General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
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More than once, I have come across a porcupine in the woods sleeping on the ground during the daytime instead of in a tree. They keep their nose tucked down and their long hairs provide some degree...
The maps of the trail at http://anchoragecoastaltrail.com/index.php are not well suited for printing. Even the printable map is pretty much illegible. Are there perchance higher quality maps availa...
I work in ecologically sensitive areas in NZ and my ropes routinely get soiled. I have been asked by the Dept of Conservation to clean and disinfect my ropes to minimise the chances of accidentall...
I recently found the hollofil mummy bag I used in my teens, about 30 years ago. At the time it was quite a warm bag, only usable when it was very cold out. It's been stored "randomly stuffed" into...
I made plans to do some hiking in the mountains of Nevada this weekend. I'll have someone there nearby and a hospital is an hour drive away. We thought it would be fun to uncover rocks and even dig...
In season 3, episode 5 of Survivorman, Les Stroud mentions the value of throwing cow dung, or any variety of others, on a fire to drive away insects. And he has "no idea why." Why does this work?
It's pretty common to use 1 oz Nalgene bottles to hold the spices in a spice kit for backpacking as they are waterproof and the right size. Image Source The problem comes when trying to label t...
I've had a mummy style sleeping bag, with 100% Dacron polyester fill, for the better part of 20 years. The comfort rating is -5 degrees F. I hadn't used it in approximately 10 years. When I used...
I've heard that pouring boiling water into a Nalgene-style bottle is either completely fine or definitely going to kill you. Which is it? Are there any scientific studies demonstrating exactly wha...
I have seen some barn cats that were claimed to be the offspring of female barn cats and a male bobcat (they had bobbed tails). Wikipedia says that there is circumstantial and anecdotal evidence f...
Recently there was a story about some people in Texas who brought three bobcat kittens home and then called animal control after the bobcats bit them. It's also happened once in California where a...
In season 3 episode 2 of Survivorman, Les Stroud explains that red snow will make you sick. He also says that he doesn't know why it makes you sick. What's in it that makes you sick?
I'm here hunting turkey in Virginia and I keep hearing unidentifiable sounds that I'm pretty sure are not turkey. One of the most common one is something like a monkey (chimp) cackling/laughing. I...
Given: - A single pitch climb - Top roping only, belayed from below - Limited number of helmets (assume only 1 for a climber/belayer pair) Is it more important for the belayer to be protected fro...
I have a Mountain Hardwear Trango 3.1 (a four-season tent) that lost the hooks on its rain fly. They simply became unglued from the inside of the fly a little while back. For those not familiar wit...
Some background: I live in the western part of state of Maharashtra, India. The city of Pune is located on the Deccan Plateau. Deccan plateau itself is huge. The western section of the plateau has...
Sometimes people move to a new area or go hunting far from home. What standard methods and techniques should a person use to find out where they can shoot or sight in firearms? I'm looking for t...
On some of my Himalayan treks I've seen people who wear shorts or wear single layer of clothing and shiver due to the cold weather (most of these people live in a tropical climate). When I've asked...
I just recently returned from a course where we utilized a static rope to construct a top-rope anchor from a top-accessed ledge: the system was like that described in this answer - the resulting co...
I have a requirement where I want to tie a knot with the two ends of a cord where the length of the loop can be adjusted using either of the ends. (The knot has to be present on both the ends of th...
I just got my first handgun and had previously bought a safe that we had used for other things. The safe is a made by first alert, and is the 2087F. It says in the manual, which I've thankfully kep...
Based on the answer here I would be exploring a cypress swamp in the Mississippi valey north of the 35th Parrell. If I canoe in a lake or on a river, I always have a pretty good idea where I am, ...
Is there any resource provided by the Georgian government or by any other agencies about the camping in Georgia? I would like to know about the rules and safety aspects. Any resource on these woul...
Apart from the obvious advantages of longer strides and reach, does a higher center of gravity make it more difficult for taller people to walk the slopes of a mountain? Or in other terms, do short...
In September of 2017, for nearly two weeks, the Kenow Wildfire raged through a swath of Canada. Its largest impact was on the Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta. More than 38,000 hectares, (94...
I just got back from some time skiing, during which I wore a backpack to carry my off piste gear and water, etc. I saw many of the ESF (École du Ski Français) instructors wearing front mounted pouc...
I've heard this multiple times from different people that while buying a hiking shoe, always go for one size larger than what fits you perfectly. The most recent one being a local store where I wen...
Recently I saw a podcast of Alex Honnold with Rich Roll where Alex speaks about deliberately eating up and gaining weight before going on an Antarctic expedition (I'm assuming this is because of th...
I'd like to buy a kodiac canvas tent but they don't come with stove jacks. Not being handy at all, is there any company or store type where I could take the tent to and they could put the stove ja...
One of the more common knots in climbing is the figure eight on a bight (being tied on a bight means that it is tied without using the ends. How exactly would one tie this knot?
Sometimes in my travels in Nevada, I would come across white pvc pipes standing up in the middle of nowhere sticking out like sore thumbs. They looked like this (the red arrow points to another one...
In the absence of inversions, going up mountains will bring you into lower temperatures as you get higher. What is the rule of thumb for how the temperature decreases with altitude?
I live with my parents. I love bird watching, and would love a bird feeder, but my mother does not want to keep one fearing it will attract rodents which may carry lyme disease. We've had bad exper...
I just went outside (11:30pm) and could hear seagulls screaming/cawing overhead. I looked in the direction of where the sound was coming from and could see a couple hundred of them being illuminate...
When the RMS Titanic sank, there were not enough life boats, many hundreds of people went into the cold water and many died from hypothermia. The water temperature in the area where Titanic san...
Backpacks that we use are typically categorized in litres (Or liters if you are an American English follower). Whats is the point? Why don't we have backpacks that are categorized as for example ...
Please note I am not asking 'in what conditions some compasses can develop a bubble', what I am asking is, why can't manufacturers make liquid filled compasses that will not, ever, develop bubbles....
Squirrels bury nuts for future consumption, sometimes many months away. I recently learned that tree squirrels, including Eastern grey squirrels, sometimes dig empty holes, pretend to drop nuts in ...
As I understand it, you can't combine multiple suncreens to combine their SPF values. This makes sense as they all work on the same concepts and your skin can't simply "hold more" because it's two...
I am visiting some relatives in Malaysia. They introduced me to this plant and talk about the health benefits of consuming this plant. I am trying to find out more about this plant, but they could ...
See this article on plogging, from the Washington Post Swedish Fitness Craze Coming to the US (March 06, 2018): Have you recently spotted people toting trash bags while jogging? Or their hand...
I will be going to a ski resort in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. It’s also very popular for winter hiking and has a lot of routes set out. Because I can’t go skiing this year I’d like to do some hiking...
I'm getting an Inmarsat phone for my time around San Pedro de Atacama in Chile to help me with emergencies. What number do I dial if I have an issue? I know 133 is the emergency number, but I don...
I have a pair of salomon rocker 2s with z12 bindings on a demo plate. Would it be advantageous for my skiing performance to remove the demo plate and have the bindings directly on the skis? I norma...
In one of the Hornblower books, "We're weathering on her" said Hornblower; his eye was aching with staring through the glass, and his arms even were weary with holding the telescope to his eye,...
I recently heard that Eastern grey squirrels sometimes dig holes, pretend to bury nuts, or other food, and then cover the empty holes. I was told that they use all the same motions and effort as th...
I'm looking at extending a strip of LED lighting into another of the tents rooms. Dividing the rooms is mozzie mesh. I could run a 3m extension wire down and back up again, however, I was wondering...
I have two large dogs - a German Shepherd and a Presa Canario. I hike alone with my dogs in black (not grizzly) bear country. Do I still need to hang my food? Or will the three of us be able to c...
Are there any possible risks of exercising (body weight, calisthenics only) at high altitudes? I'm talking of altitudes above 4500m. The whole premise is not to lose muscle mass. Background: I'll ...
Decades ago, there was a proposal that there should be no-rescue zones for backpackers, in which backpackers would be entirely on their own, and rescue by government agencies would not be permitted...
