General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
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Thinking about getting a small packaway rain jacket to keep in the car for emergencies like this or this. However, I'm slightly worried at the amount of bad weather they could withstand going by ...
I am planning a homebuilt sailing craft that uses a sail similar to the Sunfish (image below) I have seen a few homebuilt sails that use metal electrical conduit for the mast and spars, and am work...
A recent comment Cows eat grass, doesn't mean you can! got me thinking. Corn, wheat, rice, etc are all grass that we eat regularly. I am not sure the human race could survive on the planet...
I have been an avid diver for over a decade. Once upon a time, I wanted to get my divemaster certification in order to work (for a short time) as a divemaster. However, that ship has since sailed, ...
When a diver goes deeper, the air goes into the lung is compressed, compared to the state of air at sea-level ground. Accordingly, the oxygen partial pressure is higher than the ground. If a diver ...
I'm having what seems to be an unusual problem. After equalizing, it seems like my mask is filling with air and starts to pull away from my face and fill with water. I can press it back on my face ...
The snow pack of 2014 - 2015 in the Sierra was an unprecedented low of 5% of normal. Thankfully, the snow pack of 2015-2016 was close to normal. We will be in the western Sierra in two weeks, and...
I'm looking to explore the a number of High Sierra lakes in California's John Muir Wilderness; specifically in Humphreys Basin. Geology (from photographs) appears severe with rock, scree, and debri...
I am thinking of buying a satellite check in device. I often go alone, and would like to upgrade from the system of of always letting someone know where I am going and when to expect me back. The ...
As part of my everyday carry gear, I'm looking at including a slingshot for taking game birds whilst hiking. However I've never used one, what should I be looking for in a catapult when purchasin...
I'm looking for alternative ways of hunting small game(rabbits, pidgeon etc.) besides a rifle/pistol, and the requirements I have found to be the most important are: Effective - Gaining more calo...
After using tape gloves for crack climbing, I always have some tape gunk left over on my skin. While it doesn't hurt and goes away a few days of rigorous scrubbing, it doesn't look super great at t...
When bay/inshore fishing from a boat, one can drift fish (where you let the tide carry your boat) and anchor fish (where you anchor your boat to one spot). Besides the obvious, what are the differe...
The past couple years I've been taking a homemade raft out onto the Charles River in Boston to see the fireworks on July 4th (think an old boxspring mattress holding 4 people). One problem we alway...
Carabiners like this one, Image Source are called HMS carabiners. Why are they called that and what does HMS stand for?
I have an idea to attach a small spinning reel abu silver max 5, to an ugly stik 7'6" medium light casting reel (which I already own), to fish sub 10 gram lures and live bait. Anyone see a major p...
Should a woman legitimately fear to be assaulted or raped on popular backpacking trails in the US when hiking by herself? How common are attacks of that nature? How does it compare to residential a...
I am moving to a different state soon. In order to make the move easier I have decided to sell some of my firearms. I live in a state that doesn't have universal background checks, unfortunately. ...
Sometimes, one needs to get up for an alpine start i.e. really, really early, and yet not have a functioning alarm. Cell phones have a tendency to lose the correct time when shut off and then turne...
Sometimes climbers/mountaineers will say that they are getting an alpine start. What does this mean and why would they want to do this?
Is there a definite way of approximating the time remaining before sun is set and it starts getting dark? I do understand that there is a time difference between 'Sunset' and the 'moment when it g...
Related to this question, if I'm camping and hiking on my own, I'm obviously at more of a risk than if I were with someone, and some key tasks will definitely be harder with no-one to assist (such ...
I have been told that climbing cracks is very much a methodical procedure. Especially in places like Yosemite and Indian creek, where the cracks can be the only feature of the rock that can be used...
My daughter does crack climbing and wanted me to see if I could find some latex free tape. Her hands are sensitive to the latex. Are there any latex free climbing tapes?
For technical face climbing, there are some really good online instructional videos (on youtube) by Neil Gresham. Can anyone recommend similar instructional videos for crack technique?
I've been climbing off and on since I was a teenager, but one thing I've never done much of is taping my hands. As I gained more experience, it's value is now apparent. What are some good techniq...
The other day I used some mysterious, ultra-sticky climbing-tape at my local gym, which got me thinking: How much should I be paying for my tape? Prices for climbing-specific tape seem to be somew...
I know there are dangerous plants and fruits to eat, but are there any basic rules one can use when in an emergency situation that apply to all safe foods? The 'rules' don't necessarily have to app...
I know that they are full of starch and fat. I also know that deer and boars eat them. Is it safe for a human to eat them?
I've recently gotten into foraging for mushrooms locally and have been happily eating field mushrooms and giant puffballs (these are absolutely delicious if you can find them BTW). I was reading ...
Hiking/ trekking might possibly make you feel anxious especially while hiking solo. Music can soothe your mind and motivate you a lot. I would like to know the possible dangers/loss due to list...
I have the next week off and I was thinking about exploring some parks in Ontario (e.g: Algonquin). I am prepared for the colder weather and am thinking of doing some trails. Some people I've talke...
We've completed the Annapurna trek from Bhulbhule to Muktinath in 11 days without special difficulties or knee aches. How much harder would the Haute Route be? Would you consider doing the Tour du...
Recently climbed a summit name Stok Kangri(6153m) in Leh, India. I wanted to know if there are similar high altitude peaks which can be climbed without much of mountaineering expertise required in ...
I bought a sport harness and a rescue harness. I'm just wondering if i can use them interchangeably.
So backstory behind the title! My mother is in her late 40's and has decided that next year, starting in April, she is going to hike the full Appalachian Trail. Now I know next to nothing about the...
I've snorkeled only in Hawaii, the Seychelles, Palau and Yap and never seen anything but healthy sites with no bleached coral -- maybe because I was with guides who knew the area. Thus, I am spoil...
I am temporarily relocating from a region with mild climate to Montréal. I run almost every day, in summer and winter, as the temperatures rarely go much below freezing point. Now, I guess I will h...
I've spent a lot more time cross-country skiing than I have snowshoeing, but have some snowshoeing opportunities available to me in the near future. In the few times I have gone snowshoeing, I've b...
I have experience in backpacking but have no climbing experience. I am trying to learn how to camp on top of mountains after class 2 or 3 climbing. My motive is to take sunrise and sunset photos. A...
I am from the Midwest and it is very common to plant food plots for deer hunting or hunt over a flooded cornfield(with planted millet for ducks). This is completely legal here. But as soon as you t...
I have read several blogs and watched videos on hunting where I have heard people use the term glass. I have no idea what it means and I have found very little on Google about what it could mean. ...
I was just going through the details about processes and dependencies, and associated tough-nuts with planning and executing a trek to Everest Base Camp from Nepal side. In the same context, I had ...
I was inspired by the question "What should one do when climbing if someone above you yells ROCK?" to ask what the equivalents are around the world. So, what would I shout to warn someone below me...
I see a lot of posts in archery which contains topics about the "draw weight" or "poundage". I assume that it doesn't have to do anything with the actual weight of the bow. So, what does it mean ...
When ice skating on a frozen lake or river, how thick should the ice be in order to have fairly high confidence you aren't going to fall through? A small drill (for ice fishing) is available to de...
I'm a cartographer specialized in trekking/hiking maps in scale from 1:75.000 to 1:25.000 for regions without any accessible base maps. Now, I'm looking for new work for the next projects :) Perha...
I want to climb a mountain with my daughter. There is a glacier on the route that we should cross. Other routes take much longer or are technically more difficult. The glacier does not have many ...
The old saying goes that Innuit have a 1000 names for snow (as @venture2099 says this isn't actually true but you get my point). This kind of makes sense to describe the various states and types of...
My wife and I are thinking of taking a road trip from northwest Ohio to "out west" - Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Montana, etc. I've never been farther west than Indiana, so it's a whole new terr...
