Slaton L. White

Gear Test: Four New Pocket Knives

Online Editors — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:32:39 -0500

Odds are a pocket folder was your first knife, and you used it for everything, from whittling sticks to cleaning fish and skinning squirrels. The newest folders boast the latest materials and a bold, contemporary look. We asked four readers to spend an entire summer with these modern knives to determine which ones are a cut above.

Review: Jeep 2012 Wrangler Rubicon 4x4

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:16:46 -0400

by Slaton L. White

How do you redesign an icon?

Carefully. Very carefully.

Just ask the guy responsible for the Wrangler YJ, which replaced the beloved (but slow-selling) CJ in the late 1980s. All in all, not a bad vehicle, but it was vilified for having square, instead of round, headlights.

Small beer? Not to the hard-core Jeep fan. Jeep engineers learned the lesson, and though the current model desperately needed an upgrade--especially a more powerful but fuel-efficient engine--designers knew they couldn’t change the shape or alter its iconic look in any substantial way. In other words, it had to have round headlamps, as well as the seven-slot grille, to carry on the hallowed Willys tradition.

Review: Chevrolet Silverado 2500 4WD Crew Cab

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 14:24:28 -0400

by Slaton L. White

Ten years ago I went on a week-long salmon safari in Alaska, living out of a slide-in camper in a Silverado equipped with a Duramax 6.6-liter V8 turbo diesel. It was an epic adventure, and looking at my old notes I see I raved about the truck’s performance. “Moved well from a dead stop. Quiet, even at full throttle. MPG: averaged between 11 to 14 mpg.”

A lot has happened to GM since then. After teetering on the brink of insolvency for years, it finally plunged into bankruptcy two years ago. What many people don’t know was that the company came perilously close to Chapter 11 in the 1990s. But they got a stay of execution. Know why? The Silverado. It was just about the only GM product people wanted to buy...and they bought enough of them to help keep the company afloat.

The Silverado was good then...and it’s good now.

I can say that after logging 900 miles in one recently. The 2500 4WD Crew Cab is a stout build, and boasts a maximum towing rating of 17,000 pounds. That means that when you drive it without a trailer or with an empty bed, it’s a bit rough. But when you get some weight on those rear wheels, it tames down nicely.

Cooper's New All-Terrain Truck Tires

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 16:00:25 -0500

by Slaton White

How To Shoot A Winter Coyote

Online Editors — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:43:58 -0500

December through February can be a tough time for hunters. If your tag is punched or the season has closed, you've got a long wait until spring gobblers. But with coyotes you're looking at a year-round season—no limits, no license. Outfitter Cory Lundberg (codahunts.com), who guides predator hunters in Wyoming and Utah, says, “This kind of hunting is a waiting game. A mature coyote can take a long time to come in, and you must be able to sit still the whole time. If he smells, sees, or hears you, the game is over.”

Goodyear DuraTrac Tires

Online Editors — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:38:19 -0500

Without question, one of the fondest dreams of any hunter or angler is a four-wheel-drive truck devoted exclusively to hunting and fishing. Call it the mobile man cave, it’s always full of hunting and fishing gear, and it’s always ready to take us to our favorite woods and waters.

Still Hunting Tip: Tracking Bucks Through Clear-Cuts

Online Editors — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:14:40 -0500

You won’t find Jim Lepage sitting in a treestand, waiting for a deer to show up. A vice president at Orvis, Lepage, who has stalked whitetails for 40 years, hunts the old-fashioned way—by tracking a moving deer. Lepage hunts in the Allagash wilderness of northern Maine, where the deer are less pressured, but the general principles translate to any hunter who goes after deer in big forests.

Get The Most Out Of A New Set of Truck Tires

Joe_Cermele — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:37:22 -0400

It didn’t take me very long to learn how to tell a brown trout from a rainbow or brookie. And I easily mastered the differences between a pumpkinseed and a bluegill. But when confronted with the redear, redbreast, or longear sunfish, things got a good deal more complicated. Even now, I occasionally consult a field guide to be sure.

F&S Guide to Truck Wheels

Joe_Cermele — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:19:12 -0400

The hand-drawn map was pinched between my thumb and the steering wheel. According to the smeared lines, I would be able to see the river after the next curve. I had been told that the pullout overlooked a great stretch of pocket water. “Big ‘bows,” my friend had said over the phone. “Even better, almost no one fishes this stretch.”

“Why?” I asked.

“The road is really in miserable shape. A lot of it washed out last winter. Take it slow.”

Winching How-To: Never Get Your Truck Stuck Again

Joe_Cermele — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:08:44 -0400

While fishing for steelhead on Michigan’s Pere Marquette River one spring, I crossed paths with Dan Suman, a steelheader out of Mears, Michigan. When we took a break for coffee, the talk fell naturally to another of Suman’s abiding passions--deer hunting. A few minutes later, he said, “Look, I’ve got a nice piece of woods; why don’t you hunt it with me this fall?”

“You bet. Thanks.”