General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
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Not long ago, my husband and I were at a restaurant in Massachusetts. At a nearby table, a man and woman were discussing a large yacht they had seen moored in Boston Harbor, which intrigued them. T...
I'm planning to go downhill skiing next week and I notice the forecast for the day in question is for winds of 50 to 60 km/h. That seemed high to me. A few years ago, at the same hill, we were turn...
I was just reading this answer at Can you keep your feet warm in ski boots on a very cold day? Yes, add fat to your feet. I don't mean gain weight. Just slather it on before putting socks on. P...
I have just watched the docudrama "Touching the void" for the umpteenth time. I am a climber and mountaineer and have a great deal of respect for Simon Yates and his efforts to save Joe Simpson and...
My wife and I would like to take my 7 year old son kayaking this summer. Was thinking about a circumnavigation of Lake Tahoe. It looks like there are plenty of put ins and take outs. I am curious h...
We're currently planning a tour in the alps. Nothing too big. Just going uphill with the cable-way and then doing 15 km on top. This is because we've a 2 year and a 5 year old girl with us. We can ...
Currently I own what I would call the most basic flashlight. It's a small cylinder with a single bulb within a reflective cone. It seems to do a very poor job at helping me follow the dirt path fro...
My question is prompted by the answer of @WedaPashi to this question, which is about rattlesnakes, specifically: • Remain calm and first move beyond the snake's striking distance. • Keep c...
Lately I chatted with my neighbor while the farrier was there, to provide her horses with new shoes. Later it made me wonder why they even need them. They don't have any in the wild, so why would t...
Note: An update has been added to this post, and is found below the first set of pictures. I live in Central Massachusetts, in the town of Holden. We're on the border of the large city of Worces...
A z-pulley or z-drag is a way of gaining leverage to pull a rope tight or to pull an object or person closer to the anchor. It is commonly used to tighten Tyrolean traverses, recover pinned boats i...
It is often said that when using two carabiners at the same point, such as an anchor, they should be opposite and opposed. What exactly does this mean?
Slight Introduction: A slow sand filter is a filter used to purify water. The original design is composed of a layer of gravel, then a layer of fine sand. Sometimes, however, there is an extra...
With SPF 30 sunscreen, I am usually protected for an entire day and wont be getting more than a little darker. Now, I am getting low on SPF 30 cream but I have a large supply of SPF 15. Can I just ...
Context: I'm writing a story that will have two people forced to spend the winter (late November to mid-February) in the middle of a forest (Alberta, Canada). They'll have food but it'll be mostly ...
I live in Canada, and we get a decent amount of snow in the year. However, it is very well known that you never get a lot of snow when the temperature is really cold. For instance, you never get ...
In some parts of the western United States there are herds of wild horses. How dangerous could a herd be to a human on foot while hiking or backpacking? If they are dangerous how should a human pr...
What and where will I find the builder's plate and CE marking on a boat in Europe? The CE marking obviously does not apply outside of Europe, but has anyone seen one of these and if so, where shou...
Quite simply: What is this animal? I have searched through various wildlife identification guides (particularly ducks and geese) and have so far not found anything close.
I'm looking to challenge myself more than just running and wanted to know if there were any specifics in how to begin trail / fell running (In this case running up hills / mountains). Is there any...
After seeing this question which had this animation: I was left wondering whether this behavior was "normal" or at least healthy. I know sometimes when an animal exhibits odd behavior there's so...
I've a Bear Archery Super Kodiak from 2013 with 40 #. I shoot 8,2 gpp arrows on it. Recently I heard that I should not shoot a BCY 425x string on it since the high amount of vectran somehow harms...
I have been wondering how often the thru-hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail resupply. I would assume that it depends on the part of the trail and the hiker, but is there an average distance or lengt...
During an internet search for fun places to go in the Western United States, I came across a number of articles about an unusual rock formation in Oregon called Duckbill. It was called iconic, trea...
I have heard and hence used the term 'Mittens' for those that I use while rappelling. But, the ones that I use for bike-riding are referred as 'Gloves'. Is there a difference between Gloves and ...
Similar to the previous question that turned up when I searched on this topic: Is there a standard set of light signals for mountaineers?, but for sound? Repeating sets of 3 blasts is standard fo...
Snowboards are often described with the term "Rocker". It seems like a kind of shape or something. What exactly is meant by a "Rocker" snowboard and what are the advantages or disadvantages?
I just watched a documentary on PBS that featured many African mammals in the wild. One scene in the documentary showed a baby zebra that was described as "minutes old" walking next to its mother. ...
When I was searching for boat inspection plates amazon example I saw a review where someone had bought one to install in the top of their RV fresh water tank to make cleaning inside easy. I though...
I have gotten bit by 3 different bugs that have all given me itchy bites but they are oh so different. The most recent one is a tick bite, today is the first time I ever remember having a tick bit...
When browsing Wikipedia's List of peaks by prominence, I was surprised to see that the parent peak of Mt Meru (in Tanzania) is Mount Kenya (350 km away) and not Kilimanjaro (50 km away). The col be...
On a recent run which crosses the Humber Bridge my GPS watch seems quite confused by my altitude as I crossed the bridge, as if there is an 8m shear drop half way with the south side being lower. ...
Motivated by a comment thread in this question here. As far as I know the consensus basically boils down to: It is very hard rescuing someone who is drowning. It can be very dangerous rescuing a ...
As I bought an ice axe from Russia some 10-15 years ago and cannot remember their ratings, I just wondered if somebody knew (or knew where to find) descriptions of the Russian ice axe test requirem...
Do water shoes (not socks) expand some so when purchasing you should go down a size? I wear 8.5 shoe but water shoes do not come in half sizes so wandering if I should go down to an 8 since the sh...
I've been researching which kayak I'd like to buy, and I keep coming across the notion that longer kayaks are faster than shorter ones. I can understand that shorter kayaks have a greater tendency ...
I was sitting and thinking last night... If you have gas and loose stool (diarrhea) and you are squatting over a cathole in the wilderness how do keep your pants and foot wear clean? Related ...
I am investigating the feasibility of a hike looping around Hofsjökull. Among the foreseen challenges are 17 crossings of named rivers (and many smaller ones). All rivers I need to cross have 4WD...
I am investigating the feasibility of a hike looping around Hofsjökull. This will take me through several “deserts” such as Hofsafrétt and Sprengisandur. On photos, this looks pretty dry, but Ice...
What are the best places in Mexico City to go for a hike. Ideally they should be safe, with amazing views, can go with my car with two or three other people, they are not so crowded, last for appro...
What are some methods to obtain drinking water from a glacier or icefield, in the absence of snow or reachable meltwater? Collecting ice is much harder than collecting snow. Do I need to bring sp...
When in tick country, tick checks are critical. Easier with a buddy who can look where the sun doesn't shine, but even alone, diligent inspection (especially with a mirror of some sort) can go a lo...
In the 70s, while learning sailing, I was taught to use a double half hitch, where the two hitches are tied in opposite directions. However, in the 90s, I took a USCG course, where in the same situ...
I recently went backpacking above treeline in Colorado. It was in a National Wilderness and there were no designated camping areas. Finding a flat enough spot for 3 tents proved to be difficult at ...
I have a Lowe Aline Attack 50 pack from around 2000 and recently much of the inside has accumulated a sort of brown powder that is either, I suspect, some kind of mildew, or the remains of the deco...
I had to turn around on a long (5000ft) glacier route last week because one of my ankles had really begun to hurt. The ankle was so fatigued after 1000ft that I doubted my ability to safely finish ...
We are camping in the summer at the Mediterranean Sea. We camped there already sometimes and in the summers its quite hot. Now we are thinking about how to improve the cooling of a tent. Maybe mak...
UNESCO, The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, has declared the Lake District National Park a cultural World Heritage Site (WHS), according to criteria (ii)(v)(vi), ...
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...
Does anyone know of an all natural way to get rid of stink bugs? I know they are harmless but, they seem to really like my house. I don't want to kill them, I just want them to go away.