General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
Filters (None)
A recent answer said: Any mains electric (100-240V) going to a tent needs to be GFCI-protected (Europe: RCD) since you will be mixing electricity and water in close quarters. Source I know I ...
I am looking to get a spinning 22lr target, the fun thing about these is that if you hit them the target spins and then resets so it's very clear that you either hit or missed. There are all diffe...
String walking is, Having a 3-under allows for string walking. What this is, is basically the ability to pull the string at a different position hence changing the distance of your shot. Sou...
I want to travel by canoe from Ohiopyle State Park to Cumberland, MD on the Youghiogheny, Casselman and Potomac Rivers What are the navigation considerations? Also I will have a bike and trailer ...
In the Instinctive Bow Division of World Archery, you can either release in the Mediterranean style with one finger above the knock and two fingers below, or you can shoot 3 under, where all three ...
All things being equal a lighter arrow will travel faster when shot from a bow. A faster arrow tends to drop less over a given distance. Both will have similar kinetic energy over a short distanc...
I just recently fletched new arrows and I decided to put them a little more downward than usual. I thought (with my particular fletching rig) I would get more helical twist into it. However, I end...
I am looking for a new hunting rifle, and one of the features I keep seeing advertised is 5R rifling where there are 5 lands and grooves instead of 4 or 6. Supposedly this makes the barrel more ac...
There are some 15ft tall shrubs/trees that have these purple and reddish of berries. The trees seem to be either 15ft tall or 3ft and they are growing next to a trail. The tree wood is a greyish br...
There is a video going round of two guys flipping a sea turtle that had ended up on its back so it could get back into the water. How would a sea turtle end up on its back in the first place (it s...
If you are buying new hiking boots before a trip there is a break in period before the boots get comfortable and you don't want to go on a long backpacking trip with brand new boots. Time will depe...
Trail cameras are motioned achieved cameras that are used to capture pictures of wild animals in the outdoors. The idea is that you can set it up in a place where animals are like to be such as a t...
On my walk around town today I found this small black bug, (keychain carabiner for scale). Closeup It has two antenna and it seems that there is white on the edge of the segments. Does anyon...
I just finished applying gelcoat to my boat. Results were less than wonderful. I have some experience, with bondo, fiberglass and painting, so it did not seem like it should be to difficult to get...
Trail cameras are setup up on trails to take pictures of wild animals when you aren't around. The problem with that is that other people may find them and may be tempted to steal them. How can I p...
I've always wanted to have an M1A1 carbine. However, I don't want an "original" one because I think that this would be too valuable in my hands. I don't want to take one away from a real collector....
Magnet fishing is when you take go fishing with a magnet trying to find metal objects that people have lost into bodies of water such as cellphones, knives, bikes, etc. What would make a location ...
Yesterday, there was a raccoon climbing a 20 plus story building in Minnesota, today it made it to the top and was caught in a live trap for transport to back to the wild. It brings up the questio...
I was reading this answer about how raccoons were introduced into Germany, and after the other questions on this site about the harm caused by non-native species,(grey squirrels, house sparrows, et...
Apparently, there is a theory that says Hummingbirds can become hypothermic if they sit on a feeder perch and drink several cropfuls of cold sugar water early in the morning. The birds fall to...
I found this spider yesterday running across a sidewalk next to a canal, it was bigger than a quarter and I think it was carrying an egg sack. Does anybody know what kind of spider this is?
I have a backpack with emergency survival gear for my car. The scenario being it might take a couple of days of walking to get someplace that money and/or a credit card will increase my chances of...
In Colorado outdoor stores its not uncommon to see these small canisters of 95% percent oxygen that's sold to help people cope with high altitude. Is there any evidence that these actually help wi...
If you buy a box of ammunition, it usually says the muzzle velocity on the box in addition to the bullet weight (or you can find the information online). Given that bullet velocity depends on the ...
In order to charge my electrical equipment while backpacking (GPS, camera for timelapses, phone, etc) I bring along a large battery. To calculate the size of the battery you can figure out how many...
Some knives have gut hooks, and some have line cutters, Source It basically the same notch just optimized for different purposes. How exactly would one sharpen the gut hook/line cutter? Its...
I have a magnet and line setup to go magnet fishing and I would like to make some sweeps around one the docks Chatfield Reservoir on where it's likely that people have dropped gear/cellphones into ...
It's possible to buy tea that is loose leaf instead on in the tea bags and use it while in the outdoors such as cold brewing in a Nalgene. Coffee grounds need to be packed out but what about tea le...
Sometimes, if your knock is too high or too low or your rest is not perfectly in line with the string, your arrows will fly at a slight angle to the direction of travel instead of perfectly straigh...
If one makes coffee in the backcountry, there will be used grounds. Coffee grounds are biodegradable, but should one instead pack them out completely? What is the Leave No Trace way to deal with u...
Related to this question where the difference in size might possibly be due to one of the 3 peregrine falcon chicks being male, how do they tell whether a peregrine chick is male or female? Eventu...
Inspired by this question, if someone was just starting out fly fishing, would dry flies (float on top of the water) or wet flies (sink below) be easier for a beginner to use? My experience is tha...
The are two main types of fly fishing flies, wet (sink underneath) and dry (float on top). If one were trying to learn how to how tie the flies yourself instead of buying them, would one type be e...
On official USGS topo maps, vegetation is represented by green, and non vegetation by white as you can see below. How much vegetation does an area need to be colored green? Are short bushes enou...
The sunfish is a small sailboat with a lateen sail. Realistically you can not raise the sail while in it. Usually raising and lower the sail is done at shore. It is occasionally necessary to p...
In the United States, there are a couple of excise taxes on outdoor gear that goes towards conservation, Pittman–Robertson Act which taxes firearms, ammunition and archery equipment and the Dingell...
From my research so far into making cold brew coffee in a Nalgene while backpacking, I have found there to be two types of filters, cotton ones called "coffee socks" and mesh ones that screw onto t...
In some parts of the western United States there are herds of wild horses. How dangerous could a herd be to a human on foot while hiking or backpacking? If they are dangerous how should a human pr...
On my hike through the Uinta mountains, I came across this greyish bird and her 3-4 chicks. The timelapse I took of the birds can be seen here. It looks like some sort of grouse, does anybody kn...
All of the butane gas cartridges I have seen have a screwable top for attaching your stove, however, there are apparently also pierceable cartridges without a screwable top. Source What would t...
There is a recent question What material is a good alternative to neoprene? one of the comments to an answer says: whole suit filled up with water I might be taking it out of context, but as...
Sometimes in areas with sandy/muddy ground, multiple parallel trails will start to form. What is the least impactful way to walk a trail like this? Do you stay on whichever trail shows the most ...
In Germany fishermen greet each other with "Petri Heil". I asked myself if this is only a German thing or is it kind of universal (at least in developed countries like EU countries, US etc.) for fi...
I did a backpacking trip once where I was above treeline, there was no running water and I was low on fuel for my stove. While some of the snow was melting it was draining into the ground so fast t...
Sometimes it is necessary to cut a climbing rope, either to shorten it or to trim worn ends. If were one to cut a climbing rope, how would one do so?
In one of the gravel parking lots I pass on my way to work there are a number of cotton tail rabbits that hang out there. At one end of parking lot there is piled up gravel from all of the plowing...
In Grand Teton National Park they have Rocky Mountain Goats and Bighorn Sheep and because they are worried that the goats will spread diseases to the sheep, they want to mountain goats gone from th...
I've had a pretty interesting discussion beneath this survival question. A source given in the answer to this question states that you shouldn't eat when dehydration can become or is a problem: ...
I've had a pretty interesting discussion beneath this survival question. A source given in the answer to this question states that you shouldn't eat when dehydration can become or is a problem: ...
For rain pants, there are both breathable pants that let sweat out and non-breathable ones that do not. The problem with the non-breathable pants is that your sweat can build up inside and then you...
