Activity for requiemâ€
Type | On... | Excerpt | Status | Date |
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A: What is this knot that is used on ice axe leashes? I would call it a basic munter hitch. Take the eye in the end of the cord (through which you are pushing the bight in the first image) and imagine it to be a carabiner. This should make the structure more obvious. A difference between this and a Purcell Prusik is that the prusik can slip when catc... (more) |
— | over 7 years ago |
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A: License Not Needed for Fishing in County of Residence The section you've quoted does not say you can fish everywhere in your home county without a license. The exemption applies only when you are on your homestead (or your spouse's, kid's, etc.). Note that "homestead" usually has a particular legal meaning, so don't assume it's just a way of saying "r... (more) |
— | about 8 years ago |
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A: (Why) Should I hold the rope when belaying the second climber with Reverso? All of the listed reasons hold true, and can largely be simplified to the fourth: never let go of the brake strand unless you have tied it off. This maintains good habits and also mitigates potential accidents. In the past, such devices have been considered hands-free if monitored (i.e. you're sitt... (more) |
— | about 8 years ago |
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A: Designing a sustainable and portable high-energy diet I would begin with making sure the food plan is nutritionally well-balanced. For shorter trips you can survive on almost anything, and most people in developed countries are already carrying more than enough calories on their bodies to sustain them for extended periods of time. (The average fit ath... (more) |
— | about 8 years ago |
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A: Is Off Trail Travel Between Lakes in the Humphreys Basin, CA Feasible No experience here, but the Google Satellite images appear to show trails. The USFS maps also show trails, but those differ from the ones in the sat imagery. In either case, the terrain seems safe, and pictures from someone else's trip report suggest open terrain with no significant problems. (more) |
— | about 8 years ago |
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A: Camping stove with plane allowed fuel The short answer is "not really". At least within the US, liquids with an alcohol content of 70% or greater are not permitted in checked bags or carry-on, and those are the most likely of the fuels you might have been able to get through. (Gasoline, kerosene, etc. are certainly not permitted.) You... (more) |
— | about 8 years ago |
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A: How to safely store a propane/butane/isobutane canister in a vehicle? The background It took me a moment to find it, but an example of a car in which this happened can be seen here. If the fuel in the canister becomes sufficiently warm the pressure can rupture the canister. Usually the bottom everts first, popping outwards, although I have heard of instances where t... (more) |
— | about 8 years ago |
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A: Why are trees marked purple in the state of Texas? Purple paint is a common means of indicating private property boundaries in a number of US states. Some states use alternate colors such as orange or blue. The paint may be considered the equivalent of a "no trespassing" sign, but is considered more practical for marking property lines that may ext... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
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A: Garmin Etrex 10 Yes, your GPS device can tell you the distance to a location. You will first need to load the cache locations onto it. Both the manual and the quickstart guide that came with it have information on how to go about this. You can also manually enter cache coordinates as a new waypoint. When doing s... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
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A: Gunfire in US national parks In your first example (a lost hiker firing shots into the air) at minimum a citation should be issued, firing into the air is a violation of basic gun safety; you don't know where that bullet is going to come back down. Consider also that most visitors to National Parks are unfamiliar with the area ... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
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A: What is the name of the water-boiling chemical bag? Such packets are included in MREs (Meals, Ready-to-Eat) and are referred to as "flameless ration heaters". The packets contain finely powdered magnesium metal, alloyed with a small amount of iron, and table salt. Adding a small amount of water results in a salt-water electrolyte fluid that allows t... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
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A: Is there a type of binoculars to view both nature reserves (birds, etc.) at a distance, and airplanes? (Ah, I meant this as a comment to Chris' post. Oh well, I guess I need to try making it a real answer.) For tracking moving objects, a wide field of view (FOV) may also be helpful. (Apparent FOV will be larger than actual FOV, e.g. a pair with a 7° real FOV may have a 52° AFOV: Sport Opt... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
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A: Can I use one helmet for both kayaking and skiing? There seem to be many widespread assumptions about helmet design, particularly regarding how well they handle multiple impacts. The poor availability of the relevant standards documents[0] does not do much to help this. As others have mentioned, relevant helmet standards include EN 1385 (for kayaks... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
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A: What exactly is meant by the diameter of an arrowhead point? The size most buyers would be interested in matching is the outer diameter of the tip, the insert, and the shaft. From a casual search, the thread size of the insert is standardized at 8/32 (8 gauge thickness, 32 threads per inch). This does not always appear to be possible, particularly with carbo... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
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A: How to use a Munter hitch to belay and rappel? A Munter hitch can brake regardless of the orientation of the brake strand. It provides the greatest braking force in the "closed" position (the brake strand running alongside the load strand), and a lesser force in the open position. The first site I found with testing found the following brake fo... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
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A: How effective is wasp spray on bears? The suggestion to use wasp spray for defense seems to be common enough that there’s a Snopes page on the topic. This particular urban legend is more often brought up in the context of defense against people, but it seems now to have been extended to bears. I would stick with the bear spray. ... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
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A: Men using a women's trekking backpack The short answer is, "it depends". Packs sold to women may have only superficial changes compared to the men's version (i.e. the color is different), but there are usually a few common differences: Shorter torso length (distance from shoulder to hip, often shorter in women). Narrower shoulder stra... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
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A: What qualifies as a bear bag? 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 sufficient for the bag to be waterproof. (With this in mind, some people like to hang the bags "upside down" to... (more) |
— | almost 9 years ago |
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A: Backcountry Skiing Bindings compatible with soft boots I believe the answer to your specific question is no; the only boots I know of with tech fittings are hard boots made of plastic or carbon fiber. However, I think you may be underestimating those boots. AT boots are hard plastic but can still offer a soft feel. Transitioning to skinning uphill con... (more) |
— | almost 9 years ago |
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A: What belay systems would work for beginning climbers who can only use one arm? Yes, it has been done! You can try contacting the people at Paradox Sports; this sort of adaptive climbing is exactly what they do. In terms of personal experiences, there are a couple of threads on Mountain Project covering this issue. (By coincidence, at least two or three of the climbers on tho... (more) |
— | almost 9 years ago |
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A: Blizzard Chaser: What to take on a 5-hour Blizzard Hike? Caveat: Heading out into a blizzard seems an easy way to get killed. Personally I'd only do it in dire situations. Regarding your layers: Cotton stores about 27x it's weight in water. This makes it comfortable indoors or in hot weather, but it also means it will act like a swamp cooler once you'r... (more) |
— | almost 9 years ago |
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A: How to get weather information in the backcountry The National Weather Service offers a REST Web Service to provide forecast data in XML format. You can request forecast data using latitude and longitude, start and end dates, and forecast data element. If you have an DeLorme inReach satellite communicator, you're in luck as someone has already set... (more) |
— | almost 9 years ago |
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A: Hypothermia Prevention - Post Ice Water Fall My copy of Buck Tilton's Wilderness First Responder notes that for cold water immersion, aside from providing standard treatment for hypothermia, the patient should be "handled gently, lifted from the water, and kept in a horizontal position". Dry them off, and insulate them from further cold before... (more) |
— | almost 9 years ago |
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A: What is a "sling belay?" The glossary section of Big Walls by John Long and John Middendorf defines a sling belay as: A hanging belay with no stance; listed as SB on topos From perusing forums, I suspect this term arose during the golden age of Yosemite climbing, but was soon subsumed by the term "hanging belay". A Go... (more) |
— | about 9 years ago |
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A: Should I run if I see wild dogs? Wild dogs can indeed be dangerous, and packs can be extremely dangerous. You do not want to take on a pack of dogs if you can at all avoid it, and running is often a particularly bad idea. I suggest starting with the basics: try to keep the dog calm and don't try to intimidate it. This means: Do... (more) |
— | about 9 years ago |
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A: How to keep my legs warm in winter? Your criteria: a full day with a decent chunk of inactivity, cold but not frigid, with some precipitation. Normally when active outdoors in such weather I wear softshell pants (schoeller-type fabrics, such as Arc'teryx Gamma LT or Marmot Scree pants) and a lightweight or silkweight baselayer. This ... (more) |
— | about 9 years ago |
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A: What is the difference between accessory cord and prusik cord? Based on the picture the OP presents, the yellow prusik cord weave has each pair of threads (likely not the correct term) passing over 3 or 4 threads rather than two. This doubling of length and corresponding reduction of crossing points seems likely to make the cord more flexible than the orange co... (more) |
— | about 9 years ago |
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A: Learning Anchors - How is single cordelette loop anchor redundant? On cordelettes: A cordelette used to set up a 3 point anchor will have three loops of rope above the knot (one per piece) and three loops below. The knot itself will have 6 strands of rope running through it. (This eats up almost 2 meters of cordelette length alone.) If you cut a single strand the... (more) |
— | about 9 years ago |
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A: Please explain this cryptic instruction on soloing related knots It may help to take a bit of cord and work through the instructions in order. After trying it out here, I would describe the finished product as follows: You have a massively-rethreaded figure-8; instead of two side-by-side strands forming the 8, it will have four. This massive knot will have tw... (more) |
— | over 9 years ago |
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A: What is the difference between back-stepping versus a layback in rock climbing? I find myself in agreement with the definitions listed on Climbing.com, so I have excerpted them here: Backstep n, v : To press your shoe’s external edge onto a foothold and drop the knee lightly, thus bringing the sole’s bottom-outside in contact with the rock and your hip in; ofte... (more) |
— | over 9 years ago |
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A: How can I 'inflate' or plump up my my sleeping bag? The impact of compression on loft can come from how long a bag is left compressed, or from the number of times it has been compressed. As the main risk with compression is the breaking of fibers that would otherwise contribute to increased loft, many repeated cycles are more likely to cause trouble.... (more) |
— | over 9 years ago |
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A: Would the Red Wing Irish Setter work for Philmont? I haven't seen any particular rules for boots at Philmont. I am aware of a wide range of footwear having been used, ranging from the traditional heavy high-topped boots to lightweight, low-cut trail runners. In general it seems the Philmont trails are well-maintained, and with the exceptions of pla... (more) |
— | over 9 years ago |
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A: How much Carbohydrate should I ingest during a long distance hike (18 hours plus)? Reaching for my Kindle copy of House and Johnston's book, I find the statement: "In an ideal world we’d eat seventy grams of carbohydrate per hour to replace the roughly 400–800 calories per hour we’re burning while climbing." Obviously at 4 calories/gram, 70g of carbs will not ... (more) |
— | over 9 years ago |
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A: Is it safe to wear a down jacket while building a fire In the context of camping, it's perfectly safe to wear a down jacket. Keep in mind that fleece is typically also made from synthetics, and so can be expected to have similar properties to your down jacket. (Actually somewhat worse, given the texture.) A table of synthetic fiber characteristics at ... (more) |
— | over 9 years ago |
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A: Abseiling on one rope: should I attach the prusik to the other one? Regarding the hauling question, I suggest keeping the descender and prusik on the same strand. Here's my reasoning: It keeps the second strand free in case you need to rap down to the person to administer first aid or other assistance. It allows you to use the second strand for hauling, in case yo... (more) |
— | almost 10 years ago |
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A: Stove/fuel setup for harsh conditions The standard expedition stove for extreme conditions would be an MSR XGK. You will likely want to bring a pair of them, along with a repair kit, on the assumption that due to the cold or poor quality fuel you'll break a pump or need to make other repairs. Now, you may be thinking "what are all thos... (more) |
— | almost 10 years ago |
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A: Numbers on down jackets Your question is also addressed at http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Down-Jacket-Reviews/buying-advice High-end jackets often use lighter-weight fabrics and high-quality down. The only practical differences between them may be in features (hood? two-way zipper? water bottle pocket?) and exact fill weig... (more) |
— | almost 10 years ago |
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A: B2 boots for narrow feet While some brands may be known for narrower boots, this also depends on the last[1] they use for a particular model. La Sportiva boots are often considered to be narrow and low-volume compared to Scarpa, but there are also differences between the lasts they use for their Trango vs. their Nepal lines... (more) |
— | almost 10 years ago |
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A: How can I tell if Chinese rock climbing gear is reliable? While I'm not too familiar with this brand, a 2013 article on BackpackingLight (largely paywalled) discussed recent developments in canister stoves, most of which are now manufactured in Asia. I think some of the comments from that article, and a preceeding 2009 article discussing Chinese manufactur... (more) |
— | almost 10 years ago |
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A: How to begin in alpine tours If you have the equipment already, I would go back to the book and practice using the equipment. In the US the standard text is Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills; there may be equivalents in other countries. Basic techniques such as knots can be practiced in your home, and a bit of regular pract... (more) |
— | about 10 years ago |
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A: Trail gun for protection against bears The short answer is "bear spray"; a firearm is really not the most effective option. That said... I will assume you are looking for grizzly protection, since you didn't specify the bear and black bears are relatively shy. Again, using spray is a far more effective way of improving your odds; a rev... (more) |
— | about 10 years ago |
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A: How to belay on top of a pitch Belaying Multi-pitch It's often recommended to belay off the harness (an "indirect" belay) when belaying the leader, and off the anchor (a "direct" belay) when belaying the follower. Use of an indirect belay for the leader reduces the force on the anchors, but does require consideration of how the... (more) |
— | about 10 years ago |
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A: Leader injured during multipitch trad climb, what to do? To start with, each situation will be different. E.g. if you have an overhang and your partner is hanging freely in space, you may need to handle things a bit differently. Lowering an unconscious leader is also dangerous, as lower-angle terrain can exacerbate their injuries, and getting them caught... (more) |
— | about 10 years ago |
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A: How should I choose between setting up a Cordelette or an Equalette climbing anchor? Both cordelettes and equalettes are made from loops of durable material; either a very large sewn sling or a loop of accessory cord (6 meters of 7 mm accessory cord is a common length). The issue with cordelettes that led to the idea of the equalette is that a standard cordelette does not equalize l... (more) |
— | about 10 years ago |
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A: Carrying crampons safely when not using them Collapse them down, sandwich them with the points facing each inwards, and wrap the straps around them. You can then use a "real" crampon bag to hold them, or improvise. Some ideas for packaging them include: Cut the top off a 2 liter soda bottle (use two bottles for full containment). Make or bu... (more) |
— | about 10 years ago |
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A: What to look for in an ice axe for use in classic alpine terrain? For winter walking a traditional straight-shafted mountaineering axe seems most appropriate. This would include products like the very common BD Raven or Raven Pro, and also those with a slight bend such as the Petzl Summit, Grivel Air Tech Evo, and BD Venom. As there are existing questions regardi... (more) |
— | about 10 years ago |
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A: What to do if a team member falls sick? Your first objective will be to address any immediate threats to life, gain patient consent, and conduct a thorough patient assessment. Each injury or sickness will have its own criteria for action, but they can generally be classified into three responses: Stay and play, take a rest day, or evacuat... (more) |
— | about 10 years ago |
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A: Onlinetool to setup a track in a map and calculate the distance I would recommend a site like CalTopo (my favorite) or Hillmap; you can import GPX files into them, or click on points to define a path. For Caltopo, creating a path by clicking might not be immediately obvious; first choose "Add New Object", then select "Line", and once you've edited any details y... (more) |
— | about 10 years ago |
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A: Bare Essentials for 2-3 day Hike I suspect you are bringing more items than you have listed, since you've alluded to some of them in the comments. That said, here's what I see as missing or improvable: Flashlight. Is that because you carry it on you? An LED microlight is quite small. Letting your eyes adapt to the dark often w... (more) |
— | about 10 years ago |
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A: What information to leave with your emergency contact? If something goes wrong, the information you provide your emergency contact will be the starting point for the information Search and Rescue groups use to look for you. Much of this information will remain the same for multiple trips and some will be trip-specific. The items I list won't be compreh... (more) |
— | over 10 years ago |