General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
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This symbol appears on a forest in an OS 1:50,000 Landranger map at SO 24799 27221. It doesn't appear in the map legend. It does not appear at the same point on the equivalent 1:25,000 Explorer map...
Suppose you need to cover a fairly long distance (e.g. 30 km) in a moderately difficult hiking terrain (no climbing), in 1 day. You can either go alone or with someone, or with a group. I think (f...
Has anybody ever tried to use a cross-load protecting Black Diamond Gridlock carabiner with a Smart Alpine belay device? I do think the Smart Alpine does not go very well with the CRAG Smart HMS ...
What is the simplest setup for rappelling that is fully redundant? The most common system seems to be rappelling off of both strands of a rope passing through two rappel rings on separate anchors....
There are some 15ft tall shrubs/trees that have these purple and reddish of berries. The trees seem to be either 15ft tall or 3ft and they are growing next to a trail. The tree wood is a greyish br...
My Daughter and I are considering hiking through Maryland on the AT in early October. Most of the trail I have done up to this point was in New England a Pennsylvania. Trail guides are indicating...
The basics of what I'm after is very, very simple: Push a button, it notes your location. When you reach that point again it tells you. I've looked around and I don't find anything that seems to...
I recently visited a local outfitter upon whose walls hang various pieces of vintage outdoor equipment. I was unable to identify these, or even guess which outdoor activity they might have been rel...
There are some no brainers like don't throw your climbing rope next to car batteries in the back of your car. The effect of bug sprays containing Deet seem to be controversial. I have also heard a ...
There is a video going round of two guys flipping a sea turtle that had ended up on its back so it could get back into the water. How would a sea turtle end up on its back in the first place (it s...
I have a pair of GriSport boots. They are natural leather, with SimpaTex membrane. I use them for biking, weekend hikes and general wear in the winter in the city: salt and car oils everywhere. Th...
What is the thread size on the waste tank drain? I can’t find a female connector to dump at a RV dump (step on 3” cap). Looking to build my own. The research I have done indicates a Buttress thread...
If you are buying new hiking boots before a trip there is a break in period before the boots get comfortable and you don't want to go on a long backpacking trip with brand new boots. Time will depe...
I'm new to rope-climbing, I have made some slings to use as false-crotches/cambium-savers/friction-savers that act as my "canopy anchor" when climbing. These were all made with lengths of my 11.7 m...
I'm hoping that this isn't the beginning of a trend, but over the past week I have discovered an alarming number of dead hummingbirds on my property. For reference, I live in a suburban area on the...
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 am going to try to hike across the Grand Canyon in May, from the South Rim to the North Rim, and back. Unfortunately, I have discovered that I am probably too late to secure a back-country permit...
TL;DR What are some reasonable (ie: safe, portable, reusable) ways to start a fire with a magnifying glass without damaging my eyes from staring at the focused sunlight? Background I recently st...
Trail cameras are motioned achieved cameras that are used to capture pictures of wild animals in the outdoors. The idea is that you can set it up in a place where animals are like to be such as a t...
I love the outdoors, but I'm not really an experienced outdoorsman, hiker or camper. I have little to no education in outdoor etiquette, beyond the really obvious stuff (pick up your trash, etc.). ...
These blue berries are growing in clusters on a medium size bush in Southern Ontario, Canada. What are they, and are they edible? Here are some details: The leafs are leathery and slippery. Th...
On my walk around town today I found this small black bug, (keychain carabiner for scale). Closeup It has two antenna and it seems that there is white on the edge of the segments. Does anyon...
A friend found this caterpillar while hiking in the woods on Wachusett Mountain, in Central Massachusetts, United States, in the first week of September. It was on a fallen log under the leaves of ...
I am in a semi-rural area of Aldergrove, BC Canada--close to the US border. From our house we can hear the call of what we think is an owl, but would like to know what particular species. We were...
I just finished applying gelcoat to my boat. Results were less than wonderful. I have some experience, with bondo, fiberglass and painting, so it did not seem like it should be to difficult to get...
A few weeks ago I was hit by IT-Band syndrome. I know that rest is paramount in healing it but the problem is that you do not know if it has fully healed. In a few days, I want to go on a 2 day hi...
I am going hiking for 2-3 weeks with no possibility of charging the battery again. Assuming I only turn the InReach on only once a day to send a "I'm ok"-message and then turn it off again, would t...
NPS has opened Tioga Pass for through traffic but not for day use recreation. I can't find any historical information about how long after the initial opening it typically opens for day use. Anyone...
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...
How do you make an effective water filter using the natural elements of the great outdoors? Suppose your only source of water was dirty and questionable at best. How could you make it potable with...
Trail cameras are setup up on trails to take pictures of wild animals when you aren't around. The problem with that is that other people may find them and may be tempted to steal them. How can I p...
In this answer to a question I asked about how to photograph moose without scaring them, one of the possible suggestions was a "trail camera." What exactly is a trail camera? How does it differ i...
I've always wanted to have an M1A1 carbine. However, I don't want an "original" one because I think that this would be too valuable in my hands. I don't want to take one away from a real collector....
Magnet fishing is when you take go fishing with a magnet trying to find metal objects that people have lost into bodies of water such as cellphones, knives, bikes, etc. What would make a location ...
Last October, we were on a road above a beach in a small town near Bar Harbor, Maine, in the Northeast United States. We looked down and saw two fishermen loading their trucks with piles of somethi...
Yesterday, there was a raccoon climbing a 20 plus story building in Minnesota, today it made it to the top and was caught in a live trap for transport to back to the wild. It brings up the questio...
I know this isn't Great Outdoors in the sense of planning a vast trek and seeing vistas, but I wanted to ask for a postmortem on an unwanted great outdoors encounter in the suburbs. I was getting ...
I was reading this answer about how raccoons were introduced into Germany, and after the other questions on this site about the harm caused by non-native species,(grey squirrels, house sparrows, et...
We (wife, 5 year old and me) are planning to go camping next summer (UK). It will be car camping - i.e. drive, set up tent and, knowing the UK, sit in the tent as it rains. I'm looking at equipmen...
From my outdoor experience in the Nordic countries, I'm used to random backcountry camping. I've never seen a backcountry campground in my life, but I've recently moved to Canada and it seems that...
I used to go tent-trailer camping as a kid ('60s and '70s, west coast US and Canada) and don't recall worrying about people going into our campground and stealing things. Now I'm thinking about get...
I live in Northeastern United States, where it's spring at the moment. We keep bird-feeders throughout the year, so those that over-winter always have something to eat. As is usual at this time ...
Apparently, there is a theory that says Hummingbirds can become hypothermic if they sit on a feeder perch and drink several cropfuls of cold sugar water early in the morning. The birds fall to...
I am planning a trip to Berlin together with my wife for a week. Initially we wanted to do Berlin-Hamburg on the bicycle, but the plane connections are awful and we decided to do a loopback from an...
With sunblock it's relatively easy to know what to look for in terms of SPF, UV types etc, however with eco-friendly ones that aim to not put chemicals back in the ocean (used by surfers, swimmers,...
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?
I have a backpack with emergency survival gear for my car. The scenario being it might take a couple of days of walking to get someplace that money and/or a credit card will increase my chances of...
Because a number of accidents have occurred when a climber was lowered or rappelled off the end of a rope, it is wise to tie a stopper knot in the end(s) of the rope. My question is what stopper k...
There are a few questions about how to avoid rattlers, and what to do if you're bit, but at what point does a rattler actually strike? I had my first rattler encounter ever yesterday, just out in...
Do Robins like the mixed seed bird food I can buy from the garden centre? What bird feeder should I use for Robins and Tits?
