Activity for Charlie Brumbaughâ€
| Type | On... | Excerpt | Status | Date |
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A: How do you know you have reached North or South Pole without GPS? Amundsen's team used a meter on their sledges to get close (dead reckoning) and then sextants to confirm the position. Using Amundsen's diary, Roland Huntford (in The Amundsen Photographs) describes the photo as "Shooting the sun at the South Geographical Pole. Amundsen (left) is holding a sex... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What is the difference between back country camping and front country camping? Front country is when you go camping in an established campground that is usually reached by car. While backcountry camping is when you go camping in the backcountry getting to the non established campground by foot or horseback carrying your stuff with you. So this would be an example of a front co... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What is the advantage of a fluted barrel on a hunting rifle? A fluted barrel has two advantages, The flutes make the barrel lighter and thus easier to carry for long periods while hunting. More surface area means that the barrel cools down faster. As barrels heat up they lose their accuracy to a degree. Normally while hunting this isn't a big deal, but when ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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What is the advantage of a fluted barrel on a hunting rifle? As I look for a new hunting rifle, I see that some have fluted barrels, such as the Mossberg Patriot for example and some do not. What would the advantage of a fluted barrel be? (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What is the best method for protecting my bees from pesticides? It looks like there isn't much you can do because most of it depends on the farmers. With that said, The farther colonies are away from fields or orchards that are treated with pesticides, the better chance the bees have against pesticide poisoning. Establish apiaries at least 4 miles from c... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What are the differences between a lighthouse and a light station in terms of the specific purpose? A lighthouse is one of the buildings in a light station and has the actual signaling light while light station refers to all of the buildings. A light station comprises the lighthouse tower and all outbuildings, such as the keeper's living quarters, fuel house, boathouse, and fog-signaling buildi... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How did O’Brady charge his electronic gear while hiking across Antarctica? He did it with solar panels, Sunlight, which shines 24 hours a day in the summer, O'Brady says, "is weird and disorienting but I actually kinda like it," since it allows him to charge his solar panels. US man finishes solo race across Antarctica To charge electronics, like the satellite pho... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How do simple compass needles remain level instead of see-sawing with magnetic dip? Are they flat even near the poles? The short answer is that the manufacturers know about this problem and have taken steps to correct the problem caused by the variance in the dips as you move up and down the earth. It can be done in one of two ways, either balancing a compass for a specific zone, which will limit the compass's usefu... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Using hiking boots for amateur rock-climbing That type of boot is pretty standard for hiking and mountaineering and they work fine for climbing up to a point. I have done plenty of 3rd class ascents in boots like that. For going up talus fields or piles of large boulders they work great, as soon as you need to smear or hold onto very small led... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Why is the "alpine style" of climbing not as popular in the Himalayas? TLDR: Because its much harder that way and the extra altitude of the Himalayas makes it that much more difficult. Alpine style refers to mountaineering in a self-sufficient manner, thereby carrying all of one's food, shelter, equipment, etc. as one climbs, as opposed to expedition style (or siege... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What counts as climbing a mountain? Most of the time it just means that you got to the top under your own power from the standard trailhead and if you want to be more specific, you give the route. Plenty of mountains will have different routes to the top of varying difficulty and length and other than the ones with roads to the top, i... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What is an efficient and effective way to test an emergency day-hike kit? There are two ways to test gear like this, Do it in a situation where it won't matter. Go without a sleeping bag for a night with it still in your backpack. Use a space tarp instead of your real one. Leave the GPS in your pack and navigate just by eye. Go fishing with dental floss etc. Deliberate... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Do chipmunks hibernate in woodpiles, and, if so, how do I avoid disturbing them when taking wood from the pile? If animals like chipmunks or packrats nest in woodpiles, it's much more typical for them to be down low, closer to the ground. It would also depend on how it is stacked, if its bigger logs with bigger holes between the logs, then they are less likely to be there. Just taking off the top should be f... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Is burning cow pies (dried cow manure) safe? It is apparently not safe, among the poor today who have to use it as they have no alternatives, it leads to all sorts of health problems. It is also a worse polutant than burning wood. On the reverse side of the environmental equation, raw biomass is known to emit a number of particulates as we... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Why is doubling up with plugs and muffs when shooting not more effective? As in the article linked by @topshot, it is because of two factors, Sound is being conducted by your bones around the hearing the protection. They don't act as two separate devices. The principal reason is the bone-conduction (BC) limits to attenuation, which are also illustrated in Figure 1. ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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Why is doubling up with plugs and muffs when shooting not more effective? I keep looking for better ways of protecting my hearing when shooting, and it looks like wearing both plugs and muffs is recommended for indoor shooting (centerfire gunshots range from 160-170 decibels). However, if you look at the OSHA recommendations, one will notice that they say that doing so on... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Should I travel through freezing areas with hot or cold water in my RV tank? This seems like a contradiction, if you are worried about freezing, then it would be better not to have any water in the tank/pipes where it could freeze and cause problems, and if not then it really doesn't matter whether or not it was hot or cold to start with. Also, as long as the journey is, it ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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How to isolate a strong magnet from things it could damage in a small backpack? I have a pretty strong magnet for magnet fishing. The problem that I am running into when taking it places is that I need a way to isolate it from my wallet/phone/compass inside my backpack as otherwise they could be damaged by the magnetic field. My current solution is to roll it up inside several ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How do breathable fabrics like Gore-tex and DWR (Durable Water Repellent) work? In the absence of the DWR, it would still be waterproof, but not breathable. The DWR coating is to keep the rain off of the layer of Gore-tex but does not provide the waterproofing. Once the DWR coating wears off, the Gore-tex is no longer able to work and then the person's sweat starts building up ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Given limited space and weight what should I carry to get a fire going with damp wood? What I have always carried is cotton balls mixed with petroleum jelly stored in a film canister. It's small and light, the cotton makes it easy to light and the petroleum jelly gives it quite a bit of heat. Just be careful not to get the jelly on your fingers when doing this, as otherwise, you can bu... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: When should I report a potentially injured-looking animal to authorities in a large, monitored, wildlife area? In a National Park, unless the animal was harmed by a human, it seems like the park service isn't going to do anything. “The rule of thumb is that if human activity causes an animal to become injured or orphaned, we may intervene. If not—if it’s something that happened natura... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How much cooler space is required for transporting an elk? Your going to want to debone it to pack it most efficiently into the coolers, otherwise the quarters are going to be too big and awkward to fit into the coolers and they are really heavy. Once deboned, place 20-25 lbs of meat into double bagged garbage bags for easier handling. From experience, som... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: When should I avoid geotagging? It seems likes this is mostly an issue of scale, in well-traveled areas where lots of people go it's not going to make a lot of difference, while remote areas that could possibly see lots of sudden traffic, it would not be a good thing. Also was one to be an "outdoor influencer" with thousands and t... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Will I be warmer in my sleeping bag inside or outside of my tent, when winter camping? The tent will definitely be warmer because it keeps the wind away. As you are sleeping your body produces heat and a tent helps keep that warmer air around instead of it blowing away in the wind. With that said, tents don't provide a huge amount of insulation, and so perhaps a better sleeping bag is... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Does “Pay attention to the ounces, and the pounds take care of themselves” make sense when planning backpacking gear? It does make sense to watch the weight of your gear and go for lighter gear when possible. A few ounces here and there will add up to pounds. On the other hand, it is also possible to be penny wise and pound foolish and in my experience at least, this is far more common, you will see overweight hike... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to tie nylon straps to trees of unknown diameter The straps I have multiple places to hook the carabiner on one end, You take the other end loop around the tree and then use the end with all of the places to hook to connect to the hammock. (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Best practices for physical and inventory management of a ready pack/bug out bag In my experience when people are trying to inventory personal gear with a checklist or spreadsheet it comes from inexperience with using the gear. It you use it enough you will know which gear you need and which is just extra weight and what gear you might need. At the start a checklist can be usef... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Can a van be used for sleeping in National Park campgrounds in the US? The prohibition on sleeping in a car is to prevent people from parking in the parking lots or pull outs and sleeping there and in effect camping outside of designated camp sites. If you park at a designated campsite that you pay for, nobody is going to care if you sleep in your car or outside or how... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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What are the pros and cons of single vs double sided magnets for magnet fishing? There are two types of magnets sold for magnet fishing, Single sided with an eyelet on the top and the magnet directly below, and double sided with the eyelet on top of the circle and the magnets facing both directions. What are the pros and cons of each type of magnet for magnet fishing? (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What are the pros and cons of cotton vs mesh filters for making cold brew coffee in a Nalgene water bottle? From left to right, Nalgene 1 liter bottle, mesh filter, cotton sock filter. Cotton coffee sock, Lighter Folds up really small Harder to clean as the grounds will stick to it and get stuck inside. Can be used with fine coffee grounds. Metal mesh filter Heavier Takes up more room, the easiest... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How strong of a magnet is needed for magnet fishing for assorted metal objects? After doing more research, If you look for fishing magnets that have an attachment for rope (usually an eyebolt) they start from approximately 100 lbs (45kg) and go all the way up to 1,200 lbs (544kg) with values around 3-400 lbs being the most common from what I could see. The other thing mentione... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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How strong of a magnet is needed for magnet fishing for assorted metal objects? Magnet fishing is where you take a magnet and go fishing for metal objects (usually trash) in ponds, canals or lakes. I think this would be fun and would a good way to clear out some of the garbage from the canals, How strong of a magnet would one need? (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What type of boat is this with a single mast and a square sail? That is a cog, A cog is a type of ship that first appeared in the 10th century, and was widely used from around the 12th century on. Cogs were clinker-built, generally of oak, which was an abundant timber in the Baltic region of Prussia. This vessel was fitted with a single mast and a square-rigg... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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Under optimal conditions, how far could an emergency whistle be heard? Whistles are often used for emergency signalling, it would be good to know how far that signal can travel and still be recognized. There are plenty of factors that would affect the distance, so how far would it travel under optimal conditions and then one could figure that real world conditions woul... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Why should a good tent be UV resistant? It's because the sunlight will damage the tents fabric over time. UV damage occurs when long term exposure to the sun damages the fabric and thread of your tent or rain fly. The fabric will become thin and brittle. If you tent or rain fly seems to rip for no reason or with very light pressure, th... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How can a Common Kingfisher bird balance on a tiny swaying reed without moving its head? This is called gaze stabilization and birds do it to keep one thing in focus even while their body is moving. What is head stabilization in birds? When the body of a bird is held in the hand and rotated or moved in different directions the head often appears ‘locked in space’... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Where can I test an emergency whistle? You just need a place where blowing a whistle wouldn't be out of the ordinary. Perhaps a city soccer/football field would work as people blow whistles there. Or if you could find an outdoor area where you know there won't be people around within hearing distance. A distress signal is given in 3s, ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What is "catskiing"? Cat skiing is a type of guided skiing where the skiers go up the mountain in a snowcat, which is a tracked vehicle with an enclosed cabin. Also see, What is cat skiing Mustang Power Cat Skiing (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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When filming wild animals with a drone, how far away does the drone need to be? There is a video of a cub trying to follow the mother bear up a steep snowbank and then rolling back down at first. People are saying that it's a cute video but that the drone that filmed it got too close the bears. There are guidelines for how close one can get to an animal to prevent harassment, ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How do you take field notes at below 0 °C, without freezing fingers? When I worked at a salebarn in the winter we had this problem and the solution was multiple pens inside your shirt pocket under your coat. Pens will work for a while then get too cold at which point you switch it out for a new warm one. You might also look into the mittens that have gloved fingers... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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Is 5R barrel rifling more accurate than 4 or 6 groove rifling? I am looking for a new hunting rifle, and one of the features I keep seeing advertised is 5R rifling where there are 5 lands and grooves instead of 4 or 6. Supposedly this makes the barrel more accurate because the lands oppose a groove instead of each other thus deforming the bullet less. I have y... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: I am lost, I found a trail, which way do I go? Trails show less use the farther from the trailhead one goes because fewer people walk the trail all of the way to the end and most turn around far more quickly. The odds are that going downhill will lead one back to civilization, but in the odd exceptions where this is not true such as when one nee... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How predictable are the doldrums? The latitudes in which they occur is predictable, the effects which range from calm to storms are not, Known to sailors around the world as the doldrums, the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, (ITCZ, pronounced and sometimes referred to as the “itch”), is a belt around the Earth exten... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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Can wild rabbits be eaten in the summer or is the risk of disease too high? I have heard that rabbits shouldn't be eaten in the summer because they have ticks and parasites on them at that time and that one should wait till after it freezes. Of course, you have to abide by hunting seasons, but some like jackrabbits can be hunted all year long. One can get diseases from rab... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What diseases can be transmitted through skin contact with a dead rabbit? To answer the title question, there are a number of diseases you can get from wild rabbits, Zoonotic diseases specifically associated with rabbits include pasteurellosis, ringworm, mycobacteriosis, cryptosporidiosis and external parasites. Rabbits can transmit bacteria through bites and scra... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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How much food is needed for three months of food when rowing across an ocean? Related to this question, if one were to go on a three-month rowing trip across an ocean, is there an estimate of how much the food would be needed? It's certainly possible to give an estimate when backpacking, but rowing would be different and while I am sure that it would depend on the person, it ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to tell the difference between a pika and a cottontail rabbit? Pika Source Rounded ears No tail Short limbs Lives at high elevations, commonly above or around treeline Makes chirping noises. Protected species Eastern cottontail Source Large hind feet Long ears Powerful rear legs White underpatch underneath of the body Lives in meadows and forests Com... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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How to tell the difference between a pika and a cottontail rabbit? Some users here seem to think that the animal in question is a pika and not a cottontail rabbit. How would one tell the difference between a pika and a cottontail rabbit? (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Figure-8 Followthrough Question Yes, regardless of how as you dress it, that is still a figure 8 knot. It's not going to matter either, because once the knot is weighted, it will be pulled into the same configuration regardless of the angle the loop is dressed to. In other words, the top picture will look like the bottom once fo... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What behaviors in bees change just before, during and after a solar eclipse? There was a study that found that during totality, the bees stopped buzzing suddenly without any gradual slowdown. The researchers found that while the insects were happily buzzing throughout the day and during the partial phases of the eclipse, the bees went quiet the instant that the total ecli... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |