Tag Archives: onya

Going Reviews: Fiskars StaySharp Max Reel Mower – The Healthiest Way to Mow!

04/07/2016 R.C. Liley 9 Comments

Fiskars Reel Mower, Review, Healthy, mowing, yardwork

How much do you depend on gas? Not too long ago, it was used mostly for various modes of transportation; planes, trains, and automobiles. Our grandparents’ generation didn’t have gas-powered blades to cut their lawn, nope; they used manual push mowers!

Hmmm, and come to think of it, people weren’t as concerned about obesity back then…..interesting. Well, push mowers haven’t left, they only improved, and I think I’ve had the pleasure of using the best.

I loathe using gas power to do something as simple as cutting grass. So, when I saw the Fiskars StaySharp Max Reel Mower, I knew I had to have it to prepare for the weekly battle against growing grass. No, hippie, not that kind!

I mentioned in a previous post how excited I was when I wrote Fiskars asking if they’d send one for my review and they graciously agreed!

Setup was fast and easy; even Avery enjoyed helping me get it together!

In another post, I wrote about my first experience with the Fiskars Reel Mower while wearing my daughter, Avery, in an Onya Baby Outback carrier.

I think Onya’s carrier and Fiskars’ reel mower is a perfect combo for the active parent; even the color schemes match! Even after a mowing when it just rained, I can happily say I enjoy reel mowing! I wore Avery every time and she even fell asleep within a few minutes. So now I’m saving gas, exercising, mowing the lawn, and getting Avery to take a nap; perfect!

Here’s a quick video of the Fiskars in action with me wearing Avery:

It helps that, unlike other reel mowers, Fiskars StaySharp Max uses super durable steel blades that cut grass without touching each other. This makes the mower very quiet (even enough for naptime) and means no annual sharpening of the blades like many reel mowers.

If you’re concerned about it being too difficult to push, Fiskars has you covered. Along with the blades not touching, they have the only reel mower with adjustable blade height to change depending on how tall your grass is.

Here are the key features that Fiskars provides on their website:

The smart design of our eco-friendly reel mower offers a cleaner cut without the hassles of gasoline, oil, battery charging, electrical cords or loud engine noise
Received Popular Mechanics 2010 Green Design Award and recommended by Consumer Reports over other reel mowers among other accolades
A combination of advanced technologies make the StaySharp™ Max Reel Mower 60% easier to push than other reel mowers
Patent-pending InertiaDrive™ Reel delivers twice the cutting power to blast through twigs, weeds and tough spots that would jam other reel mowers
Exclusive StaySharp™ Cutting System uses precision-ground, hardened steel blades to cut grass without touching, greatly reducing friction and blade wear for long-lasting performance without costly annual blade sharpening
Patent-pending VersaCut™ Technology offers cut height settings from 1″–4″ to provide best-in-class cutting, even when you’ve missed a week of mowing, plus one-touch height adjustment for comfortable use
Inset wheel design allows the blades to extend across the full width of the mower to eliminate uncut strips under the wheels and edge closer to foundations, fences and borders than other reel mowers
Unique grass discharge chute throws clippings forward cleanly, away from your feet
Cuts all grass types, even tough southern varieties like St. Augustine, Zoysia, Bahia and Bermuda
18″ cut width
Limited three-year warranty

With the 18 inch cutting width (very good for a reel mower!), I am able to mow our front and back yard in 30 to 40 minutes as long there are no obstructions. Yes, this is while wearing my baby, so it could be even faster. But I don’t mind, just a longer nap and more exercise, right?

Compared to a gas mower, the reel mower doesn’t cut the grass as cleanly, but it’s not far behind. Our lawn still looks good when I’m done and I happy with its performance.

I used to hate having a gas mower and fighting to get it started for the first time before every mow, and the maintenance can be time consuming and costly. Plus, the noise, ugh, I despised walking behind the gas-guzzler as it droned everything out around me.

Now, I can actually talk to Going Mom while mowing and really enjoy it more than I ever thought I would. But, everything has a negative side…..

The inset wheel design does allow for greater overall cutting width and to get close to edges on borders and fences, but if the surface is sloped near these edges, it can be frustrating. When trying to mow along our slightly sloped fence line, the mower keeps gravitating into the fence and I have to readjust. This occurs with gas mowers too, but since they are heavier, it’s not as often.
The mower spits grass out of the front and away from you, but with any wind around, that grass might end up in your face. It’s not always, but something that can be annoying, especially when wearing your baby! Of course, Fiskars offers a Grass Catcher which solves this problem. I haven’t tried it, but might get one soon.
It just won’t cut some patches of grass. I will go over and over the patch, but it doesn’t seem to do the job. This is usually weeds and doesn’t happen often though.
Beware of mulch and other small, hard objects! Any mulch around our trees and garden that finds its way into the yard has the ability to stop the mower, and you, in its tracks. If you’re going fast enough, you might power through it, but just try and clean your yard from obstructions before starting.

Issues aside, I am happy with the Fiskars StaySharp Max Reel mower and would recommend one to anyone with a yard smaller than an acre. If that’s you, and you want a “greener” way to care for your lawn while getting a great workout too, then look no further than Fiskars. For just $199 and free shipping on Amazon, it’s cheaper than most gas mowers and you’ll never have to fill it up or add oil….EVER!

I know I’ll be getting some good use with our Fiskars Reel Mower and look out for post in the near future on how to create a high intensity workout while mowing with Fiskars!

Do you or have you used a reel mower?

If so, what kind and how does it compare to the Fiskars StaySharp Max?

Disclosure: Fiskars sent me their StaySharp Max Reel Mower to review free of charge, but I was not compensated otherwise. All thoughts and opinions and strictly my own.

Going Reviews, Parenting

Going Reviews: The Onya Baby Outback Carrier

04/04/2016 R.C. Liley 19 Comments

As a new parent, I had no babywearing experience or knowledge of types of carriers before Avery was born. Without researching, we picked up an original Baby Bjorn carrier and felt that’s all we needed.

Several weeks and two very tired shoulders later, Going Mom and I felt there had to be something better. Turns out, there is!! A simple Google search will inundate you with baby carrying brands and choices like slings, wraps, soft-structured carriers, etc. I was confused!

I can’t believe how naïve I was about babywearing at first, and now I’m a huge advocate! Without getting into too much detail, babywearing provides a sense of comfort and attachment with your baby and is superior in every developmental aspect over other carrying options like carseats. Read all about the Benefits of Babywearing vs. Carseat Carrying on Onya’s Blog.

Enter Onya Baby; a family-owned business created by a loving, active mother. I scrutinized numerous blogs and websites to find the best baby carrier, and finally found an extensive comparison on The Portable Baby. The Onya immediately stuck out to me.

I’m an active guy and want to do active things with my daughter. With the Onya, I can be active while keeping Avery secure and the both of us comfortable. The material is a water and fade resistant nylon with a separate layer of mesh to allow airflow and keep us both cool in the Texas heat. Good, because I sweat a lot!

The force of sweat is strong with this one - Darth Vader — The force of sweat is strong with this one – Darth Vader

The colors offered are gender neutral and even stylish for mom or dad. I’d even wear it as a giant fanny pack…..if I wore fanny packs and it was the 80’s. Even the hidden strap buckle is a nice feature.

Now that Spring is here, I want to show Avery all the world has to offer in nature, and not be stuck in the house. After all, I’m not just a stay-at-home dad, I am a Going Dad!

I wrote Diana at Onya Baby, worried that my blog was too small, to see if she would be willing to send the Outback for me to review. Not only did she write me back, but we spoke on the phone and I could tell from her voice how kind and caring she is! Diana graciously agreed to send us an Outback carrier to review and even included a Baby Booster since Avery is just under 15 pounds.

I couldn’t shut up about how excited I was to receive the Onya Outback, and I know Kelley was tired of hearing it after about the 10^th time every day! Check out Onya’s blog for great info on babywearing and research on why it’s so much better for parents and babies.

Once it arrived, I eagerly took Avery on our first walk and immediately noticed how much better it felt than the Bjorn. No achy shoulders for me and no dangerously dangling leg position for Avery; win-win! Avery was asleep just minutes into the walk, so I’ll speak for her and say she’s pretty happy as well.

A feature that sets the Onya Baby carrier apart from all the rest is the integrated chair harness you can use anywhere there’s a chair. This feature was Diana’s main motivation in creating the Onya as it helped simplify her life by not having to haul around another baby item when on the go with her baby.

Avery is not able to sit up on her own yet, but I know this will be a useful feature when we are out and about later on. No booster seat or high chair? No problem; we’ll have our Onya! Here’s a helpful video Onya provided to show how to properly use their seat harness.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0TssKVGbd0?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

We’ve had the Onya for over a month now and have logged almost an hour of walking a day. If not walking, I wear Avery while shopping for groceries.

At first, the straps seemed a little cumbersome to use and can still be tricky, but that’s most carriers. For the security it provides, I don’t mind one bit. I do get a little annoyed with the excess length of the straps blowing in the wind as we walk, but that’s my fault since there are bands to use to roll them up.

Although the air-mesh lining makes things a lot cooler than they would be otherwise, I still sweat as you see in the picture a few paragraphs up. But, this is going to happen with any carrier when it’s hot, and I’d rather it be in the Onya. A great tip is to use freezer packs in their handy storage pocket so you and baby keep cool in the heat.

Other than walking in the neighborhood and store trips, I’ve successfully used our new Fiskars Reel Mower to mow the lawn and went on our first trail hike with the Onya. Both experiences resulted in Avery falling asleep, so it has to be a pretty comfy carrier!

The built in hood is something I didn’t think I’d use very often, but now I use it all of the time. It’s great for when Avery needs to take an emergency nap or to block her head from the sun, rain, or even high winds. Yeah, look at my hair in this picture; I wish I had a built in hood!

I like knowing the Onya is made to support kids up to 45 pounds which is higher than most! It is a little bulkier than other carriers, but that’s because it doubles as a child seat and has useful storage compartments! I know we’ll have the Onya Baby Outback for quite a while, and can’t wait to use it in the back carry position once Avery is older.

Overall, I wish I would’ve researched baby carriers more from the start. I’m sure I would’ve found the Onya as our first choice then. Besides offering a high quality carrier and portable child seat that’s capable of taking around town and on the trail, Onya offers love and care for their product by a family-owned business. This is what sets companies apart from others, and is what I look for when researching new products.

Make sure to visit Onya Baby on Facebook and Twitter and show them your love by liking and following! Send them some love and support for being such an outstanding company!

See other posts feature our Onya Adventures here:

I want to send a big “Thank You” to Onya Baby for providing all items mentioned in this post! Although these were free to me, all opinions are my own.

Life, Parenting, Photo Journal

Smartphone Photo Dump: Looking Back a Year

07/31/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

I was looking through pictures on my phone the other day, and WOW, there’s so many things I forgot about! As new parents, it’s mostly Avery pics along with one date night worked in there, but thought it would be neat to do a photo dump from my phone a year ago.

Avery has changed so much (I guess teeth really make a difference), and it’s amazing just how much happens over the course of a year. Well, Uncle Preston not knowing how to hold a kid hasn’t changed…

This was one of the first times I wore Avery on my back in our Onya Baby NexStep. Notice the excitement on her face. Or maybe that’s her getting tired of my selfies.

We love a sleeping baby. Bonus points when you can get this close with the lights on to snap a pic and they stay asleep!

Hey, it’s a date night! We went to a BYOB paint class while G-Ma watched Avery. Good times with my wife!

For some reason, Kelley’s jellyfish got to stay out, but mine had to go in the closet. I don’t get it.

More sleeping. We just wanted to go a cuddle with her, but would never dare do such a thing!

This is a sight we’ll never see again. Now she’s always standing and pointing out our shirt, shorts/pants, and butt. Notice how I kept it safe with the oven on in the background.

C’mon, I know all parents love the sight of their sleeping kid(s). Never gets old!

Now she’s excited about the Onya, after I took it off. This changed and she still loves riding on my back to get a better view of everything around.

This is marks the beginning of her sharing the love of Zevia with Mommy and Daddy.

No, I wasn’t auditioning to be Bane in the next Batman movie. This is an elevation training mask I just got and decided to go for a leisurely stroll with Avery in the Onya Outback. If a baby can get embarrassed, she definitely was that day.

Hmmm, funny, this is how a lot of our meals still look today…

Before the need for a gate in the garage while working out, this jumper did just fine. I’m sure with all the jumping she did, it helped develop that leg strength for her awesome moves she does now.

Maybe I’ll start making this an end of the month thing where I share pics on my phone from that month a year ago. Hope you enjoyed the past pics, and keep a lookout at the end of August!

Go back a year ago on your phone and see if there’s anything you find that you forgot about.

Find anything cool/interesting?