General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
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According to Wikipedia, slingshots did not exist prior to the invention of vulcanized rubber. Slingshots depend on strong elastic materials, typically vulcanized natural rubber or the equivalen...
I have been seeing a bird that looks like a cardinal but has black wings and has an orange-red color. Closest photo I've found is the hooded oriole, but this is Michigan and early March. Any ideas ...
I see lots of schools around different states and countries that teach wilderness skills and they seem to vary a lot in their basis (that is, what qualifies them to do what they do). Some are led b...
Given comparable contstuction and insulation betwwen a pair of gloves and pair of mittens that are designed for winter / below 0C conditions, at what temperature range would mittens be preferable t...
What exactly is meant by the terms "wet" or "dry" glacier? This link here seems to point to the existence or absence of a film of melt-water below the glacier. This has an impact on how the glacie...
What do climbers do when stuck at high camps because of weather? Example Everest C2, C3 etc. when stuck for multiple days. Is this time spent inside the tents exclusively? I assume because of weigh...
Do you recognize these flying insects that seem to enjoy broccoli flowers? I have several almond trees around, and bees are busy these days but I'm not sure these particular insects are of any ben...
There is a gravel parking lot with trees on either side that I pass on my way to work and there are always a couple of cottontail rabbits hanging out under and next to the cars parked there. Why a...
Several offshore sailors are considering the use of specific Chinese locking carabiners with personal tethers, to keep us attached in violent conditions. Specifically... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/...
I have two half ropes from Camp that are basically unused, but are slowly getting old, and I would like to know their age. Is there a way to do that? I know the name of the model: Camp Plekton 8....
What are uses for red spruce (picea rubens) by humans in wilderness settings (e.g. in primitive technologies, bushcraft, wilderness survival, low-tech rural livelihoods, frontier homesteading)? Whi...
I'm exploring primitive shelter building in northern cool temperate climates. I mean primitive as a compliment: the prime, first, original, indigenous, low-tech/base-tech. Things like the Haudenosa...
When travelling the backcountry in high snow, do snow shoes or skis perform better? By "perform better" I mean how tiring and fast travel is. Is there a general answer, or does it depend on the co...
I came across this knot when it was used to tie a guy wire to a newly purchased light weight tent. I am reasonably knot savvy but have never come across it. It forms a non-slip loop when pulled u...
This question is based on my desire to avoid disturbing, injuring, or scaring away an octopus which is camouflaged to look like a coral reef. Since it's so difficult to see, I'd like to know how to...
A fire piston is a very old way of starting fires, predating friction matches and works on the same principle as a diesel engine. Basically, you use it to light a piece of tinder and then start t...
Related to the idea of a flatter shooting cartridge, and the reason why a flatter cartridge makes it easier to hit the animal within the vital area, is the concept of point-blank-range. What is po...
I have watched many documentaries about accidents on Everest and what I learned is, that it is impossible to rescue anybody from the death zone. It is simply too hard for the sherpas, or anybody el...
Certain calibers such as the 300 Winchester Magnum are often called flat shooting. What does that mean and why would a hunter care that the caliber is flat shooting when selecting a rifle to go h...
I have a set of titanium cookware that I use for backpacking. It's a small set for one to two people and consists of two little pots and one cover/frying pan. Mostly, this set gets used for boili...
While shopping for a portable generator I noticed that some very similar seeming generators, have drastically different prices. Presumably there is something besides a brand name that makes a 1000...
Oscillating temperature readings result in inaccurate altitude data. I currently have no solution or explanation. Can anybody help? In this case the route is completely flat. As soon as the temper...
tl;dr What is a likely value for fuel consumption for a small portable 4-stroke gasoline-powered inverter power generator in, say, litre / ( kilowatt * hour )? At times I attend music festivals wh...
How do I develop my kayak “Eskimo roll” from something I can do most of the time in a calm lake or pool to something I can trust to work close to 100% of the time in real sea or river conditions?
I'm planning a backpacking trip to Juneau with some friends next summer and was interested in taking the North Ridge route to Bullard Mountain (see: https://www.summitpost.org/bullard-mountain/9303...
I'm planning what will realistically be my first backpacking trip. It'll be in Yosemite this summer. I've already been going through checklists of things we need, the trails we'll take, what we'll...
Do any mountaineering / Alpine style waterproof trousers come in short legs? I have a 29" inside leg and I've really struggled to find anything to fit.
Chronic wasting disease is a fatal disease that affects members of the deer family. It has always been something to watch out for when hunting because you don't want to eat meat from animals that h...
I am travelling to Goa in March and I am mostly crazy about water. Elementally, closest to it. Started swimming an year back and still a very naive swimmer but mostly comfortable with it. I want t...
I spotted something in a rock pool. It was swimming but appeared to surface to breath, or maybe eat. The location is Madeira, Portugal, just above sea level. I would expect the water to be saline...
In Dean Potters and Sean Leary's 2010 attempt to take the speed record of The Nose at El Capitan in Yosemite, Dean Potter has something white on his legs (and arms?): What could this be, and whi...
I bought Aku Slope boots with Gore-tex at a good price and as it turned out they have punctures in one place, which are probably minimal when I check them inside the shoe. I do not want to use the ...
I'm a bit curious about this since the day I read an infographic tip from a veterinarian. The reason stated by her is that it helps to not enlarge the site of the snake bite. Is this correct? Bec...
Warning: Contains details that may be too graphic for some cat lovers. Today's New York Times has an article titled Man who Strangled Cougar Cited a Lesson from His Cat. See He's no Chuck Norris...
I am thinking of hunting wild boar in Texas, which I've never done before. All info and videos I see mention the calibers they use and I don't really hear about people using 30-06. Is that just t...
One of the hardest routes on El Cap, The Dawn Wall, was done by Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson in January 2015. What are some of the reasons to choose to climb such a hard route in winter, when ...
The question is should we prepare to snow hiking in the end of April going to Toubkal? How can we predict or make educated guess on snow level? Is there any resource we can monitor snow level in ...
What product or combination of products best protects your hands while kayaking in winter? I’m interested in a system which provides comfort for extended paddling but also the peripheral activitie...
For some time, I have been following both European and American long distance hikers and a few things stood out to me, gear wise, and I was curious if someone could shed some light on it. For examp...
I am considering going on a guided hunt with an outfitter. This is the first time I've done hunts for game that you can stock your freezer with. I keep coming across the statement that the outfitte...
In this excellent answer to Ideal and Minimal Rope Diameter for Lead Climbing it is shown how the falling weight affects the drops a rope is expected to survive. This led me to the following ques...
I am reading Three Among the Wolves by Helen Thayer, who is best known for walking and skiing to the North Magnetic Pole accompanied only by her husky, Charlie. In a subsequent trip, she and her ...
Recently there was a news article about a Colorado jogger who was attacked by a mountain lion and killed the mountain lion with their hands (ie, no weapon). What are the effective ways, with no we...
I am about to start a long backpacking trip through South America, and I would like to take as little weight as possible. I have the rest of my stuff more or less sorted out, but I am a bit at a lo...
I am climbing for quite a while now and would consider myself a beginning-intermediate climber. I feel my technique has significantly improved over the last year. I am very heavy (1,80m and ~100kg)...
I'm doing downhill (alpine) skiing on the piste. The slopes I'm on range from blue (easiest) to black (hardest). I have been taught something called "the basic position"? (described below) How do...
What wild edible plants can be found in southern and eastern China? I have combed through various search queries but keep finding information on North American flora. Are there any good resources...
There are a number of places where salt can easily be found at or near the surface. Notably Salt Lake Utah, but there are also other Salt lick places of note. How would I recognize a natural sa...
My GPS (Garmin extrex 20) will not connect to my computer anymore (via USB), and therefore I cannot access the GPX folder of the device where Geocaches are saved. As a solution, I would like to sa...
A recent question about travelling with dried food where the recipe did not include salt caused the OP some concern. As far as I know salt just dries out food. So if you get the food completely d...
