General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
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I have GPS data for a few hundred walks/hikes/treks. I would like to grade the walks by toughness, say from 1 (easy) to 10 (hard) Is there a mathematical formulae I can use? Just using statistica...
"Should one be shaving on a lengthy high altitude trek?" shall be the question that I'd like to ask to great mountaineers with wisdom in high-altitude mountaineering. If you have observed, there ar...
I want to travel by canoe from Pittsburgh Pa to Wheeling, West Virginia on the Ohio river. What are the navigation considerations? Also I will have a bike and trailer for the canoe, will be int...
I want to travel by canoe from Wheeling, West Virginia to Parkersburg, West Virginia on the Ohio river. What are the navigation considerations? Also I will have a bike and trailer for the canoe...
I've recently been getting into the hobby of Geocaching. However, I'm finding there are many, particularly in cities, that I just cannot find no matter how hard I look for them. They tend to be ver...
Just like everyday, I was at the climbing wall this morning, when I reached, there was a group (I have not seen anyone of them there, ever, it being a local place, I know almost everyone who comes ...
What are the bare essentials that I need in terms of equipment when it comes to rock climbing? I've done indoor rock climbing but always rented my equipment from the rock-climbing gym. (For the pu...
It's about -30°C this morning, and a couple random thoughts popped into my head while enjoying a nice hot shower. The first was how terrible would it be to get out of a shower at -30°C in a tent. T...
A lot of areas that are good for hiking or backpacking are also popular hunting grounds. I am an avid backpacker and hiker, but I do not know much about hunting. How do I find out what is the hun...
When doing outdoor sports like hiking or biking I'll always take a lot of cold water with me. I love to drink cold water and I feel more refreshed compared to drinking warm or not-so-cold water. Bu...
I've always mocked friends who top-out using their belly (stomach) when bouldering. It's not very graceful but I was reading this article on UKClimbing and it shows someone topping out on a V6 usin...
I've purchased my first climbing rope and am wondering how it should be stored when not in use. I have a rope bag which I assume is a good home for the rope; should it be kept tightly coiled insid...
I love my Osprey backpack but the waist belt is too long so the extra strapping ends up being about 2' long and annoying. I've avoided cutting it and have been tucking it into a pocket on the wast...
A lot of runners use calf and leg compression sleeves, as these are supposed to improve blood flow. It would seem a logical extension to use compression sleeves on your forearms during climbing, es...
I can lash a mini tripod ($2 on eBay) to the top of a quad-sected tent pole with 4 equal sections with internal elastic to make a tripod. This gets me about 2' off the ground. I can lash a mini t...
From which bouldering and climbing grades do you start using Campus Boards, Hang Boards and Peg Boards for training?
Commonly when setting SARENE-SA trad anchors on multi pitch routes the only protection available are nuts/wires. Additionally, there is very rarely an option to place a nut to protect against an u...
I have done a good deal of hiking and backpacking in the Eastern US (mostly in New England), but I recently moved to California. What are the major differences in terms of preparation or equipment...
We are going to descend some snow-covered glacier on skis while roped-up. If my partner falls into a crack, and I stopped him (i.e. didn't get dragged down there), what should we do next? Assumin...
When crossing a glacier (or other mountaineering activity for that matter) I've heard that roping everyone together without having a fixed anchor is falling out of fashion since more often than not...
I've seen people using a ropes "alpine style" in the past but I'm not sure on the specifics. By alpine style I mean where the rope is coiled around the body and attached to a second of third perso...
When I recognize the symptoms of hypothermia, how should I treat it? And what are the dangers if the symptoms are ignored?
Is there any camping water filter that handles mercury in the water? I live in an area with lots of cinnabar (mercury ore), so all the streams have some mercury content. According to the local wa...
Anyone know a good method of finding Aconcagua guides that will work with a pair solo outside of an organised group? Most guides I've seen online so far take groups & use a lot of porters. We'r...
Often, when I leave my tent during the day, cats and other animals come and pee in the corners and on the carpet. They probably do this to mark it as their territory. They don't come at night when ...
I just moved to Virginia (Fairfax County) a few months ago. I've done some hiking around the area, mostly by the Potomac. With Spring starting I want to get in to some fishing. Can anyone give me s...
Warm-up routines are very important for most of the activities that involve rapid and/or vigorous body movements. Trekking too is not an exception to that. I am planning for a trek which goes thro...
I would like to ask If someone knows a method for taping wrists that supports wrists. I got stretched tendon in my wrist and I would like to support it with tape. I have only found methods for maki...
Having read this question on drop bears. I have been wondering what other fictitious animals are there in other parts of the world that have been invented to amuse/confuse tourists. Has anyone co...
I recently visited Australia, Sydney region. I've been warned about animals called drop bears. What kind of animal is it? Is it dangerous ?
Most of us go around, doing different physical activities. Whether it is indoors or outdoors, the common factor is that we often sweat, make our muscles, joints, tendons, ligament, etc work harder ...
Has anyone tried making their own make-shift Hydrapack? Over the years of trekking I have never owned a Hydrapack. So, before investing on something, and for some fun-n-learn part of it, I would li...
I just bumped into this page at the Bicycles at StackExchange, which talks about how shaving limbs can help a cyclist. Does the same apply to climbers?
I see more and more sleeping bags designed for women. I was wondering what were the major differences with the regular sleeping bag? Does it have to do more with the shape or insulation?
I would like to start being a little more active by getting outdoors more. My state offers a "water guzzler" program that puts water in remote locations for wildlife. They also publish a large atla...
I've been working on improving my self-rescue skills, but the skills I've learned so far seem to pertain mostly to single-pitch climbing. For example, a lot of people emphasize knowing how to escap...
As in the title really. In the hypothetical situation that I'm caught in the wilderness in winter and there's a heavy snow storm resulting in an unexpected level of snow, snow shoes could well come...
In a Ray Mears BBC Demo, The Importance of the Sago Tree, he travels to Seram in Indonesia and witnesses the natives using Sago leaves to create this really cool pot at 2:40: The Nuaulu tribesma...
Looking at a map, it seems possible to kayak from Berlin to the Baltic with minimum portage. Does anyone know if this is possible or if any information sources exist?
If I'm abseiling with a double rope what's the common way to add a safety knot? Is it a prusik knot around the 2 ropes instead of 1 or something like 2 prusiks?
Growing up hiking the southern Appalachians, I've never actually needed a four season tent. However we are starting to look at hikes around the country where the temperatures and conditions get wo...
I am going to buy sunglasses. Here is how and where I am going to use them: mountain trekking - with altitude mostly below 2000, however I will use them in the following months on higher mountain...
I remember about a decade ago, my grandfather taught me a particular wire "knot". He called it a Cocky's Hitch. I remember the first step was to take a length of thick fencing wire and fold it in h...
I'm an amateur runner, but I've been constantly doing it for a year or so. My philosophy is to first start doing something before beginning to spend and invest a lot of money in that something. Ap...
In the past I have mostly been snowboarding with a simple every-day backpack to hold some lunch and other small stuff. But since it's very loose, not waterproof and not spacious enough sometimes I'...
The UIAA says that you should retire your gear after a major fall is a fall with fall factor > 1.77. Now I was wondering if this criterion is the same for all kinds of material ? Dynamic rope...
I just recently got information about an easy climbing route. I am not sure about the grade though. The only part the worries me is a traverse, which is exposed. And long traverses have always been...
I have a bit of experience going on via ferratas. But never wondered about their grading. I know that most countries have 1 to 5 grading systems. From that I have seen grade 1 would be doable by a...
Could my compact SUV/AWD handle a regular off road track that's suitable for 4x4? Is it a dumb/risky idea? I understand it would depend on the type and condition of the SUV, the track and the weat...
What are some places to purchase rock climbing ball holds like the ones on Atomik Climbing Holds and Three Ball Climbing? I'm looking to build something similar to cannonball alley on American Nin...
