General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
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Mt St. Elias is a mountain on the border of Canada and Alaska. I believe it has the fastest relief from sea level of any mountain in the world. I've read somewhere that it has a higher mortality ...
I recently bought a knife that near the handle end of the blade has a sharp, curved part: I don’t think it’s a choil because it’s sharp. What is its use? I thought something to do with stripping...
Take for example the picture below, taken in the Erawan National Park. The surface of the waterfall is a shade of white, maybe from calcium(?) and it actually very coarse. Even though it's somewhat...
How would I go about taking a compass bearing of a distant peak and then relate this to the information on a standard map?
There is a video where a couple of people are walking on extremely clear lake ice. Usually, lake ice is far less clear, what conditions on this lake would lead to the unusual clarity?
While hiking to see the Grand Canyon on the North side, I found this grey and orange lizard running through some downed brush and logs (center of picture). Would anyone know what type of lizar...
I'm am amateur orienteer that does a fair chunk of races. I'm reasonably decent at navigating - using attack points, bearings, contours, catching features etc. But I cannot follow a bearing accur...
I will have a trip by the end of this month to a northern country to "escape the heat" where I live in, and I would definitely want to do some swimming at some best beaches there. The expected wate...
Suppose you are out hiking, many hours from the trail head and someone has a severe allergic reaction (ie, anaphylactic shock or Anaphylaxis). In this case, what is the best course of treatment to...
What is the risk from being exposed to chronic wasting disease (CWD) from hunting Elk, Deer or Moose as a hunter in the United States?
Chronic wasting disease is a fatal disease that affects members of the deer family. It has always been something to watch out for when hunting because you don't want to eat meat from animals that h...
Walking barefoot makes skin on the soles very hard. Indigenous tribes that have no boots are walking barefoot even on the sharp rocks. But after my leg was slightly slit by the seaweed, I wonder i...
I spent much of today cycling around quiet country lanes in South Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Oxfordshire, and saw at least 6 dead badgers on the road. I saw a few others earlier in the week on ...
Some forests in the Western United States will have been logged at different times and by different methods i.e. clearcut vs selective logging. As time goes by, the trees will grow back but this r...
I love rock climbing and I try to go to my local gym and boulder as often as possible (usually 2-3 times a week). But it's really hard for me to climb for any extended period of time because my arm...
When I first started (indoor) bouldering, I wasn't quite sure if I was ready to commit to it, so I went and bought a pair of shoes in the sale that were relatively cheap (or at least cheaper than c...
In this question a couple years ago: What do life jacket ratings mean (Type I, Type II, etc)?, we see the traditional types many of us learned about in Boating Safety courses, or in Scout/ Youth ca...
Both effectively do the same job, grip a rope as an auto bloc or an ascender. What are the pros and cons of each? Why/when would I choose one over the other?
I'm planning on taking a trip across the US and was planning on doing as much dispersed camping (a.k.a.backcountry camping) as possible. I wanted to educate myself on where it is legal to go off tr...
I was walking my dog along this one stretch of side walk in my neighborhood and there are a few of these trees lined up along it. They have a fuzzy seed pod (or perhaps a flower pod?) that reminds...
This is going out primarily to those who have been climbing for 20yrs + Back in the day, helmet use was optional and not particularly popular. These days, things seemed to have taken a dramatic cha...
RIMO III is one the 6 peaks of the Rimo mountain massif, situated in Indian Kashmir. First ascent: 1985, by an Indian/ British expedition led by Harish Kapadia. Can't find the exact date of this ...
When I was in Boy Scouts every month we went camping places that seemed to be deep in the woods with no one else around within hiking distance. When I go to reserve a campsite as an adult they're ...
Sometimes when clipping in people who are rappelling, or setting up anchors in some places from above or showing people how to get onto a fixed line, I need an adjustable tether. I often carry a n...
We're an Aussie family heading over to the USA in September. We're hoping to go hiking/camping at Yosemite. :) We looking to hire a car from San Fran, drive to Yosemite and then: Hike day 1 and ...
I am trying to connect 12lb leadline (lead removed for knot) to a 6lb flurocarbon leader but when I tie them with a double uni knot the flurocarbon breaks when pulling it tight. I have tried a cou...
It's been said by a specialist doctor that any form of mountain descent would affect your knee caps. Do old mountaineers have knee problems? Is it related to the way you descend?
During an internet search for fun places to go in the Western United States, I came across a number of articles about an unusual rock formation in Oregon called Duckbill. It was called iconic, trea...
One of the more useful knots for climbing is the Purcell prusik (related to but not a regular prussik), which can be used as an adjustable tether or for ascending a rope among other things. How wo...
I've got a thermos for coffee and/or water storage that I use on hikes and for bike touring since it keeps things hot for hours. However, it seems like the inside is rusting a bit. Is this safe...
This question is not a duplicate of either (1) Ice skating on a frozen lake -- how thick should the ice be?, which only asks how thick the ice should be; or (2) How to determine the thickness of i...
I would like to enjoy autumn in Yugyd Va National Park. In Northern Scandinavia, I have experienced that the peak autumn colours are approximately 25 August to 15 September in the Swedish and Finn...
I've imagined this scenario many times: you break through a snow bridge and fall into a hidden crevasse, how should you react? The fear is, if you're wearing crampons, your foot may snag the ice du...
I'm planning a Yosemite trip for this summer. In reading up on the rules on fire restrictions, I saw this: When and where fire restrictions are not in effect, wood fires are allowed in existing...
Long & Gaines Climbing Anchors says: Jim Bridwell, one of the most experienced climbers in the history of the sport, uses only four knots for any and all climbing situations. Better to ...
In order for knives to be useful, they need to be sharp. If I am sharpening one myself, how do I know when I am done? What would be a simple easy test of whether a knife is sharp enough?
The picture below was taken at the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek, a park with lots of flowers and vegetatation in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Can anyone identify the bug I found there, shown in the picture be...
I was lucky enough to spot an unusual animal in my back yard this evening, here's a photo... ... well I say unusual, but that is because this is the first one I've ever seen in my back garden. T...
When camping in bad weather I'm always asking myself if it is a good idea to cook in my tent with a gas cooker. Obviously there is the danger of fire. But how dangerous is this really? Can you easi...
Growing up we had an old aluminum canoe. It looked kind of ugly, and had some dents, but it was a great boat. Over the past 5 years I've been in various sporting goods stores in California, Colorad...
A friend of mine told me that elephants used for tourism in Thailand are mistreated. They are taken away from their mothers in the wilderness and brought to a station where they are tortured to mak...
I heard that light colors attract less insects than dark, that dark colors could be warmer, and I was advised against wearing white in the jungle. Where can I get a comprehensive list of the effect...
I have enough experience with mountain hiking, but in the area where I live (the Alps), the wind rarelly gets extremelly strong, so I have no idea about judging when it is actually unsafe to hike b...
I was taking a hike through Khao Yai National Park when I came across the centipede below. Can anyone identify what animal it is more specifically? It's been a few years and I only took this pic...
Single-wall tents are made from waterproof breathable material, which is heavier and more expensive than a simple impermeable layer. But if a single-wall tent were made of impermeable material, ...
I live in Massachusetts, in the Northeastern region of the United States. As a lover of bees, I'd like to learn how to identify some varieties, including their behavior, and how they're raised. M...
Cedar is a great example of a log that makes a good log cabin foundation. Solid and naturally rot resistant. Are there other species' logs suitable as foundations in northeast USA? Rocks can also b...
We have a large number of chipmunks, probably mostly Eastern Chipmunk, Tamias striatus, in our yard in Massachusetts. There are different sizes and a large variation in markings. The behavior appea...
I need to bring two branches of a palm tree/bush together. So I need a knot that is secure under tension but can also be progressively tightened. What knot would you recommend?
In answers to a recent question, ultrasonic dog repellers were suggested as a means of self defence against stray dogs rather than weapons. I'm also concerned with loose farm dogs, and live somewhe...
