Search
I continue year of the bear with more trees. Can grizzly bears climb trees?
In a bike accident, I managed to damage a softshell jacket. The damage consists of some smaller holes, and the manufacturer provided me with a patch kit that is basically a piece of the material th...
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...
My wife and I have never been to Yosemite. We will have some time off in a couple of weeks (end of March) and we're considering planning a trip to Yosemite. The amount of rain and snow in recent w...
Climbing.com has a video showing how to tie a barrel knot in the end of a rope. To me (and many of you, I suspect) this knot is the very commonly-used double overhand knot. Confused, I looked fo...
What is a good rule of thumb for tent floor length relative to height? I'm tall and looking for a backpacking tent. How many inches more than my height should I look for in the floor?
I should say I haven't ever done anything very outdoorsy, but I would like to make sleeping outdoors a part of the bicycle touring which I hope to do. But a worry for me is that I have always had p...
A noted authority (Ben Crowell) stated in a comment on What sleep quality do you get in the outdoors? A properly pitched tarp works fine in a heavy rain. It just requires practice to set it u...
We recently had the question Can you get burned by boiling water on everest? and not to long ago the question Why aren't there any electric stoves that can be used for cooking where you can't build...
I've seen different types of hummingbird nectar, some red and some clear. My question is, will the red be able to attract more hummingbirds, vice-versa, or will they both attract the same amount? N...
I am doing little kayaking and just a bit more skiing (the seasons for both are very short where I live). Both of these need helmets, but I feel reluctant to buy 2 items, each of which will see lit...
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...
What is the best technique for self-arrest on a sandy slope? I was canyoneering last week and the sand in the canyon was very soft and powdery--with a steep drop off at the bottom of the slope. Luc...
Many pre-packaged meals are designed to cook in the pouch by adding boiling water. If I am making my own meals with mylar pouches, would it be safe too cook them by adding boiling water to the pou...
I found a pink slab of stone with a nice dip in the middle and thought of using it as a mortar for grinding spices. Are there any stones whose makeup could potentially leach toxins?
I'm going to the crag with some friends in a few days and I plan to lead the first route, clip into a quickdraw on one of the anchor bolts and build a top rope anchor on the bolts. I've been practi...
I am surprised at how many people I see doing this wrongly (my experience being an ex-horse owner and now hiker in the UK). What is the correct way to traverse a field containing horses? Let's ex...
I totally need one of these This helps you estimate the slope angle on a contour map by measureing the gaps between the contour lines. This is to help you avoid avoid avalanche areas. I'm sure ...
I'm planning a backpacking trip with a well-established partner. I would like to invite a third person along, but he has not met the second, and I do not want to extend an invitation to the third u...
Usually I have a walking stick with me. But this time around I didn't have one along. With the hot and humid weather adding to the woes, we were going up a seemingly unending ascent. The constant ...
The last weeks I observed couple times that I am getting stiffness/muscle ache in the upper arms after a boulder session. What's special about this is that it is very delayed. For example I went to...
Last night I was walking my dog when I came across an injured racing pigeon. I've reported it to the owner who's coming to pick it up today, providing it's survived the night..... I was thinking m...
I will have a work trip in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada early June, and I'm seeing if I can combine this with a backpacking trip in the nearby coast mountains for 2–3 nights. However, it's v...
I have an 18 ft. fiberglass sea-kayak, which I mount to the roof-rack of my junky old station wagon with Yakima "Sweetroll" saddles - ratchet straps around the saddles and bow and stern to the bump...
We hiked a well-packed gradual trail in New England (Mt. Moosilauke in NH) and debated what would be faster - skinning up on AT skis or just boots with skis on your back. Argument for skis on the...
