to 10 Peeps in a
Society of Physics will grow out of sound you hear Measure distance no more than a pyramid fashion,
Students. the notch, which from the egg is between the few seconds, and and start the mi-
will become big an explosion from melted marshmal- you’ll see colorful crowave. They will
enough to fill the the water that lows in centime- flashes of light. slowly grow and
entire microwave. becomes present ters. Calculate The CD—which expand to three
The microwave is when it’s heated. the speed of light: has a very thin to four times their
heating up water Once the egg’s 2 x (distance layer of met- original volume.
and the molecules shell cracks, it between melted al—is reflecting When they cool
inside the soap to expands rapidly, spots) x (micro- electromagnetic off, you can still
cause it to expand. hence the noise. wave frequency). radiation. eat them.

November 2019 31
 9
// BY A A RON GOLDFA R B //

Trust Us,
Infusing
Whiskey Is
Delicious

T
H E RE ’S A PHASE COL-
lege students go through 1 2
where they decide cheap,
clear liquor needs an
upgrade. But what, really,
can an aspiring dorm-
room mixologist do with
a non-discerning palate, limited
funds, and not enough time? Ah
yes. Infuse. Just throw Skittles
or frozen blueberries or any other
easily accessible sweet accoutre-
ment into the plastic handle and
wait. The resulting concoction
is probably awful. It will be con-
sumed anyway.
Don’t be ashamed if you went
through that phase. You may now
have disposable income to buy fan-
cier bottles, but that does not mean
you should quash that adventurous 3 4

spirit—you know, the same one

that drove you to throw Pop Rocks
into Smirnoff. Harness that desire
to meddle with your liquor cabinet
TWO (MOSTLY) (1) Use kitchen shears to
cut the bacon strips into
bon in a mixing glass or a
stainless-steel container

and you can create some truly wild
and delicious drinks. With the
proper guidance, of course.
The best way to start your adult
infusing journey is with whiskey,
a complex and resilient spirit that
pairs so well with equally bold,
complex flavors like, say, meat.
But don’t just drop some ground
round into a bottle of Jim Beam
and call it a day. To infuse whiskey
with more ambitious foodstuff,
you’re going to need to learn a
FOOLPROOF FAT
¾-inch pieces. Cook over
low to medium-low heat
until all the fat has been
WASHES TO GET released and the bacon is
fully crisped. Remove the
YOU STARTED bacon and try to filter out
the little bacon bits that
have been left behind. (As
anyone too lazy to clean
THE WHISKEY the morning’s bacon skillet
750-millimeter bottle knows, bacon fat will even-
of Four Roses (Yellow
tually solidify. Once it does,
Label) Bourbon you can store it almost
THE FAT indefinitely.) (2) Combine
4 to 6 strips of hickory- about 1½ ounces warm
smoked bacon bacon fat with the bour-
and stir until it dissolves.
(3) Allow the mixture to
infuse, uncovered, at room
temperature for about 4
hours, then cover and place
in the freezer for 2 more
hours. The fat will have
risen to the top. (4) Skim
that off and strain the rest
of the bourbon through a
cheesecloth. You will have
lost a few ounces, so the
yield should be about 24
ounces. Funnel it back into
the bourbon bottle and
explicitly relabel it.

32 December 2019 P H OTO G R A P H Y BY L A KOTA G A M B I L L

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tricky tactic called “fat wash- THE WHISKEY

ing”—first detailed in a 2007 Food
& Wine article by top-notch booze
writer Nick Fauchald.
Fat won’t dissolve in most liq-
uids, but it will dissolve in alcohol.
Freezing that mixture until the fat
resolidifies, then straining it off,
completes the process. This is the
only way to infuse a spirit with the
flavors of, say, brown butter or
hazelnuts or, yes, meat, without
leaving any chunkiness or greas-
iness behind.
I recommend using a full bot-
tle for any infusion. You don’t
want to make too small a batch.
You also lose a bit in the process,
so I wouldn’t necessarily infuse
a really pricey whiskey. Look for
$15 to $30 spirits. Or buy a han-
dle of the really cheap stuff to
practice with—the higher-proof,
the better (Wild Turkey 101 and
Old Grand-Dad are great options).
Anything that has soluble fats
can be fat-washed, from bacon to
Nutella. There’s really no right or
wrong with infusions. When you
have an idea, and there’s no recipe
online, just follow your gut. But in
general, these steps will give you
a drinkable, properly fat-washed
finished product.
750-millimeter bottle of
Old Grand-Dad Bonded
THE FAT
2 cups peanut butter
(1) Melt the peanut butter
in a saucepan over medium
heat. Mix with the Old
Grand-Dad Bonded. Freeze
overnight. The peanut but-
ter will sink to the bottom of
the container. (2) Skim the
translucent bourbon off the
top and strain the remain-
ing mixture through coffee
filters to extract the rest
of the bourbon. (3) Repeat,
leaving again in the freezer
overnight, then skimming
and straining until the
desired clarity is achieved.
Another method of peanut
butter washing that has
2
gained popularity recently
is based on a perfume-
making technique called
effleurage. You spread
the peanut butter across a
rimmed baking sheet, then
briefly pour the bourbon
over the top before dump-
ing the bourbon back into a
serving vessel.
Excerpted from Hacking
Whiskey: Smoking, Blend-
ing, Fat Washing, and Other
Whiskey Experiments,
2018, Dovetail 3

1 / Choose the ingredient(s) you

wish to infuse. Duck fat, avocado
oil, Butterfingers...go wild! Of
course you might not simply be
able to buy, say, duck fat, in which
case you’ll have to render your
own. In other words, cook a duck,
and instead of tossing the grease
left in the pan down the sink and
pissing off your landlord when you
clog up his pipes, use it for your
fancy whiskey infusion.
2 / Add liquefied fat (hot, if possi-
ble) to whiskey at around a ratio of
one ounce per 750-milliliter bot-
tle. If you can, do this in a Cambro
container, which allows more
surface area contact between the
alcohol and the liquefied fat. Let
the ingredients infuse for several
hours at room temperature.
3 / Afterward, put the entire
Cambro in the freezer for as little
as 12 hours but quite possibly for
a couple days. It really depends.
You’re waiting as long as it takes
for the oils from the fat to freeze
and separate from the alcohol—
because, remember, alcohol can’t
freeze. The alcohol left behind
will be infused with the flavor of
the fat, and the texture might be
a tad thicker.
4 / Once that is the case, skim the
fat off the top, then strain the rest
of the whiskey through a cheese-
cloth to eliminate all the solids
still lingering behind.
5 / Put the infused whiskey back
into the original bottle and store
in the fridge to keep fresh.

34 December 2019
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 10
// BY DAV ID AGRELL A ND JOSEP H TRUINI //
P
What You OW E R O U TAG E S A R E
unavoidable and increas-
ing in both frequency
Need to and duration. Nearly 60
percent of all blackouts
are caused by violent
Know About storms, but 34 percent
are caused by equipment failure in
Buying a the nation’s aging and overloaded
electrical grid. So what’s a home-
owner to do?
Standby One option is a standby genera-
tor. Within seconds of a blackout,
a standby generator will kick on to
Generator power your home. But these gen-
erators aren’t cheap. Here’s how to
decide if it’s worth it to have one
for your home.
36 December 2019
■
A NEED-BASED DECISION
Whether or not you need a standby
generator is strictly personal. For
some, being inconvenienced by a
single blackout is reason enough.
But in an area with frequent or
leng thy blackouts, a standby
generator becomes more neces-
sit y than convenience. Once
you’ve decided that you need one,
the next step is selecting the
right size.
■
SIZING STANDBY GENERATORS
Generators come in many sizes
and can be powered by either nat-
ural gas or liquid propane (LP).
A common impulse is to get the
largest unit available to power
the entire house. A more sensi-
ble approach is to buy a generator
sized to run essential circuits,
such as those powering the fur-
nace, kitchen, well pump, sump
pump, water heater, security sys-
tem, and a few lights and outlets.
This is considered a “partial-
house generator.”
The complexity of a home’s
electrical system is a critical fac-
tor in selecting a generator. Square
footage doesn’t correlate to a cer-
tain size—it’s more complex than
that. Hire an experienced elec-
trician to calculate your home’s
anticipated electrical loads and
recommend the correct size.
■
GENERATOR SIZES
Generators are sized by kilowatts
(kW), which is a unit of power.
One kilowatt equals 1,000 watts.
So, a 22kW generator produces 22
kilowatts—or 22,000 watts. Gen-
erators need to be connected to an
automatic transfer switch (ATS),
G E T T Y I M AG E S
which makes the generator kick
on or off. Again, an electrician
will provide guidance, but a typi-
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Generator Sizing Chart

cal home with a 200-amp breaker TYPE OF LOAD WATTAGE KEY

panel would need a 200-amp ATS.
2 LIGHTING CIRCUITS 200W GENERATOR SIZE:
Ultimately, generator size will
be based on the total running watts 4 LIGHTING CIRCUITS 400W 7 KW
and starting KVA of all the cir- 10 LIGHTING CIRCUITS 1000W
cuits, appliances, and mechanical 1 7 KW
REFRIGERATOR 1200W
systems it supplies. KVA (kilo-volt- 4 8 KW
ampere) is 1,000 volt-amps; think SUMP PUMP 1000W
of a volt as electrical pressure, WELL PUMP 1000W
and an amp as electrical current.
FURNACE FAN 500W
Both numbers must be calcu-
lated: Running watts equals the GARAGE-DOOR OPENER 875W
power consumed by an electrical MICROWAVE OVEN 1000W
motor while running, and start- ELECTRIC OVEN 2000W
ing KVA is required because each
RADIO 50W
time a motor starts, there’s a surge
that the generator must be able to TELEVISION 300W
handle. Once standby electrical LAPTOP 45W
circuits have been identified, the A rough estimate
DESKTOP COMPUTER 200W
electrician will add up the running of energy loads
watts and starting KVA to project 4-TON CENTR AL AC 2500W for typical home
appliances and
the total electrical load and deter- COFFEE MAKER 900W
recommended
mine the proper-size generator. WASHING MACHINE 1200W circuits for 7kW,
17kW, and 48kW
ELECTRIC CLOTHES DRYER 6750W
■ standby generators.
SOUND AND SERVICE
Cities often have noise ordi-
nances for generators. A machine
may be rated at 62 decibels,
which doesn’t sound like a lot,
but imagine a neighbor idling a
Harley—tolerable in a rural area,
but not in the suburbs. Addition-
ally, most building codes require
generators to be at least five feet ■ especially if it is equipped with
from house openings and flam- A COSTLY ENDEAVOR a ga s ra nge, a ga s hot water
mable materials, making urban Many factors determine the final heater, and gas heat, which use
installations tricky. Fuel-tank cost of a standby generator, which little electricity. A 22kW air-
placement is typically restricted, makes pinpointing an exact price cooled generator can cost $4,500
especia lly nea r pa rk ing lots difficult. A good general rule is to $5,000—or about $9,000 to
and schools. that the installed cost is usually $10,000 installed.
Generators need TLC, as most twice the price of the generator. Large-capacity, liquid-cooled
complicated machines do. Like Be aware that there are two generators—in the 22kW to 45kW
cars, standby generators run non- basic engine operating systems: range—cost between $10,000 and
stop for many hours, so they have air-cooled and liquid-cooled. Air- $15,000, making the installed
to be maintained similarly. cooled generators are smaller and price about $20,000 to $30,000.
A generator can last a lifetime less costly, but they’re also louder, Regardless which standby
of outages if you check the oil daily even though liquid-cooled genera- generator you choose, it’s a sig-
during use, run it at 75 percent of tors are typically larger. nificant investment, but one that
its capacity, and avoid starting or Generally, a 22kW standby many homeowners are willing to
stopping it under load whenever generator is suitable for a home make to keep their home safe and
possible. that’s 2,500 square feet or smaller, comfortable.

38 December 2019
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// BY DA RREN ORF //

Same Galaxy, New Characters,

No Nostalgia: What Is Star Wars
Without the Skywalkers?

I
N T H O S E I L L- FAT E D P R E -
q u el s , A n a k i n Sk y w a l k er
becomes Darth Vader. In the
original trilogy, Luke strug-
gles against the Empire. And
in the sequel trilogy, the entire
galaxy must face the aftermath
of Luke’s not-so-wise decisions,
while Kylo Ren grapples with
Darth Vader’s lasting legacy. 
For m or e t h a n 4 0 y e a r s ,
Lucasfilm, and now Disney, has
stretched the tale of the Skywalker
family to its narrative limits. With
The Rise of Skywalker, the newest
and final movie in the sequel tril-
ogy, the story of the Skywalker
saga will finally come to a close.
After nine movies, the past will
die. Sure, Vader and his progeny
will continue to appear in Star
Wars comics and video games.
But as far as films are concerned—
almost out of necessity due to the
age of the actors—The Rise of Sky-
walker is an exclamation point on
a long, and sometimes rambling,
cinematic sentence. So...what’s
next? Can Star Wars survive in a
post-Skywalker world? 
A little more than a month
before The Rise of Skywalker,
Disney released The Mandalo-
rian. Following a bounty hunter The titular character is meant The Rise of before: “The type of Star Wars I’m
in the outer reaches of the galaxy, to bring bounty hunter Boba Fett to Skywalker, the inspired to tell is a smaller thing
last film in the
this is the first-ever live-action mind, as both characters wear sim- family's saga, is with new characters,” he said.
Star Wars TV series, the first ilar-looking Mandalorian armor. the beginning And Favreau’s fresh direction
of a new era
Star Wars show on Disney’s new But showrunner Jon Favreau, of Star Wars isn’t a one-off affair. Director
streaming service, and the first the director who kick-started stories. Rian Johnson, who was on the
live-action Star Wars…anything, the entire Marvel cinematic uni- receiving end of some fans’ ire
G E T T Y I M AG E S

without a Skywalker in it. (Except verse with 2008’s Iron Man, has after ta king the series in an
for maybe Solo, but that’s a movie said that he’s creating some- unexpected direction in The
best forgotten.) thing different than what’s come Last Jedi, will also be helming a

40 December 2019
 CL E R MON T
K . Y. U. S .

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EVERY BIT EARNED

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 11

trio of new films set in a galaxy
far, far away. “We’re doing some-
thing that steps beyond the legacy
characters,” Johnson said in an
interview. “What does that look
like?...It really makes you think
and figure out what the essence of
Star Wars is for me and what that
will look like moving forward.”
Star Wars needs to become
more than just an annual nos-
talgia fix. Old adventure serials,
W WII dogfighting films, and
Japanese samurai films helped
form the original trilogy, but the
series is a lasting testament to the
power of creativity. It’s a tragedy
that, 40 years later, these films
have become a regurgitation of
recycled ideas.
“You gotta remember that Star
Wars came from nowhere...there
was nothing like it,” George Lucas
said in a 2015 interview. “Now,
if you do anything that’s not a
sequel, they won’t do it.... It shows
an enormous lack of imagination
and fear of creativity.”
Like Lucas, Johnson isn’t con-
tent with making a Star Wars
film you’ve already seen before,
and this search for a new direc-
tion is all over his films. In The
Last Jedi, Kylo Ren pleads with
Rey during the film’s most dra-
matic moment. “It’s time to let
old things die,” he says. “Snoke,
Skywalker, the Sith, the Jedi—let
it all die.”
You could say those words
only relate to the film’s ongoing
galactic strife. But its underlying
commentary is pretty clear: It’s
time for Star Wars to move on.
The Best
Way to
Watch
All the
Star Wars
Movies
Watching (or rewatching) Star
Wars seems straightforward.
After all, the movies are all
labeled numerically, right there
in the title crawl. But with the
introduction of the prequels,
sequels, and one-offs, fans have
gotten creative when searching
for the ultimate way to watch.
We’re partial to the Rinster
Order, named after a partic-
ularly dedicated fan. It helps
preserve The Empire Strikes
Back’s big plot twist while also
giving Vader’s revelation more
narrative weight. Once we learn
of the relationship between
Luke and Vader, we’re treated
to a three-film flashback
exploring how such a dark lord
of the Sith came to be.

THE RINSTER ORDER

1 2 3

Proof A THE EMPIRE THE

NEW STRIKES PHANTOM
That Star HOPE BACK MENACE
Wars
Works 4 5 6
Without ATTACK REVENGE OF RETURN
Skywalker OF THE THE SITH OF THE
CLONES JEDI

7 8 9
THE THE THE RISE
FORCE LAST OF
AWAKENS JEDI SK YWALKER
While Star Wars game from 2003 KOTOR remains one
films haven’t strayed called “Knights of the of the greatest Star
far from having a Old Republic.” Wars stories ever told.
OPTIONAL: So what about the stand-
Skywalker-centric Developer Bio- Animated series like
plot, peripheral sto- ware, an industry Rebels and Resistance alone films? You could slot in Rogue One
ries have been more behemoth, had a have since ventured before A New Hope and treat the two films
CO U R T E S Y E L E C T R O N I C A R T S

brave about boldly bold idea: an epic, off the Skywalker as one four-hour-long space epic. But it
going where no one galaxy-spanning Star path, but KOTOR was feels wrong to not start your rewatch with
has gone before. Wars story set 4,000 a creative master- the original. As for Solo, it makes the most
(Sorry, wrong fran- years before A New piece, showing that sense to give it a watch after the startling
chise.) The greatest Hope. Not only did Star Wars could be so conclusion of The Force Awakens, in
example? A video Bioware pull it off, much more. order to give our favorite space smuggler
a proper send-off. Oh...spoilers.

42 December 2019
 Statement of
PENDANT: $99 EARRINGS: $99 Set Price: $169 (Save An Extra $29) - Excluding Shipping.
Ownership, Management
“Dancing” Pendant & Earrings Collection
and Circulation
Publication Title: Popular Mechanics
Publication Number: 0530-3900
Filing Date: October 1, 2019
Issue Frequency: Monthly, except combined Dec/
Jan/Feb & July/Aug
Number of Issues Published Annually: 9
Annual Subscription Price: $24.00
300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019, publi-
cation and general business offices.
Names and Addresses of Publisher, Editor, and Man-
aging Editor, Publisher: Jack Essig, 300 West 57th
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Editor: Suzanne Perreault, 3939 West Drive, Center
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Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Hold-
ers Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More of Total
Amount of Bonds, Mortgages, or Other Securities:
None. 13. Publication Title: Popular Mechanics 14.
Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: September-19
(You Save $230) Complementary
15. EXTENT AND NATURE OF CIRCULATION 18” Sterling
Average No. Copies
Each Issue During
Preceding 12 Months
No. Copies of Single
Issue Published
Nearest to Filing Date +S&P Silver
Chain with
A. TOTAL NUMBER OF COPIES Pendants
per piece
(NET PRESS run) 1,055,062 1,003,900

B. PAID CIRCULATION
(1) Mailed Outside-County 715,155 633,407
Paid Subscriptions Stated on
PS Form 3541 (Include paid
distribution above nominal rate,
advertiser’s proof copies,
and exchange copies)
(2) Mailed In-County Paid n/a n/a
Finished
Subscriptions Stated on
PS Form 3541 (Include paid
Sterling
distribution above nominal Beautiful, Stunning, Elegant… Silver
rate, advertiser’s proof
copies, and exchange copies) she’s all those things and more;
(3) Paid Distribution Outside 17,036 14,000
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Distribution Outside USPS®
(4) Paid Distribution by Other n/a n/a
Classes of Mail Through the The setting is a pioneering new
USPS (e.g., First-Class Mail)
concept, featuring a revolution-
C. TOTAL PAID DISTRIBUTION
(Sum of 15b (1), (2), (3), and (4)) 732,191 647,407 ary, patented design. Allowing
D. (1) Free or Nominal Rate 257,845 228,650
the feature stone to vibrate, cre-
Outside-County Copies ating a consistent shimmering of
included on PS Form 3541
(2) Free or Nominal Rate In-County n/a n/a fire and brilliance. The Diamon-
Copies Included on PS Form 3541
(3) Free or Nominal Rate Copies Mailed n/a n/a deau® - the Supreme Diamond
at Other Classes Through the USPS
(e.g., First-Class Mail)
Alternative - are handset at pre-
(4) Free or Nominal Rate Distribution
Outside the Mail (Carriers or other means)
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tinuous movement of the center
E. TOTAL FREE OR NOMINAL 266,042 231,472
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(Sum of 15d (1), (2), (3) and (4))
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G. COPIES NOT DISTRIBUTED 56,830 125,021
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H. TOTAL (SUM OF 15F AND G) 1,055,062 1,003,900
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 12
// BY DAV ID GROSSM A N //

A worldwide network
of computers helped
solve one of math’s most
elusive problems.

M
ATHEMATICIAN ANDREW
BOOKER was searching
for topics to present
at his children’s math
club when he st um-
bled across a YouTube
video about the sum-
of-three-cubes puzzle. “It was
a case of serendipity,” the Uni-
versity of Bristol mathematics
professor says. The video—pro-
duced by the popular YouTube
channel Numberphile—led him
to solve a curious equation that
has stumped mathematicians for
decades.
In 1825, mathematician S.
Ryley proved in the magazine
Ladies’ Diary that any fraction

After 65 Years, can be represented as the sum of

three cubes of fractions. Mathe-
matician Louis Mordell took the

Supercomputers puzzle a step further in 1953,

when he questioned whether the
same type of solution could be
Finally Solve found for x3+y3+z3 = k, a diophan-
tine equation, which involves only

This Unsolvable positive and negative integers. He

started with the number 3, and
the hunt was on to find solutions

Math Problem for all integers between 1 and 100.

In some cases, finding the solu-
tion to x3+y3+z3 = k is easy enough.
S TA F F

To reach 53, for example, all that’s

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 12

needed is 33+33+(–1)3. Other num-

bers, like 51, grow increasingly
complicated: (–796)3+6593+6023.
For others—4, 5, 13, 14, 22, 23, 31,
32—it is mathematically impos-
sible. Then there are the numbers
that verged on unsolvable but
seemed hypothetically possible,
like 33 and 42.
I n M a r c h 2 01 9, B o o k e r
cracked 33. The computer he
used searched through 10 qua-
drillion numbers and turned
up t h ree w it h in a m at t er of
weeks: 8,866,128,975,287,5283,
(–8,778,4 05,4 42,862,239) 3 ,
and (–2,736,111,468,807,040)3.
Encouraged, he reached out to
Andrew Sutherland of M.I.T. to
see if he might help solve for 42.
The number has a mythical rep-
utation in pop culture—most
not ably in D oug la s Ada ms’s
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Gal-
axy, but also within the works of
Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in
Wonderland (and a mathema-
tician). Sutherland agreed.
The chance to find a set of
mystery numbers equaling
42 was irresistible, but they
needed more juice.
Then Ma rk McA ndrew,
founder of Charity Engine,
a supercomputing system
that harnesses unused com-
put i ng p o wer f r om mor e
t h a n 50 0,0 0 0 home P C s,
caught a Numberphile video
about Booker’s quest for 42.
He wanted in, too. “I was lit-
er a l ly ju mpi n g a r ou nd,” he
says. Over the course of a day,
the vast network of PCs logged
more than a million comput-
ing hours on Charity Engine’s
volunteer computer net work.
Finally, they got their answer:
(–80,538,738,812,075,974) 3
+ 80,435,758,145,817,515 3 +
12,602,123,297,335,6313.
“The team’s discover y is a
“ major piece of progress
on t h i s pr oblem ,” say s
IT IS ALWAYS mathematician Chao Li of
Columbia University. “It
EXCITING AND
is always exciting and sat-
SATISFYING isfying in mathematics to
IN MATHEMATICS see a longstanding prob-
lem finally being resolved.”
TO SEE A LONG-
(Booker and Sutherland
STANDING also recently found a new
PROBLEM FINALLY way to make a sum of three
cubes equal 3.) Sutherland
BEING RESOLVED.
knows that when problems
are solved with the help of
supercomputers, that’s all the
public tends to see. “But the way
these things work, there’s always
an interplay between algorithm
and computational power,” he
says. Supercomputers are like
tractors, threshers, or any other
machine. All the power in the
world is great, but without know-
ing how to use it, you’re stuck—be
it in a field or amidst 10 quadril-
lion numbers.

Computer x
Mathematics 300 BCE 1622 1849 1936 1949
Timeline The Babylonians William Oughtred Charles Babbage Alan Turing pub- George Reitwiesner,
invent the earli- invents the slide designs “Difference lishes his seminal Clyde Hauff, Homé
est calculator, the rule, a mechanical Engine #2,” a mechan- paper “On Comput- McAllister and W.
abacus. analog computer ical contraption to able Numbers.” Barkley Fritz use
designed to multiply solve equations auton- the newly invented
and divide numbers. omously. He never ENIAC computer to
sees the machine compute π to 2,035
in action. decimal places.

1967 1976 1984 1996 2014 2019

The first handheld A computer cracks The software The first volunteer Mathematician Emma Haruka Iwao
digital calculator, the Four Color MATLAB debuts. computing project, Thomas Hales for- uses Google’s cloud
Texas Instruments’ Theorem, making the Great Internet mally proves the computing service
CalTech, is invented. it the first computer- Mersenne Prime Kepler Conjecture to calculate π to a
It costs $85. assisted proof to be Search, kicks off. using proof assis- staggering 31 trillion
solved. tant software. decimal places.

46 December 2019
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 13
// BY DAV ID GROSSM A N //

The Wild
Idea
That the
Titanic
Never
Really
Sank

I
S IT ACTUALLY the Titanic at
the bottom of the ocean?
No one is denying that a
ship really sank in the icy
waters of the North Atlantic
on April 15, 1912. Or that
approximately 1,500 passen-
gers aboard perished. However,
there are some who suggest that
the White Star Line, the ship’s
parent company, pulled a fast
one on the public in an insurance
scam that ended up going horri-
bly wrong.
These theorists claim that
instead of the Titanic, a sister
K I R K A N D S O N S O F CO W E S/ H E R I TAG E I M AG E S/G E T T Y I M AG E S

ship in White Star’s fleet was the

one that now sits at the bottom
of the ocean. The strangest part:
The idea isn’t as far-fetched as you
might think.
■ White Star needed some help.
THE HEYDAY OF BIG SHIPS
The British White Star Line had
stiff competition in England and
across the globe. Locally, it had
a fierce rivalry with the Cunard
Steamship Company, Ltd., which
in 1906–07 shipped the maiden
voyages of the world’s then-largest
passenger ships: the Lusitania
and the Mauretania. To compete,
That’s where financier J.P.
Morgan came in. In 1902, his
holding company, International
Mercantile Marine Co., pur-
chased White Star. Bankrolled
by Morgan, White Star Chairman
Bruce Ismay commissioned three
The hole torn ships—the Olympic, the Titanic,
in the hull of
RMS Olympic and the Britannic—that would
after the outclass Cunard’s fleet, which at
collision with
HMS Hawke in the time was bigger and faster.
the Solent strait, The Olympic came first, and its
September
20, 1911. first four voyages were unqualified
successes. But during the fifth,
the vessel ran into trouble. On
September 20, 1911, while pass-
ing a military vessel, the Hawke,
the Olympic made an unexpected

48 December 2019
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turn. Caught off guard, the ships

collided. The Olympic was able to
limp back to port, badly wounded.
That crash is where the con-
spiracy begins.
White Star not only had a dam-
aged ship; the company was also
deemed accountable for the crash
w ith the Hawke. That meant
insurance wouldn’t cover repairs. What to Do If Your Ship Sinks
With a big ship sitting idle on Life vests save lives, but what else do you need if your boat goes down?
the docks bringing in no money, We called U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Brian McCrum for insight.
White Star, the theory suggests,
made a switch. 1 HAVE SIGNAL 2 VHF CHANNEL 16 3 STAY WITH 4 HAVE A FLOAT
The second ship in line, the D E V I C E S Search A radio on board V E S S E L If you P L A N Let some-
parties will look can save your life, can’t see the one know where
Titanic, was already in the works.
for anything from and so can channel shore, don’t try and when you’re
So, instead of having a beaten up flares to the light 16. It's solely used to swim to safety; going. Stick to that
liner out of commission, the com- on your sports for boaters, and the stay with the ship. plan, and rescue
pany slapped the Olympic name watch—yes, a Coast Guard mon- Also, not all ships crews will be able
on the new ship—the Titanic— Coast Guard heli- itors it. If you need will go completely to locate you easier
and the original Olympic would copter can spot assistance, this is underwater. If if trouble arises.
that. The more the place to sum- your hull is over- The Coast Guard
be repurposed into the Titanic. mon aid. McCrum
devices, the better. turned and still actually has an
With the switch made, the McCrum recom- also recommends afloat, use it for app—U.S. Coast
Olympic (now secretly operating mends flashlights, having an EPIRB— visibility. “Not only Guard in App Store
as the Titanic) could be scut- mirrors, whistles, an emergency will it keep you or Google Play—
tled in a planned accident. The flares, retro reflec- position-indicating out of cold water where you can file
tive tape (which can radiobeacon. longer, it’s also a float plan to detail
White Star Line could collect an Both are preferred
go on a life jacket), bigger than you,” where you’re trav-
insurance payment, which would and anything else over a cellphone McCrum says. “We eling, your itinerary,
benefit the new ship, all while the that can increase with spotty can see a boat eas- and the equipment
Titanic (now the Olympic) would your visibility. reception. ier than you.” you have onboard.
live on. The plan seemed sound,
until it was ruined by an iceberg.

■
EVIDENCE FOR AND AGAINST
It’s not impossible that White Star
Line switched ships. But the evi-
dence that exists for that is thin.
Proponents of the theory point
to the “Titanic” not allowing public
examination prior to setting sail,
and to portholes—theorists sug-
gest that when viewing photos of
the Titanic under construction and
the ship that set sail for New York
looks suspiciously like the Olympic.
B u t h i s t or i a n s a r e q u ic k
to point to the facts. Titanic
researchers Steve Hall and Bruce
the porthole question head-on. were not identical. The Titanic
“The Olympic,” they write, had a unique café and enlarged
“like the Titanic, was fitted orig- restaurant, based on what was
inally with the same 14-porthole learned with the Olympic. Plus,
arrangement on the port side of additional steel plates were fitted
her forecastle, but two additional to the bedplates of the Olympic’s
portholes were later fitted; they engines in 1911. They were still in
were there in March 1912.” the correct place during inspec-
Historian Mark Chirnside tions in the ’20s and ’30s.
has also devoted serious time to Closely examined, none of the
the question of why, exactly, the Olympic/Titanic claims can hold
switch would have been made. up to the phenomenal effort that
His key evidence is the insurance would have been necessary for
claim for the Titanic. The ship the switch. Without concrete evi-
G E T T Y I M AG E S

Beveridge, who published a book cost $7,500,000. It was insured dence, the theory fails to stand
on this subject, Titanic or Olym- for $5,000,000. up. The ship at the bottom of the
pic: Which Ship Sank?, address He also adds that the ships ocean is the actual Titanic.

50 December 2019
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 Injured
Athletes Lost What
They Loved.

B Y J A M E S LY N C H
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANGIE SMITH

52 December 2019
 Left: Roy
Tuscany rides
a waveski;
Below: On
May 22, 2019,
surfers attend
a High Fives
Foundation
workshop
near San
Clemente, CA.

These Boards
Bring It Back. December 2019 53
A L M O S T E V E R Y W AV E I S O V E R H E A D W H E N YO U ’ R E LY I N G
prone on a surf board, but these waves? They tower four to
six feet above the 13 riders on the water. The group—many
of them first-time surfers—chatter nervously while grip-
ping their boards. Then, a “Get pitted, bro!” erupts across
the water from a smiling Roy Tuscany. He sits on a board,
paddle in hand, “sharing the stoke” as he calls it. With
ever y incoming set, ever y aborted ride in, ever y crash
into churning foam, Tuscany doles out congratulations
and high fives.
The surfers are from all over the country. The ocean outside
San Clemente is just another stop on a much larger journey.
Somewhere along the way, each of them experienced a traumatic
injury, often to the spinal cord or head, sometimes a wound from
war. Now they’re returning to sports—and Tuscany is right
there with them.
It’s been more than a decade since the aspiring pro skier
launched 130 feet off a 100-foot ski jump at Mammoth Moun-
tain in California. He burst his T12 vertebra and had two plates,
two rods, and eight screws put on each side of his spine. In an
instant, his days of competitive skiing and coaching were over,
his plans for the future to work as a mason gone, along with his
mobility from the waist down. But his community in Truckee,
California—colleagues from Sugar Bowl (the resort where he of specialized ski poles. They helped him turn, carve, and
worked), families he coached—as well as friends from his home decelerate as he made his way down the mountain. “Adapt and
state of Vermont stepped up to help. After two years, people had overcome,” he says.
chipped in more than $85,000 for Tuscany’s medical bills. “All I With skiing conquered, he turned to other sports. Soon he
had to worry about was recovering,” he says. And thinking about was mountain biking (he tied the front of his bike to the seat
how he could get back to skiing. post of a buddy’s bike and the friend would pull him up hills),
After nine days in the ICU and 43 days of in-patient rehab, fly fishing, and playing sled hockey. To surf, he learned to use
Tuscany headed home, having relearned to walk with the help a waveski, a specialized board propelled by a kayak paddle. But
of two arm crutches. He still had months of physical therapy he wanted more. “It just hit me I needed to pay it forward.” He
to go. Just 23 months after his injury, he headed to the moun- wanted to help a large group of people, the way others had helped
tain, jammed his feet in boots, pointed his skis downhill—and him. So he went to a bank with a Social Security check and a lit-
fell, over and over again. But he persisted. He learned to use tle bit of raised money, and started his foundation, High Fives.
outriggers, small skis about a foot long that fit onto the end The organization’s aim is to help athletes get beyond their phys-

54 December 2019
 3

style paddle to get up to

speed and catch waves.
ical barriers from life-changing injuries. Often, they’re at the It’s leashed to the board
bedside of injured athletes within 24 to 48 hours of an accident, in case the rider takes a
peer mentoring and providing a support network. spill and loses their grip.

5
Like the seat well,
foot wells are
T U S C A N Y I S N ’ T T H E O N LY S U P P O R T I N T H E WAT E R T O D AY.
reinforced with fiber-
Two High Fives employees and six volunteers bob between waves
glass and epoxy resin
and stand on the shore. They’re ready to help if something goes
for durability.
wrong, but otherwise they stay back. The goal, says Tuscany, is
to have the athletes “doing it 100 percent on their own.” A few
surfers ride flat on their stomachs on a regular surfboard, but

December 2019 55
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Roy Tuscany is a constant source of encouragement
and fun during High Five’s camps; Tommy IV helps Vanessa Cantu learn to
maneuver a waveski; Tyler Turner takes a break on the beach; Wheeled trolleys
help get surfers to the water; Jeff Easter and Jeff Andrews head out of the water;
Adaptive surfer Charles “Chaka” Webb tries out a standard board; Athletes Vanessa
Cantu and Derrick Ross bond during a break from the waves.

56 December 2019
others sit on custom-made waveskis.
Many of the waveskis, including Tuscany’s, are
designed and hand-shaped by Ian Macleod, owner
of Macski Surf Gear. He starts with a large block of
1.5-pound EPS (expanded polystyrene) foam. Using
templates designed to work with the individual ath-
lete’s height, weight, and ability level, he cuts the basic
waveski shape with a hot wire. The shaping is done by
hand; it includes contouring in bottom channels, V’s,
or concaves, and rounding off the top. Macleod blends
in the side rails, a seat, and foot wells. Finally, three to
five fin boxes are added to help the waveski carve and
turn on the waves. The board’s final design and shape
have a huge effect on the ride. A wider board is more
stable, but slower; a deeper seat also adds stability, but
it limits an athlete’s ability to manipulate their hips
and torque their upper body to maneuver a tight turn.
Macleod coats the finished EPS-shaped board in
two layers of fiberglass (adding extra to the seat and
foot wells for strength), then seals it with epoxy resin.
A waist belt and foot strap keep the rider secure and
let them use their paddle to propel and maneuver the
waveski. The waveskis aren’t cheap, starting at close to
$2,000 apiece, but High Fives gives grants to athletes
to buy the specialized gear, and cover other expenses,
like massage therapy, that insurance won’t. This year
they’ve given out over 121 grants so far. The foundation
also covers all the costs of athletes’ travel to one of their
camps (they also have fly fishing, biking, and skiing
trips). High Fives can accept about half the applicants
they currently receive, but they’re hoping to do more.
“By introducing sport back to these individuals, you’re
creating community,” says Tuscany. “You create con-
nections, conversation. You provide joy.”

A S T H E S U N A P P R O AC H E S T H E H O R I Z O N , M A R K I N G
the end of a perfect day, the athletes paddle in, smiles
across their faces. Today, they surfed. They gather on
the shore for a meal. A campfire has been built nearby.
Sitting around it they reflect on the day, and on all they
have in common. “You see people come out of their
shell. Maybe they’re not sure who they are anymore.
They thought their injury defined them; now they see
it doesn’t. Something’s been holding them back and
now you get to see who they are as a person,” says Tus-
cany. Over 10 years, High Fives has done that for 237
athletes from 32 states, and the organization is grow-
ing every year. “Healing can happen, you can move
forward.”
After the camp, the athletes board planes, itching
for the next camp, ready to get back out there. Tuscany
heads home; there is still plenty of work to be done. He
and his girlfriend, Alana Nichols, recently added one
more to their community, son Gunner. It’s another
adventure, and the stoke is high.

December 2019 57
 How Gore’s research lab puts the world’s most technical clothing to the test.
BY SCOTT YORKO

INSIDE
THE
TORTURE
CHAMBER
58 December 2019
December 2019
59
PHOTOGR APHY BY EMILIANO GRANADO
MY JOB
IS TO
MAKE SURE
NO ONE
IS EVER
T R U LY
COMFORTABLE.
 PUSHING THE
BOUNDARIES
OF COMFORT
“My job is to make sure no one
is ever truly comfortable,” says
40-year-old Ray Davis, the Com-
fort Technician in charge of the
test lab. When it comes to devel-
oping outdoor gear, he regularly
pushes testers close to their phys-
ical limits.
In fact, the Environmental
Chamber where Walter and his
human counterpart are running is
capable of replicating 85 percent of
the earth’s weather. The lights on
the ceiling can mimic a full solar
cycle from sunrise to sunset, while
humidity can go from 5 to 98 per-
cent. Wondering how a garment
will fare in the rainforest in peak
rainy season? The chamber can
show you. How about in the solar
radiation reflecting off snow on
Mt. Everest? Just let Davis crank
I N S I D E GO R E ’ S E NVI RO N M E NTAL TE STI N G CHAM B E R , TH E AM B I E NT AI R up the 72 lights overhead. It only
ABOVE: THE RAIN
temperature is a balmy 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Huge lights on the 22-foot- takes two hours to go between its
ROOM IS CAPABLE
high domed ceiling beat down. Near one of the treadmills, a tester named maximum and minimum tem-
OF REPLICATING
Walter is running in place. He’s an integral part of the research team, peratures—122°F to –58°F (wind
UP TO THREE INCHES
who’s there every day, helping scientists test new outdoor apparel. He’s chill –85°F) in full blizzard con-
OF PRECIPITATION
got sensors on his body measuring sweat rate, skin temperature, and range ditions—although it uses about
PER HOUR.
of motion. There are also hoses coming out of his eye sockets. two thirds of the entire building’s
LEFT: RAY DAVIS
Walter, as you may have guessed, is not actually a human. He’s a IS IN CHARGE OF power capacity to make this dras-
$400,000 mannequin, to be exact, with more than 100 sweating pores on GORE’S TEST LABS. tic temperature change.
his fiberglass and carbon fiber body. And he’s just one of the high-tech tools Perhaps the most surprising
in the fabric and manufacturing company’s $5 million biophysics lab at aspect of the lab is that it tests
their Elkton, Maryland, R&D facility. for something we only notice the
Next to Walter a college student from nearby University of Delaware absence of. “The body doesn’t know
jogs on an inclined treadmill, wearing sunglasses and a lightweight when it’s comfortable,” Davis says.
wind shell. He’s strapped with a heart rate monitor and has swallowed “It only knows when it’s uncom-
a thermometer the size of two Advil gel capsules that’s measuring his fortable. We don’t even have the
core temperature and sending real-time readings to the lab’s comput- ability to sense when we’re wet—
ers through a radio signal. Gore’s lab technicians will use this and other we just notice the loss of heat.”
data to develop some of the most technologically advanced outdoor The best outdoor gear is actually
apparel on the market. the stuff you don’t even think about
The company has been innovating like this since the 1950s, and is while you’re wearing it. That’s why
best known for its namesake fabric, Gore-Tex, invented accidentally in input from both Walter and human
1969 by Bob Gore, the son of the company’s founder, when he discovered test subjects is so important.
that stretching a piece of polytetrafluoroethylene created tiny air pock- “Mannequins give more reliable
ets in the material. The resulting breathable waterproof textile went on info than human subjects,” Davis
to transform the outerwear industry. And it’s in this lab that the com- says. But feedback on how things
pany builds on that legacy, testing fabric innovations for apparel used feel is important, too. “We might
in industrial and recreational settings—like fighting fires, cleaning up have the most waterproof and
chemical spills, running through the desert, or riding a bike in the rain. durable garment in the world,”
The process involves highly proprietary systems and methodology, many Davis says. “But if it feels like sand-
details of which the company won’t divulge. But we got a peek behind the paper, you’re not going to want to
curtain to see how Gore puts its apparel to the test. wear it again.”

December 2019 61
 9,000,000,000 6 72 $7,200 –85°F 2
Pores per Number of rain rooms Number of Cost of each Lowest wind chill Hours it takes to go
square inch Gore has in Maryland, overhead lights in Environmental temperature from –55°F to 122°F
in a Gore-Tex Germany, the United the Environmental Chamber light replicated in the in the Environmental
membrane Kingdom, and China Chamber Environmental Chamber Chamber

TURNS OUT,
DRYNESS
INVOLVES A LOT
OF WATER
If you’re wondering how Gore-
Tex keeps rain from getting into
a jacket while also allowing mois-
ture to escape, it has to do with the
fabric’s pore sizes—they’re large
enough to let heat and water vapor
out but small enough to keep exter-
nal moisture, like raindrops and
snow, from getting in. “If a water
vapor molecule is the size of a soc-
cer ball,” Davis says, “the pores are
the size of a soccer stadium, and a
raindrop is the size of the earth.”
Inside the wind-driven Rain
Tower, Gore’s lab techs run gar-
ments through a series of tests that
determine how much water they
keep out as well as how much
vapor they allow (or don’t allow)
to evaporate. When a piece of
apparel holds moisture, it has
what’s known as evaporative resis-
tance, and it’s one of the most
significant readings the lab mea-
sures. The more water vapor that
stays inside a jacket from sweat
and other moisture, the clam-
mier you’ll feel. So, the lower the
evaporative resistance of the test
subjects’ garments—meaning, the Hurricane Florence making landfall in 2018.
GORE’S
more vapor they allow to get out— Davis can even bend the direction of the water to simulate rain in wind
ENVIRONMENTAL
the more breathable they will be speeds up to five meters per second. In the rain test, both human sub-
CHAMBER CAN
and the longer it will take subjects jects and mannequins wear a gray cotton T-shirt or long johns beneath
MIMIC 85 PERCENT
to overheat. rain garments while walking or standing in simulated downpours. The
OF THE EARTH’S
“Nothing goes to market until amount of visible moisture on the undergarments indicates not just
WEATHER
it passes the rain test,” Davis says, the membrane’s effectiveness in sealing out water, but also how seam
CONDITIONS.
walking through the Rain Tower. tape, pockets, zippers, and design all work to keep water out. To simu-
With six different overhead water late extreme conditions like open-water sailing and riding a motorcycle
nozzles positioned 30 feet high, in driving rain, there’s an additional rain room in which technicians can
this approximately 10x10-foot set up a horizontal spray that douses test subjects head-on with the equiva-
glass and stainless steel room is lent of up to 22 inches of rainfall per hour while they ride a stationary bike.
capable of replicating any rainfall The floor of the Rain Tower is dotted with several drains and measured
on earth that occurs between 40°F into 25 square sections that all receive different rainfall velocities and
and 80°F at up to three inches per raindrop sizes—values that Davis mapped out with a laser disdrometer.
hour, from a light mist to peak (“That’s two months of my life I’ll never get back,” he says.)

62 December 2019
 $400,000 138 500-1,500 $76 700 $5,000,000+
Cost of Number of washing Hours a garment Cost of a single- Number of water vapor Cost of
Walter the machines testing fabric fabric will spend in use Core molecules that could fit the entire
apparel-testing durability a washing machine Temperature Pill inside a single Gore-Tex Biophysics
mannequin membrane pore Lab

DURABILITY
EQUALS
COMFORT
When you have to worry about
whether your paper-thin outer-
wear layer will rip on a tree branch
or wear out in the wash, you’ll feel
distracted wearing it—not to men-
tion uncomfortable, should a tear
in your shell let in rain. Durabil-
ity is an underappreciated factor
of comfort, Davis says. And that’s
where Gore’s Wash Machine Area
comes into play. On a large fac-
tory floor, 138 standard washing
machines are rumbling like the
engine bay of a transatlantic
cargo ship.
This is where Gore simulates
the real-life wear and tear that
its performance garments go
through in everyday use. None
of the machines have lids or use
detergent, and they’re all modified
to run the agitate cycle in eight-
hour intervals, which is tracked
by a computer for each machine
and piece of material. Only fab-
ric—no actual garments—goes
into these machines because but-
tons, zippers, and other features
can damage the equipment over
time. Fabrics go through various
tests in other parts of the lab, then
get washed in the machines in tap
water for 500 to 1,500 hours and,
if they’re not frayed or worn out by
then, go back through the origi-
nal tests again. Gore has 40 years’
worth of data using this method to
compare with the results of newly FABRICS GET WASHED start to get excited and nerd out.” And the more that Davis and his col-
developed fabrics. IN TAP WATER FOR 500 leagues nerd out, the better the technology gets.
Balancing all the factors that TO 1,500 HOURS TO And so the washers spin. Down the hall, Walter runs on his treadmill.
make outdoor apparel more effec- TEST DURABILITY. The lights in the Environmental Chamber pump up the temperature for
tive and comfortable is a tricky another round of tests. The data keeps pouring in. Together, these unique
proposition—but one that Davis testing facilities work to push fabrics to their limits, and help scientists find
enjoys. “When I see a large per- out what makes even better outdoor apparel. Because the more that Gore
formance difference in one of our understands what makes us wet and cold and uncomfortable, the more we
new products, that’s when we really can forget about what we’re wearing—and the more we can accomplish.

December 2019 63
 BUILD A TINY HOUSE

TRENT BELL

64 December 2019
 BY WILL SUTHERLAND

y first school bus conversion

(skoolie) was an escape. I was
living under the dual thumbs of
my student loans and mortgage,
working two jobs to pay for a life
I didn’t have time to enjoy. After a crash course
in turning a 16-seat school bus into a dwell-
ing, I had both an outlet for adventure and an
income source I loved (West Virginia’s top-
rated Airbnb since 2015).
Why on earth did I turn a retired school
bus into a mobile tiny home? Simple: Big yel-
low buses are cheap and durable. A used bus at
auction goes for about 10 percent of the cost of
a used RV. And where RVs are designed to be
lightweight, buses are designed to work. That
gets you a steel-framed body and steel paneling
on top of a heavy-duty commercial truck frame.
And under the hood, most school buses feature
commercial-grade diesel engines that have
been reliably maintained by fleet mechanics.
My book, Skoolie!: How to Convert a School
Bus or Van into a Tiny Home or Recreational
Vehicle, covers every step of the process, along
with every hard-earned time-, sweat-, and
money-saving insight I’ve picked up. But to show
(and hopefully inspire) anyone who can hold an
angle grinder that they’re capable of building a
home on wheels, I’ve shared the basic process
for turning a bus into a clean, well-insulated
room to outfit as you please.

November 2019 65

DEMOLITION
You’ll start demolition by remov-
ing the seats, followed by the floor,
then the wall and ceiling panels
(as desired). Then there are odds
and ends to remove, as well as wir-
ing issues to address.
The two most useful tools you’ll
need for the demo process are a
power drill and an angle grinder.
For hand tools, you should have
a standard and a metric set of
socket wrenches, a combination
wrench set, screwdrivers, a pry
bar, and a couple pairs of locking
pliers.
SEATS / Most seat bolts are cor-
roded or have a nut under the bus
that turns with the bolt. Instead
of using a wrench, aim your angle
grinder cutting wheel at the base
of the bolts at a slight angle to slice
into the bolt.
WALL AND CEILING PANELS /
Removing the wall panels in your
bus can be as easy as unscrewing
a ton of Phillips screws or as chal-
66 December 2019
Use the proper protective equip-
ment—gloves, a dust mask, and a face
shield—while working on your bus.
lenging as grinding or drilling out
a ton of rivets. Regardless, remove
the original thin metal interior
siding to inspect for rust, allow
for better insulation, and open up
options for custom wall paneling.
Demolishing the original ceil-
ing panels is done exactly the
same way as the wall panels. A
lot of air temperature is lost and
gained through the ceiling, so
you might want to replace the old
insulation with newer, more effi-
cient insulation.
FLOOR PREP / The original
floor needs to go. You don’t want
to build your skoolie over a floor
that may be rotted and rusty. And
removing the original floor allows
you to add a new insulated surface
to help maintain a comfortable
temperature inside. Insulation
also cuts down on road noise.
Most school buses have a top
floor layer of thick rubber over 1⁄2-
inch or 3⁄4-inch plywood that sits
on top of the primary metal floor.
As you get the rubber to pull up,
you can grab it and peel it back
by hand. It helps to have someone
prying along the bottom edge of
the rubber as you pull.
Next, remove the plywood layer.
The plywood is usually glued to the
metal in various shapes and sizes.
The pry bar is your tool of choice
for this step, and a second pry bar
doesn’t hurt. Once you pry up an
edge of each plywood piece, you can
begin pulling the wood up by hand.
WIRING / Many of the smaller
demo items—alarms, speakers,
lights—involve wiring. In many
cases, you can remove an item that
has wiring running to it and sim-
ply cap off each wire with a wire
nut. Sometimes, however, wiring
configurations are interconnected
with the bus’s starting system, so
make sure the bus starts up after
each wiring change. If the bus fails
to start, you’ll know which wire(s)
caused the problem.
Overhead speakers were origi-
nally used for intercom systems,
but they can be connected to a
stereo. You may opt to leave these
speakers in place, replace them
with higher-qualit y units, or
simply cover them up. Another
option is to replace them with
lights, which requires replacing
the cabling (12- or 14-gauge wir-
ing is sufficient for most 12-volt
lighting).
PASSENGER HEATERS / These
heaters use coolant from the
engine to generate heat that radi-
ates into the passenger area. You
first have to disconnect the cool-
ant input and output hoses and
connect them together to bypass
the heater. You make the connec-
tion with a barbed union fitting
for hoses.
Underneath the bus, below
where the heater is located, you
will see two black hoses going up
through the bus floor and con-
necting to the bottom inputs
of the heater with clamps. Use
locking pliers to pinch the hoses
closed, clamping the pliers a cou-
ple inches away from the ends so
there’s room to fit on the barbed
union. Then loosen the hose
clamp on the input hose with a
f lat-head screwdriver and slip
the clamp out of the way. Pull the
hose from the heater input. Insert
one end of the barbed union all
the way into the open end of the
hose, and secure the hose over the
union with the clamp. Repeat this
step with the other hose from the
heater to connect it to the other
end of the union. Be prepared
for coolant spillage and have a
5-gallon bucket handy to catch
any coolant that spills from inside
the heater.

PREPPING
CONSTRUCTION
With your bus gutted and the inte-
rior surface materials out of the
way, you now have a much clearer
view of any rust and corrosion
issues, and you’re ready to prepare
your blank canvas for its new fin-
ishes. You’ll start with the floor,
which usually needs the most
work, then you’ll seal up the walls
and windows, and finish with a
quick check of the ceiling.
CLEANING AND PAINTING THE
FLOOR / Surface rust on the floor
will be easy to handle in most
cases: Bus floors are thick, and
there is enough metal there that
you can grind off superficial rust
spots with a wire brush and still
have a very solid surface.
Start cleaning the floor with a
wire brush attached to an angle
grinder or drill to remove dirt,
grime, glue, and surface rust;
then vacuum up the debris. Treat
the rusted areas that don’t need
patching with a rust converter. I
like POR-15 and have found that a
1-pint kit from POR-15 works well
for a midsize bus with an average
amount of surface rust.
If you find areas with large
flakes of rust and the floor feels
soft or flexes as you put weight on
it, you have a more serious rust
issue. Test to see how solid the rust
spot is by poking it with a screw-
driver. If the screwdriver goes
E L I M E I R K A P L A N (D E M O , P R E P) ; T R E VO R R A A B (B O O K)
through the floor, you will need to
cut away the rusted metal with a
grinder, then patch the hole with
Larger openings from rust
spots, up to 5 inches across,
can be covered with leftover
sections of metal from the
wall panels.
new metal. If the hole is smaller
than 5 inches, you can patch over
it with thin scrap metal and metal
adhesive, such as JB Weld. Make
sure the patch is a few inches
larger than the hole so there’s
plenty of margin for adhesive.
Holes 5 inches or larger should be
covered with a welded patch that
is flush with the floor rather than
resting or overlapping on top of
the surrounding metal.
The next step is to fill in or
patch over the holes where the
seat bolts were. You can use small
pieces of thin metal (pennies or
metal from the interior walls you
removed will work), sealed with
100 percent silicone caulk to fill
in the holes.
When all holes are covered
and the silicone has completely
cured (about 24 hours), your floor
is ready for a coat of paint. One
coat of oil-based paint will work
to cover the floor, as it will never
be exposed to the sun or weather.
SEALING WALLS, WINDOWS,
AND CEILING / You’re less likely
to have rust issues in your walls
than in your floors, but if you find
any spots, treat them in the same
fashion as the rust spots on the
floor: wire-brushing to remove
the rust, then treating with a rust
converter.
With a garden hose, inspect
your bus’s windows for leaks,
which happen when the exterior
For the complete
guide to school
bus conver-
sions, pick up
Will Sutherland's
Skoolie! How to
Convert a School
Bus or Van into
a Tiny Home or
Recreational
Vehicle. / $25
caulk around them ages and dries
out or peels away, allowing rain-
water to seep in. If you see failed
caulking, remove all the remain-
ing old caulk and add fresh caulk
rather than trying to patch it.
Bus ceilings require minimal
preparation for construction com-
pared with floors and walls, but
it’s possible to have leaks around
roof emergency exits. These leaks
can be caused by worn rubber gas-
kets around the exit hatch or from
old caulking around the exit fix-
ture. Remove and replace the old
caulking or replace the rubber
hatch gaskets to solve this com-
mon leaking problem.
 INSULATION
AND FLOORING

You’ll get much better energ y

performance—and therefore
will be more comfortable—if you
replace the old insulation with
new material before buttoning up
the walls, ceiling, and floor. The
best all-around option is rigid
foam insulation board. Almost
all rigid insulation board is load-
bearing and designed to function
under concrete floors, so you can ▲
install your wood subfloor right The vinyl flooring we used snaps together. Vinyl is a durable and inexpensive option
that comes in all sorts of styles.
on top of it.

INSULATE YOUR WALLS AND If the floor is 90 inches wide and pieces lock together so there’s
FLOOR / Cut each piece of rigid your rigid insulation is 96 inches no movement along the panels’
insulation to size and fit it into long, you simply have to score edges. You will trim the subfloor
place inside the wall cavities, and snap the insulation boards to panels to fit the width of the bus,
then use canned expanding spray fit. Apply construction adhesive and it’s all right to cut them a lit-
foam (such as Great Stuff) to fill to the bottom of the insulation tle short to make it easier to drop
in gaps and keep it in place. Most boards and if you have anything them into place on the floor. To
buses have wall cavities roughly heavy, such as sandbags, place secure the subfloor to the bus, I
2 inches deep; however, that dis- these on top of the insulation recommend using self-tapping,
tance can vary slightly even in the boards to hold them down while wood-to-metal screws (about 10
same bus, so it’s safer to install a the glue dries. Use seal tape to per panel) to go through the sub-
slightly thinner insulation type, cover the cracks between the indi- floor and insulation and into the
such as 11⁄2-inch-thick foam- vidual boards. bus’s metal floor.
board insulation panels. The best Finish flooring is the final layer
all-around option is rigid foam INSTALLING THE SUBFLOOR you will walk on. Vinyl click-to-
insulation board. Rigid insulation AND FINISH FLOORING / The gether, imitation-wood flooring
panels can be scored with a utility best material for a bus subfloor works wonderfully for skoolies
knife and snapped off to fit. is sanded plywood. Plywood sub- because it is extremely durable, rel-
To insulate the bus floor, mea- flooring should be at least 1⁄2 inch atively thin, and easy to install with
sure the full width of the f loor thick, but if you have the budget great results. Carpet, laminate, or
from side to side. You’ll run the and headroom, 5⁄8-inch or 3⁄4- engineered hardwood can also be
insulation boards across the bus, inch tongue-and-groove plywood laid right over the subfloor, and
perpendicular to the bus sides. subflooring is ideal because the each is relatively easy to install.

WHICH SIZE BUS TO BUY

School buses cost $2,500 to $5,000 and come in three sizes:
short, midsize, and full-size. A short bus offers the maneu- Short Midsize Full-size
verability of a van and is popular for people who spend most
LIVABLE SPACE LIVABLE SPACE LIVABLE SPACE
of their time outside. Midsize offers a good blend of drivabil-
ity and space. Plenty of couples live happily in their midsize 75–112 sq. ft. 131–188 sq. ft. 206–263 sq. ft.
buses. In a full-size, you can live with all the elements of a CONVERSION COSTS CONVERSION COSTS CONVERSION COSTS
home, including space for kids or pets. $5,000–$10,000 $7,000–$14,000 $10,000–$20,000

68 December 2019

DESIGN
First, take exact measurements
of your bus’s interior, then make a
scaled drawing of it. Start with the
following measurements:
• Distance between the walls
• Distance from the back of
the driver’s seat to the back
of the bus
• Distance behind and in front
of the wheel humps, from
both ends of the bus
• Space between the wheel
humps, from side to side
• Height from the middle
(high point) of the ceiling
to the floor
Create a scaled drawing on
a piece of poster board or large
sheet of paper. And then mock
E L I M E I R K A P L A N (F LO O R I N G) ; W I L L S U T H E R L A N D (S H O W E R , I N T E R I O R)
room? What kind of furniture or
built-ins would you like? What’s
your ideal kitchen layout?
BED / Do you need a queen-size
bed, or are you okay with a double?
A queen mattress is approximately
5 feet wide and 61⁄2 feet long, but
a double mattress is 41⁄2 feet wide
and just over 6 feet long. Half a foot
of width could make or break your
layout plans—or sleeping comfort.
Also, custom sizes of foam mat-
tresses can be ordered online, or
foam mattresses can be trimmed
to whatever size you desire.
KITCHEN / Think compact: A sin-
gle sink saves counter space over a
double sink, and overhead shelving
can act as storage for food, cups,
and plates. You’ll also need to fit
the refrigerator or cooler, stove,
and microwave into the design. If
you plan to do a lot of grilling out-
side your bus, you might want to
locate your indoor kitchen close
to the bus entrance. Most recre-
ational vehicles, campers, and
tiny homes have kitchen counters
no longer than 5 feet, not counting
accessible from inside the bus and
the rear being accessible from the
rear emergency exit door.
You can store items under
sofas. You can even remove the
sofa’s feet and place the sofa
frame above a framed-in storage
box or a set of drawers similar to
those found on a captain’s bed.
Shelving is an excellent use
of the space over windows and
around the perimeter of the bus
where you won’t be wa lking.
It’s critical that you add a small
ledge, at least 2 inches tall, along
the front edge of the shelf to keep
items from falling when the bus
is moving. (Similarly, it is wise to
use small hook-and-eye latches to
keep drawers from opening while
▲ you’re driving.)
A propane point-
of-use water
heater provides KEEP COZY / A wood stove is an
ample hot water.
excellent way to stay warm and
▼ complete your conversion. Install
A Camp Chef
propane oven fits
it close to the center of the bus,
perfectly along- from front to back, and far enough
side our kitchen
cabinet, a repur-
off the wall to allow the chimney
posed dresser. pipe to go through the ceiling.
Adapted from Skoolie! 2019 by
Will Sutherland. Used with per-
mission from Storey Publishing.

up the layout by using painter’s
tape or chalk to map it out on the
empty bus floor. When you walk
around on the taped layer, if you
feel something is too tight or if you
find inefficiencies in how things
are positioned, you can move the
tape to test alternatives.
Begin building your layout by
prioritizing the things you value
most for your skoolie conver-
sion. Do you want a full-size bed,
or would you rather allow more
space for the kitchen or bath-
space for a small oven. A good tip
is to utilize a standard bathroom
vanity base in place of conven-
tional kitchen base cabinets.
STORAGE / You’ll be surprised at
how much stuff you have to put in
your skoolie. Storage space under
the bed is excellent for cloth-
ing containers or drawers, shoes,
extra water jugs, and more. One
way to arrange underbed storage
is to divide it into front and rear
sections, with the front being

December 2019 69
 F I
70
R
December 2019
E
 THE COMPLETE
GUIDE TO
MANKIND’S
GREATEST TOOL

BY VINCE GUERRIERI

December 2019 71
 Whether we’re staring into the depths of a campfire or watching
a Space Shuttle burn 500,000 gallons of fuel as it rises off the
launchpad, mankind’s obsession with fire is so innate we almost
take it for granted. Yet fire has catalyzed the human race’s most
significant innovations. It’s helped us survive. It’s helped us
flourish. It’s given us one hell of a backyard toy (see “That’s
Right: I Built a Flamethrower,” page 78). Yet the path that took us
from hunching around a lightning-struck tree for warmth to carrying
lighters in our pockets has many reminders of fire’s volatility—
from the epic scope of The Great Chicago Fire to the explosion of
the oil rig Deepwater Horizon. Fire comes with a big fat warning
sticker, but nonetheless, it’s man’s most essential tool.

72 December 2019
 SPARKS OF INSPIRATION
Almost every primitive culture has a story
about how man came to harness fire, and
many of these stories involve—curiously—
petty theft. From the famed Greek myth of
THE BEST WAY
Prometheus snatching fire from Zeus and TO BUILD A FIRE IN
handing it to man (thanks for that, bud,
and sorry about the whole bird-eating-your- YOUR FIREPLACE
liver thing), to the Native American story of
Rabbit stealing fire from the bloodthirsty
Weasels, to the Polynesian legend of Maui
taking fire from the birds during a fishing
trip for his mother, our desire to control the
element has always run up against our bet-
ter instincts.
The themes of thievery make sense. In
the days of early man, fire was our most
valuable possession. Sculptor Paul Man-
ship summed up this sentiment in his art.
Behind his famous statue of Prometheus
in New York City’s Rockefeller Center, he
paraphrased the Greek dramatist Aeschy-
lus, noting that fire “proved to mortals a
means to mighty ends.”
1. FIND YOUR 2. SHAPE YOUR
Without fire—and later, without com- FUEL KINDLING
P R E V I O U S S P R E A D : É LV I N N E VA Z N O/ E Y E E M /G E T T Y I M AG E S (F I R E) ; CO R B I S V I A G E T T Y I M AG E S (S PAC E S H U T T L E) ; T H I S PAG E : I L LU S T R AT I O N S BY G E O R G E R E F S T E C K

bustion—there would be no skyscrapers,

air travel, International Space Station, Keep seasoned wood—meaning After making sure your chimney’s
bourbon, or medium-rare steaks. The ele- it’s been air or kiln dried—near the damper is open, tear the newspaper
fireplace (a couple of days indoors into two-inch-wide lengths and rub
ment has unlocked and enabled some of
should dry out most pieces). Wood the strips between your fingers
the greatest industrial and technological with rough surfaces will catch eas- so they separate into ribbons. Put
achievements in human history. ier than smooth wood. For tinder, the ribbons in the fireplace in a
gather two handfuls of twigs and mound the size of a tennis ball.
break them so they resemble a No. 2 Rest some of your tinder on top of
FUEL FOR SURVIVAL pencil in length and diameter. Half a the mound and lean more tinder
section of newspaper or a grocery on those twigs to create a little hut
It’s impossible to know when the first fire store mailer will work as kindling. around the paper.
was made, but we can speculate at its ear-
liest major use: cooking, says Alan Rocke,
Ph.D., a professor emeritus of the history
of science and technology at Case Western
Reserve University.
Cooking with heat broadened early
man’s palate by killing off potentially dan-
gerous microbes in formerly unsafe foods.
Fish and beef are at their juiciest and free
of illness-causing bacteria at 145 degrees
Fahrenheit. Rabbit is safe at 160°F; chicken
at 165°F. Fire tenderizes meat (pulled pork
falls apart at 205°F), but at 330°F it also
triggers the Maillard reaction (brown- 3. PRIME YOUR 4. LIGHT
CHIMNEY FLUE IT UP
ing) to give steak a mouth-watering sear.
Harvard professor and primatologist Rich-
In wintertime, cold air coming Light the paper. As it ignites, lean
ard Wrangham, Ph.D., suggests that the down your chimney can suppress larger pieces of tinder against the
invention of cooking fed evolution itself by a fire and push smoke into your hut. After those catch, add a fuel
unlocking energy-giving nutrients for our house. “Priming the flue” reverses log on top of the hut, being careful
ancestors’ evolving brains and bodies. the draft. To do this, roll up a spare not to smother the flames. To help
piece of newspaper, light one end the wood catch, blow air across the
In fact, Wrangham suggests that our
like a torch, and stick it up your bottom of the fire where the news-
digestive tracts evolved as a result of discov- chimney for a few moments. The paper meets the surface of the
ering cooking. Human guts are 56 percent rising hot air will push the cold air fireplace. Don’t have a fireplace tool
small intestine and 17 percent colon, while out of the chimney, allowing smoke set? Use sturdy metal kitchen tongs
those respective numbers for chimps are to escape. to move the wood around.
almost the opposite: 23 and 52 percent.

December 2019 73

A BRIEF HISTORY
OF FIREPROOFING*
4000 BCE
Ancient Greeks mined the
toxic mineral asbestos—
named for their word meaning
“indistinguishable”—and used
its fibrous crystals to make
wicks for candles and lamps.
450 BCE
Greek historian Herodotus
reported the use of asbes-
tos shrouds in funeral pyres
to preserve a body’s ashes.
Meanwhile, the Romans
sewed asbestos fibers into
tablecloths and napkins.
755
King Charlemagne of France
ordered an asbestos-woven
tablecloth to prevent acciden-
tal fires (a major party foul) at
his many feasts and fêtes.
1725
As the Italian government doled
out asbestos-fibered bank notes
to their citizenry, Ben Franklin
touted a purse made of the fire-
proof material during a visit to
England.
1821
French chemist Joseph Louis
Gay-Lussac fused boron salts
with ammonium phosphate to
create a fire-protective agent
for clothing, but the sub-
stance’s high solubility meant
that it came out in the wash.
1912
British chemist William Per-
kins added stannic oxide—a
heated solution of sodium
stannate and ammonium sul-
fate—to Gay-Lussac’s mix. The
result could resist two years of
regular washing.
1957
American scientists Wilson
Reeves and J.D. Guthrie
found that reacting tetrakis
hydroxymethyl phospho-
nium chloride (THPC) with
other compounds creates
a fire-resistant resin that
keeps treated fabric strong
and lightweight. It’s inte-
grated into many cotton
fabrics, including children’s
sleepwear.
74 December 2019
Translation: Chimp guts are better at break-
ing down plant fibers and meat collagen than
human ones. We need blenders, food proces-
sors, and sweet, sweet heat to help our bodies
absorb food in a way our guts can handle, says
Rocke.
Around 10,000 BCE, our cavemen ances-
tors began to ditch hunting and gathering
in favor of the farming life, and our usage of
fire diversified. We started baking, defend-
ing our land from predators (the flashpoint
of a sabertooth-warding wooden torch is
572°F), and firing pottery (clay particles
fuse at 1,650°F). You can do some things
with bowls made from reeds, says Rocke,
“but to make containers useful for cook-
ing, you need fire.”
EMBERS OF WARFARE
When wood reaches its flashpoint, the heat
exorcises impurities like water vapor, sul-
fur compounds, and nitrogen compounds,
leaving essentially pure carbon behind—
charcoal. This substance burns hotter than
normal wood, and throughout history, more
heat has led to better tech.
The Hittites were some of the most pro-
lific iron producers of the Bronze Age
(3300–1200 BCE), and evidence suggests
they were among the first ancient empires to
discover that they could prevent their tools
and weapons from rusting by forging steel
from iron and charcoal. When charcoal fuses
with iron ore, it acts as a reducing agent,
attracting oxygen away from the metal. It
also lowers iron’s melting point. This lower
heat threshold allowed the Hittites to pro-
duce more durable iron weapons on a mass
scale. It also helped them gain trade lever-
age—in the 13th century BCE, a Hittite king
sent another ruler an iron dagger as appease-
ment—and gave them a tactical edge over
their bronze-bound opponents, including
the mighty ancient Egyptians.
“The invention of charcoal was a great
*AND HOW TO MAKE YOUR FABRIC FLAME RESISTANT
Most fireproof clothing is made of heat-resistant aramid, modacrylic, and carbon
fibers. But you can achieve a similar effect with two household items.
20 Mule Team Borax
1. Add 13 oz. of 20
Mule Team Borax to
one gallon of hot water.
2. Let the powder dis-
solve, pour the solution
into a spray bottle, shake,
spray, and let dry.
asset to society because it enabled all these
high-temperature processes,” Rocke says.
“You can do some metallurgy without char-
coal, but you can’t make iron or steel, both
of which require a blast furnace.”
It isn’t certain how the Hittites mass-
produced malleable iron and steel, but
archaeologists are confident that blast
furnaces operated in China as early as the
5th century BCE. Blast furnaces liquefy
meta ls at 3,000°F. In ancient China ,
this meant the introduction of cast iron,
the ultra-malleable, ultra-rust-resistant
material the Western world has used in
cannons, bridges, and, yup, the cast iron
skillet in your kitchen that can withstand
2,000°F.
EXPLOSION OF INDUSTRY
No image captures the intersection of fire
and modern industry better than a burning
oil derrick’s column of flame. After Edwin
Drake drilled the first oil well in Pennsyl-
vania in 1859, people began to refine that
oil over a fire and distill it into some of the
tentpole resources of modern life: kero-
sene, diesel, and gasoline, the last of which
could be boiled off and condensed between
104°–401°F.
Ea rly on, A mer ica ns used these
resources mostly to illuminate our cit-
ies and homes, but in the mid-to-late 19th
century, gasoline became fuel for a more
adrenal, exciting purpose: helping us
go far and go fast. The liquid-fuel inter-
nal-combustion engine burns a mixture
of gasoline and air to create a combus-
tion that expands gases inside the engine
to push the pistons and rotate the crank-
shaft. This simple fire-powered design
became the basis of modern transport,
from the Wright brothers’ plane at Kitty
Hawk, to the refurbished Challenger 2,
which topped 448 miles per hour and broke
the land speed record in 2018, to the 2,300-
Alum powder
1. Mix one pound of
alum with one pint
L A KOTA G A M B I L L
of hot water.
2. Dip the material
into the solution,
wet it completely,
then let dry.
 H OW TO
BUILD A A stone fire pit isn’t just a practical gathering point for your yard, it’s
BACKYARD more attractive than a temporary pit and less labor-intensive than a
masonry construction. Stone is affordable, too. We found this pit at
FIRE PIT a local home center for about $650, and it took two people only four
hours to construct. Here’s our advice for building your own.

THE SITE THE BASE T H E WA L L THE FIRE RING

Steer clear of low-hanging limbs and
power lines, and don’t put the pit
over or near a septic tank, leaching
field, well head, or property line.
Check your local laws and permit
requirements to ensure your site
will be far enough from both your
neighbor’s land and your own home.
Drive a stake in the center of your
prospective site and loop a mason’s
line around it. Tie the other end of
the line to a can of landscaping paint
so you can trace the circumference
of your pit. Ours was 102 inches in
diameter, which accommodated a
66-inch pit with an 18-inch band of
gravel around it.
Dig a hole 4 inches deep bordered
by the painted circle. Fill it with
crushed stone (we used a few
wheelbarrows’ worth of 2A Mod-
ified, a common road-building
material) to a depth of about 2
inches, and compact it with a hand
tamper. It’s important to build the
pit’s walls on a level surface, so to
make sure the blocks align prop-
erly and that the surface is flat,
use a mason’s level before adjust-
ing the crushed stone as needed.
Level the stone where the pit will
be situated, but you don’t have to
be as fussy about the outer band
of gravel.
This pit’s wall consists of two layers
of wedge-shaped concrete blocks,
each with a clearly marked top and
bottom. Position the inside edge of
each block 24 inches from the center
of the pit and slot each block along-
side the next to form a circle. The
blocks should fit just like a puzzle,
with the last fitting snug between
the previous block and the first
block. After the first tier is com-
plete, use a straight piece of lumber
and a level to ensure it’s even before
building the second tier. If you
stagger the second tier so the
seams don’t line up with the tier
below, you’ll have a more stable wall.
Bolt together the steel fire ring
(ours came in two pieces), place it
inside the concrete wall of the pit,
and use a rubber mallet to settle it
into the crushed stone. Use more
stone to fill the gap between the
ring and the concrete wall. Add the
capstones atop your wall. Lay the
pieces in position first to make sure
they’ll all align properly, and then
use a quarter-size glob of masonry
adhesive to glue them into place.
Finally, ring the pit with gravel and
bring out some chairs. The pit will
safely contain a bonfire, and you
won’t have any ugly charred circles
on your lawn later.

I L LU S T R AT I O N BY G E O R G E R E F S T E C K December 2019 75

ton diesel engines that power container
ships through the Panama Canal today.
“Gasoline had great advantages over
electricity or gaseous fuels: energy density,
weight, volume,” Rocke says. “You needed
those differences if you were going to put
your power plant [your fuel source] on a mov-
ing object.”
In 1900, just 22 percent of American
automobiles were powered by gas; but thanks
to Henry Ford’s mass-production methods,
the invention of the self-starting ignition
in 1912, and our newfound need for speed,
the internal-combustion engine gained
supremacy among autos. Fire was powering
us toward modern life.
SMOLDERING DANGERS
This modernization put fire and combus-
tion at the crossroads of practicality and
danger once again. The early 1900s were a
time fraught with fatal conflagrations. Chi-
cago’s Iroquois Theater fire in 1903 killed
more than 600 people, and in 1910, the “Big
Blowup” wildfire in Idaho, Washington,
and Montana killed at least 85 people as it
reduced 3 million acres—an area about the
size of Connecticut—to ashes. These fires
prompted changes: The Iroquois fire led to
the invention of the emergency exit panic
bar for doors, and the “Big Blowup” led to
the development of some prescribed-burn
containment techniques. But they also
served as reminders of the risks that come
76 December 2019
The Chicago Fire of 1871
razed 17,450 buildings and
dealt $3.77 billion in damage
(adjusted for inflation).
with implementing combustion in our every-
day lives.
Today, Rocke suggests that the advances
wrought by fire have ironically taken us
past it. Many energy and power advances of
the 20th century don’t involve combustion:
Nuclear energy relies on a physical reaction
rather than a chemical one, and renewable
energies like solar, wind, and water power
skirt combustion’s literal explosiveness. We
understand now there are costs of powering
the world with fire, from deforestation to pol-
lution to climate change. Going forward, we
have to reconcile these downsides with fire’s
awesome potential.
Because it is awesome. Fire sparks the
reaction between aluminum and ammo-
nium perchlorate that turns solid rocket fuel
into the driving force of space travel (NASA’s
rocket boosters reach 5,000°F during
launch). When fire is used to distill alcohol
(which evaporates at 173°F), we’re treated to
things like Four Roses Single Barrel bourbon
and Blanton’s Original. Every time you strike
a match, the stroke of friction between the
match head and the box turns the box’s red
phosphorus to white, and it takes just 86°F for
white phosphorus to combust. Then you have
fire at your fingertips.
It’s hard not to stare at that little flame.
Simple combustion still inspires us at a basic,
primal level, whether we’re throwing another
log on the fireplace or sitting around a back-
yard bonfire. As Rocke affirms: “Fire is so
elemental, it will never go away.”
THE ULTIMATE
CAMPFIRE JUST
NEEDS ONE PIECE
OF WOOD
Developed by Swedish
soldiers during the
Thirty Years’ War of
the 17th century, this
Swedish fire log is easy
to create and is loaded
with perks.
A NO-BRAINER BUILD
Find a log at least 8 inches in
diameter and 16 inches long
(make sure both ends are flat)
and stand it upright. Using an
axe or chainsaw, make 2 or 3
cuts down the length of the
log as if you were slicing a pie,
stopping 5 inches above the
base (some wire will hold the
log together if it starts to fall
apart). Stack kindling atop
the log at the intersection of
the cuts and light. It will fall
through the cracks as it burns,
lighting the log from the inside.
A N U LT R A- F O C U S E D
FLAME
Traditional fires can take
hours to produce embers suit-
able for cooking or warming
your camp. But a Swedish fire
log’s contained heat makes it
hot enough for cooking in as
K E I T H L A N C E / G E T T Y I M AG E S (C H I C AG O F I R E) ; F R E S H O F F T H E G R I D (S W E D I S H F I R E LO G S)
little as 20 minutes. It’s less
smoky and safer than classic
campfires, too.
A MAKESHIFT STOVE
The log’s flat top makes it the
closest thing nature can give
you to an actual stovetop, ideal
for your coffee pot, cast-iron
skillet, or Dutch oven. If you
use a hardwood like oak, it’ll
burn longer and hotter than a
softwood fire log, like pine.
S E L F-F E E DI NG
Fires require constant
resource management and
maintenance, but a Swedish
fire log’s inside-out design
makes it self-ventilating and
self-sustaining. A substantial
log can last as long as four
hours.
 “THAT’S RIGHT: I BUILT
A FLAMETHROWER.”
W
hen we brainstormed an
element to take this story
over the top, someone
joked that we should build
a flamethrower. After the
laughter and legality questions sub-
sided—flamethrowers are legal in 48
states (they’re banned in Maryland
and require a permit to be owned in
California)—I said, “I can build one.”
And with that, this project became
as much about building a flame-
thrower as about my becoming (only
78 December 2019
somewhat reluctantly) the envy of
my friends, the chief concern of my
loved ones, and maybe the top name
on a watch list somewhere.
The basic theory of flamethrower
operation is simple: An inert gas
pressurizes a vessel holding fuel, the
fuel is released via a valve, and the
fuel is ignited as it exits an orifice.
The biggest danger is the risk of
fuel leaking from the connections
between the components. Well, that
and the statement, “Hold my beer.”
I knocked out a design, ordered
parts, and blocked off some time in
the shop for the build. One important
thing to acknowledge: Although all
the parts are rated for use at 2,000
psi or higher, none is designed for
use in a flamethrower. We used CO2
at 800 psi with a regulator to control
pressure in our system. After a day in
the shop and a full pressure test with
T R E VO R R A A B
water to check for leaks, we ended
up with one of the coolest toys—er,
tools—ever. —Brad Ford
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 Tools
14
// BY ROY BERENDSOH N //

The 9
Best
Portable
Heaters
for Every
Space

I
F WINTER WERE JUST A
mat ter of fewer daylight
hours, most people could
probably manage it okay. But
it’s cold, too, making it both
a psychological and physical
battle. Many people respond
by using a portable heater—a
cheerful gadget that radiates
June in the middle of January—
in drafty rooms, home work areas,
chilly entryways, or the office
cubicle. These appliances are also
perfect for lowering the thermo-
stat elsewhere (saving you money)
and heating only a select room. We
called in a big batch—nearly two
dozen heaters in all—and tested
them to see how well and how
safely they work. Our test appli-
ances were divided into two broad
categories: electric and fuel-fired.
Some are fan-equipped, meaning cisely one control: the on/off want this thing in your living
they push heated air toward you H E AT STO R M
switch. Flip it, and the 16-inch room. Really, it’s best used at
H S -1 5 0 0 -T T
and into the living space. Others carbon-fiber heating element a construction site, on a patio,
are passive: They lack a fan and glows to nearly cherry red in or in a workshop. Its tripod
instead project infrared energy Price: $132 Type: Carbon- seconds. Its parabolic reflector allows you to adjust the height
toward you to conduct heat into filament infrared Watts: 1,500 bounces the infrared ray quite from three feet to a bit higher
Highest grill temperature: effectively. Don’t stand too than six feet. The HS-1500-TT
the air.
323°F Highest close, though; optimal distance would benefit from a cord
Read on to find a heater that recorded amps: 12.2 is several feet, and we could wrap—its heavy 13-foot cable
will see you through the cold Weight: 16.9 lb feel the warmth out to 12. This is fairly stiff and flops around
months ahead. Winter won’t seem Heat Storm is rated for outdoor without some means to keep it
as long with one at your side. This no-frills appliance has pre- and indoor use, but you don’t under control.

80 December 2019 P H OTO G R A P H Y BY T R E VO R R A A B

 M R . H E AT E R M H 9 BX Mr. Heater estimates that,
when placed in an enclosed

Price: $114 Type: Propane,

space, the MH9BX can heat
up to 225 square feet with its
THE
gas-fueled BTUs: 4,000
(low) or 9,000 (high) Highest
infrared output. That’s a lot
of firepower in an appliance WAYS
HEATERS
grill temperature: 360°F about the size of a toolbox.
Highest recorded amps: If you need a longer run time
N/A Weight: 10.6 lb (with than this heater’s estimated
propane cylinder) three hours on high, you can
buy a kit that enables you
HEAT
Twist on a propane cylinder to hook it up to a 20-pound
L A S KO AW 31 5 and turn the ignition knob propane cylinder. As for its
to light—that’s all there is to safety, it’s equipped with
warming up a frosty space an oxygen-depletion sen-
Price: $109 Type: Electrical using this little gas-fired sor for operating in enclosed
ceramic Watts: 1,500 Highest dynamo. It’s noiseless and, areas plus a tip-over switch
grill temperature: 161°F according to our Flir cam- that shuts it off. Be warned: Radiation
Highest recorded amps: 12.2 era, produces a well-heated It doesn’t take much of a
Weight: 10.8 lb
A ray in the
four-foot circle of warmth. breeze to blow it out.
infrared
Our curiosity was piqued when (electromagnetic)
we saw that Lasko calls the spectrum that
AW315 “bladeless,” as if it lacked travels through
a fan. And in the truest sense, it
space, creating
does, using a multi-vane impeller
instead. It contributes to the appli-
heat energy when
ance’s quiet operation as it pulls it passes through a
in a fair amount of air through the solid (such as you,
base and into the tower. To Lasko’s furnishings,
credit, the company equipped objects, and
this heater with a cleanable air equipment) or a
filter, right outside the impeller,
structure (like
which you can access through a
tool-free hatch. We also liked the your home).
sleek touch pad on the front for
controlling the wattage, tower
oscillation, and the eight-hour
timer. The large amount of air-
flow and the appliance’s even heat
distribution does help it bring a
room or a large area up to a com- Convection
fortable temperature faster than Movement of
other heaters. If we had to pick heat energy
one gripe, it would be that the bat- through a fluid—
tery hatch on the remote needs either a gas
another trip through engineering.
(think air) or a
Taking it off? Forget about it.
liquid (such as
oil or water).

MARKEL 150TS duced by Markel Products

Price: $190 Type: Elec-
trical resistance Watts:
1,500 Highest grill tem-
perature: 146°F Highest
recorded amps: 11.4
Weight: 9 lb
It took some looking, but
we found what we believe
to be the last portable
electric space heater still
made in America. Pro-
Company in Johnson City,
Tennessee, this rugged
little unit is an all-steel
appliance that’s well-built
and refreshingly retro, Conduction
in a 1970s sort of way. Heat energy
It’s a pity this gem is this moves through
expensive, but it oper- a solid, just by
ates smoothly, quietly, and
means of
without vibration. Plus,
judging by the hardy build, direct physical
the 150TS might serve contact.
you a lifetime without
complaint.

December 2019 81
 Tools
14

D E LO N G H I too hot. That’s no gim-

H F X65V1 5 L mick; added protection
with a portable heater
is a good idea. And
Price: $70 Type: the appliance is oth-
Electrical ceramic erwise fully equipped.
Watts: 1,500 High- Its dual ceramic heat-
est grill temperature: ing elements provide
263°F Highest two levels of output
recorded amps: 11.9 (high and low), and
Weight: 5.4 lb they can even be totally
switched off, allowing
The DeLonghi oscillat- the heater to function
ing tower heater is an as a low-speed fan. The
excellent product for timer has a 24-hour
several important rea- cycle, allowing you to
sons. First, it’s equipped designate on and off
with two forms of pro- periods. And the icing
tection—a tip-over on the cake? This was
switch will shut it off if the only heater with a
it falls, as will an over- remote that came with
heat switch if it gets a battery.

D E WA LT buildings under reno- it’s loaded, press the

DX H 14 0 K T H C vation. If your garage
qualifies as something
close to that, so be it. We
Price: $299 Type: Ker- found that it requires a
osene, liquid-fueled minimum of two gallons
BTU: 140,000 Highest of fuel to fire reliably. Yet
grill temperature: N/A the cap is in an inconve-
Weight: 56.5 lb (with nient place below the
fuel) combustion-chamber
barrel, mystifying on an
The DeWalt is an otherwise well-engi-
extremely powerful and neered appliance. (We
robust heater designed recommend you get a
for drafty areas, like long-neck flexible spout
construction sites and to fill the tank.) But once
on switch, dial the ther-
mostat to the desired
temperature, and watch
it fire right up. We were
pleasantly surprised by
several things: its copi-
ous heat output, how
little current it draws,
and how, even after half
an hour of operation, the
surface of the barrel was
only warm to the touch.
An airspace between
the barrel’s cover and its
inner surface helps there.

You would think if a heater heats, it passes our tests, right? We wish it were that simple. ¶ We began
with a Fluke 345—a clamp-on amp meter and a power-quality test instrument—to check whether the appli-
ances drew more than their rated amperage. And using the meter’s oscilloscope, we examined each heater’s
How energy consumption on the high setting. Why? The energy-use profile tells you whether a heating element,
switch, or fan motor is misbehaving. Next, we used a thermocouple on a Fluke 233 meter to measure tempera-
We ture on each heater’s front to gauge whether it’s a burn hazard should you accidentally graze it. After that, we
Tested checked whether the appliances would shut off if tipped over: Many are equipped with a switch on the bottom
of their case that will cut the power if the heater should fall. Finally, we shot a thermographic picture of each
using a Flir C3 infrared camera to search for unusually hot areas or any anomaly that escaped our other tests.

82 December 2019
 H O N E Y W E LL
H C E 8 4 0 H E AT
GENIUS
Price: $74 Type: Elec-
trical ceramic Watts:
1,500 Highest grill tem-
perature: 252°F Highest
recorded amps: 12.5
Weight: 4.8 lb
The aptly named Heat
Genius is about as sophis-
ticated as space heaters
get. It employs two verti-
cal heating elements, two
fans, and a thermostat.
You can set the fan speed
and temperature to heat
a room, or you can set it
to heat just at floor level,
mid-height, or up high.
It’s also equipped with a
phased timer that adjusts
the heat down over two
hours in a series of inter-
vals, with each level lasting
for half an hour. After two
hours, the heater turns off
and remains off. Another
feature that we like is the
appliance’s Quiet Mode.
It shuts off the lower fan,
running just the upper fan
on low speed for almost
noiseless heat. Like with
the Heat Storm, we do
wish Honeywell had
equipped this with a cord
wrap for better storage.
But to be fair, it’s a design
deficiency shared by most
small heaters.

VO R N A D O M V H D E LO N G H I
W H O LE R O O M T R S L S 071 5 E L
VO R T E X H E AT E R

Price: $80 Type: Electric,

Price: $60 Type: Elec- oil-filled radiator Watts:
trical resistance Watts: 1,500 Highest surface
1,500 Highest grill tem- temperature: 162°F
perature: 163°F Highest Highest recorded amps:
recorded amps: 11.4 11.9 Weight: 21.8 lb
Weight: 4 lb
This DeLonghi was the
Pound for pound, the test’s potbellied stove,
MVH is hard to beat. It’s you might say, just safer
a simple heater with a and more sophisticated.
circular resistance coil It has a thermostatic con-
and a three-blade fan trol, three heat settings,
that blows through a and a timer. But there’s
spiral-scroll grill. The no denying that it has a
result is surprisingly simple old-school look
quiet and evenly distrib- and feel. Nearly the entire
uted warm air. Its heat surface gets piping hot—
output can be adjusted the thermographic view
to low (750 watts), through the Flir showed
medium (1,125), or high a bright yellow box-
(1,500). The grill tem- shaped hunk of heat. Like
perature we recorded a stove, it will set up a
may seem high, but it’s convection current, with
certainly not objection- hot air rising from it to
able. The case stays the ceiling, sinking back
cool to the touch, and down along the walls,
Vornado molded a con- toward the heater, and
venient handhold into up again. Keep in mind
the back. Sitting at floor that oil heaters have nar-
level, the MVH is bound row applications, and
to pull in lint and dust. they’re most effective
Ideally, the guts would positioned in the center
be protected with an air of a space with still air. If
filter, to avoid a fire haz- that’s not what you need,
ard. But since the MVH or you don’t want to give
doesn’t have one, be a heater prime real estate
careful to vacuum the in the middle of your liv-
appliance regularly. ing room, look elsewhere.

December 2019 83
 15
// BY A DRIEN NE DONICA A N D JA MES LY NCH //

The Warm,
Waterproof
Boots You Want
This Winter

T
H E P R E VA I L I N G T R E N D
among boots this winter?
Lightweight, low-profile,
comfortable designs that
don’t sacrifice perfor-
mance, whether you’re
wearing them to tromp
through deep snow drifts, get
out for a quick hike in what little
proofing, durability, style, and (in
the case of the dedicated winter
boots) warmth of each pair. We
hiked for hundreds of miles on
dirt, grass, and gravel trails, on
sunny days and after rainstorms,
across the Northeast and national
parks in the West. To assess water-
proofing, we held the boots in EDITORS’ CHOICE

sunlight there is, or simply stay several inches of water for at least LA SPORTIVA
upright on icy sidewalks. Here, we 10 minutes to measure how much,
review the best snow, casual, and if at all, they leaked. Finally, we
NUCLEO GTX
hiking boots this winter. tested how well the snow boots $199
Before hitting the pavement insulate by measuring their inter-
HEIGHT WEIGHT
and the trail, we consulted with nal temperature with an infrared High 1 lb. 0.7 oz.
experts, read customer reviews, thermometer before and after
and searched for the season’s top placing each in a cooler filled with UPPER

options. In the course of testing, ice water for five minutes. Yes, we
we evaluated the cost, weight, were hard on them, but that’s how
traction, support, comfort, water- we know they’ll hold up.
Most boot makers use synthetic insulation—
such as 3M Thinsulate, PrimaLoft, or their
How own proprietary material—because it works
Insulation better when wet than wool or down. It traps
your body’s warmth in air pockets within the
Keeps You fabric. Engineers intertwine strands of syn-
Warm thetic fibers (often polyester) within the boots.
The smaller the strands are, the more air pock-
ets there will be. And that retains more warmth, explains Ken Cox,
lead application engineering specialist at the 3M Thinsulate Global
Design Lab. It also means that insulation is often comprised more of
Leather and synthetic
When you aren’t quite sure where your
adventures will take you, it’s not a bad
idea to have a pair of La Sportiva’s
Nucleo on your feet. The burly high-top
boot might look intimidating, but it fits
beautifully, striking a good balance of
support and cushioning without a ton
of bulk or weight. The grippy Vibram
sole is designed with what La Sportiva
calls the Impact Brake System—a set of
grooves running along the width of the
heel—which it says increases traction
by 20 percent while reducing impact
on your body. The large toe cap and
Gore-Tex Surround waterproof lining
protect you from rugged and wet con-
ditions. Our one complaint? The laces
will slip off the top hooks if you tie them
L A KOTA G A M B I L L

air than anything else—the Thinsulate used in footwear is made of too loosely.
microfibers with diameters of six microns (human hair measures 25
or more) and is about 95 percent trapped air.

84 December 2019
M O S T C O M F O R TA B L E

ON CLOUDROCK
$230

HEIGHT WEIGHT UPPER

Mid 15.7 oz. Mesh

The Cloudrock is the first hiking boot from On, a Swiss running
shoe brand, and it didn’t disappoint. Though the ankle was
a bit stiff at first, the boot delivers unmatched comfort. It’s
lightweight, breathable, and cushions your feet exceptionally
well without sacrificing support. Our tester actually said it felt
like she was walking on clouds the first time she wore the
boot. (In a way, she was; On calls its trademark odd-looking
pods on the outsole, which are meant to squish as you step
to absorb impact, “clouds.”) Surprisingly, no rocks or twigs
got stuck in them—a problem with other On shoes. And the
proprietary outsole rubber kept us sure-footed regardless
of the conditions on the trail. Unfortunately, all that comfort
comes at a steep price.

the fleece-lined upper. That,

combined with the EVA mid-
sole, made for a comfortable fit,
though our tester found there
$110 was more room around the calf
than with other boots. We also
discovered the laces are too
UPPER
thick to slide easily under and
Leather
around the low-lying hooks at
the top of the lacing system.
(If you don’t want to fuss with
lacing, The North Face sells a
slip-on version of the Chilkat.)
Still, we liked the boot’s flexibil-
ity, and the winterized rubber
soles promise good traction in
slippery conditions. Be wary
of wet weather, though: The
seam connecting the rubber
to the leather upper let in the
most water of any boot in the
test—12 ounces, to be precise.

December 2019 85
 Outdoor
15 Stuff

BEST FITTING

MAMMUT DUCAN KNIT

HIGH GTX
$249

HEIGHT WEIGHT
High 1 lb. 8 oz.

UPPER
3D-knit textile

B E S T F O R E V E R Y D AY U S E Forsake designed this light-

weight boot, and its women’s
FORSAKE equivalent, the Patch, to feel
WILSON almost as comfortable as
$150 a sneaker. With a soft EVA
foam midsole, a cushioned
upper, and a gusseted mesh
HEIGHT WEIGHT
tongue, the Wilson is soft,
Mid 1 lb. squishy, and fairly breath-
able for a leather shoe. We
UPPER felt no hot spots after wear-
Full-grain leather, ing the boots for 10 hours
suede, and mesh straight. However, follow-
ing heavy outdoor use, the
Wilson showed scuffs and
abrasions—not unexpected
for a shoe that’s more front-

This cold-weather hiking boot

has a low-key profile that makes
it good for many things, including
M O S T V E R S AT I L E
just walking around town. The
OBOZ BRIDGER comfortably snug fit works best
7-INCH INSULATED with thin socks; luckily the boot
has 200-gram 3M Thinsulate and
WATERPROOF a thermal insole that reflects heat
$185 back toward your toes. Despite
lots of stitching on the upper, the
HEIGHT WEIGHT boot stayed dry inside during our
High 1 lb. 4.5 waterproof test, thanks to Oboz’s
BDry membrane and the gusseted
UPPER tongue. Our one complaint is that
Nubuck leather the lace loop on the tongue makes
untying the shoes cumbersome.

86 December 2019
 EDITORS’ CHOICE

KAMIK NATION
PLUS
$85
$380
HEIGHT WEIGHT UPPER
WEIGHT Tall 1 lb. 13 oz. Suede
1 lb. 13 oz.

Costing less than $100, a pair of the Kamik Nation Plus is a

bargain. But the boot can still handle winter’s worst. Its tall
height protects you when tromping through deep snow,
and the seam-sealed construction and large rubber shell
surrounding your foot keep moisture out. (The boot stayed
completely dry during our waterproofing test.) Insulated with
a 200-gram 3M Thinsulate removable liner, this boot—and
the women’s version, the Momentum 2—has a temperature
rating down to –40°F. In our insulation test, it was one of the
top performers. The Nation Plus felt plush underfoot even
after we wore it for hours, and the soft lining didn’t scratch.

warmth, and the solid leather

construction may dig into your
ankles at first.

BES T FOR L IGHT A ND FAS T ple EVA midsole kept our feet
feeling light, as if we were wear-
MERRELL ing running shoes. The high cuff
ZION WATER - lent confidence, even on trails
in the Tetons with loose, bas-
PROOF MID ketball-size rocks. We did find
$150 the Zion a tad hot, especially
in the toe box, where leather
HEIGHT WEIGHT and rubber give protection but
Mid 14.5 oz. limit venting. You may overlook
that, though, if you prize staying
UPPER dry—the boot sloughed off all
Mesh and leather the water we stomped through.
And, even when loose, the gus-
seted tongue kept debris out.
The Zion looks cool, but don’t The Zion is a great day hiker,
let its appearance fool you. The but the sneaker construction
Vibram Megagrip sole afforded means it’s not ideal when you’re
plenty of traction, and the sup- carrying heavy loads.

December 2019 87
 Editors’
16 Choice
// AWA R D-W IN NING TOOLS A ND GE A R RIGOROUSLY VETTED BY OUR TEST TE A M // BY A DRIEN NE DONICA //

Fa rm to Feet Nemo Rave 30

Cascade Locks Socks Sleep ing Ba g

Made in North Carolina with With a large hood that has

materials produced in the
U.S., Farm to Feet’s Cascade
Locks three-quarter crew
sock fits securely and com-
fortably, with padded zones
from heel to toe that reduce
rubbing and boost durability.
The blend of nylon, mois-
ture-wicking merino wool,
and Lycra spandex flexes
with your foot and offers
slight compression from the
lower calf down to the arch
while still providing maxi-
mum comfort. $23
a built-in pillow pocket,
the spoon-shaped Nemo
Rave 30—and Disco 30, for
men—retains heat like a
mummy bag should with-
out leaving you feeling as
constricted. We could easily
move around within the bag
and sleep on our side but
still stayed warm on a 33°F
night, thanks to the 650-fill,
water-resistant down insu-
lation, the silky smooth draft
collar, and the draft tube
along the zipper. From $260

Sea to Summit Comfort Plus Self-Inflating Sleeping Mat

Luxury sleeping pads might seem like an oxymoron to some,

but the Comfort Plus delivers an exceedingly cushy place to rest
at the end of the day. Three inches thick at full inflation, this
self-inflating pad has a nonslip grip pattern on the bottom to
keep it in place throughout the night and is designed with Sea
to Summit’s Delta Core technology—polyurethane foam that
has triangle-shaped chambers within to reduce bulk and weight
while still boasting a respectably warm 4.1 R-value. From $140

P H OTO G R A P H Y BY T R E VO R R A A B

88 November 2019
Wa hoo Kickr Core
B i ke Tra i ner

The Kickr Core is compact

for easier storage without
sacrificing performance.
This direct-drive trainer
uses a 12-pound flywheel,
can simulate climbs up to
16 percent, and integrates
with Zwift, MyFitnessPal,
and other apps. Wahoo
promises that it measures
power up to 1,800 watts.
And in our attempts to
max it out, it felt smooth
and stable. $900

M ilwaukee M18 Fuel

½" H igh -Torq ue
I m pac t Wrench

Finding a best-in-class
impact wrench is no small
task—most models these
days are so good that
judging their subtle perfor-
mance differences can feel
like nitpicking. That’s not
the case with this Milwau-
kee and its sheer power.
The compact tool has four
modes, including 1,000
foot-pounds of fastening
torque and a bolt-removal
setting. $449 for tool and
battery

We put the latest tools, outdoor gear, and tech through the wringer every day in the
Pop Mech Test Zone. Only the best of the best earn the Editors’ Choice Award. Every
product here has been thoroughly evaluated by our team, and each offers exceptional
performance, durability, value, or innovation—or a combination of all those traits. This
is the stuff that makes every project or adventure easier and more enjoyable.
 17
// BY JOE LIN DSE Y //

B
share videos. To do that, you’d
The Tiny
EFORE YOUTUBE, IF YOU
w a nt e d t o r epl a ce a need a major production studio.
balky starter motor in Yo uTu b e r S c o t t y K i l m e r

Action your Hyundai Elantra,

you had to find a copy
of a Haynes manual and
remembers the change clearly.
The celebrity mechanic went from
hosting the Crank It Up car repair

Cam That puzzle out the repair

yourself from instructions and
show on CBS, with $150,000 cam-
eras, pro lighting, and “all that

Made Us exploded diagrams. If you needed

to run an electrical circuit in your
home, you turned to Renovation.
horseshit,” to starting his own
YouTube channel in 2007. He’s
since racked up 2.7 million sub-

All DIYers Now we consult the omnipresent

video sharing platform, where
homemade bits of footage show
us how to tackle almost any proj-
ect. Those videos were shot with
scribers. To do it, all he needed
was a laptop with some editing
software and a small selection
of affordable consumer digital
cameras. Among them: a GoPro,
L A KOTA G A M B I L L

or made possible by a little cam- with its remarkable (for the time)
era called the GoPro. wide-angle lens, which was espe-
Before its creation, there was cially useful for getting shots
no easy way to shoot, edit, and inside tight spaces.

90 December 2019
THIS SEASON,
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 17

Compared to modern versions YouTube exploded and creators

of the GoPro, the original in 2004
was a chunky plastic brick in a
waterproof case. The whole thing
cost just $20. It didn’t even shoot
digital images. Instead, it used
35mm film.
flooded the site with content, a
GoPro Hero was the tool most
reached for. Nothing else offered
the performance in such a porta-
ble, rugged, affordable package.
Last year, GoPro sold 4.3 mil- 2

“The first GoPro was really lion cameras worldwide, and it

just a wrist camera to capture
my friends surfing,” said Nick
Woodman, its inventor, in 2014.
It was, as he called it, “the orig-
inal selfie.” Two years after its
debut, the GoPro went digital and
shot to popularity on the back
of athletes who spread both the
claims 88 percent market share of
the action-cam category in the U.S.
But the company faces increasing
pressure from conventional digital
cameras and smartphones, which
feature higher-quality optics and,
in the case of the smartphones,
faster and more seamless ways to

selfie style and POV shots that
are now ubiquitous in the DIY
video community.
GoPro’s early adoption of new
tech was essential to its growth.
The first digital verison (2006)
recorded 10-second VGA clips,
without sound, to 32MB of inter-
nal flash memory. By contrast,
the first iPhone didn’t hit stores
until 2007, and its video capabil-
ity didn’t come until 2009’s 3GS.
Most important, GoPro’s wide
field of view, easy controls and
autofocus, and broad ISO range
that adapted to all kinds of light-
ing conditions made capturing
video easy.
The other key catalyst was You-
Tube, launched in 2005 just after
the first Hero; without it, GoPro
never would have seen such wide-
spread adoption. For five years, as
CO U R T E S Y D R I F T ( T I M E L A P S E) ; CO U R T E S Y G O P O L E (D O M E) ; CO U R T E S Y L I G H T & M OT I O N (S I D E K I C K ) ; CO U R T E S Y G O P R O (R E M OT E) ; CO U R T E S Y P O L A R P R O (S H U T T E R)
get footage from the device to the
internet. Though GoPros still have
their place; Kilmer says he now
uses action cams mostly for tight
shots he couldn’t get otherwise,
like dropping one into a motorcy-
cle gas tank to show corrosion. 4
For decades, we’ve known video
is an ideal format for instruction.
It’s like having a personal guide
with you at every step, and takes
the mystery and intimidation
out of things. Tasks that seemed
complex are often revealed to be
simple (though not always easy).
The emerging tech housed in
those little GoPros, timed per-
fectly with the launch of YouTube,
made creating those videos easier.
Now that we have capable con-
tributors armed with GoPros, the
power to accomplish almost any
project is a search query away. 5

5 TOOLS 1 DRIFT
TIMELAPSE /
2 GOPOLE DOME
P R O / $ 65
3 LIGHT AND
M OT I O N S I D E K I C K
4 G O PR O S M A R T
R E M OT E / $ 8 0
5 P O L A R PR O
SHUTTER / $60

PROS USE
$2 5 This hockey- Capture striking D U O / $1 3 0 Control your GoPro This three-pack
puck-shaped device surf shots above Sometimes, there’s from up to 600 of filters lets you
spins 360 degrees and below the just not enough light. feet away with this control the light
TO GET KILLER to capture stunning
panoramas, and
waterline with this
dome-style water-
L&M’s Sidekick Duo
cranks out 600 lu-
wearable remote. It
can adjust settings,
entering a GoPro
Hero8, giving you

SHOTS fits cameras with a

standard ¼-inch tri-
proof housing that
fits Hero versions
mens in a 90-degree
flood or 23-degree
start/stop record-
ing, and snap still
more control of
the exposure in
pod screw mount. 5 through 7. spot pattern. images. any light condition.

92 December 2019

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 POPULAR MECHANICS (ISSN 0032-
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