General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
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At a local park I've seen hiking/mountain biking trails marked with a green circle, blue square, or black diamond representing easy, intermediate, and hard trails. I've only ever seen this while h...
Obviously by anyone's definition, you need to reach the top to successfully climb a mountain, but after hiking to the top of Guadalupe Peak, where the peak is at 8,751 ft, but with a prominence of ...
Everesting is an activity where the goal is altitude gain of 8848 m or more by repeatedly going up and down a selected route. This is most often attempted by biking; however, hiking/running is pra...
In addition to choosing a correctly sized paddle board, one also needs a correctly sized paddle. How does one determine the correct size of paddle for stand up paddle boarding?
On a hiking trail recently, I overheard some people talking about going "catskiing" as part of a winter vacation from school. Obviously, that doesn't mean skiing with or by means of a cat. What...
My medical kit already has some MRE style clean water bags, purification tablets, as well as OTC anti-diarrheal pills at the ready. However, now, I am researching what options there are for hydrati...
There are a number of hazards that can kill electronic products (water, impact). We want to take a few ebooks with us (i.e. plant & animal identification, directions, trails info, etc). Assum...
I have LowePro Photosport BP 300 AW II backpack for hiking and a camera. The old model of this bag had the proper straps to fix the tent but in the new model (which I have), I don't know how do I...
Raccoons are creating ridiculous problems in our house. They used to eat our garbage and destroyed our vegetable garden. Once we tried to trap them with metal box by placing peanut butter in the mi...
I was looking into portable desalination hand pumps. and I found this one one Amazon for $959 it says the Katadyn Survivor 06 is the world's smallest hand-operated desalinator and can easily fi...
A friend said she heard there's a species of bird that hibernates during the winter. I was surprised because I've only heard of birds that either migrate to warm weather as it gets cold; or stay ac...
Having read about the recent foot traverse of Antarctica by Colin O'Brady I was wondering which means the polar explorers of former, pre-GPS times used to determine that they had reached the North ...
I was at an event this weekend and noticed that many of the portable canopies had weights on the legs. My Canopy has stakes and rope tie downs, but often the soil is not appropriate for these (to...
Sometimes in areas with sandy/muddy ground, multiple parallel trails will start to form. What is the least impactful way to walk a trail like this? Do you stay on whichever trail shows the most ...
I’ve been seeing an increasing number of vacuum insulated water bottles and was wondering would a plastic(single walled) or a vacuum insulated water bottle be better for... Everyday (going from h...
Both poison ivy and poison oak can cause a red rash on the skin due to an allergic reaction to the chemical urushiol in their oily sap. I've heard people say that they are allergic to either one o...
Is it still considered a 'figure 8' knot when you dress it so the loop is perpendicular to the rest of the loop?
(Note: I'm a total noob in fishing). I've seen some so-called "pre-rigged sets" with a hook and a float attached onto some line and wound around a piece of plastic: They usually come with some ...
In movies, sometimes the character will put an ear to the ground and then hear people moving a long ways away example. Does this actually work in the wild at all or is it just insufficient for any...
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...
I've been looking into making an oilcloth tarp. All the sources I have read so far seem to consider linseed oil the only oil to use, and I'm wondering why that is. So, what, if anything, is it abo...
Handheld desalinators operating on the principle of reverse osmosis are available for emergency use in lifeboats. Sometimes they appear for sale unused in their original packaging at a very steep ...
I'm looking for a multi-purpose rope for camping with the following specs: Synthetic Preferably 7/16" dia or less 750-1000lb test break strength I don't plan on climbing with this rope but it w...
This National Geographic article describes how feeding ducks bread is actually harmful. Among the items listed as safe to feed to ducks it lists corn. Does this mean that cornbread is an acceptab...
In a survival situation is it actually efficient to eat edible plants? Assume late spring to early fall in a temperate climate. We have plenty of questions about where to find edible plants and h...
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,...
Where I work, there is a rather large population of Spotted Lanternflies around our office building. From what I've read, they are considered invasive species and quite a problem this year in ...
I want to go camping in the wilderness on my own, without anyone else around for miles. Is that even possible? I know a lot of national parks have designated areas, but surely they can't enforce th...
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 ...
I saw an article about the Long Trail, a 272-mile trail through the Green Mountain range in Vermont, USA. It's famous for being the oldest hiking trail in the United States, having been built betw...
Looking at Canyon de Chelly backcountry camping visitation by month: Backcountry camping went from usually more than a hundred per month, up to several hundred per month, throughout spring, summ...
In recent years, my wife and I completed a few long distances hikes together, for instance: Kungsleden from Nikkaluokta to Abisko, 105 km (Sweden) Landmannalaugar to Skogar via Laugavegur and Fim...
When learning to sport climb, I was taught not to pass any of my fingers through the gate of the carabiner when clipping into a quickdraw. Lest any of my fingers get stuck and degloved in the case ...
I'm currently looking for a couple of things for a Nepal trekking trip. Two things are a good hardshell and a thick fleece jacket. I once had a super cheap fleece + hardshell which I could "zip in"...
No decompression diving (No stop diving) refers to "diving that you can always ascend directly to the surface without stopping, yet without significant risk of decompression sickness" (according to...
Inspired by a recent question. If I want to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a boat, what are the shortest and longest possible crossing sites? Where crossing = going from one continent to another wh...
In addition to space blankets, you can get reusable tarps with a reflective coating on one side. For the most part, they are just like regular tarps with grommets for tie downs and are big enough t...
I have lots of these hawthorns in my neighborhood (Mount Lebanon) but I am afraid to eat from them. Are they safe ?
Garmin says about inReach that to have a two-way satellite communication "you need to have a clear view of the sky". And what about cloud cover?.. Say it's winter and 100% overcast with angry cu...
In order to charge my electrical equipment while backpacking (GPS, camera for timelapses, phone, etc) I bring along a large battery. To calculate the size of the battery you can figure out how many...
My boyfriend and I are currently a month into a 3-4 month trip in Europe and are finding it quite challenging to find suitable gas refills for our van. The gas runs both the cooktop and the fridge....
I recently was bitten several times by a spider or spiders during an outing in southern Virginia, USA. The bites looked really nasty for a couple of days, but are now subsiding and have stopped it...
Which tree native to Florida produces these seeds? The pods are really long and the seeds inside are in the shape of little hearts.
I have been fishing in a small lake in Southern Indiana. We’ve caught many Bluegill in the same place and caught this small, I’m assuming young Sunfish today. Is this just a Bluegill that happens t...
I currently have the Canada NTS 1:50,000 maps, and the 1990 revision of the complete park map. They don't agree on details, and so far the NTS maps have higher error rates. I also have a couple o...
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...
Could you please provide information regarding the tools (hook, swivels, hooks, main line, line for hooks, floaters, stoppers etc) and right distances & dimensions among each tool needed to cre...
I'm fascinated by bats. I love to watch them fly around, although I've never seen more than a few at a time where I live in a suburban area in Massachusetts, Northeastern Unites States. I'd love ...
There as been the claim that European and North American wolves behave differently, especially when it comes to encounters with humans. This was brought up in a comment in this question on a wolf e...
An entrepreneur is planning a campsite-hotel in Romania, with a full outdoor gourmet restaurant attached, with an outdoor kitchen. There will be no cabins or other living structures, only tents an...
