General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
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After a season of skiing in rental boots of all sorts, I want to buy my own pair. My options are: a local shop in a country where there's no snow and the prices are so high, online deals that ...
We have a number of questions dealing with how start climbing, how to learn it (and how not to learn it) - e.g. Is it realistic to teach yourself rock climbing?, What to teach someone who wants to ...
I am interested in summitting Breithorn this winter (late January) using crampons and an ice axe. I am in excellent physical shape but I do not have much alpine experience. I have seen mixed review...
I'm keen on learning more about different woods and how they burn in particular in the context of bushcraft. There is a lot of existing literature on all the different woods out there. I started to...
Has anyone recorded animal sounds while trekking the Annapurna trail (Nepal) or in Ladakh (India)? If so, where are the richest acoustic areas?
I started harvesting pine nut cones from the piñon trees in my area yesterday and am a bit worried about the crop. From the cones I have been able to open I notice that most of the nuts are undevel...
I grew up car camping with my parents several times a year, but as they've gotten older (early 60s), they basically stopped camping. Recently, they've expressed interest in camping again but I'm ...
I have a two-layer dome tent, cheap and not particularly designed for winter. Do I need to ever worry that during a heavy snow downfall during the night that tent might be covered up with snow and ...
I will travel to the Highlands and have a very quick stop-over at the Glasgow Airport since I have to catch the bus from Daluir. Is there any chance to get alcohol-fuel for a burner? In some countr...
Is there a good way or method of finding unpaved roads? Any map, where I can tell which road is asphalted, and which isn't? I have looked at wikiloc, and there are some trails for my country liste...
I know that the magnetic north is not exactly at the polar north, so when hiking very close to the Northern Pole, you have to take the difference into account. This got me thinking: Is this also a...
We live on 10 acres (very small, I know) but we have got a deer and I was wondering how to bring more deer in. I am looking for advice on land management to achieve this. Some stat: we live in Mich...
Gore-tex, and other waterproof breathable fabrics are often coated with a durable water repellent (DWR) finish that helps prevent the fabric from wetting out. It is not uncommon to hear people comp...
I bought these cross country ski poles from Salomon. The straps are insanely short. I have very small hands for a guy, and with a (very) thin glove, the velcro hook/loop barely makes a connection....
I am looking for a knot that can be used to tie bulky objects together. Usually I would use compression straps to tightly strap a tent to a bike handlebars, but I only have paracord at the moment....
I want to go hiking in Sweden this summer with a few friends (forming a group of about 5-7 people) for one or two weeks. The goals we targeted were mainly Kungsleden and Sarek. While a hike on Kung...
I came up with this variation of the flat overhand knot (also known as the Euro Death Knot) for pulling ropes on a rappel. I've never been comfortable using the Euro Death Knot (EDK), but it's hard...
Keeping the cooler out of the sun and the lid closed as much as possible are some obvious ways to keep a cooler cold longer. There seems to be some truth that adding salt to your cooler can help i...
Is there a general rule of thumb for converting miles to hours when looking at a potential hike? For example, how long does it take an average person walking at an average speed to walk a mile on t...
I have old snowshoes which were fine for hiking in TGO when I was younger, but they are too large now for comfortable walking in TLO (The Little Outdoors), by which I mean walking up and down an un...
I recently purchased a new western mountaineering sleeping bag (Puma MF) from Moosejaw. Long story short, I found that the bag was manufactured more than 4 years ago, in 2014, the price tags have f...
I have some walking poles that have not been used for some time. They have become stuck. How do I unlock the sticks which have not been used in a while?
I never seem to find the perfect way to dress for sweat inducing activities in cold weather. By sweat inducing activities I mean mostly activities in the mountains, especially hiking uphill or ski ...
I noticed that if I collect water from a stream dense of small debris/thin mud, if I keep the water bottle close to the surface, while it takes a longer time to fill the bottle, the water is cleane...
I have an MSR Elixir 2 tent bought 5 years ago and used three nights since (a shame I know). In any case, it was used for 4 nights camping in Spain in dry conditions and was an amazing tent. A few...
The second one from left to right is the only one I'm currently plugging. Is it alright not to close the other three? The boat hull is MAKO 86 23 feet . The boat is not currently sinking, but e...
In going on an elk hunt, how much space do I need to store the quarters and meat for transportation home? Obviously this depends on the size of the animal but how much cooler space should I plan on?
Magnet fishing is where you take a magnet and go fishing for metal objects (usually trash) in ponds, canals or lakes. I think this would be fun and would a good way to clear out some of the garbag...
There are two types of magnets sold for magnet fishing, Single sided with an eyelet on the top and the magnet directly below, and double sided with the eyelet on top of the circle and the magnets ...
I am planning an adventure, and realized that while I will have one able bodied paddler, I will likely have two canoes of load. In thinking about it, I have imagined several scenarios where this m...
I have seen some folks handling fish in a rather rough way before releasing them. The other day I was in a similar situation and realized that I don't know well what the best practices are either. ...
When camping in a bear country, will a tent provide an additional protection from bears, as opposed to just sleeping outside or in a hammock? Provided I take the usual precautions of keeping any f...
I have an early 1970's Sunfish with the old style DePersia Bailer Ad from 1957 The plug is missing I have searched and it appears the old style old style DePersia Bailer is no longer made, t...
At the end of November we are going an a 3 day canoeing trip with multiple obstacles where we have to get the canoe out of the water. As it is really cold at this time, we don't want to get wet boo...
I recently wanted to climb that mountain because I literally love pushing myself and it looks fun. Information about me I am a 15.9 year old male teen (14-12-02) I live in İzmir Karşıyaka (30 me...
I'm currently preparing for 3 weeks of Trekking in March in Nepal (Lukla / Cho La Pass / Everest Base Camp...). One thing my guide told me to bring is a Fleece jacket. I'm confused by the wide ran...
I would like to fish for Butterfly Peacock bass with some bucktail jigs, but I haven't been able to find information on the best way to rig my line to have a successful setup. I live in Florida an...
Jezebel magazine suggests a tampon for your survival kit. I don't question that, if you just happen to have a tampon, you can use it. But at the end of the article they suggest even guys carry on...
If I have a fishing line that's secured at both ends, what knot would I use to tie a hook onto the line? My situation is I'm making some rigs for fishing behind a boat, with 10 hooks spaced a foot...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has said the following as part of the fishing regulations: Starting September 1, the Parks Highway streams and many other Mat-Su and West Cook Inlet wat...
I am reading Escape Routes by David Roberts. This is a collection of 20 articles ranging from a winter ascent in Iceland to the first descent of a river in Ethiopia, the Tekeze, a major tributary ...
I normally use weather.gov and/or weather.com for weather forecasts. Neither provides UVI (or at least I can't find it). Also, I rarely go outdoors, so I don't have an intuitive sense of when I get...
I just relocated from north Germany into the south of Germany. Last weekend I went hiking for the first time and visited the top of a hill close to Heidelberg. It was spontaneous and I was fascina...
Similar to this question, but mildew tends to be very resistant to removal. I sadly failed to keep my tent dry enough, and now it has a couple of mildew spots. They're not bad, but I would rather...
When you find large trash items left by others in less accessible places, what should be done? The exact scenario: We were hiking a ten mile trail on US Forestry Service land with river crossings ...
I have a medical bag together, which has a red cross velcro patch on the front of it. Anyone who looks at it will immediately know that the bag contains medical supplies. However, I'm making an add...
Most species of bison have been bred with cattle at one time or another during history. The American Bison (bison bison) is unique because it's genetically pure, having only the DNA of the bison, w...
A stove jack allows you to safely extend a stovepipe through the roof or wall of your tent. Modern-day stove jacks appear to be made of silicone fiberglass. However, it's my guess tha...
I am going on a Ski trip with two days in the snow. Given that I am unlikely to go skiing again for a long time, I would like to minimise the amount of gear that I purchase. The minimum temperature...
I live in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Recently, there has been a bird sitting in the mesquite tree outside my window, singing. This bird comes in the middle of the damn night. Once 3am, once 5am, and no...
