General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
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According to leave-no-trace principles, one should bury human waste (poo). But burying damages plants and roots. Is this really always better than not burying it and pooing on the surface? (Of c...
There are pictures of bobcats climbing on top of really tall cacti, the one story I read says that the reason the bobcat climbed the tree was to get away from a mountian lion who was trying give it...
I was on the canoe trail at Presque Isle today, and there were large fish splashing in the shallows all over the place. We learned from a passerby that it was carp mating season, and the splash w...
I have a rope of 10 m which supports 3 kN (300 kg) strength. I will abseil with it as a single rope. I want to know what is the recommended knot to use when attaching the top with my anchor's cara...
I've always heard that moss grows on the north side of a tree. Presumably, this is because conditions on the north side, at least in the northern hemisphere, tend to get less sunlight and are damp...
If I'm out in the wilderness and want to catch fish to survive, what are some ways I can do this without a conventional fishing pole/line?
Where can I find free electronic topographic map that cover the entire West Coast Trail in Canada? I'm trying to print them and bring them for my thru hike.
In my past experiences running on trails, the paths are demarcated for hikers and bikers and I learned about these running-appropriate paths through word of mouth and in person park information. Af...
I want to have a look in other aiming methods and tried to start off with "gap shooting". However, I'm not quite sure whether to leave both eyes open or one eye closed. What is the right thing to d...
Assume that the victim is a healthy rational adult. I've chanced on snakes while trekking in nature. So I was stunned to read about this tragedy where: Not realising she had been attacked, th...
We were in a central European forest last weekend and discovered a few places where a bunch of sticks were leaned against a tree. They build kind of a circle so that it looked like a small hut. How...
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 was up at Presque Isle (Erie PA) today and the water level was a foot or more higher than I when I was up there in the summer last year. I kind of surprised as I did not think it would be subject...
Several weeks ago, I read an article in The Economist about the Elfstedentocht, a 120 mile long Dutch ice-skating race. The race is held only in years when the canal ice is strong enough to safely ...
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...
Sometimes while camping in forests, there will be dead trees around, or in forests where there was a fire, a high percentage of the trees will be dead. While it is not extremely likely that a tree ...
Exploring the woods of the Adirondack Mountains, this gelatinous blob was found near the edge of standing water on a logging road. The entire length of this thing is probably just under 10 inches a...
I was out caving yesterday and apparently picked up a passenger on the trail either on the way up or back down the mountain. I discovered it in my hair on the back of my head while showering. It...
Is it safe for someone who doesn't react to poison ivy to eat the berries? I am not going to try it without authority from someone who knows. Is it like smoke from burning vines, that can affect ev...
I'm interested in building a small Lincoln-log style cabin (more like a shed, <200 square feet) in hardiness zone 4/5 of northeast USA. Available timbers are mostly red spruce, some eastern heml...
I was out hunting last weekend (end of October) near Yellow Pine, Idaho. While walking up a hill during the late morning with moderate timber coverage (thin enough to ski comfortably but thick enou...
The defining feature of a climbing rope (arguably) is its dynamic properties, i.e. it stops your fall gradually to decrease the peak force. Not exceeding a fixed peak force is a/the integral criter...
Just recently, a photographer was watching some foxes hunt rabbits. One of the foxes caught a rabbit when a bald eagle swooped down grabbed the rabbit and pulled both rabbit and fox into the air. T...
I found the remains a of a porcupine in the woods, with nothing left but quills and hair. As porcupines are pretty well protected by their quills, what types of animals would be capable of killi...
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...
I've just recently gotten into climbing and so far the ropes have always been provided for me. I'm starting to look at getting my own rope for outside climbing, and am confused by some of the termi...
I'm going to be hiking the ice age trail in the Northern unit, between shelter 1 and 2. Do you think I would be fine to just pull off the trail and find a good spot to pitch a tent in an unoffici...
We have a wild Red Eared turtle laying eggs in our yard. What can we do to keep animals from getting to their eggs? We had a turtle to lay eggs about two weeks ago and the next morning, something ...
As someone who frequents valleys, I was unhinged to learn of Dax Cowart's calamity beneath. What types of alfresco terrain ought I most beware? It obviously can happen only in small hollows in ...
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 started reading Petzl's tech tips for mountaineering. While on the section for Crossing a Bergschrund, specifically in the part for Belaying a leader we have the following warning: Warning: t...
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...
A lot of outdoor gear has warnings like the following, WARNING: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. ...
Is it actually useful to ration food? What is the difference between eating a little bit of food at an interval and eating enough to be full at once? I'm getting the same amount of calories/nutr...
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?
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...
I have a mapcase made of clear plastic (PVC I think). It has a roll top held shut with velcro. Both sides of the velcro were attached by some sort of welding process but one of them has completel...
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 was going through the REI website for some of the products and I stumbled upon this one here. It's called Y & Y VERTICAL Classic Belay Glasses The product punchline says: Stop wrenching...
As a present I was recently given a Pelican Odyssey 100X. Before getting that I had fished using a neighbor's regular kayak. Is fishing from the shore the same as fishing off of a kayak, and is k...
I'm wondering what general fitness would suffice to hike to the base camp of Everest? Does it requires special fitness regime and focus on main body parts like legs and core strength?
I've come across a lot of articles talking of breathing techniques while running. However, I've not come across any which talks of breathing techniques for tough hikes (tough in terms of inclinatio...
I'm a snowboarder. In preparation for a skitour trip, I was on the lookout for splitboards. But it turns out that even renting them can be a bit of a hassle and/or is quite expensive. As availabil...
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 like cliff-diving, but I am always scared that there might be a rock hidden in the water. If it is a popular spot, then I just trust that someone has already done the work, but what if I am going...
I'm pretty comfortable with my technique to stay hydrated, but I am curious about estimating how much liquid is actually involved. I generally am just concerned with getting rid of it, but occasion...
A naive estimate of one gallon bucket a second is 60 gal/min for a well staffed and equipped line, but is there any data on how much water can be moved by bucket in less than ideal conditions? Spe...
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...
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...
