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Featured Article
Visit to: Motorcycle Hall of Fame
May 04, 2012 - On our recent family tenting drive around Ohio we visited the Motorcycle Hall of Fame. It's worth a stop! It features the guys and gals behind motorcycling and the place where the people make the most difference, I suppose, is in motorsport. So the Hall is a celebration of American motorcycle racing heroes for the most part. There are some inte...  > Read Article | Go to Website
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OYB Retro Pannier -- Modified Vintage Swiss Army!
$49.00 (inc. S/H)
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The OYB Bike Bag
$42.00 (inc. S/H)
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"Hey, I'd Eat This At Home!" -- BEST Camping (and quick at home!) Cooking
$18.00 (inc. S/H)
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Canoe Pole: New! Aluminum, Light, Tempered, SUP
$60.00 (inc. S/H)
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From the Desk of OYB HQ... Up North News
Robert Mosher: New OYB Staffer!
March 09, 2012 - I am pleased to mention that for the past while OYB has had the privilege of the assistance of an enthusiastic and talented outdoorsman, a fellow bike and boat buff (and old climber besides): Robert Mosher. He is a local kindred spirit who wanted to pitch in. He's been making it possible for OYB to get twice as much done as before, on the much-n...  > Read Article

OYB has an eBay Store!
March 07, 2011 - I've launched an eBay store for OYB. I've had the Outyourbackdoor username there for a few years, which I've used to sell luggage, books, magazines and other goodies. Heck, Martha and I have been eBaying since it started and we together have 1000+ sales with a 100% rating since, like, 1994. But I've ramped things up there, with over 100 items...  > Read Article

Donate! Help the OYB cause...
March 06, 2011 - I've had several people recently ask how they can support the OYB cause. I've been relying on my offerings of great books'n'goodies that you can't hardly get anywhere else as being the best way. "Money for stuff" is the only way I can understand making a living. But I can accept that OYB *stuff* isn't right for everyone. Also, I don't want to ...  > Read Article

Let's See Your Comments!
December 01, 2010 - Each of our OYB articles is now followed by a brand new, easy to use "Reader Comments" section, hosted by the 3rd party provider, Disqus. If you have a reaction to the story or had a similar experience or a tip to pass on, please do! (No more tricky registering via my Forum.) The OYB Forum is probably disabled right now, but really you should fe...  > Read Article

OYB Wall Calendars?
November 30, 2010 - What if each year I started offering Wall Calendars in the various main OYB themes? That is, diverse, candid, indie presentations of... *outdoor activities (w/ XC ski come winter!) *DIY fun in Michigan *bike culture *traditional seasonal outdoor subsistence sport (hunt, fish, trap, bow, gun, dog, snare, atlatl, flint, osage, net) *XC ski ...  > Read Article

OYB 10---Print Window to Modern Folkways
September 02, 2010 - [$6 postpaid.] This biggest-ever issue of OYB is a great way to get a full-figured view of the OYB scene! (I thought I was out of stock, but I just found a couple dozen. What fun! First come, first served...) The OYB "catazeen" has to be the only magazine of authentic, informal, do-it-yourself, indy adventure and outdoor culture. It also gives d...
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Welcome to the HQ for Indie Michigan News, Stories, & Good Things to Buy!
April 27, 2010 - UpNorth is about the independent culture and adventure scenes in Michigan. 100% of your purchases goes to fund this outreach. It's a hard-to-find books/media shop, but it also actively promotes the indie Michigan scene. Hi! I'm Jeff Potter and I run this place. UpNorth is the love-child of the national local culture media empire, OYB (Out You...  > Read Article

Summer is Here! --A Couple Tips to Make it Great!
May 20, 2012 - It was HOT today -- 93F. And we decided to prep our front yard to be a garden. Ha! But it was nice that all four of us were out there working for awhile. I didn't realize it was so hot. OK, here's my annual reminder about great ideas for turning humid weather into great fun: *If you have a yard and don't have a pool yet, just get a 15' x 42" ...  > Read Article

Dave Kober: Michigan's Master Carver
May 20, 2012 - I finally was able to stop by Dave Kober's shop last summer with the whole family. Only Lucy and I had seen it before. So I took some more pics. Martha was impressed. He's located a few miles south of Cadillac on the south side of M-115. Worth a visit! Very friendly. We've bought some small things. I think he's the only Master Carver in Mich...  > Read Article

Lansing Tweed Ride & Croquet, 2012
May 17, 2012 - Last Friday was this Spring's Tweed Ride and Croquet at the Capitol. A bunch of us had a dandy time. I'm always amazed at how good we all look. "Tweed" only means no lycra, jeans, tee's, or plastic bikes. Vintage road and citybikes preferred -- bikes of a classic design, anyway. It's amazing how bad bike-specific stuff looks. The new fat...  > Read Article | Go to Website

10% Off Sale on EVERYTHING at the OYB eBay Store!
May 17, 2012 - I dunno if you know OYB has a store at ebay, but it does! (I've posted about it here before.) We're now up to 400 items! But here's the news: I started a 10% off everything sale! Now, it's all priced good'n'low to begin with, so this is kinda crazy, but it's meant to jumpstart our new and hugely expanded listings. I have deep rich stock ...  > Read Article | Go to Website

How to Paddle
May 15, 2012 - Supreme canoe paddling tip: Reach forward with both upper hand and lower hand. Arms straightish. Rotate to reach. Hit it hardest at the catch. Drop upper hand inward to lift blade out to the side at hip. Don't bend arms much. --This method saves energy and makes a boat go much easier/faster for a given effort. You can also tilt forward and crunch a...  > Read Article

Neighborhood Adventure Race: What Fun!
May 14, 2012 - A neighborhood Adventure Race -- that's what I'm talking about! 8 of us had a casual blast today thru 4 challenging stages within a mile of home. It was the 2nd annual one for our little gang of fellow-employees, etc. A wide variety of action rewarded a range of skillsets. Comebacks and upsets! We didn't know until the party afterward how we all...  > Read Article

First Singletrack Canoe Race a Success!
May 14, 2012 - We had a blast canoe racing a couple days ago as the finale of our neighborhood Adventure Race. It was a several-mile leg that really challenged our skills. We had four teams and all boats and paddlers had differing skillsets -- it was neat to see it all play out. The river was VERY challenging -- very twisty with 3 portages and a dozen run...  > Read Article

Here's a Quote...
"While I never thought of myself as a career man, I stopped being ashamed of being a second-termer. I stopped looking down on career military people. They were doing a difficult job, honorably and well. Under arduous conditions. No civilian would live in a barracks, eat chow hall food, stand inspections, get shot at, for low pay, as a GI did. I developed a reverse-snob pride, where the worse you were treated the more dignity you had, the more dangerous or foul or trivial your job was, the more you could take pride in doing it well, in giving a shit. I gave a shit."
— Jack Saunders (OYB novelist)