Chad Ina

Forty-something years later, Chad still doesn't' know what he wants to do if he grows up. Raised around cars and trained in diesel mechanics, Chad has owned a successful detail shop, developed and sold software, led a K-9 SAR team, ridden the dot-com wave as a marketing & PR executive, led digital strategy teams at both large and small agencies, and now this. He digs Jeeps, off-road racing, football, photography, writing, making EDM, cranking metal, PC gaming, and a plethora of other contradictory things.

The World's Simplest Stud Finder

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The StudBuddy is a simple piece of plastic with neodymium or rare-earth magnets buried inside. That's it. In fact, its tagline is, "The world's simplest stud finder."

A Great Parts Organizer from Milwaukee

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After a bunch of back-to-back city/house moves, my small parts—nuts, bolts, screws, wire nuts, wall anchors, o-rings, clamps, etc.—have become a complete nightmare, scattered within various boxes. Along the way, a bunch of the clear plastic small parts organizer drawers that I had packed were broken, spilling parts in the boxes. I needed a way … Read more

Hands-On: Fenix PD36R Rechargeable 1600 LM Tactical Flashlight

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Here’s something a little different, but a topic some buddies and I were actually discussing while hanging out in the garage a few weeks ago: tactical flashlights. As some of you may or may not know from previous posts here or on social media, I’m a fairly confident self-defender. I don’t have a bunch of … Read more

Hands-On: Oldie but Goodie – JEGS Workbench Utility Mat

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I recently bought a 48″ bamboo workbench to balance out the wall in my garage where a new 44″ toolbox is located. While I certainly expect a wood workbench top of almost any kind to develop battle scars during normal use, I didn’t expect this one to scratch so easily. It’s something to do with … Read more

Vgate iCar Pro Bluetooth OBDII Diagnostic Scanner & Interface

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I’ve done several different rounds of modifications to my Jeep and each time I do, I have to reconfigure things like gear ratio, tire size/speedometer, idle speed, and certain creature-comforts I either want or don’t want. Until just recently, I used a $180 OBDII device, designed specifically for my model/year Jeep, with a bunch of … Read more

Hands-On: LOFTEK 20″ 16-Color Multi-Function LED Cube Light

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A while back we covered a handy little work light from LOFTEK that we really liked. While digging through the LOFTEK website, we saw a bunch of other cool lights they offer so grabbed a few, including a surprisingly useful 20″ LED Cube Light. With our cover photo looking more like something from a home … Read more

A Retro Toy Hack That Can Open Most Garages

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Short post, but I saw this video from one of my YouTube faves, Veritasium, where they hack a retro Mattel instant messaging toy for little girls, called IM me, to open garages when they don’t use rolling code tech. Interesting, nerdy, and a little disconcerting but not THAT easy to pull-off. Apparently, this has been a … Read more

Hands-On: The RYOBI Outdoor 40V Brushless Expand-It System

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When we set out to simplify our lives by moving back to a smaller town after 20 years (and thanks for sticking with us and our lack of posts… it’s been quite the disruptive journey, to say the least!), that also included a smaller home and yard with less maintenance. A smaller yard means simpler … Read more

Hands-On: GarageSmart's Hard Top Lifter [Complete Hands-On Review]

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Looking for a one-person solution to remove your Jeep's hardtop? GarageSmart's Hardtop Lifter promises to be the most advanced model on the market, packing Bluetooth connectivity and a smartphone app for straightforward operation. Is it any good, though? We installed the GarageSmart Hard Top Lifter to find out!