General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
Filters (None)
If a bear kills a human, it is usually euthanized as in the case of a grizzly bear that partially ate a man in Yellowstone It also seems likely to end sadly for the bears. Park officials have c...
I recognized a bunch of obstacles in an area where I often hike lately. They popped up half a year ago and are spread along our local river. It seems like they are aligned to a trail. I have not m...
Where: North-central Massachusetts When: 8 April 2017 Whenever I'm out and about, I look at wetlands as I go by to see their general state, how much the invasive phragmites is pushing out the nati...
I found this arrowhead-shaped rock on the Toiyabe Crest trail in Nevada, USA. I'm wondering if it actually is an arrowhead. It's about 1.5 inches long. The reasons that I think it could be is th...
As far as I know a wood (for the "hearth board") has to full fill several characteristics (at least they've to be soft) to be suitable for a friction fire. When in a survival situation, how can I d...
As far as I know a wood (for the "hearth board") has to full fill several characteristics (at least they've to be soft) to be suitable for a friction fire. When in a survival situation, how can I d...
It appears that you can accidentally & unsafely have an unsafe occurrence with a 'Flameless ration heater'. The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Aviation Administrat...
Often times in high alpine lakes you will see lakes like this, where the color comes from the rock/glacial flour suspended in the water. The lakes and sometimes even streams are very pretty, b...
Due to heavy rain, the water level raised drastically in the last days and arose a few small "ponds" besides our local river. Also the main stream is accordingly extremely wild these days. Recent...
I am considering taking a pilgrim's path - Olaf's Trail - in Norway (about 3 weeks). However, I don't want to do it for any religious reasons. I just saw this trail in pictures and thought: "What a...
I am considering taking a pilgrim's path - Olaf's Trail - in Norway (about 3 weeks). However, I don't want to do it for any religious reasons. I just saw this trail in pictures and thought: "What a...
Generators, fuel cells, solar panels and other power supplies tend to be sold with Watts as the energy value. Some of my electrical devices list amps, how do I convert amps to watts?
Gasoline generators are notoriously noisy (some are more quiet) and smelly. Many areas like US national parks have restrictions on the use of generators. Fuel cells are used in many space applica...
I have heard references to gelcoat being a water proof application for a fiberglass boat hull. I have always considered fiberglass as inherently water proof. There are several industries surroundi...
I was wonder how long it takes plastic to biodegrade and if there is anything a person can or should do to facilitate the process for plastics in the outdoors. I know that optimally "Carry in, Car...
One of the terms in orienteering/navigation is "handrail feature". What exactly does this term mean?
On of the terms used in orienteering is "catch feature". What exactly is a catch feature and how would a catch feature help one with navigating in the outdoors?
This time of year, you see a lot of canoes and kayaks going down the road tied to the top of cars. Some of them not as smartly anchored as others. One of the configurations that I see a lot is t...
We plan to go on a three day hike (two nights). The amount of food is no problem of course, but we want to avoid defecation while on the trail. Which kind of food comes into question? Edit: It's...
It is commonly known that loading your carabiner in three directions is bad, as it reduces it's strength. This is apparent when talking about belay stations, as e.g. described in this blog post by ...
There is canoe trail, in the interior lagoons of Presque Isle State Park PA. No gas engines are allowed, travel is bidirectional, like a bike path most travelers make a two way trip on the same pa...
Recently someone mentioned a piece of equipment to measure distances. They stated that it was used in military. I think it was called "pace counter". What exactly is it and how does it work?
A friend of mine had a car accident where he hit a whitetail. Sadly it died instantly. This made me wonder if someone is going to check if the roadkill can still be eaten. Maybe not for humans but ...
It's generally prohibited to camp in the great outdoors in a few European countries like Germany (check out this related question). Speaking for latter, it's allowed to sleep in your car however. ...
I often wonder if it's even legal to practice Parkour in the cities of the EU? The runner is kind of trespassing the plots, isn't he?
This question is about the simple type of bow often (but not exclusively :) ) made by children that consists of a branch of wood with a cord tied to both its ends. Obviously such a branch should be...
I know from personal experience that greenwood (freshly cut) does not provide as much heat energy as seasoned wood (has been down for 6-12 months). When burning it spends a lot of it's energy boil...
If I know my route will take x days, over terrain y, with a change in height of z, in temperatures of p, is there a simple rule of thumb which will let me calculate food requirements? Water is rel...
It feels like methane is growing popularity to cook food while camping. I've only used the "classics" like methanol, propane and butane. Why would I prefer methane gas as my camp stove fuel?
I have seen a lot of trail signs and one thing I noticed is that sometimes they have the distance from one point to another like, Phelps Lake 4 miles Death Canyon Shelf 8 miles and somet...
Our town (Groton Massachusetts) formed a town committee a few months ago to concentrate on invasive species issues. Since we are new, we are trying to find our way and decide what exactly we shoul...
This answer mentions, The single most effective thing you can do to improve your acclimatization rate is to get in good aerobic shape before starting your trip. It seems plausible that being ...
Hop climbs up other plants or objects. It clasps its target always clockwise. What is the reason for this? Wouldn't it be more efficient to select the direction case by case?
Hop climbs up other plants or objects. It clasps its target always clockwise. What is the reason for this? Wouldn't it be more efficient to select the direction case by case?
The canisters that I have purchased so far have included a warning not to let the canister get above 120 degrees Fahrenheit. It looks like the inside of car can get well above that, hot enough to b...
When in an emergency survival situation were you don't have access to clean or at least "okay" water but to wildlife (or it is at least easier to grab a snake for example than to gather water), is ...
When in an emergency survival situation were you don't have access to clean or at least "okay" water but to wildlife (or it is at least easier to grab a snake for example than to gather water), is ...
I am planning a homebuilt sailing craft that uses a sail similar to the Sunfish (image below) I have seen a few homebuilt sails that use metal electrical conduit for the mast and spars, and am work...
A recent comment Cows eat grass, doesn't mean you can! got me thinking. Corn, wheat, rice, etc are all grass that we eat regularly. I am not sure the human race could survive on the planet...
I am thinking of buying a satellite check in device. I often go alone, and would like to upgrade from the system of of always letting someone know where I am going and when to expect me back. The ...
Carabiners like this one, Image Source are called HMS carabiners. Why are they called that and what does HMS stand for?
Sometimes, one needs to get up for an alpine start i.e. really, really early, and yet not have a functioning alarm. Cell phones have a tendency to lose the correct time when shut off and then turne...
Sometimes climbers/mountaineers will say that they are getting an alpine start. What does this mean and why would they want to do this?
I have been told that climbing cracks is very much a methodical procedure. Especially in places like Yosemite and Indian creek, where the cracks can be the only feature of the rock that can be used...
I see a lot of posts in archery which contains topics about the "draw weight" or "poundage". I assume that it doesn't have to do anything with the actual weight of the bow. So, what does it mean ...
In this answer about mountaineering on a glacier, @StrongBad mentioned 4th and 5th class belays. I have never heard of belays being classified into such classes. In what context are these classes u...
I am not exactly sure where I am in the world. It could be that I am in a boat on the ocean, been in a plane crash, or suffered some other calamity. In any case I either have a compass with me or...
In rock climbing a carabiner can get nose-hooked and it is a very dangerous situation. What exactly is a nose-hooked carabiner and why is it dangerous?
I believe the 3 main options for portable GPS currently are: Dedicated GPS unit Smart Phone GPS Watch They all have somethings in common, and each have other considerations also. For this que...
