General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
Assuming I am not allergic, or showing signs of allergic reaction, what's the best way to treat multiple yellow jacket (a type of wasp) stings in the outdoors while hiking/backpacking? My key conc...
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 ...
On my trip I've been accompanied by a few wasps. I don't know what attracted them but they were trying to sit on me, which wasn't comfortable to me, since a bite of a wasp is causing by me a swelli...
I know that there might be robins in the woods that I just never see. But why don't I see any robins. I see lots of birds including chickadees, cardinals, and blue jays. There are Hawthorn trees ou...
I've read that there are up to 200 species of owls, encompassing many sizes, shapes and colors. Ornithologists and scientists continue finding new species and sub-species. They also re-name previo...
For the last few months, we've experienced long spells of drought and heat in Massachusetts, on the East Coast of the United States. At least thirty birds and three generations of squirrels and chi...
Many outdoor clothing items advertise themselves with a UPF (Ultraviolet protection factor) of 30 or even 50. How does that compare with a normal cotton T-Shirt or a pair of jeans? Do I have to use...
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...
If one were to get started fly fishing what gear would one need just to start with? Of course, there is all sorts of gear and better gear, but what would the minimum gear to start with be?
Is there a portable water filter product (for backpacking), like the following two... MSR AutoFlow Gravity Filter by MSR, which seems to filter relatively large volumes of water (~4 Liters) quick...
In the last years, there were a few occasions when companies would put out recalls on their climbing gear due to manufacturing defects. For example, Black Diamond recalled some improperly riveted c...
I'm looking at getting into sea fishing, I used to do coarse fishing. I'd like an all rounder rod to try pier fishing and maybe some beach casting or fishing from a sea wall. What should I look ...
I asked around (including on this site: Hiking with a mule or two?) about hiking with a mule or a horse. Some people on other sites actually suggested hiking with pack goats. (for weights on the o...
Garmin inReach devices and its subscription plans seems to offer (optional?) rescue/evacuation insurance already: Does mountaineering organization membership such as Sierra Club from California,...
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...
Female mountain lions will scream to attract a mate, and males will do it as well. This YouTube video and this one both have audio of what it sounds like. Given how loud it sounds, would there be...
I want to travel by canoe from Ohiopyle State Park to Pittsburgh Pa on the Monongahela and Youghiogheny Rivers What are the navigation considerations? Also I will have a bike and trailer for the...
Can a cormorant really manage to digest a huge, living eel, bones and all? Does the poor eel (it was quite a bright/pretty green color) stand any slim chance of escaping (that thrashing, biting, e...
I wish to get rid of these wasps. I am not sure what they are trying to do. Are these wasps creating a hive? Or is there something from the A/C they are collecting to create a hive somewhere else?
When we venture into the wilderness, we bury our solid human waste (or may even have to pack it out in some places). The basic guideline is to not leave faeces anywhere where it can be discovered ...
I have a camera setup outside. Wasp seem to enjoy nesting in and around this camera. I know there are all kinds of wasp killers but is there anything I can do to repel wasps from nesting in and aro...
A bit hypothetical, but ruling out being able to use a solar still, or the SODIS method, could you make water drinkable by using the suns heat through a magnifying glass? Paper self ignites at 451...
Which would be the main advantages and drawbacks of trying to sail a cruising trimaran in summer from the Azores to the Arctic, well past Svalbard but not quite to the pole? From the experienced s...
Last weekend I spent a night in an igloo. The event was organised by professionals (it was a company retreat) and during the night there was always one of the guides awake making rounds and checkin...
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...
A guy I'm talking to about buying some rock climbing gear is getting rid of his stuff cause he hasn't used it in five to eight years. He said it wasn't used a lot, maybe 5 to 6 times, and he said n...
Sometimes children find long hikes boring and tiring, but if you can turn it around to play some games along the way they can find things a lot more interesting. What are some good games to play i...
I am thinking about getting a Kayak, I am very comfortable paddling my canoe with a single paddle. My motivation is that I can canoe silently with a single canoe paddle that does not need to bre...
It is possible to use a dry fly as a strike indicator for your wet fly while also catching the fish that would go for a surface bug at the same time. Is the casting technique any different as it s...
Consider we are trying to pre-acclimate for an expedition in Himalaya to shorten the actual timespan on site. As an example, I am expecting a benefit if I go in the Alps for several days above 400...
I read about the murders of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and Maren Ueland. What safety mistakes these girls did during their camping trip? What could have been done to avoid this situation? How ca...
If I am going on a 10 mile hike and the book says the hike is 10 miles out and back, how many miles will it be total?
I have a stand up paddle board (14'0") and I am looking for an easier way to pump it up. I found some cordless handheld inflators for tyres, which are rated at 120W and maximum pressure is 150psi. ...
United States (and more, specifically, NY state -- though that shouldn't matter at all) here. I am brand new to hunting, and in a few weeks I will be going out into the woods and hunting public ...
I bought a pair of Hanwag boots late in 2013 at Naturkompaniet in Norrköping, Sweden, and I've never loved a pair of boots more. But now at least one of the shoes is in a bad state and a repair sh...
I have always been inspired by the sketches and watercolors of explorers, cartographers and scientists who lived before the invention of photography. I have tried bringing watercolors myself, but d...
I'm planning a whitewater rafting trip, and I'm worried what I should do if the raft flips over. Is there a standard set of procedures I should go through to get back on the raft?
TL;DR: How can I pack my food so that it isn't an odor nuisance in my backpack, in a lightweight manner if animals are no issue. In a month I will be going on a 14-day trekking trip, completely ...
I plan to visit a summit which involves a few hours of easy scrambling, with a slightly more technical part at the end, which is very short (2-3 m) but exposed. I expect no problems on the way up b...
Let me know how many species (birds and others) are permited to hunt in england and wales for the year 2019.
All- I'm looking for a good 25-30 mile backpacking trail in southern NY or PA. I've looked into Allegany State Park and National Forest, but couldn't find a loop that would keep us out of campgrou...
Due to some peculiar health issues, for the time being I cannot study around people. I've found a secluded place in my college, it's outdoors, no one goes there and still catches wi-fi. However, ...
We recently (July, 2019) went to Bar Harbor, Maine, United States, to visit friends who live on the ocean. My husband took a walk on an established path (he's very serious about Leave No Trace) at ...
I have never found a good answer to this one: How do you clean rock-climbing shoes, without ruining them? Let me be more specific. I have a pair of modern leather-and-fancy-rubber climbing sho...
We all know these scary stories where people had to eat their fellow sufferers after a plane crash or something. I don't know if there is even one of them true. I feel like it might result into mor...
My personal favorite for tying two ends of a rope together is the Flemish Bend. It's simple, strong, does not slide, does not require stopper knots (unless used for life-critical applications), all...
U.S. here (and specifically New York state but that's probably irrelevant). Is anyone aware of any websites, apps or DEC resources that allow you to look up what fish species live in any given lake...
Most fly fishing with wet flies is done with just single wet fly and a strike indicator but it's also possible to do it with a dry fly instead of a strike indicator (this lets you do both at the sa...
I forage for food as a hobby, and noticed that the attaching parts of sumac stays with the berries sometimes, so it got me to wondering if the wood of edible sumac is poisonous for human consumptio...
Sometimes on a hot, humid day, we see lightning off in the distance. If we're out on a trail or camping in the evening, it's even brighter. It seems to be traveling in almost a sideways motion. We ...
