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You are correct: Mittens work better than gloves, but are usually harder to find. The best mittens come as separate outers and inners. They dry much faster at the end of the day. If they soak...
If it is clean, fresh snow, it is safe to drink. This is basically drinking rain water. It hasn't had time to pick up pollutants when it is newly fallen. I live in New England, and kids do this all...
In the woods, there are many small items that can fall from above that are more or less awkward to have on your head. This goes from leaves and needles on the "not very harmful" side over water dro...
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...
Due to heavy rain, the water level raised drastically in the last days and arose a few small "ponds" besides our local river. Also the main stream is accordingly extremely wild these days. Recent...
Traditionally a bear bag was simply something to hold your food out of reach of bears. This usually meant finding a way to suspend it from a high branch, and in this instance it's usually sufficie...
There are two types of bear bags. The first is similar to a bear canister but made out of strong cloth (often kevlar) and wire mesh with a metal insert to prevent crushing. The brand I am most fami...
It depends on your destination. In general I would think of: Preparation organise one or more detailed map(s) of the area to go to check the weather forecast organise your way to your destinatio...
Tow it... While you might want to pick a different trailer than I use, you can tow a lot of stuff behind a bicycle. I usually carry; A gallon of water Cooler with drinks and lunch Life jacket T...
It is unlikely that you will encounter a viper out in the mud, considering its habitat: It is found in a variety of habitats, including: chalky downs, rocky hillsides, moors, sandy heaths, m...
All are perfectly valid, which works best depends on the circumstances. In my experience a log cabin stack is good when you have short square sticks, for example what you would get from splittin...
When we are snowboarding / skiing snow gathers on our goggles. What do you do to deal with this problem? We can use special liquids like 'fog block' - but are they effective in the terms of snow a...
This is why most snowboarding and skiing gloves these days have a wiper built in. Rain-X and other coatings can help a little, but there appears to be no all purpose solution, so just get a pair of...
I live in a country where hail can strike suddenly and unexpected at any time of the year. I am trying to figure out if in COMMON weather data available to me, I could find patterns that may indica...
Hail is a result of the same type of instability that causes thunderstorms. Not all thunderstorms have hail, but most hail is part of a thunderstorm. Therefore, all the same warnings for thunders...
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...
I've never had too much trouble with a double cuff - a velcro or (better) elastic inner cuff and a loose outer. In the worst conditions, an elasticated inner cuff under a goretex glove with long el...
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...
Lightweight shelter selection is all about tradeoffs In general terms, for wind-worthiness you're looking for strong poles, small panels, a low profile, plentiful peg-out points and flies that pit...
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...
There isn't much to be said about the preparation that hasn't been said by DudeOnRock, but making sure that you are dry, have a comfortable sleeping pad, and are warm are definitely key. One thing...
I thing this is too broad and too personal to get a definitive answer. Mine is: go try out for yourself as much as you can in a safe environment. Experiment with different setups as much as you c...
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...
Textbook advice for hiking footwear seems to be: wear cushioned socks!!! And make sure your boots fit!!! For me, it seems that wearing a cushioned sock ensures that a boot simply will not fit c...
I use two short lengths of rope, each with loops tied at both end. Put a rope around the tree and pass one end through the loop (so you have a slip knot on the tree, one end of the rope with a loop...
