General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
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Which would be the main advantages and drawbacks of trying to sail a cruising trimaran in summer from the Azores to the Arctic, well past Svalbard but not quite to the pole? From the experienced s...
So, this is likely a very very dumb question but I came across this question about wild boars while researching boar hunting and I was wondering if an axe would be at all useful against a boar if i...
One of my flashlights that has a black anodized aluminum housing has a couple of scratches on it, all of the way through the anodized coating. How can I cover up the scratches so that its complet...
I have a hydration bladder with a screw on the drinking hose, and the problem is that given enough time it will come unscrewed and then leak inside my backpack. I have tried tightening it as hard ...
Generally, I'm more used to methods described here for the US. Our task this past weekend was to use dots to remark a trail, but the method of placement was opposite to what I'm used to: the dots ...
Definitely not a duplicated question to this one... Rather a much more specific question... The situation arises when there are bolted anchors at foot level on the edge of the cliff: The issue ...
About a month ago, my youngest son found a dead rabbit in the woods while camping and brought me to the spot to show it. The rabbit looked like it had just died and didn't show any obvious cause of...
I'm working on a novel. The main character recently (six months ago) lost her arm above the elbow. She's attending a summer camp, and I'm wondering if, with proper planning (and probably a mountain...
My cat gets a rabbit every other week or so. He usually eats the whole thing himself but I was wondering if I should try and cook it for myself. Is there even enough meat on them to make it worth t...
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 want to know the major differences between these two systems.
We have often used the large snow free circles that form in the spring around the trunks of large trees as camping spots. Even in an area blanketed with deep snow, there will be such bare, dry gro...
In the United States, there are a couple of excise taxes on outdoor gear that goes towards conservation, Pittman–Robertson Act which taxes firearms, ammunition and archery equipment and the Dingell...
I don’t know if shooting animals and eating them such as catch and cook in England is specified as poaching these days so anyone who gets what I’m actually trying to say I would appreciate if u do ...
I recently acquired a sailboat and noticed a small protrusion under the starboard side of the hull in front of the keel. Does anyone know what this is? The boat is a 1976 hunter 25. I have not put...
We are heading out on our first family camping. We tested out our sleeping bags in the living room. The two kids ( ~2 & ~5 yo) wanted to share one adult sleeping bag. I'm expecting that it wil...
I need to run a hose from a tap to my campsite. I have a drinking water rated hose, but I'd like to know whether brass splitters and hose fittings (sold as gardening items) are safe -- I believe br...
I found this spider yesterday running across a sidewalk next to a canal, it was bigger than a quarter and I think it was carrying an egg sack. Does anybody know what kind of spider this is?
Around my work I walk in local parks for a couple of hours a day, and I've noticed we have Green Woodpeckers, and I've seen them quite a few times and can now recognise them rather easily. Recentl...
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...
I'm looking to go scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef next year. I've not yet been certified, but I plan to do it soon. If my only scuba experience is the certification course, do I need to wor...
String walking is, Having a 3-under allows for string walking. What this is, is basically the ability to pull the string at a different position hence changing the distance of your shot. Sou...
Where can I hunt for rabbits with slingshots do I have to ask land owners or could I go into a forest away from people and hunt there?
Like most climbers in my area, I use a rope bag to avoid having to reflake the rope after every climb. The downside of this is that the rope gradually aquires twists and after enough climbs, the r...
Knowing how many mountain lions are in an area is important for conservation, as it would be important to know if the population was in decline or to set the number that can be taken by hunters in ...
What type of fish is this? I caught this fish in the Miami River in Southern Florida, USA. This river is brackish I believe, so I am not sure whether it is saltwater or freshwater. It is brown, gr...
I've been feeding the local birds at the exact same spot at the local park for quite some time now. Unfortunately for me, today as I was minding my business as usual, a bee decided to sting me. It ...
We live on 10 acres (very small, I know) but we have got a deer and I was wondering how to bring more deer in. I am looking for advice on land management to achieve this. Some stat: we live in Mich...
I purchased a sock filled with thistle and a large bag of bulk thistle from the same store. The sock is hung and the bulk thistle is in a feeder, but the birds don't eat from either. Is there any...
I am a big fan of zinc oxide products for minor outdoor injuries, e.g. zinc oxide tape for blisters on feet, or products like Sudocrem for sunburn and so on. They certainly seem to help the healing...
I live in a city in Ontario, Canada. If city coyotes are not showing signs of aggressive behaviour the city does not normally do anything. My concern in my area is that this is a pack of at least...
I am, ahem, itching to camp on the Bruce Trail (Ontario, Canada) in July. I have two kittens at home. What should I use as mosquito repellent? I am afraid to use the ubiquitous DEET-based spray as...
How does neoprene perform as a base layer for winter sports? Is it a way to be warm while remaining sweaty, as opposed to wicking sweat away? What are its disadvantages? What are best practices ...
Can I use ear plugs to block out noise or will my ears need to pop because of the altitude? I don’t want to get sick by using the ear plugs.
I've found these tracks just a couple of days ago on the Ursa beach near Cabo da Roca, Portugal. I'm not familiar with the fauna of this place and the only possible candidate I've found for now is ...
If I am lost in the woods, and I find a trail or a road, how do I decide which way to go? Autumn Veatch was 16 years old in 2015, when her grandparents small plane crashed in the North Cascade Mo...
Have the good fortune of having sparrows around my house. I feed basmati rice + big bowl of water to sparrows. I sprinkle basmati rice and other grains in the balcony. The sparrows flock once in...
Related Q (especially its link to inversion): What is the relationship between altitude gain and temperature decrease when mountaineering? This question is concerning the commonly used rule of thu...
I did a backpacking trip once where I was above treeline, there was no running water and I was low on fuel for my stove. While some of the snow was melting it was draining into the ground so fast t...
Some of my climber friends are pretty fast climbers with a speed of about 20s for a 10m long route. The really fast ones use auto-belaying-systems seen on speed climbing competitions. Those auto-...
For rain pants, there are both breathable pants that let sweat out and non-breathable ones that do not. The problem with the non-breathable pants is that your sweat can build up inside and then you...
Sometimes when clipping in people who are rappelling, or setting up anchors in some places from above or showing people how to get onto a fixed line, I need an adjustable tether. I often carry a n...
If you are fishing in the ocean off the United States Coast. At what distance from shore do US fishing laws no longer apply? The US Coast Guard listes, boundaries at 12, 24 and 200 Miles. Ma...
When shooting it is a good idea to wear eye protection, most ranges and shooting competitions require them. There are two basic kinds, clear plastic, and amber/yellow tinted ones. From what I have...
Is it okay to throw away the non-edible part of the apple - the apple core / or in general fruit waste? Does it decompose on the rock (maybe with the help of animals) and temperature, or does it in...
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...
Sometimes, bees will split from a hive, and a bunch of them (including a new queen bee) will swarm, and move to build a new hive. As you can see, there is an awful lot of bees huddled together a...
Does anyone know of a reasonably simple means of using household items to objectively measure the insulating value of a sleeping pad, in a way that accurately predicts that aspect of performance in...
I'm going to buy a one-man packraft, capable going some wilder stuff. For the beginning I would like to try it with a used one. What should I look for when buying a second hand packraft?
I'm planning to travel along the Alaskan highway this summer (end of June until mid July). I'm not an extremely experienced camper and have only once spent a night outside of a camping ground so fa...
