General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
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I'm looking for a freely accessible website that provides access to recent high-resolution (<~1–5 km) satellite-based snowcover estimates (snow / no-snow). Many meteorology websites provide an i...
Is it good idea to use city tickets for public transport (laminated or in string bags) as exchange objects or traveller objects (krets)? Are such items welcomed by the geocachers community? From t...
I've been watching a LOT of snare/trap setting videos. They spend an lot of time making the snares nigh invisible. None of these snares would seriously injure a person, but I would like to avoid ...
I use a Therm-a-Rest NeoAir sleeping pad. This is not self inflating, so I have to breathe in to the sleeping pad to inflate it. Are there any precautions for storing the bag to avoid gnarly bac...
Student mountain guides clubs are very active in Poland. They are organizing non-commercial mountain backpacking trips, where participants have to pay only their part of costs, such as when you tra...
I was trying to find statistics for the number of caches in Germany, that are registered in portal opencaching.de, a free of change and open alternative to GeoCaching.com. But I've failed to find s...
Well does it? Or does it only grow on one side? Or does it grow only on the side further from the equator? Is there any truth to this old adage?
Kevin did a nice job of providing a quality answer here for how to find the leak if you are at home. However I usually realize I have a leak when it deflates under me in the middle of the night. ...
My white full Dyneema backpack is old and dirty and stained. How do I clean it? Can I wash it in chlorine bleach or some other fabric bleaching chemical? If so, how? Even if the bleaching agent d...
3 of my lower vertebra have irreparable damage, so I have various workarounds to minimise pain and swelling at home and in the office, and even on short term hikes (ibuprofen FTW) but on a longer h...
I went camping a week ago and it was so cold. I woke up many times at night shaking because of the cold. I have a cheap and old Wal-Mart sleeping bag, and I am thinking about buying one of these $1...
The Question Can I store my white gas fuel canister with the stove pump attached? Follow-up Questions Is it safe to store white gas fuel canisters partially filled with white gas? Does this h...
I've not found a "must read," general information (news, trends, photos, product reviews, etc.) rock climbing website. Climbing.com, for example, is riddled with missing images and dead links, whi...
When I go on hiking trips, I wear proper boots. However, when I lace them tight, my ankles swell terribly after a few hours and start feeling funny (bending the joint feels like touching a balloon)...
I have a Showers Pass Portland Rain Jacket. The manufacturer recommends using Nikwax TX Direct Spray On to maintain waterproofing properties. How much should I apply to the jacket? How do I know i...
How much garlic should I use in the mountain kitchen during backpacking camps? I'm asking from the perspective of the person who wants to plan such a camp and the menu on it. Walking a lot with a ...
As I understand it, water purification tablets (Chlorine, in this case) are just chemical tablets sealed in foil. So what causes them to expire? Are they still safe to use after their expiration da...
I answered a question about rope safety with some advice about retiring the rope after a "major" fall. Another user asked me what would constitute a major fall - and I have to admit that I can only...
While kayaking or swimming out in the open waters, it is quite important to be able to judge distances accurately before attempting to get from one point to another, such as from island to island. ...
Are there specific seasons or temperatures that increase the likelihood that a hiker would encounter a snake? I go backpacking solo in the mid-Atlantic (US) and carry a snakebite kit as an extra pr...
I'm planning on doing some back country canoe camping this summer. I would like to avoid bringing a hatchet if possible. I also find my folding knifes get full of gunk and I am a little bit afrai...
What do you do before setting up your tent when the your camping site is either: full of rocks ? not flat ?
At a casual look, grass with a bit of surface water on it can look very similar to a potentially deadly marsh, and in many rural places there can be lots of both after it's been raining! In dry wea...
I read with interest about news of a scuba diver being stranded in the open sea when the diving operator failed to account for all members of a group. Mishaps like this and accidents such as boat c...
I'm currently looking to buy a new tent. The old one had a floor that was said to withstand a hydrostatic head of 10000 mm, but the tents I find in the stores here go to at most 3000 mm for the flo...
Many outdoor areas that have bears have bear bag-lines setup for hikers. In situations where the bear-bag line is not there or it is full, what dimensions should I keep in mind to protect my goodi...
We didn't always have the weather forecast available everywhere, and there's times when it would be useful to be able to be able to take a good guess at weather conditions in the near future by loo...
I've been whitewater rafting (and inadvertent whitewater canoeing ;) a couple times, and I'd like to get a bunch of friends together to go with me. I'd bring enough people to fill a raft (5 or 6), ...
The accessories I'm looking for are things like propane trees and hoses, and obviously stoves, heaters, and lanterns are self explanatory. Nobody seems to talk about where things are made anymore, ...
I'm looking to buy a used backpack in the near future. What are the key things I should look out for/avoid when inspecting used paks?
I've seen walking poles range from <£10 to >£100 - and to a casual observer there doesn't often seem to be much to distinguish them, with both having good grips and shock relief / suspension....
I just moved to a new place (Edmonton, Alberta) and I wasn't really prepared for the strange weather here. My room is really hot right now and I want to sit outside for a bit in the rain where it'...
Is there a relatively reliable way of calculating the time until sunset, without any specialist equipment, when I'm in the wilderness?
Are there some numbers on how much vertical distance can people make in a day’s hike? I know that greatly depends on fitness and other factors, but I’d be happy with some statistical curve that wou...
I want to buy a large group tent. I want it to be our communal cooking/dining tent. I'm look at things like the Mountain Hardware Yurtini or Space Station but it won't be used at altitude (so the l...
I just acquired a used Yamaha 50TLR. I'd like to know what kind of routine maintenance I should preform to keep it in good working order.
The steering on my Yamaha 50TLR outboard motor is very stiff. What can I do to make it easier to steer?
How is two-strand cord braided? What shape cordage material works best for this technique? Do you need to start from relatively round cordage or can something strong but more flat (like a tough gr...
I came across the following comment (From durable 3-season bag.): don't forget that synthetic doesn't last nearly as long even if you take extremely good care of it (i.e. never compress it) – R...
So I know that most swimming in rapids should be defensive, on your back feet together and pointed downstream. However, there are times you need some good aggressive swimming to get to an eddie or ...
Will the boiling of the water itself be enough to decontaminate water taken from such standing water reservoir as that: This water looks horrible, and probably drinking it raw would cause serial ...
In ultralight or lightweight hiking, "pack weight" is a very common number to discuss. What does pack weight exclude? Is it limited to just what's in your pack, or does it also include clothes, s...
Geocaching is a great fun, but it is oriented on GPS devices. I'd like to participate in searching caches, which location is given on the map (full, or fragmented, or just a drawing) - like in orie...
I'm looking to hike the Grand Canyon (found out that as a single I do have a good shot at securing the permit!), and now I'm trying to make sure I carry as little as possible on said hike. First t...
I have heard different things from different people, but here in the South West we do a decent amount of desert hiking. Protection from bugs is usually little concern because most of the time in t...
Following on from this question, what searching methods and techniques are best used in scenarios where a single group member (or perhaps couple of group members) become lost and separated from a g...
Perhaps you've heard about Aimee Copeland, the 24-year-old adventurer who contracted a flesh-eating disease after getting injured in a zip line accident over the Tallapoosa River. She's already los...
The black waterproof rubber seal round my Garmin etrex h has just started to peel away, and while not a major issue at the moment I don't really want to use it in the rough when it's waterproofing ...
For short hikes you can generally ignore nutritional concerns, because you don't generally become malnourished in two days. However, for a long trip like the Appalachian Trail or other long hikes ...
Possible Duplicate: Navigational gear worldwide I'm not that well travelled (never been outside of Europe!) but at some point I'd love to head elsewhere to perhaps hike somewhere a bit m...
