Popular Mechanics - USA (2019-06)

@PopularMechanics _ June 2019 5

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ON THE COVER: PHOTOGRAPH BY SAM KAPLAN.

PROP STYLIST: CHRISTOPHER STONE/HALLEY RESOURCES.

POPULAR WISDOM

10 Kid dirt bikes, new

beer, plumbing

HOW YOUR

WORLD WORKS

18 A job that robots

can’t take yet:

space-station

maintenance

22 Stunt of the Month:

The grand finale

of Child’s Play

24 Great Unknowns

26 My Patent Story

28 The dream of the

knife scene is

alive in Portland

COLUMNS

30 Ask Roy

by Roy Berendsohn

32 Body Mechanic

by Jacqueline

Detwiler

34 Owner’s Manual

by Ezra Dyer

DRIVING

36 The New Vintage:

1988 Mustang LX

Convertible

38 Road Tested: Chevy,

Nissan, Toyota

40 Should your

next car be a

subscription?

42 How an aerospace

architect rebooted

the RV

PRACTICAL

KNOWLEDGE

45 Project:

Jeep Roof Rack

48 Shop Notes

50 Getting Started In:

Coffee

THE LIFE

56 How restoring

VW campers

became a

thriving business

THE 2019

POPULAR MECHANICS

TOOL AWARDS

62 Tw e n t y - o n e

winners from our

expert testing

THE DAY

THE TOWN BLEW UP

70 Last September,

natural gas pipe-

lines exploded

in northern

Massachusetts.

What went wrong?

By Nathaniel Penn

NASCAR FROM

THE INFIELD

82 Rule number one:

Bring your

own seats.

By Ezra Dyer

PM FAMILY

90 Build a

backyard

bike wash!

I’ve lived with the same Leatherman

I bought a decade ago, using it in

place of the tools I couldn’t justify

buying when I was moving around

so much—pliers, screwdriver, bread

knife...hammer. Senior editor Roy

Berendsohn’s inclusion of the new

Free P2 ($120) in this issue’s Tool

Awards (page 62) convinced

me to stash that Leatherman

in the garage, and get the new

Free P2 for the house. Among

the upgrades, the refined

ergonomics are so smooth

that, with some practice, you

can flick open the pliers with

one hand. It makes you feel

like Jason Bourne even if

you’re yanking out rusty nails.

—Alexander George

THIS MONTH

GEAR WE TRIED

THE SMARTEST

TABLE OF

CONTENTS