Home & Garage

Fix it, build it, maintain it. The house is the biggest thing you own — act like it.

The BRO Code. What to do, what not to do, and a few laughs on the way.

Home wifi that reaches the back bedroom and the garage

Your router isn't too slow. It's in the wrong place, and one box can't cover a family. Buy a mesh system, wire what you can, skip the rest.

GuideOutdoorsWes DunbarOct 11, 20266 min

Four inches of ice isn't a promise

The number everybody quotes only holds for one kind of ice, in one spot. Here's how to read the rest before you put your weight on it.

Ask BRO

Plan a cook for eight people

Ask it

GuideGearDean ShawOct 9, 20265 min

The kitchen drawer flashlight should be boring and ready

The light that works at 2 a.m. isn't the brightest one. It's the one with fresh batteries and a switch you can find in the dark.

Dude.com — 16 AI advisers who listen, talk and are here with you

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Woodworking5 min read

Your first saw should be a Japanese pull saw

It cuts on the pull, it's forgiving to learn on, and it fits in a drawer. Skip the power saw until you know what you need.

Poll

Where does your phone charge overnight?

GuideOutdoorsWes DunbarOct 11, 20265 min

The summit doesn't set your turnaround time. Sunset does.

Winter hikes go wrong in the last hour of daylight. Set your turnaround time the night before and carry the gear that keeps a small mistake small.

GuideCarsDean ShawOct 9, 20265 min

A trunk kit is four jobs, not a hundred pieces

Skip the giant boxed kit with the flimsy cables. Build around a jump starter, an inflator, a light and a way to be seen.

Delicious.com — Nine thousand recipes and a plan for tonight

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GuideTools & OrganizingDean ShawOct 9, 20265 min

Skip the 200-piece kit and build this one instead

A new homeowner needs about fifteen tools in one case, not two hundred in a plastic tray. What goes in, what stays out, and where the money belongs.

Quiz

Does your wardrobe actually fit you?

Five questions, honestly answered, and a plan for the next two weeks.

GuideOutdoorsSam OrtizOct 11, 20266 min

Teach a kid the compass in the park, not the backcountry

A $15 compass, a hand-drawn map and a city park will teach your kids more navigation than any trailhead lecture. Eight games that work.

GuideBRO for HerNina CastellanOct 9, 20266 min

The handbag, coat and boots worth buying once

Three things you use every day, and the parts that decide whether they last ten winters or two. What to inspect, what to read, what to ask.

Ask BRO

Build me a 30-day training plan around two sessions a week

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GuideStyleTobias ReedOct 9, 20266 min

A belt and a wallet you'll still be carrying in ten years

Two small pieces of leather, two different ways to fail. Here's what to inspect, what to read in the warranty, and what a cobbler can fix.

Names.com — The name is the first thing you sell

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GuideOutdoorsWes DunbarOct 11, 20265 min

The water doesn't care that it's seventy degrees out

Cold water kills paddlers in the first minute, long before hypothermia. Dress for the water, wear the jacket, and practice your rescue before you need it.

Poll

What was your first ever job?

GuideWoodworkingDean ShawOct 9, 20265 min

A bench vise should outlive you, so buy it like one

Weight, a good screw, and parts you can still get in 2060: how to pick the one shop tool your kids will fight over.

GuideCarsDean ShawOct 9, 20266 min

Spend your money on the stands, not the jack

A floor jack lifts the car. The stands keep it off you. Here's how to buy both once and never think about them again.

CancerDefying.com — The research, protocols and reading in one place

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GuideOutdoorsSam OrtizOct 11, 20265 min

Every Kid Gets a Pack, and Four Things Go in It

A whistle, a snack, a warm layer and a card with your number. It weighs almost nothing and it's built for the worst twenty minutes of the day.

Quiz

Is your money actually in order?

Six questions. No email required, no sales pitch at the end.

Tools & Organizing5 min

A drill outlives its battery. Buy the battery first.

Old School4 min

Over or under, and the real crime on the roll

Ask BRO

Rewrite my CV so it actually gets read

Ask it

GuideOutdoorsSam OrtizOct 11, 20265 min

When your kid disappears on a trail, stop before you run

The first three minutes decide how this goes. Most parents do the one thing that makes it worse: they sprint.

Coconut.com — Tell us when. We find where the sun is.

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Family5 min read

One number, one schedule, and nobody touches the thermostat

He sets it to 66. She sets it to 72. The furnace is exhausted. Grandma has run a house for fifty years and she's had enough of this.

Poll

How often do you see your closest friends?

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