General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
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I'll be going pretty deep into the woods with some buddies and staying in a cabin; I'll have access to a campfire and a wood stove. Can also bring batteries of any kind with me. I'd love to bring ...
I'm looking to get myself a kayak, but weight limits are an issue for me. I like the ascend kayaks from Cabala's because of the high back seats. I'm undecided if i want to get a 10' hybrid kayak or...
I'll be driving to Norway in November and intend to sleep in my car on a few nights. For myself I have a sleeping bag and a few blankets, so the temperature should be no problem for me, but I will ...
If a climber completes a route without using their protection that is called sending. What is the term if one completes the route but had to depend on the rope either for a rest or for a fall? Le...
I have a Marmot Limelight tent that the see-through window needs reglued around the edge onto the tent. Is there a common household glue that can be used for this? And what is the best glue and/ or...
I have 20+ year old space heater that is nearing end of life. 120 volt, 1500 watts We use it in the camper when have electric hookup, and need a little extra heat. I started looking online for a...
In Colorado outdoor stores its not uncommon to see these small canisters of 95% percent oxygen that's sold to help people cope with high altitude. Is there any evidence that these actually help wi...
I'm planning a camping trip in Yosemite with a group of friends for some time around mid-March. I know it can get cold at that time of year, but that's the only time we could all arrange the time o...
In Grand Teton National Park they have Rocky Mountain Goats and Bighorn Sheep and because they are worried that the goats will spread diseases to the sheep, they want to mountain goats gone from th...
My knees aren’t in the best shape, one in particular. I had a rather devastating 13 hour up-and-down hike on day two of a three day hike, and the last day my knees were hurting every step. What are...
I'm looking for a decent source to know winter road conditions for various Adirondacks access roads. First level of interest would be just what is or isn't being maintained. A better yet answer w...
Long story short, I got a huge oily stain on my raincoat. More precisely butter, on the shoulders part. It looks bad, it smells like butter, and I am really not comfortable having it on my clothes ...
The sole of my trekking boots get separated from the boot body. Since the boots would be otherwise usable - they are more than ten years old but without much use - repairing them would be an option...
I'm new to rope-climbing, I have made some slings to use as false-crotches/cambium-savers/friction-savers that act as my "canopy anchor" when climbing. These were all made with lengths of my 11.7 m...
A pair of cardinals have nested in my yard for years. Yesterday found a young one in the yard, made it comfortable, just didnt want a cat to get it. Still alive, cant fly. What to do?
My daughter and I were going to hike the AT through Maryland. She goes to school there and really wanted to do a muli-day hike. We recently gave up on the idea b/c the logistics of the end to end...
I was recently backpacking in Olympic National Park. I didn't have a tarp with me (was being cheap. Bought one shortly after the trip) but had a $5 umbrella. It rained a bit during one the mornings...
Thinking hypothetically, person A is taking a paragliding course over the course of a year in three stages. The first two are about mastering ground handling, taking off, basic landing, different a...
I have this tent: Fjord Nansen Tromvik II. It's very well built and thought-out, lightweight (around 2kg / 4.5 lbs) and is a pleasure to sleep in during summer / early autumn. However, since it's ...
If one makes coffee in the backcountry, there will be used grounds. Coffee grounds are biodegradable, but should one instead pack them out completely? What is the Leave No Trace way to deal with u...
I purchased a sock filled with thistle and a large bag of bulk thistle from the same store. The sock is hung and the bulk thistle is in a feeder, but the birds don't eat from either. Is there any...
It looks like a typical hat but also has fabric hanging down around the sides/back of your head for sun protection. I saw one on the trail that was labeled North Face but I can't find anything lik...
I would like to understand if skills/experience gained in rock climbing are going to be useful in climbing steep ice/hard-snow. Of course the gear as well as techniques involved in either are diffe...
We always hear about the importance of drag free drifts so I thought it would be great to create a resource listing techniques for achieving a drag free drift. I've setup a community wiki for thi...
We just bought a tandem kayak, we took it to the water and we can’t make it go straight. My husband is bigger than me so he sits on the back. We rented kayaks before, so we are wondering if it cou...
I have a magnet and line setup to go magnet fishing and I would like to make some sweeps around one the docks Chatfield Reservoir on where it's likely that people have dropped gear/cellphones into ...
Is there a well-known free webpage in Europe where you can find hiking partners to go on > 4000 m mountains? For bouldering and climbing it is usually not a problem to find "new friends", since...
On April 12, 2019, my sister-in-law was hiking on a mountain close to our home in Central Massachusetts, USA. There was a pond at the end of an established trail. Near the water's edge were jelly...
Last September my wife and I went surfing in Peniche (Portugal). We took a beginners course there. We had a lot of fun but I found the greenwaves and their strength when they come crashing down on ...
There are a couple of pretty good answers in How to make a cargo trailer?. After looking at those, at the answer to What are the safety concerns of a high vs a low mount trailer hitch? and doing s...
If you buy a box of ammunition, it usually says the muzzle velocity on the box in addition to the bullet weight (or you can find the information online). Given that bullet velocity depends on the ...
Having just completed my Boulding induction at a local rock climbing gym, what requirements should I look for in a pair of my own climbing shoes? Assume here cost is not a primary factor.
My grandpa found this deer skull way out in the back of a golf course (he works there) and brought it home for me. I don't mind leaving the color the way it is, I just wonder, what is the best way...
In order to charge my electrical equipment while backpacking (GPS, camera for timelapses, phone, etc) I bring along a large battery. To calculate the size of the battery you can figure out how many...
On top of one of the peaks in the Uinta mountain range I found this plastic thing with small black flat glass marbles in it. It was several feet long and there were small holes underneath of the f...
I currently have the Canada NTS 1:50,000 maps, and the 1990 revision of the complete park map. They don't agree on details, and so far the NTS maps have higher error rates. I also have a couple o...
Is it okay to throw away the non-edible part of the apple - the apple core / or in general fruit waste? Does it decompose on the rock (maybe with the help of animals) and temperature, or does it in...
I recently bought a knife that near the handle end of the blade has a sharp, curved part: I don’t think it’s a choil because it’s sharp. What is its use? I thought something to do with stripping...
I'm currently trying to remark a trail that seems to be forgotten or had very little use in the past few years. The markers that remain (different types of ribbon) are fraying or crumbling dependin...
I will have a trip by the end of this month to a northern country to "escape the heat" where I live in, and I would definitely want to do some swimming at some best beaches there. The expected wate...
Rather than take a can of chicken while backpacking, it's possible to open the can, drain the juice and stick the meat into a ziplock which makes it much lighter and a ziplock is much more compact ...
We have bird feeders of all shapes, sizes, and types of material. Some we've had for years. We dump out leftover bird seed and shells when we refill them. If there are obvious dangers, like algae, ...
I'm looking for easily obtained fuels for an open-cup stove, such as a Trangia, in case I need to top up while travelling. I have a small simple DIY open cup spirit stove, for boiling water when b...
I drink canned beverages when I'm gardening and camping. I know several people who have ended up in the hospital due to swallowing bees that were stuck in their beverage (stung in the mouth). How...
Is a coyote or pack of coyotes likely to attack my small dog if she is with me on a trail on a leash? I heard of someone's dog being eaten while the woman was walking her pet on a leash. She was a...
This is a follow on from my answer here. I took this photo of my belay and shared it on Facebook, where I friend of mine (A qualified climbing instructor) pulled me up on it as I'd made one or two...
My Daughter and I are considering hiking through Maryland on the AT in early October. Most of the trail I have done up to this point was in New England a Pennsylvania. Trail guides are indicating...
For some reason, once in a while I get confused if you add magnetic declination to magnetic bearings to get true bearings, or if you add magnetic declination to true bearings to get magnetic bearin...
Disclaimer first: The brake-hand principle (always hold the braking strand of the rope) always applies to assisted braking belay devices, including the Grigri. This question is in no way targeted a...
I've seen small radar reflectors for sale. Should I carry one when kayaking? What else can I do such that boats can use their radar to be aware of my location when they can't see me due to poor v...
