General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
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I love downhill and cross country skiing and am getting into back country skiing. Cross country boots are great for comfort because they're soft. Downhill boots are great for turning in part becaus...
I thought about this question a while ago and have yet to find an answer. We have a small two person tent, just enough for my wife and I, and our dog. The issue is drying said dog when it is rainin...
A friend of mine has made himself a small hook. He can thread one end between his bow and its string. The other end is a hook. This thing let him hook up his bow just nearly anywhere (basically it'...
Some time ago I bought a Quechua T4.2 Dome tent. Lately, when I was on camping holiday with my cousin I saw quite clever solution on their borrowed Quechua 4.2 Xl Air. In such tent, there's always ...
I'm planning a rock climbing trip this summer and I've been considering the Red River Gorge as a possible stop. I've been there before in the late fall and it was absolutely awesome in terms of spo...
Are there any good places to rent kayaks/canoes in Korea? Last time I rented canoes here, there was a group of 30 people and a guy in a motor boat driving around telling people how to paddle. Aft...
Thank you for taking the time to read through this ! I just noticed there is a chance of Blizzard (Winter Storm Jonas) in our region (NY/NJ) and I would like to take this unique opportunity and go...
So that's the case - I have a camp stove and a bottle of liquid fuel for it (gas? benzine? petrol? ah, whatever). Hike is over and I have to get on a plane - thus I have to get rid of this fuel. Ho...
Self-arresting is used to stop a mountaineer who has fallen and is sliding down a slope. Ice axes are generally used for self-arrest, but what should a climber do to self arrest if he has lost his...
I've gone sub-freezing camping a few times and each time I've had an ember (without noticing) melt/burn through an outer layer. The first time was through a synthetic down type jacket (fairly thin...
In winter your hand and feet (especially toes and fingers) may get painfully cold or you may even stop feeling them. How can you warm them up? This usually happens, when it's below 0°С or when it'...
I am lucky enough to live within an hour of several cities (or large towns) on Lake Ontario, and near "cottage country" which is full of lakes. I'm considering a learn-to-sail program this summer. ...
I'm shopping for some 1" tubular webbing. There is climb-spec webbing and military-spec webbing. The military-spec description says Meets industry-standard military specs for breaking strength ...
I walk on Del Monte beach in Monterey, California quite often. I see LOTS of Sandpipers there; and always with them are Plovers (which remind me of little frenetic Killdeer). The Sandpipers dig i...
I am 43 years of age and recently took up high altitude trekking in the Himalayas. I have observed that on my descent (with practically no ascents) my calf muscles start paining immensely. If I tur...
I was reading another post about properly lacing hiking boots, and while it talks about methods for tying the laces, it doesn't address how tight the laces should be on properly tied hiking boots. ...
Modern racing Maxi Yachts are shaped like a wedge of cheese. The keel is aligned axially with the centerline of the boat. When the boat heels over in the wind, the outer edge of the hull is the onl...
My trusty North Face Goretex failed yesterday. The coat itself is in fine working order but the zip is totally broken. Just came apart. I'm loathed to trash a £200 jacket simply because the zip has...
I am curious about some techniques/guidelines for achieving and maintaining optimal hydration while performing moderate to high strain outdoor activities, such as long hikes etc. IOW, how do you h...
I need a tent that will work in snow, sand storms, lots of wind, rain and sun(UV). Temperatures I'm expecting are -2C at night to 15C during the day. I will be backpacking, so the tent's weight sho...
Being an avid skier I have ski poles lying around, so I've always used those. Do proper trekking poles offer any advantages for snowshoeing?
If I find myself caught in a sand storm, what should I do? Should I sit it out, or try to keep moving somehow? Can this depend on the severity of the sand storm?
The practice of mindfulness involves being aware moment-to-moment, of one’s subjective conscious experience from a first-person perspective. I often have the problem that I can't bring mysel...
Ok so I'm getting a pull buoy to help with my pull exercises when swimming (and a kickboard for the same with kick exercises) and I want to know if I were to go to a lake or the sea and swim, is it...
Unfortunately none of my friends seem to be very interested in trekking through Sweden. However, you can't just pick a random person and say: "Let's go!", can you? I mean it's the only contact pers...
In many areas of the U.S. it is very difficult to get any weather forecast: Radio broadcasts generally don't have useful weather reports NOAA weather radio is very useful, but large areas are not...
I've read many of the posts that are related to this and believe it to be a be a snowflake of a question on the site. If you have fallen into icy water and the temperature is very challenging, wha...
I'm looking for a book that teaches serious mountain skills like Freedom of the Hills minus the snow but all that I could find in the internet so far are in the context of North America and/or is a...
I'm looking for a mountaineering school on Rainier or elsewhere in the Cascades that provides sufficient training to climb Elbrus. Glacier travel, crampon use, crevasse rescue, and self arrest are ...
What are the performance and behavior differences between a full keel and a fin keel on a sailboat, and when would I want to choose one over the other?
Often when I go camping, insects like flies fly into my glass. Are there any good ways to stop this? Also, recently someone told me that I could put a pencil on the glass to stop insects. Does it ...
I'm trying to find websites providing GPS tracks for southeast Asia. I'm mostly interested in hiking but other activities would also be interesting. So far I only bumped into 2 interesting websit...
Recently, my family hiked in to a back country camp in a national park. We had an assigned space within the campground but when we arrived our space had been occupied by a camper registered in anot...
I went hiking with a friend a few years ago who had adjusted his new 90 liter pack to sit pretty high up on him. As a result he managed to create two very large blisters right above his buttocks. ...
Like many campers, I bought a portable jump starter, which contains liquids and gases. In what situation does it get dangerous? Can I simply carry this portable charger along with all my camping ...
My friends and I plan to go on a road trip, to tap and harvest some birch Tree sap/syrup, from a property up in Quesnel, BC. How do I know when is the right time to harvest? Also; does the time to...
I purchased a Pyromid grill at a garage sale without a manual, and have an Ecoque grill manual. I would like to know if I need to do anything different from the Ecoque instructions to operate the P...
There are quite a few questions here about suitable foods for different excursions / types of food to take etc. Inspired by questions like this and this I decided to finally ask this one. I happen...
Recently I fell ill whilst car camping and it made me consider the situations when not around amenities. In addition to this I recently was part of a four man, one dog team climbing Snowdon and one...
I am riding on Horseback from Southern Denmark via Germany and France to Southern Spain. I hope to rely on the goodwill of farmers for an overnight camp spot and grazing for my two horses. But what...
This afternoon there was a tornado warning - TAKE SHELTER IN A PERMANENT BUILDING IMMEDIATELY - for the west half of Algonquin Park issued through the usual channels including Twitter. I believe by...
I've had serious problems walking on such wet, slightly rotten(*) wood this weekend. It was extremely slippery even though I was wearing my hiking boots. As soon I applied pressure onto the food...
This question asks "What type of mosquito repellent is the most effective?". It's a great question. Now that we may have an idea about what is best to use, I want to know how effective are even t...
Now, this is not very common, however I have heard it enough times from people to know that it actually does happen. When sleeping in the open or in an open tent (yes, i know you shouldn't), snake...
I was watching Everest (2015) on the weekend and was wondering what the mountaineers do for sustenance on the day they attempt to summit. It appeared they left around midnight, aiming for a 2pm su...
Let’s make this a two-part question: What is the best way to rewaterproof a rain jacket? What is the best way to rewaterproof a rain jacket using only products available in a small town in remote...
Our analog altimeter, which we had had for over 20 years, was stolen this summer. We are now faced with a choice between digital or analog altimeters. What are pros and cons between the two? (e....
What are the advantages / disadvantages of a rock climbing hat made from hard plastic to one made out of carbon fibre? I have done a Google search already, but wanted some pointers with people who...
Note: This question might be a little offtopic. Kill it if necessary. I've always had "THC" outdoor jackets which are knitted sheep wool jackets. However, they stink like a stable. Normally I put...
The "aim small, miss small" principal for instinctive archery states that you should aim for the smallest possible point. An example: In this picture you can see that there are a lot of "bull...
