General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
I understand that when you see animal droppings in the wilderness, it's referred to as "scat." I have heard scat referred to when referencing bear, coyote and mountain lion droppings. Is this the...
The ducklings are getting much bigger very quickly, to the point that it's almost hard to tell the mother duck from the ducklings, (mother duck in back of procession) How much bigger are these d...
Last September my wife and I went surfing in Peniche (Portugal). We took a beginners course there. We had a lot of fun but I found the greenwaves and their strength when they come crashing down on ...
One of the hardest routes on El Cap, The Dawn Wall, was done by Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson in January 2015. What are some of the reasons to choose to climb such a hard route in winter, when ...
Edit: Thank you for all the helpful replies. I will have to go through them all now, and I will pick the best fitting one for my question. I will go backpacking in the summer of this year, for abo...
My vehicle has broken down in the middle of a desert, I have some tools but I am out of water. I have the ability to make a fire. I know that drinking antifreeze is fatal, but I am wondering i...
I'm working on a story where a character gets trapped in a cave but use his knowledge as a weatherman to navigate and escape! Are the any weather-related clues you could use to escape a cave specif...
I've picked up a hand chainsaw for the woods as it's cheap and an amazing bit of kit. UK law states the legal carry for a knife is less than 3 inches and must be a non-locking folding blade. Wi...
Does anyone know what black dots mean on an OS Explorer map? There are a lot of them on the map of Kinder Scout in the Peak District (UK). I know the black dashed line is a footpath, I am asking ...
I have seen two articles about bloodsucking lampreys in UK rivers, which warn swimmers about the risks of lamprey attacks when swimming in rivers and lakes. Our river lamprey spend their adult live...
If I want to ascend a rope with minimal equipment, I use 2 Prusiks: one tied to my harness, and the second one for my foot. However, there are two ways to arrange the Prusiks on the rope - the foo...
So every winter working in the dry cold, my skin, on my hands and feet, cracks. Particularly between my fingers and toes. What can I do to prevent this?
I was looking at jawbone 2 xtreme blanks, the sledgehammer model is 10' with 100-250 pound line rating. It's E glass with 28-36 ounce lure rating. I've been looking all over the Internet for someth...
There is a spectrum of sole stiffness in boots, from full shank on mountaineering boots to the easily bendable ones on really cheap boots. The way to test is to push in on the shoe lengthwise and s...
On my last bike ride I was riding on a trail and I was going pretty fast, fast enough that I went around a corner really fast and there was a doe right in front of me. I stopped as fast as I could....
Assuming firewood can be found, but it's likely to be damp, how can I best be prepared for getting a fire going? This is for a light hiking situation, so I'm not going to carry a sack full of kindl...
So I have wanted to catch sharks like 7 gill in california and I have some questions about reels and rods. So I want to be able to cast my bait out to where the sharks are but most people seem to ...
On the river I have been fishing, there is a section where the road was rerouted, and another where a dam was torn out. In both cases, those sections of river have fewer bushes and trees and the gr...
I'm going to be doing some winter hiking in parks where there are going to be a lot of hunters. Probably only during bow hunting season for deer in NJ. I'll be getting some blaze hats but for the v...
My friend and I had an argument about this topic. He says that the cold air in the mattress will stay at the ambient temperature, so if it's -20 outside the air in the mattress will stay at -20 so ...
A small group (2-10 people total) is travelling in a wilderness area. For whatever reason a person or a couple get separated. What is the best strategy for the lost ones? What is the best strategy ...
Background I am looking at compasses for backpacking and camping, and have come across more compass varieties than I had ever thought possible. Three terms that often come up together are "prismat...
As far as I know, boars are pretty aggressive when they have piglets. In the appropriate season, one might happen to hike into the path of an overprotective mother and get attacked. How do I reac...
I've had now a couple of days when going rock climbing while the temperatures are below the general comfort zone (meaning below 6 °C/ 43 °F). When starting to climb, my fingers got cold rather fas...
I've been having a problem where my hand skin starts to crack and peel on extended climbing trips and I can't get it heal, even by taking several rest days in a row. Instead, it just gets worse and...
I just returned from a five day trip during which we used a friend's Solo Stove (wood burner). My pots are now covered with a thick, sticky, black layer of creosote. I've tried steel wool and soa...
I started to track my finished routes and I cannot find anywhere a definiton of an attempt. Of course if I try to send the route, give up in falf, go down, have a snack and then go again and finish...
I live in an area with a lot of lakes/ponds, with many paths around them. Many humans and dogs enjoy walking on these paths. However, the Canada geese have recently set up shop on the lakes. They d...
I'm soon to embark on a chilly scuba dive around 5-7C at 18m, of which we'll be wearing 7mm semi-drys with shorties. The next thickest I think is actually a drysuit for really cold waters, but not ...
A strap running through a buckle is typically easy to loosen and tighten as desired. Usually, it stays in place. Sometimes, however, it slowly (or quickly) works its way loose, as though the thickn...
Let us say we have around 0 degrees celsius and I have wet feet and I am in the middle of nowhere (let us say 2 days away from any civilisation). On the one hand people say it is no problem to walk...
There are a lot of interesting things in nature, but of all land vertebrates, birding has highly disproportionate attention. People (perhaps including birding enthusiasts) may note and appreciate m...
Target shooting is expressly permitted on National Forest Lands. However, finding a good place to do it is not necessarily straightforward. What would be good strategies to find a place to target ...
I am interested in hearing how people take their dslrs (digital single lens reflex camera) onto multi-pitch-rock-climbs. I have carried mine up in a small pack, but I end up taking hardly any pictu...
Being a bright red berry the old saying about avoiding red berries sticks to mind but I do remember reading that Hawthorn berries, or Haws, are edible... Is this true? Is there a seed to watch out...
Where I work, there is a rather large population of Spotted Lanternflies around our office building. From what I've read, they are considered invasive species and quite a problem this year in ...
I have been trying to find a list of water sources that should be avoided. I have checked online and looked at several water companies, e.g. Scottish Water. I haven't found any information on which...
In Poland Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society (PTTK), has created set of badges that can be awarded to tourists for various achievements in different activities (hiking, skiing, kayaking, etc). ...
I was chacking a map to see access rights on a particular route I know. I was checking if a path was a bridleway or footpath as I know Mountain Bikes should only use bridleways. Studying the key cl...
I have Osprey Atmos AG 50 and I am trying to buy a rain cover for it. There are two sizes in Ultralight rain cover model.One is 'M' size (upto 50 L) and another is 'L' size (50-75 L). Have anyone b...
How can I handle multiple months of menstrual cycles on a long trek like the Appalachian Trail? I am asking about how to handle the mess. Here are my personal considerations: Using hormonal bir...
Stand Up Paddleboards (SUP) come in both inflatable and rigid. What should I consider when choosing between the two styles?
I'm working on a survival story and want to make it authentic. If you were stranded on a mountain trying to get down as fast as possible, what would you do? EDIT: What if this was after a plane cr...
What is the best technique to lock a trucker's hitch in a strong way that's also easy to release, but most important, that doesn't loose any (or the least amount of) tension in the line, when I loc...
I've been using a trucker's hitch knot for a very long time (camping, strapping stuff down, line length adjustment, pulley system) I've always switched my mid-line loop when I've come to not trust ...
I often need to tension a rope between two trees, usually 20-30 ft apart. I am not skilled with knots so it is often sloppy and the tension doesn't hold even very modest weight (such as clothes or ...
On the morning of September 11, 2001, two airplanes flew into the "Twin Towers," part of the hub of the World Trade Center in New York City, United States. The towers, which at one time had been th...
I've never had a stamina or ache problem with rowing a row-boat or paddling a canoe, although my limits have declined with age. However, my arms and shoulders tired very quickly the few times I tr...
I was wondering whether the deer would be able to smell bug repellent if you are wearing some while out hunting. Is there a specific type of bug repellent that can be used that is less likely to m...
Assuming I am not allergic, or showing signs of allergic reaction, what's the best way to treat multiple yellow jacket (a type of wasp) stings in the outdoors while hiking/backpacking? My key conc...
