W
PRODUCTS I’M USING RIGHT NOW1234BEST THING POP
EVER TAUGHT ME
Take your time. Do it
right. Do it once.
I’ve edited countless
stories where you see
the author apply those
three simple principles
to get the job done. It’s a
compact motto for life.Tester, editor, writer.
More importantly, hus-
band, dad to five kids:
two born to me and
three by marriage.Test EditorROY BERENDSOHN
Stanley Bailey
No. 6 Bench Plane
(1918 Vintage)
Leaves a straight, glass-
smooth surface on the
toughest wood. I bought
it at a flea market for $17.Best Money
I Ever Spent
$6,500 for the 1979 Chev y
truck that I bought after
working a year between high
school and college. That
pickup was transportation
into the middle class, and I
drove it for the next 25 years.
Irwin Vise-Grip
10-inch Pliers
Featuring a
one-hand lock
and release, these
bite down hard
and stay put.Diablo Step Drill Bits
These Swiss-made bits
make precise holes in
thin stock, whether it’s
sheet steel or plastic.
They’re effective in it
all, up to 1/8-inch thick.Stihl MSA 220 C-B
Chainsaw
One of the best power
tools I’ve ever used.
Battery powered, it’s
gutsy and can fell and
limb with a 16-inch bar.LIVING MY BEST
KNIFE
I’m knife-centric, and the
Leatherman Free K4 is really a
stripped-down multitool with a
highly utilitarian knife blade and
a handful of simple fold-out tools.
The blade is 420HC, a tough form
of steel that holds a good edge, but
sharpens easily. Plus: It’s light-
weight and compact.My Favorite
Products
to Test
Hands down: chainsaws.
Once you know how to
disassemble a tree, it’s
amazing how fast the job
gets done with a saw that
has high power-to-weight
ratio and good balance.Coolest Thing on My Desk
The Panasonic Auto Stop pencil
sharpener issued to me when I
started at Pop Mech more than 30
years ago. Still works great, too.Alexander George
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Matt Allyn Features Director;
Christine Anderson Executive
Director of Commerce & Content
Strategy; Brian Dalek Director
of Content Operations; Leah
Flickinger Director of Content
Creation; Lou Mazzante Te s t
Director; Suzanne Perreault
Editorial Operations Director; Jesse
Southerland Creative Director
DESIGN + PHOTO
Amy Wolff Photo Director; Colin
McSherry Senior Art Director; Alyse
Markel Art Director; Eleni Dimou
Senior Designer; Ash Bartholomew,
Kory Kennedy Digital Designers;
Kristen Parker Photo Editor; John
Hamilton Associate Photo Editor
EDITORIAL
Molly Ritterbeck Health & Fitness
Director; Bette Canter Deputy
Editor; Tyler Daswick, Taylor Rojek
Associate Features Editors; Andrew
Daniels How-To Editor; Courtney
Linder Senior News Editor; Jordan
Smith Editor; Danielle Zickl Health
& Fitness Editor; Jennifer Leman
News Editor; Daisy Hernandez,
Paige Szmodis Associate
News Editors; Katie Fogel Social
Media Editor; Drew Dawson Gear
& News Editor; Jessica Coulon
Assistant Editor; Leah Campano
Editorial Planning Associate; Amber
Joglar Administrative Assistant
Kit Fox Special Projects Director;
Caroline Dorey-Stein Assistant
Special Projects Editor
TEST TEAM
Will Egensteiner, Jennifer Sherry
Associate Test Directors; Dan Roe
Te s t M a n a ge r ; Jeff Dengate, Matt
Phillips Senior Test Editors; Roy
Berendsohn, Adrienne Donica,
Brad Ford, Amanda Furrer, Bobby
Lea, Riley Missel, Morgan Petruny
Test Editors; Lakota Gambill,
Trevo r Ra a b Photographers; Joël
Nankman Logistician
VIDEO
Josh Wolff Director; Jimmy
Cavalieri Production Manager; Pat
Heine, David Monk Producers
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Caroline Delbert, Daniel Dubno,
Wylie Dufresne, Kyle Mizokami,
Darren Orf, David Owen, Joe
Pappalardo, Richard Romanski,
James Schadewald, Joseph Truini,
Nicholas Wicks
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Bill Strickland
Popular Mechanics International
Kim St. Clair Bodden Russia, South
Africa•SVP/International Editorial
Director
Editorial Offices
3939 West Drive
Center Valley, PA 18034
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Box 6000, Harlan, IA 51593-0128.
LICENSING AND REPRINTS:
Contact Wyndell Hamilton, Wright’s
Media, at 877-652-5295 ext. 102 or
[email protected].
ISSUE 5, 2020PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.4 November/December 20201
// EXPERT HACKS, GEAR RECS & LIFE-TESTED WISDOM FROM OUR STAFF //My Pop Life
ROY^ BERENDSOHN^ (HEADSHOT,^ PLANE,^ SHARPENER);^ COURTESY^ IRWIN;COURTESYDIABLO;^ COURTESY^ STIHL;^COURTESYLEATHERMAN)^