General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
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I carry a cheap folding knife with me while climbing, particularly if I know there is a chance of stuck ropes, grubby anchors, or we are in the backcountry. The knife is held shut with a loop of co...
I have been trekking and camping since last 6 yrs. I have over 600 hikes and about 30 technical rock climbs under my belt. We often tend to camp up in forests, and at our sides, wild boars are pret...
Geocaching.com has a listing of fundamental placement guidelines that include legal and and other restrictions like cache saturation. What are some more informal guidelines to follow when placing a...
I'm about to purchase a full 4.2oz/yd Spectra/Dyneema woven groundsheet (with no coatings) to use under an inflated raft with a 150lb person sleeping on top of it. Question: Is woven full spectra/...
Many bicycle panniers are made of waterproof material. Backpacks are not, necessitating built-in or separate raincovers. Why don't backpacks use the material that waterproof panniers do? Unlike ...
I am a Type 1 diabetic and aspire to move to the arctic wilderness of Alaska. I can figure out how to maintain enough emergency carb food for survival. The one thing I'm not sure how I will han...
Sometimes in my travels in Nevada, I would come across white pvc pipes standing up in the middle of nowhere sticking out like sore thumbs. They looked like this (the red arrow points to another one...
I see a lot of people on social media posting their first ascents. These people are usually professional climbers climbing new super hard routes and as a result their first ascents blow up on socia...
A lot of people swear on their shooting sacks as their training target. They take a potato bag or something else and put foil rests etc. in it. I really want to try things out but I'm unable to...
I was wondering if anyone could help me identify what this plant is? We have found it growing in our garden in England a few times and are unsure what it could be.
I am trying to determine the best way to attach trail signs to trees in the woods. The problem with trees is that they grow. If you firmly embed a nail in the wood, the tree will eventually grow ...
Last year I was snowboarding in Tignes (France). I was coming down a steep red run into La Daille (Orange on the map below) when I lost my edge (heel side). I'm not a great snowboarder... So I e...
I am planning to do a 3-day hike combined with multiple via ferratas this summer in the Brenta Dolomites in Italy. I haven't done the big research yet, but from looking at the (hiking) map I can se...
In the absence of inversions, going up mountains will bring you into lower temperatures as you get higher. What is the rule of thumb for how the temperature decreases with altitude?
I am starting geocaching and have a few finds already, but there is one cache near my residence that I could not find. I checked the logs and pictures, but I found no sign of a cache at ground zero...
Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits...
Last summer, I went camping with my family for the first time. We bought a second hand tent, similar to the one on the picture below. We had a great time, but after a rainstorm that went on for 24 ...
Although leeches are relatively harmless, and you are not likely to bleed out from a bite, the blood stain on your clothes can be off-putting to your hiking buddies. Is there any effective way to ...
Recently I had been to a hike where I had to cross quite a large stream. And I am not so good at swimming either. So after judging the possible depth, I could figure out that I can get across swimm...
I just purchased a daypack to stuff inside my larger backpack while travelling. It came with cinch-straps but I'm not sure of the proper way to use them (if there is one). The daypack is a North...
My friend and I want to go out for roving. However, this is our first time and we wonder if there's a list what we should consider before moving out? Roving can be described in the most casual...
I'm an intermediate level kayaker but have only paddled plastic boats. I'm looking for a kayak to do multi-day trips in on the ocean. What are the differences between plastic and fiberglass?
I have got an old kayak from a friend of mine who no longer needs it. As he told me, there are 3 leaks in that Kayak, one of them is very visible being a coin-sized hole (:D). The others are pretty...
(This is related to "What hand and finger exercises help with climbing?" but asking for what can be done when not climbing/training.) Like most climbers, I don't get to do as much as I'd like, and...
I wonder if there are any dog crazy people like me out there who have ever tried to take their dogs kayaking or floating down the river. Has anyone seen anything created for dog-friendly kayak exc...
Looking for locations near London Ontario Canada, within a 2 hour drive where I can hike in and set up camp. I'd prefer to not have to go past Toronto because of the heavy traffic, if I can avoid i...
Because I know many people, including family members, who have had very bad experiences with lyme disease, I am hesitant to get more involved in the outdoors. In live in Massachusetts where there l...
Backpacks that we use are typically categorized in litres (Or liters if you are an American English follower). Whats is the point? Why don't we have backpacks that are categorized as for example ...
We have one question asking where it is normal for a compass to have bubbles and another asking why compasses get bubbles, but we do not have a question clearly asking if handheld compasses exist t...
I got a Whillans Harness for Christmas. As it does not have a belay loop (see picture), how do I connect it to the Autobelay's carabiner?
I'm from Munich, Germany. There is a German highest mountain Zugspitze (2.962m) close to the city (2 hours with a train), and I want to climb it in spring. Base camp is 700m high. There are a coup...
I'm planning to hike/wildcamp in finnish Lappland in August, in Viipustunturit and maybe also in Muotkatunturit. Is there anything special that I should do about the local animals? E.g. in the con...
Squirrels bury nuts for future consumption, sometimes many months away. I recently learned that tree squirrels, including Eastern grey squirrels, sometimes dig empty holes, pretend to drop nuts in ...
I recently heard that Eastern grey squirrels sometimes dig holes, pretend to bury nuts, or other food, and then cover the empty holes. I was told that they use all the same motions and effort as th...
A recent power failure made firewood one of the four most important things in our lives for nearly three days. We had enough in our pile of cut up fallen branches and small logs to keep our cat wa...
I'm getting an Inmarsat phone for my time around San Pedro de Atacama in Chile to help me with emergencies. What number do I dial if I have an issue? I know 133 is the emergency number, but I don...
I am visiting some relatives in Malaysia. They introduced me to this plant and talk about the health benefits of consuming this plant. I am trying to find out more about this plant, but they could ...
As I understand it, you can't combine multiple suncreens to combine their SPF values. This makes sense as they all work on the same concepts and your skin can't simply "hold more" because it's two...
I have been told that electronics can possibly interfere with avalanche beacons (cell phones, radios, etc., but even flashlights). Is there any truth to this? A source would be helpful, ideally fro...
Please note I am not asking 'in what conditions some compasses can develop a bubble', what I am asking is, why can't manufacturers make liquid filled compasses that will not, ever, develop bubbles....
If I'm going on a four-day hike, I don't want to lug around a 15-lb cast iron dutch oven. I've thought of graniteware, but the handle on a saucepan is a bit bulky and makes packing it awkward. Wha...
A group of 4 plan on hiking across Michigan's UP's Ottawa National Forest. We are finishing up our plans and have one last issue with food that we aren't sure how to handle. We know you are suppos...
Why are tying the tourniquets or restricting bandages not recommended or in fact to be avoided to treat a snakebite before getting the proper medical attention? Closely related questions: Am I a...
While watching the Ladies' Olympic Snowboarding Halfpipe in Pyeongchang, I noticed what appeared to be straps around the lower leg of each competitor. For example, here's a couple pictures of Ameri...
If you imagine cutting a canoe or kayak along each axial plane, you get three shapes. If you cut along the waterline and look down from above, you get the plan. Cut thwart-wise at the widest poi...
Isn't Nor'easter supposed to move from the Northeast to Southwest, hence its name? But the recent Nor'easter that hit the Northeast US right after Hurricane Sandy seems to have moved from the south...
This Fall, there are a lot of large fires burning in the pacific northwest of the US and the air quality on many trails and mountains is poor as a result. This makes hiking and climbing unpleasant...
Among the amalgam of guidebooks and maps for the Pacific Crest Trail, which guidebooks and/or maps are be the best contenders to bring on the trail? Guthook 2010 review is no longer available. It ...
I'm asking on behalf of my roommates who want to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. We all recently moved to San Diego from the East Coast, and they're trying to find a book as informative and detailed ...
I live in Canada, and we get a decent amount of snow in the year. However, it is very well known that you never get a lot of snow when the temperature is really cold. For instance, you never get ...
