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For a very long time now, I've believed and taught that burning Rhododendron or Mountain Laurel in a campfire will make you sick because of the toxins in these plants becoming airborne then inhaled...
On a recent walk my girlfriend and I discovered a decomposed horse carcass, nothing but bones left. We took some photos and moved on. She's now decided that the bones would make great ornaments and...
I've often heard that it is the altitude and exposure that makes Everest most challenging, but technically speaking, it's not a very challenging climb at all. Supposedly, if base camp for Everest w...
I'm a +5 in the ape index, (6'2" tall, with almost a 6'7" wingspan) Buying nice fitting jackets has never been a luxury I could enjoy. My solution for a while was to buy jackets made for ice climbi...
I think it would be fun to climb all the Munros as a single long distance type route. The wikipedia page indicates that several people have climbed all the Munros as a continuous round. Where can...
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...
Where would I look if I was in a survival situation and wanted to find some rocks for fire starting? Where does flint occur naturally? What environments could you expect to find some in? I've creat...
So of course the common standard for proper burying of solid human waste is burial in a cat-hole, and generally this means one hole per instance per person. This is what I practice and teach on per...
There are numerous compact and travel guitars that exist, some of which are designed specifically for outdoor pursuits like backpacking. This is one I've been considering. Being a musician, music...
I'm backpacking through a national park in India, which also happens to be a tiger reserve. I understand that chances of even spotting a Bengal tiger are slim, but still, what precautionary measure...
I have a problem with one hand that has bad circulation, this means that if my hand gets cold and wet for extended times I get chilblains which are more than a nuisance. The problem is that I hav...
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...
Probably common question, but: What slings do you use to build anchors for belaying the 2nd in rock climbing? Dyneema or nylon? I had discussed this problem with my friend and he said that Dyneema...
I have seen a few divers who practiced breathing fast before a dive. What good does it do? Does deliberate/forced hyperventilation help to hold breathe over long time? Is there a connection in th...
Are there set rules I should follow which would increase my chances of survival if I get buried by an avalanche? Should I try to do anything if I get caught-up in one, before it has settled?
If I don't have much with me and I want to catch a rabbit for food, What is the easiest way to prepare a snare? What kind of knot should I use and where should I put the snare?
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...
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'm currently hitchhiking in South East Asia where it's of course always hot. I'm getting a rash around my ankles that I've had in the past but never looked into. (The same rash, but on a differe...
What are the chances of falling and turning upside down, with your head down. Is the gear special from preventing such falls?
So, when I go to this lake I can usually catch table size catfish and I want to take some home, however due to the rough terrain and long trails to get to this secluded lake, it would be a hassle t...
Sometimes I go to a secluded lake and want to take some table size Catfish home. However, the lake is particularly muddy and dirty, the water is actually brown. Is there a problem with bleeding fis...
I'm using a Spyderco Tri-angle sharpmaker to sharpen both a drop-point fixed blade and a folding tanto blade. It has 2 settings: 2 20 degree sides for a 40 degree working edge 2 15 degree sides ...
I have a knife and a whetstone. One side of the whetstone is rough and the other is finely grained. I occasionally sharpen my knife but I'm not 100% clear if I'm using it correctly. I normally mov...
I'm not a really good swimmer. While swimming casually, when I get a cramp in my thighs or toes, it definitely makes me panic a bit and hampers my swimming in a bad way. What should I be doing if ...
