Posts by Ricketyship
Space blankets are good insulators. They prevent your body heat from escaping due to radiation and convection. They however do not prevent conduction based heat loss. Given this, the best place to...
There is no fixed answer to this question. The solution depends on what type of a geography we are referring to. Most answers say that going downhill is a good solution. But the reality is, in a f...
We went climbing on a glacier recently. There was one issue which I couldn't find a solution to. While belaying from below (on the first pitch), it was pretty much impossible to protect self from r...
Recently we were climbing up a glacier with the ice at an angle of around 80°. We were placing the ice screws angling slightly upwards with respect to the slope of the ice wall. However, one from...
When one talks of adapting to an altitude, what also matters is how fast one is ascending. The critical part to note is that having a higher haemoglobin level does not mean one is better equipped a...
To add to the excellent answers already posted: Bats act as prey for larger birds like hawks, falcons, snakes et al. Bats (the larger ones known as flying foxes) help in seed dispersal as they e...
Disclaimer - The answer is purely based on research. I've personally only been up to 6400m and have never used an altitude tent to acclimatise. Background of altitude acclimatisation: With increa...
Most of the birds identify their young by calls. This is a survival trait in birds which allows them to locate their young when they are out of sight. Same applies for ducks as well. As far as I kn...
Usually firmness of a surface is measured in terms of the work that needs to be done to move across the surface (in other terms, the displacement of your body that occurs due to the force applied)....
I follow the idea of leaving as less a trace as possible. So what I do is to reuse the cathole. The problem with multiple catholes is how much damage it does to the landscape (especially if the gro...
I know this is a bit late, but having had a lot of experience with leeches makes me believe I can add some value here. Salt works for both avoiding and for removing leeches. The method to apply i...
Ear popping is due to the difference in the pressure between the outer and the middle ear. Popping of ear occurs at high altitude to allow for the two pressures to equalize. Now, there's no corre...
There's absolutely no reason why a guitar string can't be used for rabbit snares. In fact, I've seen rabbit snares which match the same thickness and quality as the guitar strings (these were illeg...
Depends on how steep your ice patch is. Crampons are really good when you have steep slopes and you need to do some real front pointing. Crampons are good for mixed climbing as well. They are als...
As a general rule, all evolved beings (the ones with a brain) can end up with mental health issues. There are multiple resources which document these. Pet birds are known to get depressed and pluck...
Outdoor sports vs Gym training is not actually a one against the other. Many a times they are complementary to each other. Having said that, each has its own advantages which might be difficult to ...
I'll answer this from a perspective of what we follow in some of the areca nut and coconut farms that I've grown up in. The areca nut and coconut trees shed their branches often. These are similar...
Elephants are a major threat in two situations (not that they are not a threat in other situations): The herd has calves. The elephant is a single male tusker. In the first scenario, the protec...
The bird you are listening to is a northern mocking bird. I am not sure why it’s making the calls in the middle of the night. Mockingbirds in general are known for their intelligence and their ab...
There a few muscle groups that are heavily used while climbing: Lats: The side muscles of your back. Also termed as wings. Biceps. Forearms (one of the first to tire out). Calves (for most of you...
I've been using the Victorinox Swiss knife for a long time now. One thing that has baffled me is the saw blade on most of their multi-tools. The saw is around 2-3 inches long (depending on the mode...
I was recently watching the IFSC world cup held in Meiringen. One of the interesting observations that came across (made by the commentators) in the semis was that the routes were much easier for a...
Milam glacier falls under the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve limits. In case you want to enter a national park limits, you will need a permit from the forest department. Additionally, since parts of ...
We had a few white browed bulbuls visit us recently. One of them seemed to have a peculiar interest in the chillies that grew in one of our pots (I believe these are bird's eye chillies [no pun i...
On some of my Himalayan treks I've seen people who wear shorts or wear single layer of clothing and shiver due to the cold weather (most of these people live in a tropical climate). When I've asked...
