Replacement Insoles for Keen Austin Shoes

I've been wearing a pair of Keen Austin shoes 5 days a week for about 2 years now.  They are by far the best shoes I've ever owned in terms of durability and comfort (for the style that they are).  However, after about 2 years, the insoles of the Keen Austin Men's shoes are about completely warn out.  

I found that perfect sized replacements Keen Austin insoles can be found on Amazon are in fact manufactured by Keen themselves.   Here they are: Keen Austin Replacement Insole

I happen to wear size 13; so went with the "X-Large" size.  In my case, the insoles were a perfect match size-wise as the original insoles found in my Keen Austin shoes and required no cutting or trimming of the replacement foot pad.   While these insoles don't look the same as the original Keen Austin Insoles, they are shaped exactly the same (the replacements are bright yellow and black).   The new keen austin replacement footbed insoles are a bit firmer than the original (the softer feeling Keen Austin replacement food pads can be found here - but I can't vouch for them).  While they are a bit firmer, I suspect they might last longer than the original keen insoles for the austin shoe.



Find your replacement Keen Austin Insoles here:

 or here for the firmer (confirmed fit) model:

Fixing File explorer crashing in windows 10

Just this past week, I've encountered several similar, but different, events in which File explorer in Windows 10 is crashing and resetting. This post will tell you how I fixed File Explorer from crashing in Windows 10 on two different Dell latitude laptops.

• In scenario #1, I would open File Explorer, either by using shortcut windows key +e or by clicking the explorer icon, or navigating from my computer. File explorer would load, but if I tried to shrink file explorer, the screen window would stutter or shake and ultimately say not responding, before it actually crashed.   So, when minimizing file explorer, it would lock up the window, shake, then crash.
• In scenario #2, on a different computer: I open File explorer and it opens fine.   When I try to copy or drag a file from my desktop to the file explorer, the file explorer goes black and crashes.   If I try to copy or move a file from one file explorer window to another file explorer window it crashes in Windows 10.

Here is how I fixed windows file explorer from crashing.

1. Open File Explorer
2. At the top, click View, then Options.  If you don't see that menu, either hold alt on your keyboard or right click on 'Quick access' and click options.
3. In the folders options dialog menu, select the 'view tab'
4. Scroll down in advanced settings until you see "Launch folder windows in a separate process"
1. make sure this is checked.  If it is already, try unchecking it
5. Hit Apply, restart file explorer.   Now, hopefully file explorer doesn't crash anymore.

For search engines lookups:
File browser crashing in windows 10
windows 10 file explorer crashing after update
windows 10 crashes when moving files
windows 10 crashes when copying files
Windows 10 file explorer starts to stutter
Windows 10 file explorer not responding

34" Nitto Ridge Grappler on Fuel Beast Jeep JK

This post is a series of pictures showing the Nitto Ridge Grappler 305/70-R17 Tires on 17"x9" Fuel "Beast" Rims.  The below images show the Nitto Ridge Grappler 30/70R17 rubber tires on 17x9 Fuel Beast Wheels on a 2011 2 Door Jeep JK Wrangler in Cosmos Blue.  They Nitto Ridge Grapplers are roughly 34" tires and I find to be a great alternative to traditional 35"s on a Jeep JK.  They are nicer than the standard 33 (which often measure less than 33), but not as aggressive as the full 35s.  I find this setup to be a perfect combo on modern JK.

 

This image shows the rear quarter view of installed Nitto Ridge Grappler 305s on 17" fuel beast tires installed on a GSI Bumper and Tire Carrier .

Above is more pictures of the Fuel Rims with Nitto Tires installed on a Wrangler Sport 2 Door Model JK.

 

 And more photos of Ridge Grapplers on Fuel Rims on a Jeep.

Some more information.
The Fuel Beasts are a "Dark Tint" color.  It's pretty sharp looking; and is a good deviance from the typical black rims everyone is sporting nowadays.  The color itself I would describe as a lighter shade of brake dust, but that's not a bad thing.  They aren't very "flashy" so you don't look like a total mall-crawler; but they aren't as plain as the AEV Pintler Wheels that everyone seems to be buying.

I have the Fuel Offroad D564 Beast 17x9 with 5" backspacing installed on a 2.5" lift.  I did not require spacers for the setup.
These installed tires (at 35PSI) are Nitto Ridge Grappler 305-70R17

They measure in at just about 34" flat to flat, but when the weight of the Jeep is on them, I'd say they come in just a hair under that measurement.    They really are a nice looking tire; as they look almost as aggressive as a mud terrain.  That being said, their road manner is amazing; extremely quiet and comfortable.   I've not yet had the Ridge Grapplers off road, so can't report on that yet.   They do just fine in the rain on my Jeep JK.    The Nitto Ridge Grapplers have two sides to the sidewall.  One has more "lugs" than the other if you want a slightly toned-back look.

Buy the Nitto Ridge Grapplers for your JEEP:


Buy the Fuel Beast Offroad Wheels for your JEEP:

GSI Jeep Wrangler Rear Bumper

Here is a quick review of the GSI Jeep Wrangler Rear Bumper with Tire Carrier installed on a 2011 2 Door Jeep Wrangler JK.   Buy the inexpensive GSI bumper on Amazon
You will not find a cheaper bumper and tire carrier for a JK than this unless you hit the used market.  So far, I am really impressed with the GSI Jeep Wrangler bumper with tire carrier. 

1. GSI Bumper Shipping was relatively prompt.  Received within 8 days.
2. Packaged well in two boxes, one for the GSI bumper, one for the GSI tire carrier.
3. Install was straight forward
4. Build quality of the GSI bumper, on the surface, seems solid.  Heavy duty, good paint, no scratches, lenses for LEDs all lit, etc.
5. The locking latch is a little difficult (tight to operate) with not enough clearance.  I'm hoping this loosens up in time.
6. If you don't have a trailer harness hitch, you need to splice into your turn signals.  Do yourself a favor and buy this trailer harness tap kit first around $20:  http://amzn.to/2kHjMQb

Overall, yes, I would recommend the GSI Jeep Wrangler Rear Bumper with Tire Carrier.  Let's see how it holds up with time.

Item List:
 GSI 07-16 Jeep Wrangler JK Rear Bumper with Tire Carrier, Smoke Lens Model GSJW1169
Tyger Electric Wiring Kit (Trailer Harness Tap) 

BestTop Trektop Pro on 2 Door Jeep JK

I recently installed a Besttop Trektop Pro Hybrid Soft Top on my 2-door Jeep Wrangler JK.   My jeep JK has half doors, and I figured this would be a good place to post photos for people of what a Trektop Pro Hybrid top looks like with a 2 door jeep that has factory half doors.
The hybrid top is the best of both a soft top and a hard top for jeeps.  Buy it on Amazon.

Here is the best top pro hybrid on a 2 door JK wrangler.  on back is a 34" Fuel Beast and Nitto Ridge Grappler combo on a GSI bumper.
In this photo, you can see the rear hatch is a solid window, not a stupid zip up.

Photo of the Trektop Pro hybrid on a 2 door without rear tire installed.

More photos of a Best Top Pro Hybrid Top on a 2 door Jeep Wrangler 2011 JK in Cosmos blue with half doors.

Sportfish Body Armor for 2 Door JK

Took a small gamble and bought some mirror protection armor for my 2 door Jeep JK wrangler.
I found this stuff on Amazon for less than $12, so it wasn't that much of a risk.  http://amzn.to/2ku8pKd

Here is a couple photos of the: Sporthfish Cowl Body Armor Powder Coated Finish Outer Cowling Cover for Jeep Wrangler JK Rubicon Sahara Sport X & Unlimited 2/4 door 2007-2015

 

Passenger Side Photo of the Sportfish Mirror Armour 

Drivers side photo of the body armour cheap inexpensive mirror protector on a 2011 JK 2 door.    As far as a review of the Sporthfish Cowl Body armor, there is not much to say.  It was inexpensive, a perfect fit on a 2011 Jeep JK, looks good, had 3m double sided tape, and I am satisfied for the price.  I don't know how it will fair in weather and sun yet, so I will keep you posted, but if you have to replace this every few years, its not a big dead.
The color is a muted black, not as deep as I would have wanted, but you can't beat the price.  Make no mistake though, this is plastic.

Buy it here:  Cheap Mirror Protector for Wrangler

Rugged Ridge Modular Jeep Bumper - All Terrain Bumper Photos

I had trouble tracking down good photos of a Rugged Ridge All Terrain Modular Bumper for a JK Jeep Wrangler 2 door before I purchased it.   Below are example pictures and photos of the Rugged Ridge Modular bumper system for JK Jeeps with and without various modular bumper components.

You can buy the Rugged Ridge All Terrain Bumper with Free Shipping from Amazon here: http://amzn.to/2l55R7o

Below: Photo of Rugged Ridge Modular All Terrain Bumper on Jeep 2 door JK Wrangler Front view, without end caps and without over rider bull bar. This is a stock lift, 32" stock tire photo of the Jeep with a Modular bumper.

And here is the Rugged Ridge Modular Bumper with a bull bar, or over rider as they call it.  This is also the stock lift and stock 32" wheels on the 2 door JK Wrangler.  Note, this rugged ridge all terrain bumper photo shows the bull bar but does not have the stubby end caps installed.

  

And last but not least, here is a photo of the Rugged Ridge All Terrain Bumper with Over Rider and Stubby End Caps installed on a Cosmos Blue Jeep JK 2 Door.  Subtle, but makes a big difference.

This is the same jeep as before, but it is now lifted.  This is a 2.5" suspension lift with:
 34" Nitto Ridge Grappler Tires,
All Terrain Stubby Bumper End Caps  
Inexpensive Blue D-Ring Schackles

Google not working with Sonicwall only in Chrome

Out of nowhere, we started having problems on multiple computers in which Chrome Browser (in Windows 10) was unable to connect to Google.  Chrome could not access Google, and it seemed that ANY website that uses a Google API or Google Product, such as Google Adwords was also not able to load or was very slow to load in Chrome Browser.

The error seemed to be similar to DNS issues, where attempting to access Google.com in Chrome or attempting to search from the Chrome search bar directly would sporadically return an error similar to a dns issue where you can't find the website.  But, the abnormally long load times on websites that had other google services, such as adwords is not typically a symptom of bad DNS.

Oddly enough, the same exact search or website access in a browser other than Chrome, on the same computer, would work perfectly fine.  Google works in edge or firefox, but not in chrome.

I tried a variety of online help articles, including clearing the cache, uninstalling chrome and reinstalling chrome, deleting and adding the gmail user back in, but nothing worked until the following:

Open Chrome

Type "chrome://flags/" in the Address bar and hit Enter.

You will see "Careful, these experiment may bite" on top and some Warning Text. Ignore it.

Hold Ctrl and hit F (Ctrl + F) key on your keyboard for the Find Box to Pop up.

Type or Copy paste "Experimental QUIC protocol" in the find box to find what we need.

Now, From the Drop Down menu, Select Disabled.

Close Chrome Browser and Launch it again.

 Our environment includes Windows 10, Sonicwall NSA4600 Firewall, Chrome and AVG Enterprise.  I suspect that the Issue relies in the IPS settings of Sonicwall, but was not able to prove that out.  Regardless, the above solution seemed to fix our problems with Chrome being unable to access Google services.