General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
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Recently on one of the jungle trails we came across a colony of termites and we went ahead and tasted them (Bear Grylls style?). We did the same with the weaver ants which are quite common in the S...
I have quite unfortunately found out several months ago that I'm gluten sensitive. Nearly all my meals I've planned and eaten on the trail have included wheat, and thus gluten, in some fashion. I'm...
Are there any foods that should be off-limits when backpacking because they have a negative impact on performance or well-being? I am thinking that candy-bars and very greasy foods might be candida...
I've been climbing 1-2 times / week (usually once) for about a month. After each time I climb, I feel joint pain in my elbows. From my understanding, this is likely Tennis Elbow. Slowly but surely...
We have a new 9 acre lake that we stocked just last spring with minnows, georgia giants, perch, small mouth, hybrid striped bass, and koi. We're adding catfish and some other fish this year, but we...
I wanted to take a bow-hunter course (DBJV) following the guidelines provided by IBEP and EBF. However, all the regulations seem to be for compound bows. Is it even possible to take the exam with a...
I want to get into fishing but don't know the technical side because I just fish with rods pre-setup. So I decided that I wanted to get a spinning reel and am pretty sure I want a Shakespeare ugly ...
I'm wondering if anyone else has had any experiences with guns and/or bear spray in combination, instead of just carrying one over the other? How have bears reacted to warning shots? We backpack i...
I'm off this weekend for a three-day big wall with two other friends. I read "Big Walls", by Long and Middendorf, but the book is too old and doesn't really mention strategies for a three-member cr...
Western Mountaineering makes both the Bison GWS (rated -40) and the Cypress GWS (rated -30) sleeping bags. But the Bison has a lower fill weight (42 oz) and is cheaper ($1095) vs the Cypress (50 oz...
Sometimes I hear that, when making camp in the mountains, a tent should be pitched so the door is facing a certain direction, usually downhill. I've repeatedly asked why I should do this, and the a...
What are the easiest trekking routes to take in Sarek National Park in Sweden? Consider late summer, Saltoluokta and Kvikkjokk as starting/ending points, 5 to 7 days without access to food store. ...
I've seen mention of travel bugs (or trackables) on geocaching sites. What is a travel bug and what can I do with one?
I started geocaching roughly a month ago and it's really fun activity to get into. I had a few questions (though one was answered already here > What should be carried in a standard Geocaching ...
I have a .357 revolver. The rounds have a significant amount of kick. When I go out target shooting the kick makes it unpleasant to shoot before I have gone through a full box of ammunition. So...
My brother once told a concerned parent (whose son he was taking hiking in the "wilderness" (John Muir trail) for a few days) that the most dangerous part of the trip would be the drive there and b...
What exercises can I do at home to get fit for surfing? I would like to improve my fitness so that when I travel to a surf break I'll be able to enjoy myself rather than just being exhausted.
I am always amazed when there is a rain cloud moving across the country dropping inches per hour of rain as it goes. In my imagination I try to visualize how the cloud could have carried all that w...
A friend just came back from the beach and he mentioned he decided not to take his bike because he wasn't sure if it would be easy/comfortable to ride it on the sand. We started discussing if it w...
Okay, continuing the coconut series, How can I break a fresh green coconut without wasting much of it, without using a knife?
What style/size of knife would be most useful in a survival scenario in the forest?
I'm not a big guy, but I can sit in a cold pool of still water for a long time if I stay still and control my breathing, my skin gets cold, but after you get past the cold shock I can sit there rat...
This question is prompted by two comments on this site: Sue, in What are these bulges? Are they harming the tree? and Erik, in What are the dangerous animals in Southern Nevada (1) Sue: "Have you...
My boyfriend and I do top rope climbing quite regularly in our indoor climbing centre. On attempting a harder route, he slipped and fell, reaching the ground. I am trying to understand what went ...
I have seen a handful of methods and devices on the market: http://www.rockexotica.com/products/downloads/belay.html But its not clear to me that any of the these devices do a better job than a si...
I am a staunch proponent of leave no trace. I don't carry dish detergent (sand and small rocks work much better on stainless steel anyways,) and I don't use soap or shampoo, not even of the biodegr...
I've been climbing for about 7 years starting when I was 31 years old. Initially I made rapid progress as I learned the various techniques etc, but after about a year I plateaued and I haven't rea...
The Situation: Your party is hours or days from the trailhead, when one of the party stumbles on a yellowjacket nest and is stung multiple times by the tiny fighter aircraft. The person had been ...
A friend of mine disturbed a bird of prey (I think it was a kestrel or sparrow hawk) that had just killed a pigeon in her back garden. The pigeon was still alive when she found it but died soon aft...
I will be in the path of total darkness during the solar eclipse of August 21, 2017. I plan to be in alpine wilderness (Oregon Cascades), but will adjust my location as needed so that there are no...
In theory Styrofoam is a closed cell product meaning that is water proof. In practice it tends to absorb and hold water It can take months to dry out very saturated Styrofoam. As a rule Styrofoa...
My husband and I have just spent 3 person-hours picking up litter along a one mile plus stretch of quasi-rural road, both sides. We have been doing this twice a year for a long, long time, but thi...
I understand that there are a lot of factors that add to the error of a bearing and therefore the accuracy of a triangulation but I would like to know in general how accurate it is possible to be. ...
When setting up a rappel anchor, using things like webbing, rings, that kind of stuff, what happens to the anchor when you get to the bottom? Assuming you can't hike to the top and grab it, do you ...
Inspired by the question Where should a person who can't hold a paddle sit in a tandem kayak? "One friend was born without arms" Many life jackets are vests that are in part, kept on the person by...
This question is related to this, and perhaps others on the site, although I don't think it's an exact duplicate. I have friends who would like to take a two-person kayak trip down a stream in the...
I plan to spend this Summer near a lake and would like to start kayaking. I have never kayaked before. I would like to get a second hand kayak, but the only one I can find nearby is a wild-water k...
I have read several books about survival and outdoor field craft skills. Many of these books suggest building a survival kit out of an Altoids tin or something similar. These kits include very basi...
We all know the general lightning guidelines, but what if I am above tree-line and caught in a freak lightning storm. Is it better to: Run like mad to toward the trees Lie flat, and find religio...
Cattle may get aggressive when threatened, or they might just imitate to be aggressive. I have seen cattle charging towards a person when irritated. How should one react if a cow or bull comes ch...
I want to buy a drybag for washing clothes while backpacking (travelling, not hiking) and also keeping dirty/wet clothes until it is time to wash them. I have available near me 5L, 10L and 20L dry...
I was looking at buying some cord to make a three point cordelette (I am American, after all). I see that REI sells a pre-cut length of 7mm cord that is 6.4 meters (21 feet), but one of the review ...
This has been an especially prolific year for ticks in the northeastern region of the United States. We've had so many in our yard that I've given up gardening and switched to planting in pots! We...
When reading this question (What is the ecological justification (if any) for bird feeders?) on bird feeders I wondered if there would be an ecological impact on having a bird bath. Especially in ...
Suppose an emergency landing necessary for a commercial aircraft on a polar route on water or in the unoccupied, secluded Arctic outback (e.g. Siberia, far northern Canada). What is the time in...
There's one thing which can spoil my day outdoors. Those are the little flies which happen to fly directly into my eyes. I work on a computer and my eyes are dry and over-sensitive. If such an ins...
Skinning out deer is complicated when it comes to fiddly parts like the ears. This is especially true for Antelopes. How to correctly skin out the ears of an Antelope?
I'm a knot novice and I was thinking about using a Blake's hitch while camping. The hitch is finished with a stopper knot, which appears pretty critical to me. I thought it would make sense to inse...
I'm in the process of designing a more functional "hood" to block UV / sun exposure and also provide shelter from rain. I believe that the best gear and products are developed by "looking to natur...
I've been wanting to get into rock climbing for a while but I live in a very flat area with no climbing gyms around. I'm planning on moving to the Pacific Northwest soon and I wanted to know what t...
