General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
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I'm reading the UIAA standard for climbing ropes, which is supplemented by the EN 892 norm (which I can't provide a link to, since this would be piracy). I'm sort of confused about the fact that, e...
I was watching a video this am where a guy tied a clove hitch and passed it though a carabiner one handed. This seemed a very handy technique to know. I usually use both hands to tie this, make a ...
(long time passing). I walk along Del Monte beach in Crow City, USA (Monterey, California) quite often. For quite awhile, sandpipers were there in abundance - more than any other bird. I haven't...
In spring, the grape vines are so full of watery sap that a cut from my pocket knife causes it to trickle out fairly fast, and it can be collected in a container. Someone told me that it is a good ...
Most of my camping has been above timberline and ticks have never been a problem. However, a day in the garden at home in northern Virginia often results in a deer tick or two, despite long pants ...
If I made a noose with this knot and lifted a heavy object by putting it inside the noose / knot: the knot should slip and hold the object tightly automatically it should be difficult to untie th...
I am planning to do a 5 days journey on a kayak with a friend. I have a 4.9m plastic sit on top kayak and we were planning to start from Tropea on the so called "costa degli dei" ("Coast of the God...
A little grim this but I was discussing free soloing with a non-climber in work and I said "Well once you get over a certain height you're not going to survive a fall anyway so anything over ...
There are a couple of long hikes that I am thinking of doing, both are 70 to 80 miles (110 to 130 km) long one way. I would like to do a yo-yo (140 to 160 miles, 230 to 260 km) without a resupply. ...
I've a rattan recurve bow here which needs to be tuned. However, I'm not sure which oil to use. Which oil should I use to "burn" (with a hot air gun) a rattan recurve?
I've a Bear Archery Super Kodiak from 2013 with 40 #. I shoot 8,2 gpp arrows on it. Recently I heard that I should not shoot a BCY 425x string on it since the high amount of vectran somehow harms...
Commercial slackline solutions seem bulky, heavy, overpriced, and a little too industrial for my liking. I have 6 carabiners and 50m of tubular webbing. What knots do you recommend for building, an...
To drive through a couple hundred kilometers of sandy landscape like the Simpson Desert (central Australia), do you have to have a 4WD? If so, what are the primary concerns?
When drilling new holes for expansion anchor bolts, you need to clean the dust out of the hole before you hammer in the bolt. People will accomplish this by either using a blow tube or a bellows an...
Doing multipitch routes with double ropes is great, but (at least for me) inevitably results in messy tangles, twists, and crosses of the two ropes. What are some strategies to prevent the ropes f...
Yesterday, I saw a snake smoothly glide over about 30 feet of rough gravel in our parking area to get to the woods. It showed no sign of discomfort -- but I am not sure I would know what an uncomf...
We use Coghlan's Camp Soap when camping, it is available in handy containers at most stores that have any amount of outdoor supplies. But we can only find it in the 4oz bottle, we would like to ...
This week, when diving mostly with people more experienced than myself, I noticed something about my buoyancy compared to theirs. I'm wondering how to fix it. Before setting off, we all selected w...
I have a pair of leather Vasque St. Elias GTX which are a bit narrow across the toe box and I want to see if I can get some more room there. A local shoe repair place said they could do it (for $6...
What are the differences between a shock absorber as it is used in professional rope access and a via ferrata set? As I found out that in my country shock absorbers have to fulfill EN 355 and via ...
Please refer the image below. This is a screenshot from the movie Meru which is about the successful attempt of climbing Meru by Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk. I didn't understand, why...
I'm in the slow process of acquiring all of the gear I think I will need to do a week-long backpacking trip somewhere in the Midwest. Many of the more experienced backpackers I've spoken with or re...
I'm off to a Festival in late august and am looking for a cheap festival tent. I'm not exactly asking you guys what I should buy, more about the considerations I should take into account. Some det...
When I was browsing through the wikipedia page of the Denali mountain, I came across some piece of information. Refer the screenshot below. What does the term Prominence and Isolation mean?
This is my first winter in a really cold place. By cold I mean temperatures varying from -10 to -30 Celcius (yes, all temperatures I mention in this post are in metric). I come from a place which n...
My girlfriend and I have been staying in a tent for several months now in a friend's garden. Neither of us has camping experience and with the weather getting cold, we are starting to have problems...
I was on a group trip this weekend where a fellow hiker brought an Esbit stove which uses hexamine fuel tabs. The temperature was not what I would consider extreme. Temperatures in the high 30s t...
In 1891 Hugh Munro published his list of mountains in Scotland over 3000 feet, since then the list has been revised a number of times and the current total stands at 282. How many revisions have b...
I am considering getting a new air mattress for situations where I want to save weight. I already have a large comfortable one for when I drive to camping with a car. So I saw a system which cost...
Is this waterproof glue effective on Goretex? It mentions 'etceteras' in its label but does it stick Goretex to fabric? The stitching on my boot is ripped. I'm not considering sewing it becaus...
Considering just taking a hammock (Grand Trunk double) and tarp on my next camping trip. I wondered what things I am likely to miss/get wrong for the first hammock camp? The location is likely t...
I'm looking to try out some hammock camping on our next trip to the wilderness, but I don't have any of the gear yet. I could buy it all, but as it's a trial run it might not make sense to pour a ...
I will be going to a series of 6 to 10 hours day hikes in Hokkaido, Japan. Some of these hikes are strenuous in effort, and involves different terrains. The weather should include some rain, but fo...
I'm planning an overnight hiking trip and want to try cooking fish. We will be camping at an established backcountry site on the trail, which has a spot for a tent near a fire ring. However, this ...
I have a broken tent piece that I am trying to replace. Does anyone know what this piece is called? This piece forms the canopy of the tent and the poles go into the prongs displayed above. As y...
I'm fascinated by corals. I've been told there are more than a thousand varieties spread out in bodies of water throughout the world. What part of the world has the most varieties of corals in a c...
I was backpacking in Coyote Gulch, Utah this past week and ran into an issue with my 70 liter backpack. The entrance to the gulch through "Crack in the Wall" was a narrow "slot" entry, so the backp...
I've been scuba diving for several years, but it's been a little while now since the last time. I last dove in the summer of 2014, and I'm traveling to Chile next month and am hoping to go diving t...
Is there an argument for removing your boots to prevent frostbitten toes. Lets say you are at 4000m in the winter in a snow cave with no sleeping bag and frostbite is probable, but death is unlikel...
I'll be hiking through Baxter State Park, in Maine, in June. I am traveling as light as possible as I will be crossing multiple ridges. I have a 30F sleeping bag and a 0F bag. The 30F bag is much...
What is the difference between tippet and plain old mono or fluorocarbon? Can't I just use fluorocarbon and save some cash? Tippet comes in small rolls such as this: Whereas you can buy a ro...
Fictional Scenario - Suppose you are out camping and are stuck somewhere. You want to create a signal of white smoke to attract help. So what are the naturally occurring substance which when burnt...
I recently read an article by Ordinance Survey about trail runners for beginners (my interest has sparked due to my recent uptake of running which I do cross country through parks and fields), in ...
There are many places where a special regulation for a river or stream includes tributaries "above" or "below" a particular landmark. If the tributary more or less parallels the main river, does th...
I got injured at the age of 16 and damaged my right knee ligament. I had a surgery. After gaining strength, I started playing again and that damaged the reconstruction. And now, at the age of 34, w...
What is a good time of year to see autumn colours in the higher areas of the Maritime and Cottian Alps, in particular yellow larches such as in this photo¹? I may have the opportunity to visit eit...
If you are sleeping in a rainstorm it would be warmer to sleep under a tarp, since otherwise you are going to get wet. It would be rather difficult to enclose a space with a tarp to the level that...
I have read some posts here regarding the expiration dates of climbing material, especially trad gear. Friends and nuts (as all climbing equipment) have a lifespan of 10 years according to all manu...
This one is based on an actual experience - One summer I went on a trail through waist-high grass with a friend. We were both wearing shorts, but my friend had hairy legs, while mine were shaved. A...
I'm considering heading to Kerlingarfjöll. I thought it was pretty barren, which would mean it doesn't matter much whether one travels in summer or autumn, but it looks like it does get some mosse...
