General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
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Where: North-central Massachusetts When: 8 April 2017 Whenever I'm out and about, I look at wetlands as I go by to see their general state, how much the invasive phragmites is pushing out the nati...
My husband frequently walks at the Wachusett Reservoir, which spans a few towns in central Massachusetts. This past Sunday he was on his usual path, and saw something floating in the water which ...
What are these fungi I found on a dead birch? Initially, I thought perhaps artist's bracket or southern bracket, but now I think they might be horses hoof fungus? I'm not very knowledgeable about t...
The mushrooms were picked in a public park in Fukuoka, Japan. Can someone help to identify them please?
I was hiking in the Southern Canadian Rockies yesterday and was paying special attention to all the plants I'm not familiar with, one was these bushes with these clusters of tiny blue berries. The ...
I was hiking in the Ptolemy Plateau in the Canadian Rockies yesterday. There were all these plants that looked like something right out of a Dr. Seuss book. What are they?
On a very secluded beach on the Faroe Islands (half a day's hike from the nearest road, and you have to climb down a 50m cliff using an old rope), I found these rusted metal objects. They're about ...
I found this arrowhead-shaped rock on the Toiyabe Crest trail in Nevada, USA. I'm wondering if it actually is an arrowhead. It's about 1.5 inches long. The reasons that I think it could be is th...
To start I am from the Midwest in the United States. In the recent years, many lakes and rivers have been taken over by an invasive species of fish called Asian Carp. These fish are disgusting/slim...
What do people use to carry tinder whilst hiking? I was thinking of using a tobacco tin but on a multiday hike I'm not sure it will fit enough or if it will keep dry. Tinder I would be using would...
I have been reading about dryer lint as an effective kindling material, but I keep having the feeling that in some way it implies burning "plastic": all the artificial materials, coloring (although...
I was looking for some good windproof matches - not for any specific use, but just because I considered they may come in useful in some environments. Has anyone any experience with any particular ...
Today I tried to ignite coal on a grill device, without using kindling (we ran out of it). I gathered a lot of small twigs and a bit of medium ones. I managed to set all this on fire, but the coals...
On the spur of the moment I bought a flint and steel. This was mainly because it seems manly and cool. My main problem is I really struggle to light a fire with the thing and normally give up and u...
Where would I look if I was in a survival situation and wanted to find some rocks for fire starting? Where does flint occur naturally? What environments could you expect to find some in? I've creat...
Suppose I am trying to teach a class of 12 children how to build campfires. I would like each pupil to have a flint and steel for the lesson. As it turns out ferrocerium rods can be acquired cheapl...
I own a cheap but relatively effective solid metal bowl-shaped fire pit: (football [soccer ball] provided for scale) We sometimes have difficulty getting it lit - the smallest kindling takes we...
I cut down a Douglas Fir tree last year around June and we've dried it outside with tarp on top. I live in Seattle where it constantly rains. A couple of days ago I tried to use some of the wood ...
In a survival situation, lets say post apocalyptic, what are some unconventional ways a campfire could be lit? Obviously there are the classic flint and steel, rod and bow, and of course matches. B...
I have created a bow-drill for the purpose of starting fires. The wooden shaft's diameter is about the diameter of a typical male thumb, and is approximately 11 inches in length. The bow string ...
We carry a flint and steel instead of lighters to light our camp stoves when backpacking because the flint and steel always works and weighs very little. One of our routine camp activities is to t...
One thought led to another and I started wondering how effective wax paper would be to bring along as tinder to start a fire. I've seen suggestions of using paraffin in conjunction with other mate...
As far as I know a wood (for the "hearth board") has to full fill several characteristics (at least they've to be soft) to be suitable for a friction fire. When in a survival situation, how can I d...
As far as I know a wood (for the "hearth board") has to full fill several characteristics (at least they've to be soft) to be suitable for a friction fire. When in a survival situation, how can I d...
It appears that you can accidentally & unsafely have an unsafe occurrence with a 'Flameless ration heater'. The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Aviation Administrat...
When trying to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together, what does one need to consider? I am assuming I can't just grab any two sticks and start rubbing... Should they be dead or green? Har...
Fire steels, ferrocerium rods -- oversized versions of the "flint" in a lighter or torch starter, are an apparently popular survival/backwoods fire starting method. Why would one want one of thes...
I frequently hike and camp in the forests of the Midwest (Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, etc). Considering this climate can get quite cold in the Fall & Winter, what are the best strategies to start...
As long as the wood is dry and you have good kindling, does it matter how I start a fire?
There are numerous videos online demonstrating that its possible to start a fire using a battery. Here are four examples using different starting materials. But I have not found any tutorials that ...
Starting a fire can sometimes be hard enough when it's dry, let alone when it's tipping it down. But when it is, what steps should you follow to try to ensure the fire gets going successfully? I'm...
I live on the coast of the northeastern part of Brazil (Rio Grande do Norte). As you go inland, the terrain becomes very arid. There are cactus and a lot of xerophilic plants that remind me a lot o...
Forecasts for the mountains generally seem to be somewhere between useless and unreliable. Afternoon thunderstorms, clouds that come out of nowhere, unexpected rain showers, etc... Anyone who has s...
Following the thread about Everest Base Camp related questions, its almost a globally known fact that the Everest Base Camp is very much crowded and consequently very much into garbage disposal pro...
Often times in high alpine lakes you will see lakes like this, where the color comes from the rock/glacial flour suspended in the water. The lakes and sometimes even streams are very pretty, b...
What are the advantages and disadvantages of carbon fiber vs. aluminium when buying trekking poles? Are carbon fiber really lighter, do they break easier if jammed wrong, etc.?
I've been looking for places to find bats in their natural habitat, rather than around the house. The author of this question saw some bats in a lava tube. I've never heard of a lava tube before, a...
Where I work, there was a great pine tree which was recently chopped (actually, sawed) down. Prior to its demise, this tall pine was visited often by lizards and birds. After its removal, though,...
This year in October I saw a lot of robins, male and female, finches and chickadees, and geese flying south. Surprisingly I didn't see many juveniles from previous broods. My guess is that juvenil...
Due to heavy rain, the water level raised drastically in the last days and arose a few small "ponds" besides our local river. Also the main stream is accordingly extremely wild these days. Recent...
I've heard that a swan can break your arms with a flap of its wings, etc., but am not sure if that's true. There's a nature reserve - local to me - where the swans come up on foot out of the water ...
In an area near where I work in Monterey, I often walk during the noon hour and end up in a meadow that is much-beloved to red-winged blackbirds. The other day I saw something unusual, though - as...
I live in the United Kingdom. This cheeky fellow recently wandered into the house, scaring the life out of the missus, much to the amusement of the child. I put him out in the porch with a ...
Any ideas what bird is making this song? Unfortunately, this photo was the best I got, but I did get a lot of audio of it's call (the YouTube video has a bunch of them clipped together). At the e...
There's a pond located at a restaurant near where we live in Massachusetts. It's always very busy because the restaurant gives out food for the ducks, geese and swans. We've been there often and re...
What are the identifying features that allow you to tell the difference between these 3 common UK summer visitors? I've been looking at the RSBP advice but it seems that a swift and a house martin...
My friends think that I'm mad, but I'm pretty sure I saw an Osprey the other day. Could anyone confirm that what I observed is an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) or, at least, Osprey-ish? I saw the bir...
Recorded in September 2015 in Bethesda, MD. https://www.dropbox.com/s/8sb5jjx3maeuk4o/Birdcall_Sept_Bethesda.m4a?dl=0 The recording was created at 1:00 PM on Sept 24th. I didn't see the bird, but...
Could somebody please identify the birdcall in this recording? The bird is calling at 00:01, 00:10, 00:29, 00:36, 00:52, 01:06, and 01:18. This recording was made in England, in mid-June. Also, ...
I got my first tick bite recently, on the top of my foot. The tick was latched on. There was a circle of small dots around the tick and a slightly bigger red area close by. They were all there from...
