General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
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I was up at Presque Isle (Erie PA) today and the water level was a foot or more higher than I when I was up there in the summer last year. I kind of surprised as I did not think it would be subject...
Sometimes while camping in forests, there will be dead trees around, or in forests where there was a fire, a high percentage of the trees will be dead. While it is not extremely likely that a tree ...
The defining feature of a climbing rope (arguably) is its dynamic properties, i.e. it stops your fall gradually to decrease the peak force. Not exceeding a fixed peak force is a/the integral criter...
Just recently, a photographer was watching some foxes hunt rabbits. One of the foxes caught a rabbit when a bald eagle swooped down grabbed the rabbit and pulled both rabbit and fox into the air. T...
I found the remains a of a porcupine in the woods, with nothing left but quills and hair. As porcupines are pretty well protected by their quills, what types of animals would be capable of killi...
More than once, I have come across a porcupine in the woods sleeping on the ground during the daytime instead of in a tree. They keep their nose tucked down and their long hairs provide some degree...
A lot of outdoor gear has warnings like the following, WARNING: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. ...
I have seen some barn cats that were claimed to be the offspring of female barn cats and a male bobcat (they had bobbed tails). Wikipedia says that there is circumstantial and anecdotal evidence f...
I noticed a few archers who have a different kind of quiver (different from a back-, bow- or side-quiver). It's kind of a pocket where the arrows are literally "plugged in". Just like in a bow-quiv...
I find abandoned sunglasses fairly frequently, right now the snow shoe and cross country trails are melting, and all of the sunglasses that were lost during the winter are now visible. I don't fin...
Reading through are other packrafting questions it looks like it would be a neat activity, especially since there are quite a few beautiful alpine lakes that would be neat to float across and they ...
Let's say you want to establish a 3D archery tournament. You want to create a small 3D course. You are at the stage where you want to make a concept for the trail. How do you create a map to ensu...
When canvas gets wet and then dries, it shrinks. Sails get wet from rain and from spray, and it was even done on purpose to increase the speed of sailing ships. For canvas tents, this has to be ta...
Sometimes people will keep notes or things they see in the outdoors or keep a journal and paper getting wet and then wrecked is a big problem. The other obvious use is printing maps off from the...
There are plenty of bird identification app or books or websites, is there anything similar for dinosaur tracks? I get that identifying dinosaur tracks is hard, if I remember correctly there are o...
If one were to come across mountain lion tracks, how would one estimate the size of the lion making the tracks? Also, is it possible to tell the gender of the mountain lion(s)?
One of the genera of dinosaurs is the Tyrannosaurus, which includes the famous T-Rex. What do the tracks of this type of dinosaur look like?
In some of the Horatio Hornblower novels, when they want to get the last bit of speed out of a sailing ship, the crew will wet the sails down in order to go faster. For a real example consider, ...
What does moose scat/poop look like and how can one distinguish it from the other similar scats namely deer and elk?
Of the dinosaur tracks that people find in the outdoors, there are two main types, true tracks and natural casts (there are also undertracks and infills but these are harder to see). What exactly...
With some friends, I saw some dinosaur tracks in Wyoming that looked like this, Can anyone identify what type of dinosaur made these tracks?
Say you are in the middle of a desert where there is lots of sunshine, and you are trying to signal for help with a signal mirror. Either in the distance there is a person, or there is an airplane...
I'm currently planning to bare shaft tune a bow. The problem is that I don't have a cutting machine for arrows. These are rather expensive and so it doesn't quite make sense to obtain one for priva...
I'm currently planning to bare shaft tune a bow. The problem is that I don't have a cutting machine for arrows. These are rather expensive and so it doesn't quite make sense to obtain one for priva...
Mountain lions are rarely seen by humans, but their tracks can be much easier to find. How would one find and identify mountain lion tracks?
Inspired by this question, how dangerous are alligators to people out canoeing in say the Everglades in Florida? I am sure there is some danger because from time time you here about people winning...
I just passed the pond where the geese in this question are, and it turns out that while some of the geese are sleeping ontop of the ice, there is a section right there, about 20ft by 80 that is op...
When referring to a sailing boats course relative to the wind there are some clearly defined terms like "beam-reach", which is exactly perpendicular to the wind. A broader range like "close-reach" ...
I often see Mangrove and Cypress swamps on T.V. and I think it might be fun to explore one in a canoe. My wife thinks we might get eaten by Alligators if we try it. I have no knowledge about alliga...
Based on the answer here I would be exploring a cypress swamp in the Mississippi valey north of the 35th Parrell. If I canoe in a lake or on a river, I always have a pretty good idea where I am, ...
Sometimes when navigating with map and compass one will take a back bearing, i.e. a bearing taken directly opposite to the direction one is travelling? When and why would one want to do this?
Most backpacking backpacks have both a big main compartment and a "brain" which goes over the top of the main compartment. Image source When packing, which gear should go into the brain?
My answer to How to carry a bicycle in a canoe? includes the image below. The following question was asked in a comment, and to give it a decent answer, I am posting it as a new question. ...
I am contemplating a river journey from Pittsburgh to the Gulf of Mexico. 981 miles on the Ohio river and 2340 miles on the Mississippi River. The current plan calls for completing the journey in ...
I have a 1972ish sunfish I am planning to re-gelcoat the entire bottom of the hull. I made one fiber glass repair where there was a crack through the hull, I took that area down to bare fiberglass...
Sometimes in the United States private land won't be marked clearly or there won't fences along the lines or maybe there aren't any "no trespassing" signs. Especially in the western parts with big ...
We are always camping in areas we have not been to before. We usually use Google maps (satellite) to try and guess about the appropriateness of a camp before going there. From experience we kno...
There are two (main) types of front points with crampons (that I am aware of): Vertical and horizontal ones. Usually vertical is used for technical mountaineering, ice and mixed climbing and horizo...
There is a method of finding north by aiming two sticks at a star and then tracking the star's movement to find which way is north. You can read the full description here. However, there is the a ...
One of the more common knots in climbing is the figure eight on a bight (being tied on a bight means that it is tied without using the ends. How exactly would one tie this knot?
Sometimes in my travels in Nevada, I would come across white pvc pipes standing up in the middle of nowhere sticking out like sore thumbs. They looked like this (the red arrow points to another one...
A lot of people swear on their shooting sacks as their training target. They take a potato bag or something else and put foil rests etc. in it. I really want to try things out but I'm unable to...
I am trying to determine the best way to attach trail signs to trees in the woods. The problem with trees is that they grow. If you firmly embed a nail in the wood, the tree will eventually grow ...
In the absence of inversions, going up mountains will bring you into lower temperatures as you get higher. What is the rule of thumb for how the temperature decreases with altitude?
My friend and I want to go out for roving. However, this is our first time and we wonder if there's a list what we should consider before moving out? Roving can be described in the most casual...
We have one question asking where it is normal for a compass to have bubbles and another asking why compasses get bubbles, but we do not have a question clearly asking if handheld compasses exist t...
In one of the Hornblower books, "We're weathering on her" said Hornblower; his eye was aching with staring through the glass, and his arms even were weary with holding the telescope to his eye,...
A recent post said: a black bear can kill a man (or a dog) with a single swat of its paw. I suppose anything is possible. But is it realistic? Has it ever happened? Googling 'man killed by ...
In the same Hornblower story that inspired this question, Hornblower tricks the French captain by acting as if to tack, but stopping and swinging back. When the French try to do the same they are u...
The more common way of belaying is called PBUS which stands for Pull, Under, Brake, Slide. What is the correct way to do this (including illustrations)?
