Popular Mechanics - USA (2019-05)

POPULAR WISDOM

6 DEA agents,

beer, Kevin’s

Jeep

GETTING

STARTED IN

12 Flying

HOW YOUR

WORLD WORKS

18 DARPA’s

pocket-size

radiation

detector

20 Great

Unknowns

22 Maker City:

Philadelphia

26 A historian’s

quest to stay

analog

COLUMNS

28 Ask Roy

by Roy

Berendsohn

30 Spirits

by Francine

Maroukian

32 My

Patent Story

34 The I.T. Guy

by Alexander

George

DRIVING

36 The 2019

Popular

Mechanics

Automotive

Excellence

Awards

46 An appreciation

of the junkyard

48 The New

Vintage: 1989

Audi 200

Quattro

PRACTICAL

KNOWLEDGE

50 Get your darn

brush pile under

control

52 Shop Notes

54 Make typing

better with

a custom

keyboard

56 The Lunch Pail:

Salad in a jar

58 Why you need a

pair of coveralls

59 To o l Te s t :

Glue Guns

THE LIFE

60 Shane Kline

is a third-

generation

carpenter—

and an aspiring

Olympian

OFF THE GRID

66 The fun, freeing,

complicated

task of fully

disconnecting.

Plus: Um, what

about the

toilets?

THE CONTRACTOR

76 Bob Vila has

written books,

consulted

on major

restorations,

and launched

his own website.

But to some,

he’s still the

guy who left

This Old House

30 years ago.

To m C h i a r e l l a

hangs with the

iconic voice of

home repair.

PM FAMILY

82 Spiders,

slingshots,

sudoku!

Nomadic Audio Speakase

$659; nomadic.audio

ON THE COVER: ILLUSTRATION BY JONATHAN BARTLETT @PopularMechanics _ May 2019 3

The speaker itself is

excellent on its own—

big woofers, full sound,

easy Bluetooth pairing.

It’s also slim, and that’s

important, because its

slimness allows it to

slide into a soft pouch

at the front of the

(TSA-approved, strong,

high-end, lockable,

roomy) suitcase, which

then acts as a kind of

amplifier. A clever swivel

dial exposes the speak-

er’s control panel. Just

show up in your hotel

room, pool party, or off-

the-grid cabin, slide the

speaker in, and fill the

air. Keep some clothes

in the suitcase—the

speakers are open-

baffle design, which

basically means they

don’t have backs. Thus

your clothing provides

the sound-damping, and

the sound you get is rich

and full of detail.

Very cool system.

SPEAKER EVER

PORTABLE

THE MOST

TABLE OF

CONTENTS

ICYMI