General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
Filters (None)
As I completed my fourth day of cross-country skiing last Saturday, with several bruises resulting from falls going downhill as I was barely able to control myself, I was curious: Why don't cross-...
Sometimes due to a high ridge or other land feature, the time that the sun comes over the horizon and gives direct sunlight is different from the time calculated by a sunrise table. From personal ...
In response to a question that was asked regarding preventing/treating blisters, a reputed and a respectable climber (DavidR) said: "Having 'duct tape', 'mole skin', or other adhesive products,...
We're looking for an overnight loop near the Boston area. I've checked out the Pemi Loop Hike in New Hampshire, but it's strenuous and we think it might be a little too much for the more novice mem...
You run across a wire cable, or wire fence in the wild, with which you would have to interact in some way. How to check if electricity runs through it without having special tools? EDIT: As the qu...
I am looking for a good 1 person tent, and like some of these. I need a tent that will keep out the rain if needed, but also be open so I can see the sky at night on clear nights. I want enough roo...
Is it safe to follow a equestrian trail and assume I can ford where the horse-trail does? Or should I expect equestrians to ford rivers too deep or swift to ford on foot? I'm thinking of the situ...
My neighbor has asked me to pull their pontoon boat out of the lake to store for winter. However, this particular boat has been beached, so much so that I cannot push it back in to the water which...
I'm going to be a Dad for the first time early next year. My wife and I are very active outdoorsy kind of people. I've started looking at a baby carrier so we can take our wee one out on short walk...
Is it normal for the Evenk/Siberian hitch knot to open out in use, particularly when tied to a large diameter object (think tree) where the rope enters the knot close to right angles from the load?...
Several posts on this side make mention of tent "skirts". For example: A "skirt" at the bottom of the tent, which makes outer tent reach the ground, so wind is not beating into the inner tent; i...
I am looking for an activity watch that lasts at least 20 days, since it's for a trip to the ME Base Camp. It should have these features: 20 days + batteries * HR monitor (chest band/wrist) * ...
In my planned circuit around Höfsjökull in Iceland, the biggest of the 15–20 fords will be Þjórsárkvíslar. Travel writer Fabrizio Frascaroli describes fording this river; I have included an excerp...
I have quite a lot of items with built-in magnets in my backpack, like a mobile phone, an iPod or headphones. How easy is it to destroy my compass by putting it too close to these items?
In a couple of years I hope to cross Iceland east to west through the centre. I understand the roads in central Iceland are only open in the summer. Is that for vehicles only or for walking as well...
In Iceland, off-roading is strictly prohibited. Unfortunately, it still happens and one can find tracks of off-roading all over the central highlands. On the other hand, in the landscape, some ro...
The Iditarod sled dog race is a competition that takes place in Alaska, USA. Each team consists of a musher, who drives the sled, and 16 sled dogs. The race usually starts in Anchorage and ends in ...
When walking on Hofsjökull glacier in Iceland, I wondered: how do people camp on multi-day trekking trips across icecaps, such as when crossing Greenland? My primary choice of tightening a tent is...
I know that in the mountains around Grenoble there are some huts. I would like to go on a two-day hike and spend a night in such hut. I mean how much snow there is? How low can a temperature drop d...
I'm one of these crazy people that tend to wear cargo shorts all year round, and do a lot of hiking and general outdoor activities in them. However, because of this they tend to wear out relatively...
I'm after a pair of binoculars for visiting Nature Reserves to get a better view of colonies of birds on the water (at some distance) etc. Separately I'm interested in aviation and being able to ...
How do hunting licenses work when travelling abroad for hunting? It's not a case of re-locating to a new country, just spending some time there. Is there an international recognition of a national ...
I found these pair of binoculars that were bought at least 15 years ago. Please see the 3 questions in the picture below.
After nearly a decade of regular mountaineering, I am having this issue for the first time. And, I am almost sure to claim that it may not be because of the shoes that I use since I have been using...
Whats are some simple knots to attach a rope to a pole? It involves simply looping around the pole, and then running through one of the ends through the loop and tightening
You should obviously avoid rattlesnakes if at all possible. But if you do get bitten by one, what should you do? What supplies can be brought ahead of time to allow for the best treatment, and what...
I'd like a pair of binoculars for hiking. I don't have a specific use other than for looking off of overlooks, at animals, etc. What are the important things to look for in a good set of binocula...
I was wondering if whippet could be used as a trekking pole? Question arises from hiking on steep hills (no snow, dry grass), where any additional grip would be really helpful. I've read that most ...
Possible Duplicate: How do I treat hot spots and blisters when I have no moleskin? How do I treat a blister? How can I prevent getting them in the first place? I often get blisters in ...
I'm preparing for a (solo if I can't find anyone to go with me) hike on the Long Trail in Vermont. I thru hiked the Appalachian Trail (AT) starting in February, but Georgia is very warm compared to...
I have a pair of Lowa Tibet Pro GTX (Nubuk leather and Gore-Tex Lined) and am wondering what conditioning creme I should use besides the stuff that Lowa sells as I generally like to buy from dedica...
We've applied for corridor campsites for May 2013 - problem was that we applied January 21st. How long does it generally take to hear if we've got reservations? (Our alternative is to wait and ...
Every summer I have a strong desire to go camping on a beach. However, I've discovered that the places near me (Long Island, New York, northern New Jersey) often either: Have a limited number of...
If I were to go mushroom hunting on a hike, Should I trust a field guide, or do a little research on it first? I've heard of too many deaths caused by mushroom eaters making a mistaken identificati...
Decades ago, the rule of thumb was that there were no rattlesnakes above 9,000 feet in the Sierra. I don't remember what the authority for this was. It is definitely warmer in the Sierra now than...
Young rattlesnakes are more deadly than large rattlesnakes, the reason being because when they are young they are more likely to strike, but more importantly because they can't yet control their ve...
From what I understand the most important thing to do when bitten by a rattlesnake is to get to a hospital. I often go on hikes where I am a few hours walk from civilization at the midpoint of my ...
Walking along my property today I came across some very fresh scat. I'm comfortable with identifying deer and black bear droppings, but beyond that I am lost. Can anyone identify these droppings s...
If someone where to fall through the ice on a lake or a pond, what would be some correct ways of rescuing them? This question is inspired mostly by this video, where one person gets too close to t...
I recently purchased a Petzl ice axe and it came with a leash tired to it using a simple knot that allows the length of the leash to be adjusted. I am interested in this knot because I had previo...
I came across this tutorial. But I don't recognise the knot. Can anyone tell me the name of this knot? Is this the correct knot for this use? Any alternatives techniques for this or am I good...
I stumbled across it and I saw it in a showcase. I couldn't recognize it. It looks like it's a way to tie fixed loops in the middle of a rope.
Twice this summer, I've found some little brown domes / nodules attached to the window sills or the porch railing. They seem to be made by some sort of insect and I think when I removed them, there...
I was down at high rock lake N.C. and I was making a little map of the shore lines in my kayak, or at least going to. I ran into a problem, I could not judge the distance from the last mark I made ...
From what I understand of the history, Yosemite Decimal System (YDS) grades came about when class 5 in the preexisting system was subdivided into 5.0 through 5.9. This was done by Chuck Wilts, Roya...
I found this tonight on the external wall: Location: UK (south) I have a feeling it is a young green fang spider, please correct me if I am wrong. And the most importantly, is it venomous?
In August of 2015, my husband and I were out for a walk at the Wachusett Reservoir, in Central Massachusetts. It was the same walk, including day and time, as in this question. We stopped at the w...
On some backpacking trips a car could be left for a couple of weeks, what can I do to ensure that when I return the mice aren't inside and the squirrels are leaving the wiring alone?
The Kenow fire burned ~38,100 hectares of forest in BC and in Waterton Lakes National Park. There are rumours surfacing about the number of animals found dead in the park thus far. Ground crews hav...
One of the things you can do with a retired climbing rope is to decore it (remove the main center section), and turn the sheath into rope bracelets. The last time I decored a rope I cut it into a...
