Posts by Chris Mendez
Australian cattle dog or other types of working dogs. Mine loves backpacking. Cattle dogs have very high energy levels and are bred to travel long distances. Excellent for trail running and hikin...
I grew up car camping with my parents several times a year, but as they've gotten older (early 60s), they basically stopped camping. Recently, they've expressed interest in camping again but I'm ...
I've heard good things about fishing the Texas gulf coast with live croaker bait. What is the technique for fishing with this bait? Specifically, where should one hook the bait and what technique i...
When tying my autoblock knot my cord keeps twisting, and it does not end up looking nearly this nice: I use a double-fisherman loop of cord that stays permanently tied, and it lays flat. How can...
I've been out hiking in wilderness areas when I came across an unmarked trail. It wasn't on a map but it appeared to lead in the direction I wanted to go. I decided not to take it in case it was a ...
I was reading another post about properly lacing hiking boots, and while it talks about methods for tying the laces, it doesn't address how tight the laces should be on properly tied hiking boots. ...
In the US, National Scenic Trails span many different land types (state/federal parks, forests, etc). While these all have different rules on pets, I was wondering if the National Trail System desi...
When visiting areas with free-roaming wildlife such as American Bison and Texas Longhorns, there are numerous signs warning about keeping a safe distance. They don't, however, actually specify the ...
I'll be visiting Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma which is known, among other things, for having free-roaming American Bison. I've never seen any in the 'wild'. Is there a specific tim...
Theoretically, run. Practically, slowly jog or briskly walk so that you don't slip and fall. The TV series MythBusters initially tested this with artificial rain and found that walking was better ...
I've got some 1/4 inch Manila rope that's really, really curly. It ends up very tangled and difficult to manage. Is there a way to straighten or relax it?
When bay/inshore fishing from a boat, one can drift fish (where you let the tide carry your boat) and anchor fish (where you anchor your boat to one spot). Besides the obvious, what are the differe...
What type of seabed should I be fishing on when trying to catch speckled trout along the Texas Gulf Coast?
Though not necessarily attracted to fire, I found several anecdotal references to bears simply ignoring camp fires and wandering into camps. Other accounts differ on the effectiveness. It sounds li...
The Reverso 4, ATC Guide, and others all have a keeper wire loop for carrying. However, the wire seems unnecessary -- one could simply cut it off and carry the device using the large hanging eye or...
I'm going skiing for the first time. From what I've read, most everyone uses hard shell jackets and pants for skiing. However, they usually mention something about skiing in bad weather, frigid col...
Everyone knows that bending a paperclip back and forth will eventually cause it to break. This is due to a process called fatigue. And while this answer discusses the elastic limits for fatigue, I ...
Yep, when weighted the rope pulls through and reveals a false pair of loops. Definitely not a knot/loop that should be used!
I think you invented a new knot, or at least one that is decently documented (my non-trivial search came up empty). Regardless, the bigger question (as others pointed out in the comments) is how i...
I was looking at buying some cord to make a three point cordelette (I am American, after all). I see that REI sells a pre-cut length of 7mm cord that is 6.4 meters (21 feet), but one of the review ...
The focal knot itself provides redundancy. According to the Ashley Book of Knots, when a cord breaks, it usually does so outside of the knot and not inside. Therefore, if the cord breaks below the ...
I bought my first set of cams and I've been curious about what happens when the slings start to wear out. Are they user-replaceable? The ones I purchased seem to be very un-user-replaceable: How...
The UltraFire product is manufactured by WhaFat Technological Company, which is based in Hong Kong. Their products look very similar to SureFire flashlights, so it's possible that UltraFires themse...
I recently bought a 70 meter climbing rope from REI because it was a great price on the outlet. Last weekend I used it for the first time in the Texas hill country, where 99% of routes need a rope ...
While attempting to locate a specific climbing wall, our group hiked off-trail through several different areas that had large piles of leaves. In attempt to scare off the snakes, we poked the groun...
