Off-road tires are expensive. SUV and truck enthusiasts can easily spend as much as a Porsche 911 owner when it comes time for new rubber. The latest tires from Leao, one of China’s largest manufacturers, are looking to eat into the competitive off-road market by offering similar performance at a remarkably lower price. I tested the Lion Climber X/T and R/T on Jeep Wranglers on a certified Honor Trail to see if they earn a badge of their own.

This tire review is focused on real-world driving impressions, feel, and feedback—vibes over VBOX numbers.

It’s rare that I can do a press event without having to get on an airplane. I was invited to test Leao Lion Climber R/T and X/T tires in my own stomping grounds of the Nevada desert, so of course, I agreed. While I’m not an off-road expert, I’ve done a few schools, had some one-on-one training, and conquered dozens of off-road courses. More importantly, I have plenty of experience with traction in my years of driving and car reviewing.

Our Leao test was a bit free-form, but gave me the opportunity to experience the tires in challenging situations. The drive was led by Las Vegas Rock Crawlers, which supplied modified Jeeps and guided the caravan. The Leao brand, as well as several others, is owned by Linglong Tire, an outfit that has not enjoyed the most prestigious reputation but is now looking to change that.

Linglong has actually been around for 50 years already, but is mostly known in the U.S. for low-cost commuter-car rubber. The company’s now looking to move upmarket just a little, and improve the quality of its tires while still undercutting other options.

Leao Lion Climber X/T and R/T: What, Why, and Who

Linglong may not be a highline brand name, but it’s a long-running tire company and, in fact, a top-12 global tire manufacturer. The company is based in Shandong, China, where it operates five factories. It also has a factory in Thailand and another in Serbia. It supplies tires as OE fitments on some VW Group products and has been making inroads in the US for a few years.

The Leao Tires subbrand has a huge range of truck, bus, and tractor tires for everything from daily driving on pavement to slow crawling through muddy farm fields. The Lion Climber X/T and R/T all-terrains are made in Thailand.

There are four basic categories, listed from most on-road focused to most off-road focused: all-terrain A/T, rugged-terrain R/T, extreme-terrain X/T, and mud-terrain M/T. The more off-road focused they are, generally means softer rubber compounds and chunkier tread blocks, which results in quicker wear, less on-road precision, lower fuel economy, and more road noise. The extreme-terrain is the newest segment. It attempts to offer the aggressive looks of the M/T, with less noise and better on-road performance. 

The Leao Team makes no bones about these tires being a value choice. Off-road tires are expensive, like any enthusiast niche tire. I’ve wasted more Z-rated rubber just commuting than I’d like to admit, and I imagine most off-road enthusiasts would begrudgingly say the same. Serious enthusiasts may feel the difference, but let’s be honest, a lot of people buying R/T and X/T tires are only doing real off-roading a couple of times a year.

Leao Lion Climber X/T and R/T: Review

The Price

Leao isn’t looking to go head-to-head on performance with the biggest and most expensive brands. Both tires I tested were 35×12.5-17s, a popular size for off-roaders. The Lion Climber R/T and X/T can be found online for roughly $230 and $250, respectively. The more popular brands like General, Nitto, Toyo, BFGoodrich, etc, are $350 to almost $500 per tire. 

The Curb Appeal

I see and hear SUVs and CUVs every day rolling through parking lots on off-road tires that have likely never seen more than a gravel road on the way to a hiking trailhead. For some, a set of knobby off-road tires is the best method to communicate their wild, off-the-beaten-path, “I have very strong feelings about energy drink brands” lifestyle. The Lion Climber R/T and, more so the X/T, deliver for those customers just as well as any other tire. The tread wraps down from the shoulders, covering nearly a third of the sidewall. While the tread is wide, flat, and looks to generously fill the rated width of the tire, the rounded sidewalls offer plenty of rim protection. Both tires use a traditional blocky tread pattern, but the 3PMSF rating means there are more sipes in the big blocks than several competitors’ tires that aren’t Severe Snow rated.

The First 100 Miles

The day was spent in a convoy, rolling out of the Red Rock Casino’s parking lot at the crack of 9 am. It’s roughly six miles to the entrance of Red Rock National Conservation Area, where we followed the Scenic Loop to Rocky Gap Trail. Red Rock’s Scenic Loop is the best, and honestly, the only good driving road within a couple of hours of Vegas. Well, it would be if it weren’t for the 15 mph speed limit and Park Rangers. We followed the speed limit with commendable diligence. 

Rocky Gap is a Jeep-designated Badge of Honor trail. Our trip out and back was roughly 12 miles. The trail consists mostly of broken, loose rocks with plenty of off-camber and washed-out sections. 

After Rocky Gap, we finished the Loop and headed back to base the way we came. Throughout the day, I switched between Jeeps fitted with both tires for comparison.

The Casual Drive

Jeeps, especially lifted Jeeps, are one of the few vehicles still in production that feel as though the driver is an integral part of the equation, even in a straight line. They wallow and wander around, and the suspension lift and off-road tires only amplify it. The first thing I noticed was a lack of the roar I expected from the chunky tread. Wranglers are loud, with the windows up and stereo off, there’s plenty of other noise, but it was hard to pick out just the tires.

Likewise, it was hard to say that the ponderousness was attributable to the tires. Driving keeps you busy at highway speeds with nearly constant steering inputs, but it never made me uncomfortable. I wouldn’t consider putting something like this on my SUV, but mine is more lifted-hatchback than an outdoor adventurer.

Road Driving

As mentioned, we drove the Scenic Loop around Red Rock, which I’ve been driving since I was a teenager. Every day of the week, it’s filled with cyclists, hikers, and tourists in rental cars, so the 15 MPH speed limit is appropriate. 

As you might expect from off-road tires, steering precision isn’t a priority. In a straight line, any camber in the road requires constant but not consistent steering input. There’s always a bit of sawing motion going on. Corner turn-in results in huge steering gain. Make a big initial input, let the suspension and tires load up, and readjust as needed. I may be making more of a comparison to the all-season passenger tires on my own car-based-SUV than what is fair.

Driving the X/T and R/T back to back, I can’t say there was a huge difference between the two. Leao says the X/T is designed for 40% on-road use, while the R/T is only 25% on-road. I guess that means the R/T is a full 15% more “off-roady.”

The Off-Road Run 

The majority of Rocky Gap Trail is broken rock. This is one of the hardest terrains to design for. Rocks the size of softballs and smaller act like ball bearings under your tires and offer almost no grip until they bind up together. Then, you have a surface more abrasive than concrete and sometimes as sharp as knives. The smaller rocks want to wedge themselves between tread blocks, so tires have to eject those, while also gripping them enough to propel the vehicle. This is complicated by the tread blocks needing sipes to achieve the 3PMSF rating, which are basically built-in tearpoints.

While I didn’t notice a huge difference in on-road performance, I did notice quite a difference on the trail. The R/T provided more feel for the level of grip, and I could meter torque far more effectively. It also instilled far more confidence descending on the broken rocks; it seemed to recover faster and allowed for more steering input while scrubbing speed. The R/T also felt more compliant climbing over large fixed rocks. There isn’t enough real dirt or sand on the trail to give a qualified opinion. But, based on rocky performance alone, the R/T delivered far better trail performance without giving up much on the road compared to the X/T. 

The Highway Drone Factor

Neither the Lion Climber X/T nor the R/T had road noise that seemed inappropriate for an off-road tire. After a few highway miles with the windows up and no accessories, I turned on some music and was able to hear all of Matt Freeman’s basslines and Tim Armstrong’s lyrics without interruption from tread roar. I’ve talked to several engineers and product managers at other tire companies who’ve told me there’s a segment of customers who consider obnoxious levels of road noise a feature, not a bug, for off-road tires. Those customers may be disappointed in the Lion Climbers. 

The Passenger Comments

I occasionally had a photographer or videographer sit shotgun with me throughout the drive. When one of them was in the car, I spent most of the time interrogating them on where to find the best hipster coffee and authentic tacos in their neighborhoods. If you don’t regularly interact with camera-slingers, you don’t realize these people are like walking, talking Yelps—looking through a viewfinder all day turns you into a legit food critic. Tires didn’t really come up.

The Verdict

Linglong Tire has a bit of an image issue based on its early product. One of the first passenger tires tested turned in a disappointing wet-weather braking result. Engineers went back to the drawing board, and when ADAC performed the same testing, the new tire was best in class. The company is putting in real effort to move its products up the rankings.

The Leao Lion Climber X/T and R/T give a good first impression both on and off-road. You can’t deny the value proposition of a tire that sells $230 per tire and competes with Coopers, Nittos, and Falkens that are all over $400. Both tires have a 3PMSF rating, which several top-rated competitors lack. The X/T does come with a 55,000-mile warranty compared to the R/T’s 50,000-mile warranty, but I would consider that almost negligible. If it were me, I would buy the R/T over the X/T. The Lion Climber R/T delivers better off-road performance and doesn’t give up performance in other areas, at least during my testing.

Linglong gave us a hotel room and provided us with access to loaner vehicles fitted with these tires for the purpose of testing.

The post Driven: Linglong’s Leao Lion Climber Tires On an Actual Off-Road Trail appeared first on The Drive.

I’ve worn Dickies clothes on and off throughout my work and casual life. When I worked as a machinist, the tough, stain-resistant fabrics were perfect for constantly being around sharp metal and cutting fluid. The same can be said for all the time I’ve spent on the ground, working on cars. Dickies pants never wore through, no matter how many brake jobs, clutch swaps, and oil changes I put them through. Then there were two glorious years of the third-wave ska revival; we all believed the skankin’ would never end. And, we loved our Dickies. Anyway. I still like its clothes, and there are some killer Dickies deals right now straight from the company’s website. You can still take advantage of end-of-the-year savings on jackets and heavy workshirts, or there are even discounts on shorts and cooling sun shirts just in time for spring.

Duck Hooded Shirt Jacket for $44.99

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I wear this type of thing all the time. The Duck Hooded Shirt Jacket is great for working on cars, or you can keep it clean and wear it casually with a pair of jeans to the movie theatre. The hood is great for cold mornings and or bad hair days. This is normally 60 bucks, but right now, you can choose from five colors for just $44.99.

FLEX Performance Workwear Regular Fit Pants for $36.00

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So I probably wouldn’t wear these Flex Performance Pants for a night out, but when you’re doing actual work, these are game changers. These pants are made from Cordura fabric, which is strong wearing and durable. Dickies has loaded them up with pockets, front, back and sides. the reinforced knees even have pockets for pads. These pants are normally $89.99 but right now, there are three colors available for $36.00. Did I mention they even have reflective patches?

Even More Great Dickies Deals

FLEX DuraTech Relaxed Fit Jeans for $44.99

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Long Sleeve Henley T-Shirt for $29.99

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Dickies Skateboarding Denim Shirt Jacket for $52.49

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Water Repellent Flannel Hooded Shirt Jacket for $48.74

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Cooling Performance Sun Shirt for $29.99

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Rugby Stripe Socks, Size 6-12, 4-Pack for $13.99

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Relaxed Fit Duck Carpenter Shorts, 11" for $26.24

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Relaxed Fit Ripstop Cargo Shorts, 11" for $20.99

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Work Worthy Mesh Trucker Hat for $14.99

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The post These Killer Dickies Deals Are Here to Make Sure You’re Ready for Whatever Spring Throws at You appeared first on The Drive.

Today, we’re looking at pocket knives from an American centenarian of a company, Coast. Against my better judgment, I keep dipping into products that I know will make a few of you very angry. The traffic numbers prove that an overwhelming majority of you like EDC content, so that’s not what I’m talking about. Like the review I just wrote on Tifosi sunglasses, with Coast knives, I’m stepping into an enthusiast/collector world that’s often unforgiving of anything seen as a value product. But, for an everyday carry knife that costs less than a tank of gas and provides years of service, let’s talk about the Coast Contra and the Founder’s Origin Tanto—two knives with similar specs but very different performance.

The Bottom Line

Either of these Coast knives, the $29.99 Contra or the $39.99 Founder’s Origin Tanto will meet the needs of 90% of pocket knife users. I want to call them entry-level, but that isn’t a correct description. These are well-built tools that will hold up to everyday carry use but may not impress your knife-aficionado friends. The Contra is a great-looking knife that looks weathered and storied out of the box. It’s an easy-to-open flipper, but one-handed closing takes some work. I’ve been using it for several weeks and still normally use two hands for closing. The shaping and ridges make it feel secure in your hand. The blade feels rigid and there’s no movement in the pivot. At 30 bucks, this is a solid knife that should be easy to sharpen—I haven’t tried—and will last years. As I write this, it’s on sale for $24.99, which c’mon, right?

The Founder’s Origin is a small knife. It’s smaller than the pen or pencil I carry. It took me a little while to get comfortable holding it and to figure out how to open it naturally. Like the Contra, the liner lock is integrated into the body of the knife, there are no scales used in the minimalist design. If you’re gripping it too tight, you’re stopping the blade from flipping out. Once you figure that out, you’ll be flipping it out like a switchblade. The detents at both open and close sound great and offer secure locking. The model I tested uses titanium nitride coating on everything, so it has a uniform stealth look that I’m sure will look even better with wear. 

What’s the best metal for a pocket knife?

Just like when people ask me, “What’s the best car?” The answer to “What’s the best metal for a pocket knife?” The answer is, “It depends.” How I use a pocket knife or a car, may be completely different from how everyone else uses theirs. If I’m honest, I don’t need to carry a pocket knife. I open boxes and packages. I occasionally cut some string, or maybe some tape that’s bundling something together. I’m not skinning animals or fighting off teams of heavily armed commandos. 

I’ve had metallurgy and material science classes as part of my college engineering curriculum—way back in the 1900s, but I’m not a blade expert. As with most engineering classes, I walked out at the end of the semester with a greater understanding of how much I didn’t even know I didn’t know going in. I’m not going to get too much into the science right now. I may dive into the deep end of the nerdery in a dedicated piece later, so I just want to touch on the basics here.

Both of these knives are made of stainless steel. Steel, more accurately, the iron reacts with oxygen to form iron oxide(rust). Chromium is added to steel, and when the concentration is a minimum of 10.5%(mass), it is considered stainless steel. The Chromium reacts with oxygen more easily than iron, forming a protective chromium oxide layer.

There are several other elements added to steel to change its properties. Molybdenum(Mo) and Nickel(Ni) are both used to increase toughness, which is a knife’s ability to resist chipping and cracking. Carbon(C) and Siicon(Si), will increase hardness, which is a big part of the popular, edge retention rating. Things like Manganese(Mn) will help increase abrasion resistance. To complicate things even more, the after-treatment of the steel, annealing, hardening, tempering, etc., can make or break even the best steel’s performance. The quality of the heat treatment can be more important than the type of steel, so a “lesser” steel may outperform a high-end steel that was improperly treated.

So, to answer the question, what’s the best steel for a pocket knife? Your budget is likely to be the biggest deciding factor, but you will still have to balance hardness and toughness. Generally speaking, the harder the steel, the more brittle it will be. A blade that maintains its sharpness is more likely to chip or break. Conversely, a tough knife that is forgiving of hard use from impacts, or oblique loading from prying, is not going to stay sharp as long. Another consideration is that a harder knife is going to be more time-consuming to sharpen. More carbon content almost always results in harder steel.

Most people are going to want stainless steel. The addition of Chromium not only makes it resistant to rust and makes it harder as well. If your budget is under 50 bucks(retail price), more than likely, you’re getting Chinese-made steel; which does not mean it’s lower quality. Above $50 you start finding American steel and once you get over $100 you start finding more exotic specialty alloys and the sky’s the limit from there.

What are the specs of the Coast Contra and Founder’s Origin Tanto?

The Contra is made from 7Cr17 and the Founder’s Origin is 9Cr18MoV. What that means is the 7Cr17 is .7% Carbon, and 17% Chromium. You can guess the percentages of the Founder. The Contra’s .7% carbon content is near the minimum to be a high-carbon steel. It is certainly on the softer side of things, but that means it’s more forgiving of hard use and abuse, and it’s also easy to sharpen. The Founders is going to be a little harder and its slender blade isn’t going to be as forgiving to abuse.

The Contra is a no-nonsense, bulldog of a knife. It retails for $29.99 and is all stainless. The blade is 2.5 inches long and coated with titanium nitride. Closed, the knife is 3.8 inches long, and open it’s 6.2 inches. It weighs 102 grams(3.6 ounces). 

The Founder’s Origin Tanto is also all-metal but with a lithe, dagger-like shape. It retails for $39.99. The blade is 3.5 inches long and this model bears a coating of titanium nitride The knife’s open length is 8.0 inches and 4.5 inches closed. When not in use, it’s smaller than most pens. It weighs just 73 grams(2.6 ounces).

The Verdict

My name is Mike, I’m a recovering overkill enthusiast. Like a lot of you, it started simple; my car needed more power, stiffer suspension, wider tires—maximize everything. Then, spicy foods and lightweight bicycles, if a little was good, a lot was always better. Through meditation and my creative outlet of celebrity potato sculptures; I’m healing. And I can enjoy something that isn’t “the most” on a spec sheet.

With Coast Knives, you won’t be able to brag to your friends about Adamantium blades or scales made from real triceratop horn, but you will be able to cut things with confidence. The Contra has a traditional shape and feel of a pocket knife. If you want something to strip some kindling off a log or go through rope while camping, this will certainly do it. It’ll strip wire, cut some hose in a pinch, but I have to imagine most of us own dedicated tools to do those things at home. It’s heavy, it opens and closes with satisfying clicks, which is what most people are looking for when they reach into their pockets to open an Amazon box.

It’s normally $29.99, but as I write this, it’s on sale for just $24.99. At that price, it means I can use this knife without being afraid to damage it or worse lose it. It also means I may go out and buy knife-sharpening gear. The 7Cr17 is a forgiving steel to work with, and I won’t hate myself if I ruin a $25 blade.

The design of the Founder’s Origin Tanto looks back on Coast’s original tools from a century ago. Slender knives like this are referred to as stilettos. For me, it feels like holding an Xacto knife with a 3.5-inch blade. It fits in your pocket like a pen and with a little wrist flick, it opens like a switchblade. Being roughly the size of a pen also means it fits in the penholders in laptop and messenger bags, which seems like a handy place to store it.

The blade easily goes through butcher’s twine and plastic clamshell packaging, I even sliced right through some rubber sheeting, but I wouldn’t recommend this for anything that requires a lot of force. The narrow handle can turn in your hand and the long thin blade is best loaded parallel to the blade. The retail price for Founder’s Origin Tanto is $39.99 on Coast’s website. Neither of these Coast knives are made from exotic steels, they are both made with utilitarian alloys. Will that make a difference in the day-to-day performance? No, not for most users.

The post Coast Contra and Fouder’s Origin Tanto Hands-On Review: Two Sub-$50 Heavy-Hitting EDC Knives appeared first on The Drive.

The Springtime sun is pouring through the blinds on my window as I’m writing, and it’s making me want to get outside. But I’ll finish this EDC deal’s post first because you guys need to see the savings on all this everyday carry gear. BladeHQ has some awesome deals on knives in all different price ranges. You can also load up on some tools from BHQ, but I went to one of our favorites, Coast, for some smokin’ deals on Flashlights starting under 10 bucks.

If you’re looking for a functional, dependable pocket knife that you aren’t afraid to use in tough situations, it’s going to be hard to beat this Gerber FAST Draw Tanto Knife for just $19.99. It’s got a 3-inch, 7Cr17MoV with black titanium-nitride coating. It’s an assisted opening knife with a textured nylon handle. This isn’t knife that you’ll show-off in a case at home, but after a few years, every mark on it will tell a story.

Gerber FAST Draw Tanto Knife Assisted Opening for $19.99

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There are a few more knives that are in the affordable and dependable category below. The SOG Aegis Frame Lock Knife Stainless Steel is just $16.99. This is the kind of knife that’ll provide years of service, and it’s inexpensive enough that someone like me might buy it just to learn how to sharpen my own blades. I know you guys love the Gerber FlatIron Cleaver Frame Lock Knife. You guys buy a ton of these every time I find them on sale like this. A bargain at $24.99

More EDC Deals

SOG Aegis Frame Lock Knife Stainless Steel for $16.99

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Gerber FlatIron Cleaver Frame Lock Knife for $24.99

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Spyderco Insistent Liner Lock Knife Black G-10 for $56.99

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Hogue Sig Sauer A01 Microswitch Automatic Knife for $174.99

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If you’ve read my EDC reviews, you know I prefer to carry mini tools instead of multitools. With that said, I know you guys like them, so there’s a Gerber Truss down there, and it’s under 30 bucks. I also found this cool little hex driver with bits from CRKT. It has an aluminum body with 6 Torx bits inside. It’s made for knife maintenance, but you can use other bits to make it more useful for EDC. If you do want something bigger, the Wiha GoBox is probably what you’re after. It’s $37.55 and will turn you into a mega mobile MacGyver.

CRKT Wu 6 Bit Driver Tool Hex Bit Driver for $39.95

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Wiha Tools GoBox Rachet & Impact Bit Set Terminator Blue for $37.55

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Life Hammer Safety Hammer Plus Car Escape Tool for $17.95

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Gerber Truss Black Multi-Tool for $27.99

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I’ve tested a couple of Coast flashlights, both of them pocket-sized. I have a couple of others standing in line for testing. I like Coast’s products and getting them on sale is a big bonus. The XP18R is a big light and probably only appropriate for EDC if you’re Larry Daley. There are two other smaller options that will definitely pocket carry and provide plenty of light. There’s also some pens from Rite in the Rain that will keep writing when wet or dirty, perfect for outdoors or working on cars. There’s also a powerbank that looks more like a cantine, but is super rugged.

XP18R Rechargeable-Dual Power 4900 LUMENS for $69.99

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COAST Crew Polysteel 100 Bulls-Eye Spot Fixed Beam Penlight 110 LUMENS for $9.99

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COAST Crew PX1 PURE BEAM FOCUSING 565 LUMENS for $24.99

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Rite in the Rain All-Weather EDC Pen for $14.00

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ELECOM NESTOUT Portable Charger/Lamp, 10000mAh Outdoor Power Bank, 20W USB-C for $74.78

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The post Gear Up for Spring With Awesome EDC Deals on Knives, Lights, Tools, and More appeared first on The Drive.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a glasses snob. I don’t leave the house in daylight hours without sunglasses on my face. I won’t drive without glasses, either on the road or on the track, and several of my hobbies require glasses as well. I’ve been wearing high-performance glasses since grade school, and I’ve owned most of the big hitting brands. I’m not unaccustomed to spending hundreds of dollars on a pair, but I’m also hypercritical of quality. Tifosi, a brand known for value-oriented sunglasses, offered to send out a few pairs for review, so I jumped at the chance. I decided to not only give them a shot, wearing them for various activities, but also to put them through some bench testing to see if I could find if any corners were cut to deliver sunglasses at a fraction of what other brands charge.

The Bottom Line

Tifosi offers glasses for all different tastes and use cases. From basic aviators to sport-specific wraparounds, they have something for everyone short of maybe Prue Leith. Prices start at $35.00, and nothing is over $99.99, with most polarized glasses available around 60 bucks. The lenses block UV light and perform as well as the more expensive brands. The frames are comfortable, durable and don’t feel like “affordable alternatives.” 

Does Tifosi Make Good Sunglasses?

Tifosi uses polycarbonate for its lenses, and I am comparing them to other manufacturers’ plastic lenses. I’ve had Maui Jim, Serengeti, and Ray-Bans in the past with glass lenses. While glass offers great optics, I will take the impact and shatter resistance of plastic for the slight difference in clarity. The science is inconclusive on the extra risk with glass lenses and airbags, but I feel better with plastic directly in front of my eyeballs. 

The standard for plastic sport lenses is Oakley. This will cause arguments, but Oakley pioneered the science of curved lenses, still holds several patents, and even after Jim Jannard left, the originator is still innovating. I have a set of brand new, untinted Oakley lenses as my control for testing.

Ask an optometrist the most important attribute for sunglasses, they will likely tell you UV protection—the ones I talked to did. Tifosi claims 100% UV protection. The quick and dirty test for this is using a UV flashlight, often found in the tool kits of leak finders, CSIs, and scorpion hunters. Use a specially designed UV test card, which you likely have in your wallet, and then try filtering the light with the sunglasses. I tested all the lenses, and they all filter UV. Note: most flashlights are only UV-B, and UV-A is the more harmful, but we’ll trust they are catching both.

Next, all but one pair of the glasses Tifosi sent is labeled as polarized. Think of Polarization as louvers on a molecular level. A polarized lens allows vertically oriented light to pass through, while horizontally oriented light, like glare off the road, your hood, water, etc., is blocked. Your computer monitor is likely polarized; hold your glasses up to it, now turn 90°. MAGIC! All the Tifosi glasses, besides the Shwae(the aviators), are labeled as polarized, and all passed.

Now for the freaking lasers, but no sharks. Oakley apparently invented this test to demonstrate its XYZ Optics technology. It uses a head-like fixture that holds a pair of glasses and has lasers mounted where you normally find eyes. The lasers are fixed on a single target. Glasses are put on the fixture, and the lasers are checked for accuracy on the target. Oakley will demonstrate how other curved lenses normally bend the lasers. I did the same test with just one laser.

Shooting the laser through the approximate position of a pupil, showed no movement with the Tifosi lenses. However, if you start moving the lens around, you can steer the laser pretty easily. The more curvature and the greater sweep of the lens, the more pronounced the effect seems to be. I was able to duplicate this with the Oakly lens as well. The moral of this story is to make sure you are buying glasses that fit and that your eyes line up in the spot the designer intended. Our brains are pretty good at compensating for a little bit of misalignment here and there, but it will cause extra fatigue.

Lastly, I used an Air Force clear optical path target for qualitative resolution testing. I know that sounds awesome, right? It’s not as technical as that might indicate. Basically, I wanted something that would allow me to shoot photos through the lenses to see if the black and white bars started to merge together or lose “crispness.” I used a Canon DSLR with car-journo standard issue, 70-200 lens, tripod mounted in full manual mode. This was done with the target lit with a spotlight and no other light in the room. The camera was dialed in with no filter on the lens, everything locked, and then photos were shot holding the glasses in front of the lens. I resized them but did zero editing before publishing. This should give you an idea of the clarity, color, and tint of the different lenses.

For completely qualitative purposes, I just like, wore them around, man. Cycling, dog walking, grilling in the backyard, chilling on the patio of the coffee shop, I even tried them out with a few of my helmets—open and closed face. I did not sit at the coffee shop with my full-face helmet, and now I kind of regret it. The Shwae is the only design I didn’t find comfortable. I have a larger than average head, a serious melon of a cranium. That design is just too small and doesn’t stretch enough.

The other glasses, the Swank XL and Salto are both very comfortable for me and the fit reminds me of an Oakley Holbrook or even a Frogskin, but the Tifosi feel lighter(they are, but only by a couple of grams compared to my old Holbrooks). The Sanctum is a near-perfect fit in my closed-face HJC Si-12 helmet, but fit horribly in my UVEX open-face helmet. Both the Swank and Salto fit great with the UVEX. 

The Verdict

The most expensive pair of Tifosis I tested was the Kilo, which are $79.95 and include a case and three sets of interchangeable lenses. A comparable pair of interchangeable polarized Oakley glasses like Flak 2.0s will set you back about $250, and that’s with one set of lenses. The Swank XL, Sanctum and Saltos with polarized lenses retail for $59.95, and the Shwae with non-polarized lens is $35.00. So these are very reasonably priced.

The frames have a quality feel to them, at least 90% of what you get from the bigger brands. The plastic frames have screw-pinned hinges with a cam-shaped mechanism that holds the arms in the open position and makes a satisfying thunk when folded out. The Shwae’s metal frames just use friction to damp the movement, and it’s the easiest way to determine these aren’t Randolphs or even Ray-Bans. I’m tempted to dab a little damping lubricant in there to see what it does.

If I repeatedly switch back and forth between the Tifosi and Oakley glasses, I can see slight differences in lens quality, or it may be my eyes just adjusting to different optical centers. The Lens testing didn’t show much difference between the two. After a few minutes of wearing any of the Tifosi glasses, I don’t feel like I’m looking through a budget lens. Real optic aficionados will want to stick to their glass lenses, and I totally get, and support anyone getting nerdy about their passion. For most people, Tifosi glasses are going to be a great choice for driving, cycling, or just walking down the street. At these prices, you can get a few pairs for different occasions and still spend less than some of the top brands. 

The post Review: Tifosi Sunglasses Proven to Be Best Driving Glasses Under $100 appeared first on The Drive.

I’ve been testing Ryobi power tools for several years and I’ve yet to find one that didn’t impress me. Value is always on the list of attributes that make them great tools. Right now, you can save even more money and, in some cases even get some freebies with Home Depot’s Ryobi BOGO deals and discounts.

Everyone loves impact wrenches and I’ve found deals on a whole selection of them. There’s a compact brushless impact that’s part of a BOGO deal with a free battery. If you go down further, there’s both a standard ONE+ impact, as well as, the Brushless model that comes with an HP battery. There’s also a great combo kit to save your wrists and elbows. It includes an impact wrench, a cordless ratchet, and a battery and charger for just $150.

RYOBI ONE+ HP 18V Brushless Compact 1/2" 4 Mode Impact, 4.0 Ah HP Battery for $258.00 get free 2.0Ah HP Battery

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This Brushless Compact Impact Wrench not only comes with a 4Ah high-performance battery pack for $258.00, but it’s part of the BOGO promotion. So, you get a 2Ah high-performance battery too. Ryobi says it’s 35% lighter than a comparable “standard-sized” impact wrench, not to mention it’s considerably smaller. The box will show up with the tool and two batteries. But if this is your first Ryobi tool, you’ll still need a charger.

RYOBI ONE+ 18V Cordless Dual Temperature Glue Gun for $59.97 and get free 2Ah battery

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Some of you are making comments about arts and crafts hour out there. I can feel it as I’m writing this. Fine, laugh it up. I’ve found tons of uses for hot glue guns like this Ryobi Dual Temperature tool for $59.97. You can glue wires in place, you can use them to make isolating pads, you can make your grommets, stick carpeting down, you would be surprised how often a hot glue gun comes through in a pinch. But wait, you get a free 2Ah battery with this as well. So, it’s a pretty sweet deal.

More Ryobi BOGO Deals and Discounts

RYOBI ONE+ 18V 1/2" x 18" Belt Sander for $119.00 get free 2.0Ah Battery

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These little file sanders aren’t just for bodywork. This half-inch belt sander will get into spots other things can’t quite reach. This is somewhere between a Dremel and a 90° die grinder. This one is only $120.00 and Ryobi is throwing in a BOGO, a free 2Ah battery pack to run the thing.

RYOBI ONE+ 18V Starter Kit, 2.0 Ah Battery, 4.0 Ah Battery, and Charger for $79.00

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RYOBI ONE+ HP 18V HIGH PERFORMANCE Lithium-Ion 6.0 Ah Battery (2-Pack) for $139.00

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If you’re working long hours in the garage or even around the house, it’s always good to have a selection of batteries to keep tools running. Home Depot has a couple of flavors of savings for just batteries. If you like the standard ONE+ Lithium-Ion batteries, this Starter Kit includes a 2Ah and a 4Ah batteries with a charger for just $79.00. However, if you have some brushless tools, or want to get the most from your brushed tools, you can get a Combo of Two 6Ah High-Performance Battery packs for just $139.00

RYOBI ONE+ 18V1/2 in. Drill/Driver Kit with (2)1.5 Ah Batteries, Charger for $79.00

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RYOBI ONE+ 18V Brushless 4-Mode 1/2 in. High Torque Impact Kit with 4.0Ah HP Battery for $179.00

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RYOBI ONE+ 18V Cordless 1/2 in. Impact Wrench Kit with 4.0 Ah Battery for $119.00

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RYOBI ONE+ 18V Cordless 4-1/2 in. Angle Grinder (Tool Only) for $49.97

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RYOBI ONE+ 18V Cordless 2-Tool Combo, 1/2 in. Impact, 3/8 in. Ratchet, 2.0 Ah Battery for $149.00

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RYOBI ONE+ 18V 4.0 Ah Battery(2-Pack) and Charger Kit, Cordless 1 Gal. Portable Air Compressor for $278.00

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The post Spring Into Amazing Ryobi BOGO Deals and Discounts at Home Depot appeared first on The Drive.

As the regular readers know, I credit where I am today to an early interest in RC cars. I was born a car enthusiast. But building, fixing, and driving radio controlled cars got me into the nitty-gritty of how cars function. Not only did I learn about machines, the real-world practice also gave me a big leg up once I started studying physics and engineering in school. In hopes of helping someone else do the same, I’ve rounded up some killer deals on RC cars at Amain Hobbies.

Losi JRX2 1/16 RTR 2WD Buggy w/2.4GHz Radio, Battery & Charger for $118.99

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If you’re like me and want to scratch your RC nostalgia itch while not spending big money, the Losi JRX2 1/16 RTR 2WD Buggy for $118.99. When these cars dropped in 1988, my Associated RC10 went from being the undisputed king of the hill, to suddenly having real competition.

My son and I are itching to get a couple and start racing. There’s more modern options. The Losi Mini-B 1/16 RTR Brushless 2WD Buggy for $219.99, and the Losi Mini-T 2.0 1/18 RTR 2wd Stadium Truck for $129.99. All three kits have everything you need to get started. Most places with small tracks for these have spec classes. That means you won’t have to spend tons of money in upgrades to be competitive.

If racing isn’t your thing and you want to try out RC drifting, the MST RMX RTR Drift Car w/E92 Body for $349.99 is a good choice to get started. There’s tons of tunability built into the car. You can play with weight distribution, ride height, camber gain, and roll-center height without having to buy tuning parts. This is a drivable physics text book. MST offers this car with bodies ranging from Lamborghinis, to Supras, to e30s, but it’s the e92 that’s currently 50 bucks off.

MST RMX 2.5 1/10 2WD Brushless RTR Drift Car w/E92 Body for $349.99

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Traxxas is probably the biggest name in RC cars today—I have four or five in my house. If you want a full-blown stadium truck, the Traxxas Slash 4×4 “Ultimate” VXL is on sale for $399.95. My son has a brushed, 2WD Slash with a few mods and it is great. This one is 4WD and brushless. It also has upgraded, well, basically everything out of the box. These are fast and tough and ready to be driven hard. All you need to get driving is a battery and charger. Just a warning, these will do over 60mph with a 3S battery. That will do damage to neighborhood cars, ankles, pets, so watch your kids with one of these.

I’ve recently tried out RC crawling on a smaller scale with a Traxxas TRX-4M that I reviewed in December. Those aren’t on sale but the larger Traxxas TRX-4 Sport High Trail Edition is for $299.95. Like the Slash above, this has a few extras over the standard version and looks extremely realistic. If you want something smaller, the FMS 1/12 Land Rover Series 2 is a bargain at $149.99.

More Deals on RC Cars

Losi Mini-T 2.0 1/18 RTR 2wd Stadium Truck w/2.4GHz Radio, Battery & Charger for $129.99

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Losi Mini-B 1/16 RTR Brushless 2WD Buggy w/2.4GHz Radio, Battery & Charger for $219.99

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FMS 1/12 Land Rover Series 2 RTR Scale Rock Crawler Trail Truck for $149.99

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Team Associated Apex2 A550 Rally Sport RTR 1/10 Electric 4WD Rally Car w/Radio for $224.99

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Traxxas TRX-4 Sport High Trail Edition 1/10 Scale Trail Rock Crawler w/TQ Radio for $299.95

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Traxxas Slash 4×4 "Ultimate" VXL Brushless RTR 4WD w/TSM & TQi 2.4GHz Radio for $399.95

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Kyosho KB10 Mad Wagon VE 1/10 ReadySet Electric 4WD w/Radio for $359.99

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Spektrum RC DX6 Rugged 6-Channel DSMR Surface Radio (Transmitter Only) for $199.99

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Team Integy Ti-Nitride Hex Wrench Set (7) (SAE & Metric) for $33.49

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The post Ignite a New Passion With Big Spring Break Deals on RC Cars at AMain Hobbies appeared first on The Drive.

In roughly 40 years, humanity will be trekking the cosmos in starships using antimatter engines with dilithium crystals acting as catalysts to create unfathomable energy in the form of warp plasma. Don’t worry; Dr. Zefram Cochrane has another 38 years to get this all figured out. For now, we can carry around energy using regular ol’ lithium for storage. The DJI expansion battery is officially here for to increase the its Power 1000 energy storage capacity by 200%.

Back in June, I tested the Power 1000 along with a solar panel and a few other accessories to see how well it could power outdoor activities or even operate as a small home backup. At 1,000 Wh, it was great for camping or even running a few household appliances. It’s an impressive piece that’s easy to use and sturdy. It won’t run a refrigerator for long, but for things like keeping my electronics running or even charging an e-bike, it was great. Since then, I found a good workaround for an emergency fridge. But, DJI also figured out how to supply more storage capacity in a modular package. With the DJI Expansion Battery 2000, you can now build out a realistic home backup solution. The shipping box also included a new Bluetooth module so everything can work with the DJI Home smartphone app.

The Bottom Line

First, the price. This is all current as of the time of publishing, but these units are from China and the tariff situation is constantly evolving. When I tested the Power 1000 in June, it was relatively new. It was new and a list price of $999.00, but was on sale for $699.00. To the best of my knowledge, it’s been “on sale” for 700 bucks the entire time. The Power Expansion Battery 2000 has a retail price of $1,169.00. As you may have guessed, you can get a discount. On Amazon, an instant coupon brings it down to just $899.00 including the cable you need to plug it into your existing Power 1000.

To use the DJI Expansion Battery, you’ll need to update your Power 1000. I reached out to DJI. This is true whether you have an older unit or buy the two units together today. I’ll go into this more below, but if you don’t consider yourself computer-literate, it may take a little work. Once you’ve spent a few hours getting everything figured out, it goes back to the same level of simplicity I found using just the Power 1000. 

The expansion battery will only feed the power station, you can’t plug straight into it. You can chain up to 5 of these together to the base power station for a total of 11,264 Wh of capacity. You can also add up to 300 Watts of solar panels. That means you’re now getting into a real home backup system. The caveat being, if you take your Power 1000 out of the house, the batteries at home are now non-functional.

Several competitors offer 3,000 Wh(or larger) single devices, but those start getting pretty unwieldy for something portable. For most of my away from home activities, the 1,000 Wh unit is plenty of capacity. So, I like the idea of modularity. The DJI is competitively priced with the Jackerys and Bluettis of the market, but there are other less expensive brands. If you’re an Apple user and you aren’t comfortable using Terminal in MacOS, then you may want to think twice or make friends with a nerd. If you already own a DJI Power 1000, and need more capacity, this is a no brainer. 

The DJI Expansion Battery 2000 Is a Black Box of Energy

When DJI called this an expansion battery, they weren’t kidding. That’s all it is. It has two ports, both referred to SDC, although one of them is “lite.” The Bluetooth dongle uses one of the SDC ports on the Power 1000. Solar panels or other charging devices, like the car charger for example, need to plug into the expansion battery. Also, the connector cable between the expansions and the power station is long and not very flexible. It’s not a very elegant solution. While I’m on the subject, when you stack units on top of each other, there is no physical referencing. One just sits on top of the other with no positive positioning. Again, not a huge deal, but some tabs and slots, or feet and holes would make it feel a lot more premium.

Having the expansion battery plugged in allows a higher draw when charging from a 120V wall outlet. With just the Power 1000, I saw a maximum of 960 Watts input on the device’s screen. The power monitor I was using on the wall consistently registered 1 to 5% higher. With the expansion plugged in, I saw a jump to a maximum of 1,429 Watts input, it’s rated at a max rate of 1,450 Watts. Off a wall socket, I was able to get both units in just over an hour—I never took them down to zero.

Updates for the Upgrades

I’m not an IT guy, but I’ve been using Apple computers since they came in a variety of fun colors. Updating the firmware was time-consuming for me. I know several people who would’ve gotten frustrated and boxed it back up for return. According to DJI, the only way to update the firmware is by using the DJI Assistant 2 on your laptop, connected to the Power 1000 with USB. Installing the DJI app requires using Terminal, because your computer will flat out tell you it doesn’t want the software, because it isn’t vetted by Apple. Again, I’m not an IT guy, I’m not going to decide if this is a good or bad idea for you.

My test unit had firmware that a few generations old, the instructions made it sound like I could start with the latest. After it failed a few times following a video’s instructions on the DJI website, the Googles told me that I needed to start with the oldest first, and progress through each sequential version. After that initial update, it can be done using the DJI Home App over Bluetooth from your phone, after you’ve also bought the $25.00 dongle. All of this is responsible for the low Ease of Use score above.

The Verdict on the DJI Expansion Battery

The update process to get a Power 1000 base station to work with the Expansion Battery 2000 is time consuming at best. At worst, it’s a deal breaker if you aren’t computer savvy. But, in theory, that’s a hurdle that you get over the first day and never need to revisit—hopefully, future production from DJI will come with the latest firmware. But, let’s focus on how it functions.

For $899.00 you get a 2,048 Wh expansion that functions as well as the base unit. It’s simple and effective. The Power 1000 bases station has a power button, a button to turn on the AC 120V sockets. DJI now offers the ability to monitor and control the Power 1000 using a smartphone app. I’ve been testing multiple brands of power stations concurrently; I have yet to see an app that justifies its existence. 

The Expansion Battery 2000 is the same size as the base station, 18 x 9 x 9 inches, although it’s heavier at 37 pounds. Having handles on both ends is my preferred design for something like this, it’s much easier for me to use than the folding basket handle found on some competitors. And, it reminds me of my old G4 Mirror Door Power Mac, probably the best looking desktop computer case ever.

As I said above, I like the modularity of the system DJI has designed. I like being able to have up to 11 kWh (11,000 Wh) of home back up, with the ability to only grab the 1000 Wh base station when I heading out for a day of RC cars or planes, some car camping, or even for charging batteries in the pits at my son’s robotics tournament. The competition in power station and solar generator market is huge, as I’ll demonstrate in the coming weeks with several more reviews. The DJI system is made up of high-quality pieces, from a reputable company, that is a pleasure to use. If you can get around the initial setup, this is solid choice if you’re looking for modularity and easy portability in power station and home back up system.

The post DJI Power Expansion Battery Review: The Missing Link to a Viable Backup Home Power Source appeared first on The Drive.

Who doesn’t love flashlights? The older I get, the more I appreciate having good light in my workspace. That’s because the cone-shaped photoreceptors in our eyes, the ones responsible for seeing color and fine detail, work better in bright light. Rods, on the other hand, are more adept in low light but aren’t as precise. Luckily, I’ve found all sorts of different work light and EDC flashlight deals to keep my cones and wallet happy in any setting.

Regular readers know I’ve been testing some Coast products recently. I recently had some hands-on time with the Coast KL35R Flashlight and 1919 Reserve Shift Knife and the the Slayer Flashlight. I love the combination of quality and value Coast consistently serves up. I have several more in line to be tested, but for now, let’s talk about what’s on sale. I’ll start with the XP18R, a flashlight that’s pretty big for EDC unless you have Duncan Macleod-size pockets to hold this 10-inch, 1-pound-plus light. It’s on sale for $69.99, which is 50 bucks off. It’s a rechargeable light with removable batteries, so you can substitute regular batteries in a pinch. It uses a slide focus and has four brightness modes from 130 to 4,900 lumens.

Ok, so maybe you need something that really is pocket-sized. The Coast Crew PX1 is 4.5 inches long and weighs about a quarter of a pound. It has two brightness modes, 125 or 565 lumens, and will go for 17 hours in the lower setting. Right now, it’s $24.99, marked down from $39.99. Lastly, from Coast is the versatile TXM50R work light. It works as a headlamp with the included band. But, you take it off the mount and it’s a pistol grip flashlight, and it’s magnetic so you can stick it under your hood or inside a fender. It’s $49.99 right now, which is 10 bucks off.

But, we aren’t all Coast in this post. Milwaukee has a 500-lumen rechargeable flashlight on sale for $49.97, or if you’re looking for a work light, the M18 powered Lantern, which is also a USB charger, is on sale for $69.00. I also added a couple of Mag-Lites to the list, and even a very traditional 2 C-cell Xenon light that’s only 18 bucks. There’s also a Fenix PD40R V2 that’s on sale for 120 bucks. This is an all-aluminum, 3,000-lumen light that’s currently $54 off the MSRP.

More Work Light and EDC Flashlight Deals

Coast XP18R 4900 Lumen Flashlight for $69.99

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Coast Crew PX1 565 Lumen Flashlight for $24.99

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Coast TXM50R Rechargeable Headlight, Hard Hat Light, Pistol Grip 1250 Lumen Flashlight for $49.99

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Milwaukee 500 Lumen Rechargeable Flashlight with Magnet for $49.97

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Milwaukee M18 LED Flood Light/Lantern with Built-In USB Charger, 700 Lumens for $69.00

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Goal Zero Torch 500 Lumen Rechargeable Lantern/Flashlight for $39.99

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Fenix PD40R V2.0 Flashlight Black Aluminum 3000 Lumens for $119.95

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Mag-Lite ML25IT Xenon Flashlight 2 C-Cell Black 30 Lumens for $17.95

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Maglite MAG-TAC LED Flashlight CR123A Gunmetal Grey 320 Lumens for $75.95

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The post Awesome Worklight and EDC Flashlight Deals From the Best in the Business appeared first on The Drive.

Even though I’m a smartwatch convert, I’m goin’ old school. It’s been brought to my attention that some of you don’t want to wear a shrunken laptop on your wrist to tell time. As someone who uses 80-year-old technology every morning to make coffee and still uses paper and pencil, I can appreciate a love for analog watches. I would call them mechanical watches, but that’s a specific type of analog watch. Either way, I’ve rounded up some Amazon watch deals from Seiko and Citizen you don’t want to miss.

As I sit at my desk, I can get the time from either of two computer screens, my smartphone, a wall clock, or even my smart watch. In my car, I have the time in three different places—not including phones and watches. Very few people require a watch. What we choose to wear allows us to celebrate our love of machines or carry a reminder of a person or event. If we think about it, the working mechanism inside a wristwatch is a marvel of human ingenuity that most take for granted. I’ve now unintentionally set myself up for hours of self-reflection and meditation over whether or not I should be wearing a smartwatch.

I’m starting with Seiko. One of a handful of watch companies that is a complete vertically integrated watch maker. It designs, machines, and assembles products start to finish. If you want to dive into the simplicity of an automatic watch that keeps accurate time, day and date, then the 5 Sports with a stainless case for $215.00 is the ideal choice. It’s an automatic, meaning it winds itself using your movements. These Seikos are known for lasting decades if you take care of them. So a couple of hundred bucks for something you’ll have the rest of your life is pretty reasonable.

I like chronographs, watches with extra buttons and dials for the operation of stopwatches. I’m not sure I’ve ever actually used the stopwatch feature on an analog watch in all my years of being at racetracks. I Just like the way they look. The Seiko SSC141 Chrono for $340.00 certainly looks the part and has car enthusiast written all over it. The SEIKO Automatic -Recraft Series for $200.00 looks like it fell off a Porsche 917 driver’s wrist at Le Mans. There’s a couple of contemporary Seikos down there too, including a dive watch.

Citizen, like Seiko, is another century-old brand, known for making lifetime watches. The Weekender Bryson Chronograph for $235.00 is a rugged watch classy enough for business casual. But it will add a little grown-upness to your weekend jeans and t-shirt. If you want something dressier for days in the office, grab this Citizen Two-Tone Watch for $97.95. It will look great peaking out of your shirt cuff. It’s under a hundred bucks right now, but it looks like it costs at least five times that. There’s a super cool black dial and green bezel down there. I’ve also thrown in a couple other classy all-stainless watches that are great deals.

More Amazon Watch Deals From Seiko and Citizen

SEIKO SRPG37, 5 Sports, Automatic Movement, Black Dial, Stainless Case, Black Nylon Strap for $215.00

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SEIKO Automatic Watch for Men -Recraft Series- Stainless Steel Case and Bracelet for $200.00

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Seiko SRPE93 Automatic Dive Watch -Prospex Collection- LumiBrite Hands for $371.25

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SEIKO 5 Sports Automatic Black Dial 38mm Watch for $260.00

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SEIKO SSC141 Watch, Blue Dial with Solar Chronograph for $340.00

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Citizen Eco-Drive Weekender Brycen Chronograph, Stainless Steel, Brown Leather Strap for $235.00

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Citizen Eco-Drive Weekender Garrison Field Watch, Stainless Steel for $181.95

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Citizen Classic Chronograph Quartz Watch, Stainless Steel for $133.95

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Citizen Quartz Watch, Stainless Steel, Classic, Two-Tone for $97.95

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Citizen Eco-Drive Weekender Sport Casual, Stainless Steel Bracelet, Chronograph for $210.00

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The post Bring in Spring With Timely Deals on Analog Watches From Citizen and Seiko appeared first on The Drive.

“Where does he get those wonderful toys?” The Joker wondered out loud in 1989. Today’s Joker wouldn’t ask that. He’d search Amazon for deals on bat gadgets to see inside engines or contactless temperature readings. That’s right. I’ve found some bat-tastic deals on borescopes and thermal camera. They help bring a little Lucius Fox into your home garage—I mean Batcave.

Last summer, I tested the Teslong TD450S Borescope. I was floored at how useful it was but also, how affordable they’ve become. Right now, that same borescope is on sale for $119.99 and it’s not the only thing. Around the same time, I also reviewed a thermal camera, the Topdon TC004. That’s also on sale right now for just $369.00.

What does a borescope do, and why do I want one? What we’re talking about is more accurately called an endoscope. These modern versions are basically tiny cameras on a flexible rod. In the case of the TC004, a roughly 5-foot-long rod. The head articulates through a 210° sweep in a single plane. That not only allows you to look around but also helps guide the camera while you’re feeding inside of whatever you’re scoping. A borescope is a great tool in the garage. I used it to inspect my turbo without having to do anything more than remove my air filter. You can also check a throttle body just as easily on a normally aspirated car. You can pull a sensor or vacuum line from your intake plenum and check for carbon build-up on intake valves or look at your pistons through a spark plug hole.

But, THAT’S NOT ALL! I have a lot of spaces in my engine bay, outside the engine, that are too crowded for me to see. You can feed the borescope down there and find blind fastener heads. Inspect your CV boots. Look for leaks. You can also inspect your clothes dryer vent tube. You can look inside your walls. Guide your grabber stick to get the Hot Wheels from behind the refrigerator. Look for the Lego piece you think may have flown into in the sink drain. Honestly, you’ll find a more uses for one than you can imagine. Did I mention, we also have a buyer’s guide for the best borescopes, if you need more information to make a good choice.

More Borescope Deals

Teslong Two-Way Articulating Borescope with Light for $119.99

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Kinpthy Endoscope Camera with Light, 1920P HD Borescope for $25.99 with coupon

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Teslong Dual Lens Endoscope Camera with Light, Teslong 4.5" HD Camera for $76.49

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BOSCH GIC5-27C Professional Borescope, Adjustable LED Light, 11ft. Removable Endoscope for $462.84

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Now that you know you can’t live without a borescope, let’s talk about how it’s shocking that you’ve survived this long without a thermal camera. To start, you can check out my review of the Topdon TC004 camera that’s on sale for $369.00 on Amazon. I’ve wanted something like this since I was a teenager. I was dying to check tire temperatures at track days with one. By looking at the temperature gradient across the tire’s tread, you can determine if you need more or less camber and tire pressure. At the time, you still had to use a pyrometer with a probe and touch the tire—like a freakin’ caveman.

With a thermal camera like the ones below, not only can you do tire temps, you can look watch individual exhaust runner temperatures in real time. They allow you to look at heat gradient across radiators(that includes intercoolers). You can look for leaks around your engine bay, oven door, or refrigerators. You can be like me and walk around your house looking for things that are sitting unused, but are radiating heat, meaning they are wasting electricity. Oh, you’ll also be the hide and seek neighborhood champion with one of these. I even included a FLIR unit that includes a moisture sensor to make this a “home tool,” but you can still use the thermal imager on your car.

More Thermal Camera Deals

TOPDON TC004 Thermal Imaging Camera for $369.00

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TOPDON TC002C Thermal Camera, Imager for iPhone 15/16 for $229.00

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UNI-T UTi120S Infrared Thermal Camera 120×90 IR Handheld Thermal Imaging for $197.99

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HSFTools HP96 Thermal Imaging Camera, 3.5" Touch Screen for 199.99 with coupon

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FLIR MR160 – Thermal Imaging and Moisture Meter, With IGM for $488.10

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The post Land The Ultimate Garage Gadget With These Deals on Borescopes and Thermal Cameras appeared first on The Drive.

I’ve been testing two power banks from Lion Energy. Namely, the Eclipse and Cub, that are intended for everything from EDC to travel and are even rugged enough for camping. Using them to keep my devices powered up is a good alternative to carrying a knotted collection of chargers and cables I normally need away from home. 

I’ve been using backup batteries for nearly as long as smartphones have existed. I’ve gone through guilt-ridden piles of these things, some lasting a couple of years. Others didn’t make it through press trips, which started with a one-day auto show and then led into a two or three-day press drive. I refuse to plug my devices into public USB chargers, and some USB power blocks are nearly as big as the Cub. Don’t get me started on traveling internationally and needing converters.

The Bottom Line

Let’s start with the simpler, and more portable, everyday carry-focused Cub. It isn’t much larger than my iPhone 15 ProMax. As I write this, it’s selling for $29.00 on Amazon. Lion Energy rates it at 10,000 mAh, in actual testing, I got about 6,000 mAh of real-world performance. That capacity will charge my iPhone or my Macbook Air M2, from 20% to 80% about twice. The Cub has a single USB-C and two USB-A ports. The USB-C is input/output, and the USB-A is output only. The built-in flood light seems more useful than the spot/flashlights other devices use. It also has a carabiner-style clip on the top end, which is less useful. It does include an actual mini-carabiner in the box.

The $149.00 Lion Energy Eclipse is meant for travel and outdoor use. Its battery capacity is rated at 27,000 mAh and I measured the usable capacity between 18,000 to 19,000 mAh. That’s enough to charge my Macbook almost four times from 10% to 100%.

It also has a single USB-C and two USB-A ports, but what separates it from most other power banks is the addition of wireless chargers for your iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch—or Android or Windows devices that use the same wireless charging technology. This may not seem like a big deal, but that’s three different chargers/cables you can leave at home when traveling. And, when you’re at home, you can set this on your nightstand or wherever you keep your devices, and use it as a charger. Remember, the Apple Watch is the only device that includes a wireless charger from Apple, and you have to buy the other two. So it might help justify spending the money on the Eclipse.

I immediately noticed that both of these power banks from Lion Energy feel like high-quality devices. I’ve had too many that felt like they were going to fall apart right out of the box. Neither of them squeaks or crunches when you squeeze them, they’re both grippy with rubber details to make them easier to hold with wet or cold hands, and both have “weatherproof” plugs covering the ports.

The Cub has an external power button, while the Eclipse’s power button is under the rubber plug, which is a slight annoyance. Another peeve is that if you do use this on your nightstand, the battery capacity lights are on the whole time if you’re using it as a pass-through charger. A little tape goes a long way. The Qi1 iPhone charging pad has a strong MagSafe-style magnet underneath that makes it easy to line up, even with a silicon case. Overall, both are a good value, both have 5-year warranties and are airline-approved.

Power Banks For Traveling

As a reminder, you can’t put lithium batteries in your checked bags when you travel. So power banks need to go in your carry-on. The Cub is pocket-size, at 6.5 x 3.4 x 0.8 inches and it only weighs 10 ounces. FYI, it will also fit in most of those weird storage cubbies in your car you’re currently using for napkins and hot sauce packets. The Eclipse on the other hand is fairly bulky at 8.5 x 3.5 x 1.3 inches and weighs 25 ounces. Either will still easily fit in a laptop bag, backpack, or rollaboard. If I’m picking one for EDC, it’s definitely the Cub. If I’m taking a trip, whether for work or vacation, I’m probably taking both.

I like the idea of having the Eclipse sitting on my nightstand at the hotel so I don’t need to bring separate chargers for all my devices. And if I do end up waiting in an airport, it’ll run everything including my laptop for a long period. The Cub is what I’ll stick in my jacket pocket or laptop bag to keep everything powered while I’m out using my phone and action cameras.

For EDC, I like the fact that I can use the Cub as a lantern. It’s 50 lumens. It won’t light up a whole room or let you look 100 feet down a trail. But if you’re in a power outage in a hotel, like I’ve been a few times, it’ll let you see well enough to either get out of the hotel if need be or at least read a book. It has a spring-loaded hook on top, I assume for fastening to bags, but it was clearly an afterthought and doesn’t work particularly well.

The Verdict

I know that things like these Lion Energy power banks aren’t the most exciting products I review. They are, however, some of the most useful for the largest amount of people. These will charge just about every device on the market; wireless charging standards are becoming more uniform across manufacturers. I can charge everything from laptops and headphones to camera batteries and even EDC flashlights. I even tried running a dashcam off of a power bank when it kept killing my car battery when parked.

Again, I’ll start with the Cub. This is just 30 bucks. If we look at competitors, there’s a huge number of other power banks with 10,000 mAh capacities, but very few are ruggedized. The Cub’s weatherproofing is rare in this price range, and the lantern is almost unheard of. I like the way it feels. It probably doesn’t provide the same wattage(charging speed) as some others. But as any IT guy will tell you, it’s pretty easy to cook an expensive phone with a cheap charger.

For the Lion Energy Eclipse, again I’ll say that I like the form factor and the weatherproofing. It’s harder for me to say that it’s a great value at $150. Yes, if you were to buy wireless chargers for a phone, headphones, and a smartwatch to plug into a power bank you’re going to knock at least 50 bucks off the price. However, you have to need the rugged design to justify the cost. If you’re using it for camping or hiking, that makes sense.

If it’s going to sit in a hotel room, you may not need something as tough. It’s still a good product and the fact that it, and the Cub, carry a 5-year warranty gives me confidence that these are going to hold up better than all the disposable power banks out there. Both of these keep you from having to plug into USB ports of unknown intentions in public places like airports, coffee shops, and hotel rooms. Removing that stress while traveling is worth the investment in a power bank. You also may as well spend the money and buy a unit that’s going to last longer than one trip.

The post Lion Energy Cub and Eclipse Power Banks Hands-on Review: Portable Power for EDC and Travel appeared first on The Drive.

Those of us who grew up in the 80s were preconditioned to be everyday carry enthusiasts. Angus MacGyver taught us we could fix anything with a Swiss Army Knife and a roll of duct tape. Sometimes you also need a Hershey Bar or a blood pressure cuff, but those were found in situ. Sadly, 40 years later, the world is a lot more complicated, and our problems seem bigger. But it’s also never been easier to channel your inner MacGyver, thanks to internet EDC deals on the gear he’d use to overcome anything.

This seems like sacrilege when talking about this as I’m reminiscing about Good Ole Mac, but I don’t carry duct tape around with me. If you’ve ever had to clean the adhesive residue left by everyone’s favorite silver tape, then you understand why. There’s a tape that’s stronger than duct tape, although its adhesive isn’t as tenacious. Gaffer tape is a true cloth tape, whereas duct tape is vinyl tape with cloth reinforcement. The tensile strength for most duct tapes is between 12 and 25 pounds per inch. The average gaffer tape has a tensile strength between 25 and 50 pounds per inch. That’s why I carry gaffer tape. I have rolls of gaffer tape like this XFasten Residue-Free Matte Black, in my house, in my car, and sometimes even in my EDC bag. It’s only $7.99 per roll with coupon, but remember, you can’t take it through TSA.

Now, back in the 80s, everyone thought carrying a Swiss Army Knife was as prepared as you could be. The Victorinox Spartan Pocket Knife, available for $27.50, was one of Mac’s favorites, and he carried it in several episodes. If he was still in action today, he might choose something more like the Victorinox Swiss Tool Spirit XBS Swiss Army Knife for $137.74, which is a true modern multitool.

I threw in a Coast few knives and a flashlights because we can’t do an EDC deals post without those. Right? And while the discounts themselves are good, you can also score free shipping on orders of $75 or more. That really ups the appeal of the Coast 1919 Reserve Limited Edition Knife Set for $89.99. Below those, I added some real MacGyverie goodness. Scroll down and have a look.

More EDC Deals

XFasten Gaffers Tape 2 Inch x 90 Feet Residue-Free Matte Black for $7.99 with coupon

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Victorinox Swiss Tool Spirit XBS Swiss Army Knife for $137.74

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Victorinox Super Tinker Swiss Army Knife, 14 Function Swiss Made Pocket Knife for $37.99

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Victorinox Swiss Army Spartan Pocket Knife for $27.50

Used by Mac

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5.11 Tactical Backpack Rush 12 2.0 Molle Pack, Multiple Compartments, 24 Liter for $95.00

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COAST Crew PX1 EDC FLASHLIGHT for $24.99

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Coast Contra EDC All-Steel Pocket Knife for $24.99

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Coast 1919 Reserve Limited Edition Knife Set for $89.99

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Jumbo Assorted Size Lock Pick, Warhead Diffuser, Paper Clip, 320pcs for $5.99

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Mac's Favorite NHL Officially Licensed Adjustable Hat for $25.85

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Tifosi Shwae Tangle Free Aviator Sunglasses For Saving The World for $35.00

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The post Crazy Deals From Amazon and Coast on EDC Tools Inspired By The O.G. Everyday Carrier appeared first on The Drive.

Another example from my long list of assumptions is that every car enthusiast knows about Eastwood Company. It’s been around for over 50 years. Eastwood is still headquartered in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, and sells to everyone from weekend DIYers to professional restoration shops. Hank and I can spend hours browsing the website (ahem, never on company time) for everything from lathes and welders to sanding discs and screwdriver sets. Eastwood always has killer shop equipment deals that will give you a great excuse to try our a new tool, or just stock up on consumables.

I say all the time that I’ve included things in wide range of prices in deals posts, but today I really mean it—from $6.97 to $2,749.97. And they all represent big savings. Let’s start at the low end with a tool that would also fit in an EDC post. The Eastwood 1/4 Inch Drive Stubby Ratchet for $6.97. This little ratchet will not only fit in your everyday carry bag, it will sneak into tight spots under the hood. It also comes with a lifetime warranty.

The Eastwood 4 inch Locking C Clamp with Swivel Pads for $9.98 is one of those tools you don’t realise how useful they are until you use them. Or, more realistically, when you worked in a shop that had piles of them, and then you try doing a job at home and don’t have any. These are the extra hands you always want to hold things in place while bolting, glueing, welding, etc.

I’m going to jump down the list a little bit. There’s a small “beginner” MIG and Flux welder for just 200 bucks. If you want to stick two pieces of metal together, this will do that just fine. There’s also a TIG machine down there, that’s a little more money—750 bucks. That’s a bigger investment, but is the choice for folks chasing those pretty welds. Below that is a tire mounting machine and a tire and wheel balancer. Honestly, you’ll need to mount a lot of tires at home for these to pay for themselves. But wouldn’t we all like having these in our garages? There’s also a CNC plasma cutter table that is small enough for home shops and on wheels. Who doesn’t want to cut up sheet metal at home?

More Shop Equipment Deals at Eastwood

Eastwood 1/4 Inch Drive Stubby Ratchet, Lifetime Warranty for $6.97

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Eastwood 4 inch Locking C Clamp with Swivel Pads for $9.98

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Eastwood 4 Piece Metal File Set for $14.97

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Metalworkers Data Book For Home Machinists for $16.99

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Eastwood Brake Caliper Piston Retractor Tool for $17.97

62% 0ff

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Yost Model MAV-3.5 3.5 Inch Multi-Angle Vise for $49.97

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Eastwood 30-250 Ft/lbs 1/2 Inch Torque Wrench for $62.98

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Eastwood 1/2HP 8in Combination Bench Grinder and Belt Sander for $149.97

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Eastwood 90 Amp MIG and Flux Welder for $199.97

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Eastwood 200 Amp AC/DC TIG Welder for $749.97

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Eastwood Swing Arm Tire Changer for $1,399.97

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Eastwood Electronic Tire and Wheel Balancer for $1,399.97

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Eastwood Versa Cut 2X2 CNC Table with CNC Cut 40 and Hand Torch for $2,749.97

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The post Eastwood’s Shop Equipment Deals Are Killing Your Excuses for Letting That Project Car Sit appeared first on The Drive.

I recently flew to Colorado to test two new tires from Bridgestone, the Blizzak 6 and the Dueler A/T Ascent. The first is aimed at keeping sports sedans and sports cars in use year-round, while the second wants to encourage owners of luxury trucks and SUVs to get off the pavement more often. 

The rustic ski town of Steamboat Springs sits 150 miles Northwest of Denver at 7,000 feet above sea level. It’s snow-blanketed A-frame buildings and locals draped in Ecuadorian alpaca wool jackets transport you to the setting of every Hallmark Channel Christmas movie. It’s home to the funkiest bridge in the world and gets its name from founder, Larry Steamboat. I’m almost certain that’s what my shuttle driver said. I was at the Las Vegas airport before the coffee bar opened. If I’m there before the baristas at Espresso Urbano, you can write off any clarity for the rest of the day. Besides, we live in a post-fact-check world, right? Don’t worry, I had almost 12 hours to adapt to the altitude and catch up on missed caffeine. I was in tip-top shape to test some tires.

Snow Tire, Winter Tire, All-Season Tire, What Does It All Mean?

Starting with the easiest, snow tires and winter tires are the same thing. The more accurate name is winter tires as they don’t just excel in the snow, but in freezing temperatures as well. All-season tires are sometimes referred to as three-season tires. They’re designed for Spring, Summer, and Fall. The compounds are usually optimized for temperatures above 45° F. While they offer more grip in snow and ice than a summer tire, they aren’t your best choice. If you want a real year-round tire, you need an all-weather tire with a Three Peak Mountain Snowflake 3PMSF certification. 

Both the Blizzak 6 and the A/T Ascent are 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake, 3PMSF-rated. The A/T Asscent is a tire you can use all year on your truck or SUV. While you could technically run the Blizzak 6 all year on your car or sedan, you probably don’t want to. This leads to what makes a tire grip on different surfaces—starting with snow. The rubber compound of a tire doesn’t offer much grip on snow. Your traction comes from all the small biting edges, called sipes, you see in the tread of a snow tire. Counterintuitively, you also want the voids in the tread to pack with snow as the snow-on-snow offers a greater coefficient of friction than rubber on snow.

There’s also a misconception that off-road and all-terrain tires, with their knobby tread blocks and big voids, are good in snow. But as I said above it’s the edges that grip. Those big chunky lugged blocks don’t have enough of them. Plus, an off-road tire ejects material rather than loads up with it. So, you don’t get the benefit of packing voids with snow.

On the road, you want as much compound on the asphalt as possible. This is why racecars use slick tires. The only reason for tread on road tires is to evacuate water. If we could guarantee there was zero chance of ever hydroplaning, we’d all be commuting on slicks.

How Does The Blizzak 6 Compare To The Competition?

Besides a local restaurant with spectacular truffle fries, Bridgestone chose Steamboat because it’s the location of its winter driving school. The instruction comes in multiple stages, from half-day basics of braking for beginners to multiday Hogwats of Hooning for rally racing wannabes. Bridgestone wanted to make sure everyone had at least a base level of competence. So the morning was spent on basic snow and ice skills learning the layout of the different tracks. We familiarized ourselves with older Bridgestone tire models on Toyota Highlanders and Camrys (Camrii).

Throughout my two decades in automotive journalism, I average two or three tire tests a year. Normally, tire companies choose cars that people who drive cars for a living want to drive; GTIs, Caymans, Camaros, AMGs, I’ve even done tire testing with all supercars. Tire makers want you to be excited just looking at the cars. While the Highlander is quite good, Bridgestone’s choice of the Camry is uh, surprising. If there’s any car for sale today that makes an enthusiast’s heart pine for the thrill and excitement of a bus pass more than a CVT-equipped Camry Hybrid, I haven’t experienced it. Don’t worry, it gets better.

The new Blizzak 6 uses Bridgestone’s latest tech and is the first winter tire in the company’s ENLITEN Strategy. Like seemingly all tire companies, Bridgestone wants to make tires from more recycled and renewable materials while lessening its carbon impact and synergizing with polar bears’ core competencies. I know, eco-friendly, some of you already hate it because who doesn’t want more pollution am I right? Let me lay out the good news. To make tires more environmentally friendly, the chemists have formulated tires that offer lower rolling resistance—yay spend less on gas—and making a tire that will last 32% longer than its predecessor—Oddly specific but yay buy tires less often. All while making a—spoiler alert—better tire. 

From the old Blizzak WS90 on Camrii to the Blizzak 6 on GR Freakin’ Corrolas. Now that’s how you shock the senses. I’m not going to say this was a good A/B test to compare the old tire to the new one. But, I can tell you the Blizzak 6 feels pretty good on packed snow. The most important thing is that it communicates the amount of grip available.

The GR Corrola is great at sorting out oversteer. Powering out of turns was as easy as pointing the nose in the direction you want to go and getting generous with the gas. But, bringing the car back from understeer is where the new Blizzak shines. Once the old tire let go, there’s very little feel. It requires using a lot more butt-gyro to feel for yaw while unwinding. With the 6, you can feel it coming back and can drive out in front of the car instead of just being reactionary.

The Blizzak 6 uses a chevron tread pattern. That makes it perform better pumping water when the temperature is above freezing. From a distance, it looks more like a 90s-era summer tire. But get closer and you can see all the sipes that make it bite in the snow. The sipes have an intricate repeating pattern that not only increases the number of edges but also allows them to lock together under load on dry pavement, which makes the tire feel more like an all-season or summer tire by decreasing tread squirm. I didn’t experience this myself, but that’s the theory.

How does the Blizzak 6 compare to its competition? I don’t know. The testing on this trip convinced me it’s a very competent tire. It certainly feels appropriate to something like a GR Corolla or anything else in the intended applications of sports cars and sedans. The Blizzak 6 will hit North America in May 2025. It will come in over 38 sizes for 17 to 22 inches wheels.

Is The Dueler A/T Ascent A Snow Or Off Road Tire? Yes.

Unlike the Blizzak 6, test driving the Dueler A/T Ascent involved an A/B test with the tire Bridgestone considers its number one competitor, the Pirelli Scorpion A/T Plus. The Italian tire has become the standard for expensive pickups and luxury SUVs equipped with all-terrain tires. The Dueler A/T Ascent is available now in 17 through 22-inch sizes. All but one size has an outside diameter less than 30 inches(most considerably larger), with the narrowest width being a 245. These are big tires, you’re gonna need a lift kit to get them on your overlanding Crosstrek.

Bridgestone had Toyota 4-Runners with either the Dueler or the Scorpion and I was able to drive them back-to-back on the same track. The Bridgestone seems to have a slight edge in stopping distance and lateral grip, but the big differences are limit behavior and feel. The Pirelli transmits every tread block biting at the snow and then chattering as it loses purchase. That release is abrupt and takes deliberate action and patience to get the tires working again. Laps of the track were a string of breaks in forward progress to recompose the car. Forgive the strained analogy, but it feels like carving a turn on a snowboard on hardpack when your edge starts to chatter and your options are to kick it more sideways and lose a bunch of speed, or flatten out and go whatever direction your momentum is taking you.

The Dueler A/T Ascent on the other hand gets rid of that chatter. It made the same snow on the same track feel like I was sinking my snowboard into packed powder and not using the edge to bite, getting plenty of nice smooth push off the entire bottom of the board. The Dueler has more ultimate grip and it falls off slower too. I found myself able to rotate the 4-Runner around and drive it more on the throttle. It works into the snow instead of biting at the top of it. It’s more enjoyable to drive, but what matters more is the confidence it inspires to make corrections instead of waiting for the tires to grind off some speed and find their footing again.

The Dueler A/T Ascent is a 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake tire and Bridgestone says they expect most customers to use them year-round. It also uses ENLITEN technology, so owners of 5,600 lb twin-turbo V8-powered g550s can feel better about themselves. Again, I only drove the tire on snow, but Bridgestone assures us that the tire is designed to be quiet and comfortable on the road, while still delivering the off-road performance suggested by the big lugged treads overflowing onto the sidewalls. A quick look at the ratings on Tire Rack shows it as Excellent across all categories. I buy that. The Dueler A/T Ascent is available now in 35 sizes, in P-metric and LT designations. The coffee situation during the trip never improved.

The post Bridgestone Dueler A/T Ascent and Blizzak 6 Tires: Frozen Hands-on Review appeared first on The Drive.

Two of the most popular things on The Garage last year were reviews of a radar detector from Escort and a dash cam from Garmin. Clearly, you all see the value in additional protection. Well, that, or you can’t stay our of trouble. I’m not here to judge, though. I’ve looked around online and found the best deals on both radar detectors and dash cams. So, if you still haven’t pulled the trigger, now’s a good time.

Starting with the Escort – MAX 360c MKII Radar/Laser Detector and Direct Wire Smartcord for $589.98. This uses the latest in hardware from Escort. The bundle includes a kit to hardwire your new radar detector into your car, which honestly, is always one of my biggest complaints. If you want to spend a little less and you’re OK with a few more false alerts, then the Escort – MAX 360 MKII Radar and Laser Detector for $515.99 is a winner. It’ll will give you pretty close to the same results in terms of sensitivity, but maybe not quite the same level of filtering.

There’s a good selection of dash cams on sale right now. I reviewed the first on the list back in July. The THINKWARE – U3000 4K UHD Dash Cam, Built-in GPS, Wi-Fi and Radar for $379.99. Besides recording in 4K, it also provides some ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) features if that’s something you’d like to add to your car.

The two Cobra dashcams that are down there will be getting reviews in the near future—watch this space as they say. I also included the Garmin Dash Cam 67W, for $189.95. The old Mini 2 is still one of my favorites, but is getting harder to find. Lastly, there’s a GPS tracker. This has a rechargeable battery that lasts a year, although it can be wired into your car. It sticks on with a magnet. You’ll totally feel like James Bond slapping it to the sheet metal somewhere on your own Aston Martin. Or Toyota, whatever you drive.

More Radar Detector and Dash Cam Deals

Escort – MAX 360c MKII Radar/Laser Detector and Direct Wire Smartcord for $589.98

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Escort – MAX 360 MKII Radar and Laser Detector for $515.99

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Uniden® R4 Extreme Long-Range Radar/Laser Detector with Voice Alert for $384.99

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THINKWARE – U3000 4K UHD Dash Cam, Built-in GPS, Wi-Fi and Radar $379.99

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Cobra – SC 220C QHD Dual-View Front & Cabin Dashcam for $185.99

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Cobra – SC 250R 4K Dual-View Front & Rear Dash Cam for $229.99

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Kenwood DRV-A310W Compact Dashcam for $99.00

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Garmin Dash Cam 67W, 1440p and extra-wide 180-degree FOV for $189.95

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Cube – GPS Vehicle Tracker, Magnetic Base, 1 Year Rechargeable Battery for $74.99

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The post Radar Detector and Dash Cam Deals That Save You Even More Money in the Long Run appeared first on The Drive.

Savings on duvets and dutch ovens are great and all, but shopping for home goods can suck the soul right out of you. You need a good shot in the arm to get excited again. Our everyday carry deals posts are always some of our highest-traffic pieces. So you guys, like Hank and I, love a good bargain when it comes to your packout. I’m always happy to oblige. I’ve got all the best President’s Day EDC deals your heart desires.

I’m starting with products from one of(if not the oldest) everyday carry and multitool companies in the USA. Coast is from Portland and I’ve tested several of its knives and flashlights, and have many more tests to come. I’m impressed with all the EDC gear I’ve tried. Although I currently have a literal pile of knives to test, I’m itching to order this Coast 1919 Reserve Limited Edition Knife Set for $89.99. I tested and reviewed another Reserve Knife and I love that. Getting three nice knives for a total of 90 bucks is a deal and a half.

Another smokin’ deal from Coast is this Contra EDC All-Steel Pocket Knife for $24.99. I have one of these sitting next to my computer as I type. It’s on the smaller side, but it’s a freakin tank, man. The handle is all stainless and the blade is TiN coated. It’s heavy. If you plan on pocket carrying, wear a belt.

If you want to go the opposite direction, the GiantMouse Bleecker MagnaCut Knife for $228.00 has an all-titanium handle to save weight while maintaining durability. It may be a couple of hundred bucks more, but it’s still $57 off its retail price. There’s a couple of EDC tool sets down there from German makers Wera and Wiha. There’s also a Garmin watch that’s carried over from this post that was all Garmin Smartwatches at slashed prices.

More President’s Day EDC Deals

Coast 1919 Reserve Limited Edition Knife Set for $89.99

3 KNIVES!

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Coast Contra EDC All-Steel Pocket Knife for $24.99

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COAST Crew PX1 EDC FLASHLIGHT for $24.99

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GiantMouse Bleecker MagnaCut Knife Gray Titanium for $228.00

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GiantMouse Vox/Anso ACE Nimbus V3 MagnaCut Knife for $172.00

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Ascend Meander 20L EDC Daypack for $37.97

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5.11 Rush 72 2.0 Backpack for $151.98

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Wera Kraftform Kompakt 400 Portable Driver Set for $91.77

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Garmin – Forerunner 55 GPS Smartwatch 42mm for $165.99

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Wiha 32 Piece GoBox Standard Bit Set with Mini Ratchet for $26.98

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The post President’s Day EDC Deals: Knives, Lights, Tools, and More appeared first on The Drive.

I’m sure you all know how much I like using Garmin smartwatches for fitness, sleep monitoring, and general everyday health tracking. If not, you should read my review of the Garmin Fenix 7X Sapphire Solar watch I wrote a few weeks ago. It’s a game-changer for anyone looking to take their workout routine to the next level. And with so man Garmin Valentine’s Day deals, it’s the perfect opportunity to buy one for your sweetheart—or even yourself. Or heck, get matching smartwatches for both of you.

I’ll start with the Fenix 7X I mentioned above. Well, pretty close, anyway. You can save $211 bringing the final price down to $688.99, which I will admit is a decent investment. But, it’s for your health. If navigation maps aren’t a priority and you want the fitness functions, then the Forerunner 55 GPS Smartwatch 42mm for $165.99 is going to be tough to beat. It’s billed as a running watch, but still works for a variety of other sports as well as giving you body battery scores, training advice, and it works with Garmin Connect.

For something on the smaller side, the Garmin Lily 2 Smartwatch 34 mm Anodized Aluminum for $199.99 gives you most of the fitness and health features without the tactical looks. You can wear this GPS watch into the office and nobody will think twice about it. Lastly, I put the Garmin Index down there. There’s no better way to your partner’s heart than through their vascular system. Help them monitor their blood pressure while they think of you. Happy Valentine’s Day. Tik-Tok-Tik-Tok. Don’t forget to shop.

More Garmin Valentine’s Day Deals on Smartwatches

Garmin – fenix 7X Pro Solar GPS Smartwatch 51 mm for $688.99

Save $211

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Garmin – Venu 3 GPS Smartwatch 45 mm for $399.99

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Garmin – Forerunner 55 GPS Smartwatch 42mm for $165.99

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Garmin – Instinct 2S 40 mm Smartwatch for $229.99

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Garmin – fenix 7S Pro Sapphire Solar GPS Smartwatch 42 mm for $759.99

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Garmin – epix Pro (Gen 2) Sapphire Edition 42mm for $764.99

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Garmin – Lily 2 Smartwatch 34 mm Anodized Aluminum for $199.99

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Garmin Index BPM Smart Blood Pressure Monitor for $129.99

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The post Garmin Knows Deals Are the Way to Their Hearts This Valentine’s Day appeared first on The Drive.

The Topdon BT200 Battery and Charging System Tester showed up at exactly the right time. I’ve gotten a couple of sporadic check engine lights from a low-voltage code with no noticeable difficulty starting the car. Since I’ve recently been spiritually sliding from cynicism to pessimism, I braced for the impact of a $400 alternator. But, a couple of quick tests with the Topdon BT200 calmed my fears and assured me that a cheap (relatively) and easy battery replacement was all that was required.

I know eggs, trucks, houses, and coffee beans have all become extremely expensive since 2020 but folks, I was not prepared for the price of a new car battery. I’ve been driving since the 90s and remember feeling like a king upgrading from a regular Diehard to the Platinum Power Titan Torquer and getting change back from a pair of Jacksons. But, it’s still cheaper than an alternator, and thanks to being able to test both, I’m not guessing which one needs replacing.

Michael Febbo

The Bottom Line

It’s not that I have anything against electrons, I just don’t enjoy working with them. There’s a reason I chose mechanical engineering over electrical. My reaction to an electrical problem is to take it to someone who knows and likes what they’re doing. But, thanks to the Topdon BT200, it saved me the expense of taking it to a shop just to have them tell me I’ll need a new battery in the near future.

The BT200 is above all else, easy to use. Everything is menu-driven and thankfully there are very few choices within those menus. Once attached to your car’s battery terminals, you can choose: Battery Test, Cranking Test, and Charging Test. There are only five buttons on the device and those have large easy-to-read labels. The backlit screen uses large fonts, with high contrast, so it’s easy to read in the dark or sunlight. The BT200 is powered by the car’s battery and can run on as little as 9 volts and will work in temperatures as low as -4°F. I didn’t get a chance to test that.

The BT200’s MSRP is $79.99. If you look around, you can find it for less. Northern Tool has the Topdon BT200 for $64.99. It can save you from making a guess that ends up costing hundreds. The only complaint I have is the short leads on the alligator clamps don’t allow you to take the unit inside the car while testing. The only time that’s an issue is charge testing and needing to hold the engine at a specific RPM. It will test flooded, AGM, Gel, EFB and VRLA 12 volt batteries up to 2,000 CCA, and perform charging and cranking tests on both 12 and 24 volt systems.

Topdon offers battery testers running from $20 and up to $145, but this seems to be the sweet spot for functionality and value. There are Topdon battery testers that also function as chargers; watch for a test on one of those soon. Overall, I’m impressed with BT200 and it did save me a diagnoses charge.

What Are The Specs of The Topdon BT200 Battery Tester

The BT200 is a relatively straightforward battery and charging system tester. If you read my reviews, you know I have mixed feelings about devices that require using a smartphone and an accompanying app. While Topdon makes other battery testers that are equipped with Bluetooth, the BT200 is not. I’m calling that a positive, in this case.

This tester also can’t use an external power source, everything comes from the battery you’re testing. It will function if the battery is as low as 9 volts. If it’s below that, you can be pretty certain you need to replace it. It’s also safe up to 30 volts, as you can test the charging and cranking of 24 volt systems, although it won’t test 24 volt batteries. The cold cranking amp CCA range is 100 – 2,000 for 30 to 220 Ah battery capacities. It’s compatible with flooded, AGM, Gel, EFB and VRLA batteries, so if you have a more modern lithium-based battery, you’ll need a different tester—that probably doesn’t apply to many of us.

The unit itself is roughly 7.25 x 3.75 x 1.50 inches and weighs one pound. The battery leads are 32 inches long, and not removable. The alligator clamps are replaceable and the ends of the leads use an eyelet terminal. They appear to be the only replaceable part on the unit, and I don’t see any way to update the software, but I also don’t see why you would ever need to.

The Verdict

In less than 30 seconds the Topdon BT200 will tell you a battery’s CCAs in terms of an actual number and as a percentage of its rating, how many volts it’s putting out and its internal resistance. It tells me my battery is still charging, meaning I can go a little longer before replacing it. In another couple of minutes, I was able to determine how long it took for my engine to crank over, and it let me know the voltage was low. But, it did confirm my alternator was charging at 14.5 volts; in other words, fine.

Although there are more advanced battery and charging testers out there, even from Topdon, I like the simplicity of the BT200. As a home mechanic, I don’t need a printout on receipt paper. I’m sure there are probably more intricate testes that would make having an app and Bluetooth support a must-have, but I also like having the ability to pull this out and use it as a stand-alone tool.

For $80.00 this is a decent value, but it seems pretty easy to find it for less than $70.00. The voltage tests match the results I get from my multimeter, so I believe its accuracy. I will point out that there are still some auto parts stores that will perform these tests for free. I’ll also point out my multimeter will do the voltage this will do, but can’t do cranking amps. My suspicion is, if you’re reading this, you’ll see the value in being able to do all of this at home yourself. The biggest complaint I have with the BT200 is that I found the leads to be a little short. That’s certainly something I could remedy, but it wouldn’t look particularly neat.

In the same shipment as the BT200, I received a model that integrates a tester and a battery charger in the same unit. From what I can see, it can’t test the charging system. For the relatively low price of the BT200, this tool will find its place in my tool cabinet. Hopefully, I won’t need to touch it for another couple of years when I need another battery.

The post Topdon BT200 Battery and Charging System Tester: Hands-On Review appeared first on The Drive.

I’m starting out with some smokin’ deals on EDC pocket knives from BladeHQ for this week. I’ve tried to hit a few different price points and a couple of different styles as well. First up is the Kershaw Trace With Black Polymer Grips And Tiger Stripe Blade for just $19.99. This is a great knife for 20 bucks, it looks unique and is totally functional while still being kind of stealth.

If you want something a little lighter and brighter, the Spyderco Resilience is a great folder, especially on sale for $95.00, also from BladeHQ. And, if you really want to turn some heads every time you whip it out, we’re still talking knives, how about some titanium and carbon fiber? The Kizer Manganas Grazioso Frame Lock Knife is a deal I’m having trouble ignoring at $139.99. This is normally a $200.00 flipper knife with a frame lock and bearing pivot.

OK, enough with the knives. There’s a mini toolset from Topeak which is suprisingly useful as well as some Rite In The Rain pens that will, as the name suggests, write when wet or dirty. There’s also some Tifosi glasses that I am currently testing for a review a little while down the road. Speaking of reviews, you should check out my review of the Coast Slayer Flashlight and if it sounds good, but is more than you want to spend, there’s this Coast HX5R 620 Lumen Rechargeable LED Flashlight with Slide Focus for $28.00. I’ve tested a few Coast products and I’ve liked all of them.

There’s also a bag to carry all your EDC gear in. I normally prefer a sling or some sort of shoulder bag like this over a normal backpack. Although you sometimes can’t beat a normal backpack, I’ll keep my eyes open for deals. Lastly, I’m completely nonfunctional if I’m hungry. Jerky is basically the perfect EDC snack. Chomps don’t melt; they’re good for a long time, and they’re individually wrapped.

More of the Best EDC Deals This week

Kershaw Trace Assisted Opening Knife Black Polymer for $19.99

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Spyderco Resilience Lightweight Liner Lock Knife Blue for $95.00

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Kizer Manganas Grazioso Frame Lock Knife Carbon Fiber/Titanium for $139.99

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Rite in the Rain All-Weather EDC Pen, Orange POKKA 2-Pack for $14.00

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Topeak Ratchet Rocket Lite DX Tool for $27.79

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Coast HX5R 620 Lumen Rechargeable LED Flashlight with Slide Focus for $28.00

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Tifosi Dolomite 2.0 Wrap Sunglasses With Swappable Lenses for $56.37

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tomtoc Compact EDC Sling Bag, Minimalist Chest Shoulder Crossbody Bag for $44.19 w/ coupon

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Chomps Grass-Fed and Finished Jalapeño Beef Jerky Snack Sticks 24-Pack for $42.00

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AeroPress Original Coffee and Espresso-style Maker for $35.00

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The post Grab These Amazing EDC Deals ASAP Because They’ll Disappear PDQ appeared first on The Drive.